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diff --git a/old/44395.txt b/old/44395.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4fb0d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44395.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16306 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of At the Court of the Amir, by John Alfred Gray + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: At the Court of the Amir + A Narrative + +Author: John Alfred Gray + +Release Date: December 9, 2013 [EBook #44395] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE COURT OF THE AMIR *** + + + + +Produced by Henry Flower and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +AT THE COURT OF THE AMIR + + + + +[Illustration: + +The Amir of Afghanistan, from a painting by the Author.] + + + + + AT THE + COURT OF THE AMIR + + A NARRATIVE + + BY + JOHN ALFRED GRAY, M.B. LOND. + LATE SURGEON TO H.H. THE AMIR OF AFGHANISTAN + + [Illustration: HAND-MADE AFGHAN RUPEE + STAMPED "AMIR ABDURRAHMAN."] + + LONDON + RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON + Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen + 1895 + [_All Rights Reserved_] + + + + +THE APOLOGY. + + +I would not have thought of inflicting a book on my long-suffering +fellow-countrymen, but for the wish expressed by my publishers: for + + "Every fool describes in these bright days + His wondrous journey to some Foreign Court." + +In Afghanistan however, difficult of access, and hence comparatively +unknown, there have been, since that strong man Amir Abdurrahman +ascended the Throne, such remarkable changes in the administration of +the country, and such strides towards civilization, that it was thought +a narrative of life there, throwing, possibly, some light on the +personality of the Monarch, and on the "bent" of the people, might be +of general interest. + +The book has been written in the intervals of professional work, and, +with its shortcomings of diction and style, the only merit it can +claim--that of "local colour"--is due to the fact that it was compiled +from the letters I wrote from Afghanistan to her who is now my wife. + + WADHAM LODGE, + UXBRIDGE ROAD, + EALING, W. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PAGE + +CHAPTER I. + +ON THE ROAD TO KABUL + +The start and the wherefore. Unsettled condition of Afghanistan. +Departure from Peshawur. Jumrud Fort and the Watch-tower. The Afghan +guard. The Khyber defile. Eccentricities of Rosinante. Lunch at Ali +Musjid. Pathan villages. Pathans, their appearance and customs. Arrival +at Landi-Kotal Serai. The Shenwari country. Caravan of Traders. Dakka. +Dangers of the Kabul River. Mussaks. Camp at Bassawal. Chahardeh. +Mountain road by the river. Distant view of Jelalabad. + + +CHAPTER II. + +ARRIVAL AT KABUL + +Arrival at Jelalabad, Reception by the Governor. The Palace. The +Town. The Plain. Quarters in the Guest Pavilion. The friendly Khan. +Tattang and the gunpowder factory. The Royal gardens at Nimla. The +Suffed Koh Mountains. Arboreal distribution in Afghanistan. Gundamuk. +Assassination of Cavagnari: details of the plot. The "Red bridge." +Commencement of mountainous ascent to Kabul. Jigdilik. Massacre of +British in 1837. Former dangers of the valley of Katasang. Enterprising +peasants. Tomb in the Sei Baba valley. Burial customs. The Lataband +Pass and the Iron Cage. Distant view of Kabul. The Amir's projected +road at Lataband. The approach to Kabul. The Lahore Gate. + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RECEPTION + +Position of Kabul. Its defences. Amir's opinion of the Founders of +his Capital. Entry into Kabul. Aspect of the Townsmen. Arrival at the +Arm Foundry. Visit of the Afghan Official. His appearance. Absence of +Amir. To be received at the Palace by the Princes. The approach to +the Palace. The Amir's Pavilion. Page boys. The Princes Habibullah +and Nasrullah. The Reception. Internal arrangement of Pavilion. The +earthquake. Abrupt ending of the Reception. Other buildings in the +Palace. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AFGHAN HOSPITALS + +The first attendance at an Afghan Hospital. Its arrangement. The +drugs and instruments. The Patients. An Interpreter presents himself. +Dispensers. Marvellous recovery of the Page boy. Its effect. Buildings +near the Hospital. The Durbar Hall and Guest House. The Sherpur +Military Hospital. Lord Roberts and the Sherpur Cantonment. Adventure +with an Afghan soldier. Arrangement of the In-patient Hospital. Diet of +Patients. Attendance of Hakims. Storekeepers and their ways. + + +CHAPTER V. + +AFGHAN DWELLINGS + +The Residential streets of Kabul. Their appearance and arrangement. The +Police. Criminal Punishments. The Houses. Their internal arrangement. +Precautions to ensure privacy. Manner of building for the rich and +for the poor. Effect of rain and earthquake. The warming of houses in +winter. Afternoon teas. Bath-houses. The Afghan bath. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE KABUL BAZAARS + +The unpopular Governor and his toothache. The meeting in the Erg +Bazaar. Appearance of the Kabul Bazaars. The shops and their +contents. Boots, shoes, and cobblers. Copper workers. The tinning of +cooking pots. Impromptu tobacco pipes. Tobacco smoking by the Royal +Family. Silk and cotton. "Bargaining." "Restaurants." Tea drinking. +Confectioners. The baker's oven. Flour mills. The butcher's shop. +Postins and their cost. Furs. Ironmongers. Arms. "The German sword." +The Afghan tulwar. Rifles and pistols. Bows. Silver and gold-smiths. +Caps and turbans. Embroidery. Grocers: tea, sugar, soap, and candles, +and where they come from. Fruiterers. Tailors. "The Railway Guard." +Costume of the Kabuli townsmen. Personal effect of the Amir on costume. +Drug shops. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ETHICS + +Sir S. Pyne's adventure in the Kabul river. The Tower on the bank. +Minars of Alexander. Mahomedan Mosques. The cry of the Priest. Prayers +and Religious Processions. Afghan conception of God. Religious and +non-Religious Afghans. The schoolhouse and the lessons. Priests. +Seyids: descendants of the Prophet. The lunatic Seyid. The Hafiz who +was fined. The Dipsomaniac. The Chief of the Police and his ways. +Danger of prescribing for a prisoner. "The Thing that walks at night." +The end of the Naib. Death-bed services. The Governor of Bamian. +Courtship and weddings among the Afghans. The formal proposal by a +Superior Officer. The wedding of Prince Habibullah. Priests as healers +of the sick. The "Evil Eye." Ghosts. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AFGHAN SURGEONS AND PHYSICIANS + +Accidents from machinery in motion. The "dressers of wounds" in +Afghanistan. Their methods of treating wounds, and the results of +the same. The "Barber surgeons." Tooth drawing and bleeding. The +Hindustani "Doctors." "Eye Doctors" and their work. The Hakims or +Native Physicians. Treatment of disease by the People. Aspect in which +European Physicians are viewed by the different Classes. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE MARCH TO TURKESTAN + +Jealousy and its results. Sport among the Afghans. The "Sportsmen" +among the mountains. Order to join the Amir in Turkestan. Preparations. +Camp at Chiltan. The Banquet. The Nautch dance. Among the Hindu Kush +mountains. The camp in the Hazara country. Courtesy of Jan Mahomed. +Mountain paths. Iron spring. The underground river and the Amir's +offer. The Red mountain and the Deserted City. Camp in the Valley +of Bamian. The English prisoners of 1837. The Petrified Dragon. The +Colossal Idols: The Cave-dwellers. The Pass of the "Tooth-breaker." +Ghuzniguk. Story of Ishak's rebellion. Tash Kurghan: the Shave and the +Hospital. "The Valley of Death." The Plains of Turkestan and the heat +thereof. The Mirage. Arrival at Mazar. The House. Story of the death of +Amir Shere Ali. + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE AMIR + +To be "presented." The Palace Gardens. The Amir. Questions asked by +His Highness. Punishment of rebellious in Afghanistan. Asiatic motives +from European standpoint. Amir's arrangement for my safety. Bazaars +and houses of Mazar. The Suburbs. The Military Hospital. The Patients. +Afghan appreciation of European medical treatment. The two chief +Hakims. Hindustani intrigue. Amir's sense of Justice. The Trial. A +Courtier's influence. The guard of the Amir's table. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +LIFE IN TURKESTAN + +General Nassir Khan. The Belgian's Request. Escape of Allah Nur: +his Capture. The Amir's Decision. The Turkestan Commander-in-Chief. +Operation on Allah Nur. The Armenian's Comments. Illness of Hadji Jan +Mahomed. Excursion to Takh-ta-Pul. Fortune-telling among the Afghans. +The Policeman-cook and the Lunch. Balkh. The Mosque at Mazar-i-Sherif +and its Miracles. Called to His Highness. The Cool-air Pavilion. +Illness of the British Agent: the Armenian's advice: the Answer from +the Amir. Brigadier Hadji-Gul Khan. Afghan Endurance of Suffering. +Euclid and Cards. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE INHABITANTS OF AFGHANISTAN + +Slaves in Kabul: prisoners of war and others. The frequent rebellions. +The different nationalities in Afghanistan. Origin of the Afghan +race. The Turk Sabaktakin. Mahmud of Ghuzni. Buddhism displaced by +Mahomedanism. Border Afghans. Duranis. Ghilzais. Founding of a Dynasty +of Afghan Kings. Ahmad Shah. Timur Shah. The Sons of Timur. Zaman Shah. +The Afghan "Warwick." Execution of Painda. Rebellion of the Shah's +brother. Mahmud Shah. Another brother rebels. Shujah-ul-Mulk crowned: +deposed by the Barakzai chief. Exile of Shujah. The Koh-i-nur. The +Puppet-king and the Barakzai Wazir. Murder of the Wazir. The Wazir's +brother becomes Amir. The first Afghan War. Rule of Dost Mahomed: A +Standing Army established. Accession of Shere Ali. Amir Afzal Khan. +Abdurrahman. The Ghilzais. Border Pathans, Afridis, Shinwaris. The +Hazaras. Turkomans, Usbaks. The Christian Church. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE BIRTH OF PRINCE MAHOMED OMER + +Hazara slaves, Kaffir slaves, and others. Court Pages. High positions +occupied by slaves. Price of slaves. Wife and children of Hazara +Chief in slavery. Illness of the Hostage of an Afghan Chief. Abdur +Rashid down with fever. Own illness and the aches thereof. The +British Agent's postal arrangements. Postage in Afghanistan. Power of +annoying possessed by Interpreters. The Chief Bugler. The Page boy +and the Sirdar. The Page boy and the Amir. The uproar on September +15th. Congratulations to the Sultana. The crowd outside the Harem +Serai. The Sultana's reply. Matter of succession complicated. Surgical +operations. The Priest with a blemish: his request. The Amir's reply. +The operation. The Mirza's comments. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE REARING OF THE INFANT PRINCE + +The Amir's autograph letter. Medical consultation concerning the +rearing of the Prince. Conflicting customs of the Orient and the +Occident. Conservative nurses. The "Hakim fair to see": the patient. +Lessons in Persian and in English. Portrait painting. Dietary +difficulties. Gracious acts of His Highness. Amir's letter of +condolence. The Royal visit by deputy. Congratulations of the British +Agent. Accident to the favourite Page. The khirgar. Attempt upon the +life of the Amir. An earthquake. Afghan appreciation of pictures and +jokes. Generosity of the Amir. The first winter Durbar. The Royal +costume. The Amir's question: the Parable. The dining-room. The guests. +The breakfast. The press of State business. Amir's thoughtful kindness. +Visit to the Commander-in-Chief. The ride to the Hospital. Adventure +with the "fool horse." Hospital patients in winter. "Two much and three +much." + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE AMIR'S CONVERSATION + +Sent for to the Palace. Fragility of Europeans. The Amir's postin. The +Bedchamber. The King's evening costume. The guests. The Amir's illness. +School in the Durbar-room. The Amir's conversation. Khans: the water +supply of London: plurality of wives. The Amir is bled. His Highness a +physician in Turkestan. Drawing. The Amir's portrait. Amir's choice of +costume. The Shah of Persia. Portraits of the Shah. The rupee and the +Queen's portrait. Cigar holders. Concerning Afghan hillmen. Dinner. +The Amir's domestic habits. Amir's consideration for subordinates. +European customs. The new Kabul. Native drugs. Soup and beef tea. The +paper trick. The Kafir Page. European correspondence. Vaccination of +Prince Mahomed Omer. Afghan women. The Prince's house. The Prince. The +operation. Abdul Wahid. Afghan desire for vaccination. The Armenian's +useful sagacity. An Afghan superstition. The Agent's secretary. His +comments upon Bret Harte: the meaning of "By Jove." European "divorce" +from an Oriental point of view. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE FIRST SITTING + +Morning prayers. Early tea. Breakfast. The first sitting for the Amir's +portrait. The Courtier's criticism. The Amir's rebuke. The Deputation. +Conversation with the Amir: the climate of England and Australia. Awe +of the Courtiers. The favourite Page boy's privileges. Serious incident +at a sitting. The Captain's toothache. Present of a rifle from the +Amir. The shooting expedition and its dangers. Courage of the "Burma +policeman." The eccentric rider. The singing Afghan. The scenery of +Mazar. Salutations in the market place. The meeting with Prince Amin +Ullah. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE AMIR AS AN ART CRITIC + +The "villain" cook. Mental effect of a cold in the head. Portrait of +the infant Prince. The Amir's reflection in the window. The Amir as +an Art Critic. Salaams to the King's Portrait. The Amir's toilet. A +shooting expedition. The mud of Mazar. The Armenian's comments. The +sample case of cigars. The Amir's handwriting. A sunset. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE LEVEE ON NEW YEAR'S DAY + +The Mahomedan New Year's Eve. Presents. The "Izzat" medal. Coinage +of Afghanistan: Rupees: Pice: the "Tilla." Levee on New Year's Day. +The guests: Maleks and Governors: the British Agent. Presents to the +Amir. Chess as played in Afghanistan. The Amir as a Pathologist. The +steam-engine pony. Sight-seeing with the Princes. The Temple of Mazar. +The booths at the entrance to the Temple. The Park of Mazar. Native +music. The Afghan dance. Kabuli wrestling. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE YOUNG PRINCES + +Infant Prince as the Sultana's Deputy. Reception by the Prince: +the pavilion: the guard: costume. Visit to Prince Hafiz Ullah. Her +Majesty's photograph. Lunch with the Prince in the Palace Gardens. The +"Royal manner." The mother of Prince Hafiz Ullah. A drawing of the +Prince. Adventure with the fat General. The power of the Amir's name. +The Amir as a Consulting Surgeon. The Fast of Ramazan. Overdose of +tobacco. The Evening Durbar. Danger if a King fasts; "Marazan." The +Durbar. The surgical operation: attempted vendetta. Flowers in the +Palace. The Usbak's artistic design. The Amir's diary. The present of +sugar. Official notice of return march to Kabul. The "Cracker." End of +Ramazan. The guard of Amazons. + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE RETURN JOURNEY TO KABUL + +Loading up. The first camp. Tropical heat: the whirlwind. The Amir's +khirgar. Scanty rations. Midnight marching. Dangers in the pitchy +darkness. Impure water. Daybreak. The second camp. Lost on the plains. +Naibabad: the rain. The march to Tash Kurghan. The Khulm Pass. Sight +seeing from the house tops. The Durbar. Punishment of the unjust +townsfolk. The Amir's health. The eclipse of the sun. On the march +again: the dust: jammed in the valleys. Ghuzniguk. An Afghan "Good +Samaritan." A poisonous sting: the Amir's remedy. A block on the road. +The tiger valley. Haibuk. Adventure with the elephant: the somnolent +Afghan. The aqueduct. Discomforts of a camp in an orchard. + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE ARRIVAL IN KABUL + +The Durbar in Haibuk. "Rustom's throne." The ancient caves. The +wounded Governor: Kabul dentistry. The erring Hakim. Courtesy of His +Highness. "Microbes." Elephant riding. A grateful peasant. Dangerous +passes. The Durbar at Shush-Burjah: the hot river. Accidents on the +"Tooth-breaker." Akrab-Abad. The camp of the camels. A pet dog. Evil +results of "temper." A cheap banquet. Coal. Arrival of Englishmen. +Durbar at Kalai Kasi. The Amir again as a physician. Approach to Kabul. +Reception by the Princes. The "High garden." The Pavilion. Malek the +Page. Arrival of the Amir. The Reception. Arrival at the Workshops. +Hospitality. + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +LIFE IN KABUL + +The Id festival: salaam to the Amir: the educating of Afghans. Products +of the Workshops. Royal lunch at Endekki: the Invitation: the Brougham: +the Palace: the Drawing-room: the Piano. Evening illumination of +gardens: dinner. The unreliable Interpreter. A night at the Palace. +Commencement of intrigue. Gifts to the Amir. The rebuke to Prince +Nasrullah. Noah's Ark: the nodding images. Illness again: the Amir's +advice. An afternoon call. Illness of the Amir: the visit: His +Highness's question: the Amir's good breeding. An earthquake. Report on +Kabul brandy: Mr. Pyne's opinion: the Amir's perplexity. The Hindu's +objection. The mysterious midnight noise: the solution of the mystery. +Mumps. The wedding of Prince Nasrullah: invitation from the Sultana: +the Fete: a band of pipers. The Prince and his bride. Overwork at the +Hospital. One of the troubles of a Ruler. Scenery near Bala Hissar. The +Amir duck shooting. The sick chief: his imprudence: his amusements. The +will of the clan. + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE AMIR'S ILLNESS + +Sent for to the Palace. The Amir's health: the Liniment. Questions +in chemistry. Early breakfast at the Palace. A courtier as a waiter. +Called to Prince Aziz Ullah: his illness. Illness of the Deputy +Commander-in-Chief. A visit to Prince Mahomed Omer. The Queen's +brougham: her Reverend Uncle. The Jelalabad official and his promise. +Dinner with Mr. Pyne. Death of Prince Aziz Ullah. The Chief ill again. +The weather. The silence at the Palace. December 2nd: the Call. The +town at night. Illness of the Amir: former treatment. The Amir's +prayer. Bulletins. Called to the Sultana. The Harem. The Sultana's +illness. A poisonous dose. Improvement of Amir: and of Sultana. The +innocent plot. A present. Musicians. Amir and Sultana as patients. +Annoyances by an interpreter. A shock. The Sultana's letter. News from +Malek, the Page. In the Harem: the Armenian's comments. Quarters in the +Prince's quadrangle. The Amir's relapse. + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +ROYAL PATIENTS + +The Hindustani Interpreter. The Amir as a host: the Sultana as hostess. +The Amir's photograph. The Sultana's name. Sirdar, the girl-boy. The +sleeping draught. The tea cup and the thermometer. The Christmas +Dinner: the guests: the menu: music. The Amir's fainting attack: the +remedy: effect on the physician: the substituted remedy: further +effect on the physician; the Amir's prescription. The Amir's alarming +nervous symptoms. Hospital cases. Duties of the Princes Habibullah and +Nasrullah. + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +A KABUL WINTER + +Hindustani intrigue: information from the British Agent: offer of +assistance: measures for protection: further intrigue. The "Royal +manner." The two factions: Habibullah: Mahomed Omer. The question of +succession. Return to the City House and English Society: the cold of +Kabul. The naked beggar boy. The old Kabul bridge. The question of +"bleeding." Disbanding of a Shiah regiment. Amir's advice to his sons. +Improvement in Amir's health. The Hindustani again: Sabbath. The Afghan +noble as workshop superintendent. New Year sports. The grand stand: +the crowd: refreshments. Horse-racing: collisions. Tent pegging and +its dangers. Lemon slicing. Displays of horsemanship. Amir's absence +from the sports. The Nau Roz levee. Salaam to the Sultana. Amir in the +Salaam Khana: reception of the Maleks and merchants: presents. The +Princes standing before the Amir. Reception of the English engineers: +the "White-beard:" his age: the Amir's surprise. + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +A KABUL SPRING + +Spring clothing: a grateful Afghan. Poison bowls. A haunted house: +the skeleton in the garden. Increase of patients. Called to the +Palace: Amir's costume. Troubles of a Ruler: Secretary in disgrace. +Amir's plans for the future. Geologists in the service. Occidental v. +Oriental. Mercantile commissions. The Armenian's leave. The locusts. +Prince Mahomed Omer and his Lala. The Palace gardens. A military +Durbar. Amir's thoughtfulness. A portrait. Amir's opinion of his +people: education of his soldiers. The arrest: murder of the prisoner: +the Amir's decision. Ramazan. Rising of the river. The Id Festival. The +Physician's plans: the Amir's comment. Prince Habibullah's portrait: +Prince Nasrullah's portrait: his remark. + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +ON LEAVE + +The last Durbar: the Amir's remark: a wedding present. The journey +down. An awful day: "difficult hot." Exhaustion. The work of the +locusts. The breeding establishment: a study in colour. An illegal +march. Simla. The Despatch. Dinners and dances. The study of character. +The Armenian in London. Return to India. + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE WELCOME TO KABUL + +Pathan rifle thieves. Dacca. The midnight alarm: the melee. "Bally +rascals." The next morning. The terror of the Amir's name. Running +postmen. Kabul post. Armenian's opinion of London. Changes in the +English "staff." Visitors: letters. Lady doctor's application. Salaam +to the Amir. His Highness's welcome. The military Durbar. Presents. The +new British Agent. Visit to the Sultana. Salaam to Prince Habibullah. +Another visit to the Amir: his appreciation of scenic effect. His +answer to the lady doctor's application. + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE CHOLERA + +Ramazan. The outbreak of Cholera. Precautions. Notices in the bazaars. +Rapid spread. European medicine. The overwhelming dread. Processions +to the Mosque. Oriental fatalism. The shadow of death. Removal of the +Court to the mountains. Closure of the workshops. The Armenian as an +Inspector. The Prince's chamberlain. Death of the Dabier-ul-Mulk. +The mortality. An incident. Afghan appreciation of British motives. +Arrival of an Englishman with thoroughbred horses. Dying out of the +Cholera. Visit to Paghman. The soldiers in chains. Anger of the Amir. +An earthquake: the Amir as a scientist. Illness of the "Keeper of the +Carpets." Arrival of Mr. Pyne and other Englishmen. Another visit to +the Amir. His Highness's description of a Royal illness. Dinner from +the Palace: the sealed dishes. + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +ANOTHER WINTER + +A political Durbar: tact of the Amir: a friendly soldier. The banquet. +Return of the Cholera. Essay on "Precautionary measures." Health of +the English in Kabul. Report to the Amir: His Highness's kindness. +Visit to Prince Nasrullah: a "worm-eaten" tooth: the operation. Erring +Englishmen: the Amir's remedy. Amir as a chess-player. The far-sighted +Armenian: winter quarters. End of the Cholera. Invasion of Small-pox +and Erysipelas. To Paghman: Portrait of Prince Mahomed Omer: present +from the Sultana. The sketch of the Prince: resemblance to the Amir: +his costume: arrangement of the group. Present of a slave boy. A lesson +in courtesy to the Page boys. Native dinners. Visit of Mr. Pyne: the +sandali. Completion of the portrait. The Amir's remark. Sultana's gift +to the Paghmanis: Afghan mode of slaughtering. Ride to Kabul: the mud. +The Afghan Agent: the "Gnat." Sent for to the Palace: a Landscape +Commission: postponement of leave; disappointment: the Amir's remedy. +Christmas dinner at the shops. The "Health of Her Majesty." + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +ADIEU TO KABUL + +Afghan artists. Presentation of the little Prince's portrait. His +quarters at the Palace. The Prince as a host. A walk in the Kabul +Bazaars. Before the Amir: landscapes. A fresh commission. The "Gnat's" +interpreting. The Amir's answer. Art pupils before the Amir. The +Amir's kindly remark. The miner's dog: shattered nerves and surgical +operations. The worries of Kabul life. To Paghman: the glens: the spy. +Sketches. Before the Amir. A fresh Commission. Adieux. + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE ARGUMENT + +Afghan court life from an English standpoint. The Afghan Courtier. +Untrustworthiness. Intrigue. Question of "cause" or "consequence." +Possibility of raising the moral plane. The Amir's obvious opinion. +His Highness's great work. Certain evils. Former condition of the +middle classes: present condition: opening of the eyes: comparison with +similar class in India. Progress in Afghanistan. Civilizing effect of +the Amir. Dost Mahomed's rule: comparison with Abdurrahman. Altered +condition of country. The Amir's civilizing measures: drastic measures. +Peaceful measures: education: the teaching of handicrafts: of art: the +spreading of knowledge: prizes for good or original work. Personal +fascination of the Amir. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + TROPHY OF AFGHAN ARMS + + PORTRAIT OF HIS HIGHNESS THE AMIR (from a Painting by the Author) + + OBVERSE OF HAND-MADE CABUL RUPEE OF THE PRESENT REIGN + + COLOSSAL FIGURE "SA-MAMA" IN THE BAMIAN VALLEY (from a Photograph + by Arthur Collins, F.G.S.) + + THE AUTHOR AND THE ARMENIAN INTERPRETER (from a Photograph by + Van der Weyde) + + PRINCE MAHOMED OMER AND HIS "COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF" (from a Photograph + by Arthur Collins, F.G.S.) + + + + +AT THE COURT OF THE AMIR. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ON THE ROAD TO KABUL. + + The start and the wherefore. Unsettled condition of Afghanistan. + Departure from Peshawur. Jumrud Fort and the Watch-tower, The + Afghan guard. The Khyber defile. Eccentricities of Rosinante. + Lunch at Ali Musjid. Pathan villages. Pathans, their appearance + and customs. Arrival at Landi Kotal Serai. The Shenwari country. + Caravan of Traders. Dakka. Dangers of the Kabul River, Mussaks. + Camp at Bassawal. Chahardeh. Mountain road by the river. Distant + view of Jelalabad. + + +It was with no small amount of pleasurable excitement that I donned +the Afghan turban, and with Sir Salter (then Mr.) Pyne and two other +English engineers, started from Peshawur for Kabul to enter the service +of the Amir. + +I had made the acquaintance of Mr. Pyne in London, where I was holding +a medical appointment. He had returned to England, after his first +short visit to Kabul, with orders from the Amir to buy machinery, +procure engineering assistants, and engage the services of an English +surgeon. + +I gathered from his yarns that, for Europeans at the present day, life +among the Afghans was likely to be a somewhat different thing from what +it was a few years ago. + +In the reigns of Dost Mahomed and Shere Ali it was simply an +impossibility for a European to take up a permanent residence in +Afghanistan; in fact, except for occasional political missions, none +was allowed to enter the country. + +We do, indeed, hear of one or two, travelling in disguise, who managed +to gather valuable facts concerning the country and its inhabitants, +but we learn from their narratives that the hardships they were forced +to undergo were appalling. For ages it has been a proverb among the +natives of India that he who goes to Kabul carries his life in his +hand. They say, "Trust a cobra, but never an Afghan;" and there is no +denying the fact that the people of Afghanistan have had the credit +from time immemorial of being a turbulent nation of highway robbers +and murderers. If there were any chance of plunder they spared not +even their co-religionists, and, being fanatical Mahomedans, they were +particularly "down" on any unfortunate traveller suspected of being a +Feringhi and an infidel. + +A busy professional life following upon the engrossing studies of +Hospital and University, had given me neither time nor any particular +inducement to read about Afghanistan, so that when I left England I +knew very little about the country. However, on reaching India I found +plenty of people ready enough to enlighten me. + +I heard, from officers who had been on active service in Afghanistan +in 1880, of the treacherous and vindictive nature of the people; of +the danger when they were in Kabul of walking in the town except in a +party of six or seven; of the men who, even taking this precaution, +had been stabbed. I heard, too, a great deal about the assassination +of the British envoy in Kabul, Sir Louis Cavagnari, in 1879; of the +highway dangers of the two hundred mile ride from the British frontier +to Kabul, and, remembering that we were about to trust our lives +absolutely for some years to the good faith of these proverbially +treacherous Afghans, it struck me we were in for an experience that was +likely to be exciting. + +What actually happened I will relate. + +[Sidenote: Departure from Peshawur.] + +We were all ready to start from Peshawur one day in March, 1889. The +Amir's agent, a stout and genial old Afghan, named Abdul Khalik Khan, +had provided us with turbans, tents, and horses; we had received +permits from the Government to cross the frontier, and our baggage was +being loaded on the pack-horses when a telegram arrived directing us to +await further orders. We were informed that there was fighting among +the Pathans in the Khyber, and we were to postpone our departure till +it was over. This seemed a healthy commencement. + +Three days afterwards, however, we were allowed to proceed. The first +day's march was short, simply from the cantonment across the dusty +Peshawur plain to Jumrud fort: about nine miles. The fort, originally +built by the Sikhs in 1837, has been repaired and strengthened by the +British, who now hold it. It is said, however, to be of no very great +value: one reason being because of the possibility of its water supply +being cut off at any time by the Afghan hillmen. + +The servants, with the pack-horses and tents, took up their quarters +in the courtyard, but we four accompanied the officer in charge up to +his rooms in the watch-tower. From here we had an extensive view over +the Peshawur valley. The entry to the Khyber was about three miles off +to the west. We had left the cantonment early in the afternoon, and +soon after our arrival it became dark. We dined, and were thinking of +turning in to prepare for our long hot ride on the morrow, when we +found, instead, that we should have to turn out. + +The fort was not an hotel, and had no sleeping accommodation to offer +us. I looked at Pyne. The baggage was down there in the courtyard, +somewhere in the dark, and our bedding with it. Should we----? No! +we would roll up our coats for pillows, throw our ulsters over us, +and sleep on the platform outside the tower. We were proud to do it. +But--the expression "bed and board" appealed to my feelings ever +afterwards. + +We had an early breakfast. + +In the morning we found the guard of Afghan cavalry waiting for +us in the travellers' caravansary near the fort. There were about +forty troopers--"the Amir's tag-rag," as the British subalterns +disrespectfully called them. + +They were rough-looking men, dressed more or less alike, with turbans, +tunics, trousers, and long boots. Each had a carbine slung over his +shoulder and a sword at his side. A cloak or a rug was rolled up in +front of the saddle and a couple of saddle bags strapped behind. +They carried no tents. I cannot say they looked smart, but they +looked useful. Of the individual men some were rather Jewish in type, +good-looking fellows--these were Afghans; and one or two had high +cheek-bones and small eyes--they were Hazaras. All were very sunburnt, +and very few wore beards. This last fact surprised me; I had thought +that Mahomedans never shaved the beard. + +It is, however, not at all an uncommon thing for soldiers and officers +in the Afghan army to shave all but the moustache; but I learnt that in +a Kabul court of law, when it is necessary in swearing to lay the hand +upon the beard, that a soldier's oath is not taken: he has no beard to +swear by. + +[Sidenote: The Khyber Pass.] + +The baggage was sent off under a guard of about a dozen troopers. We +followed with the rest and entered the gorge of the Khyber. It is a +holiday trip now-a-days to ride or drive into the Pass. You obtain a +permit from the Frontier Political Officer, and are provided with a +guard of two native cavalrymen, who conduct you through the Pass as far +as Landi Kotal. This is allowed, however, on only two days in the week, +Mondays and Thursdays--the Koffla, or merchant days. The Khyber Pathans +have entered into an agreement with the Government that for the payment +of a certain subsidy they will keep the Pass open on those two days: +will forbear to rob travellers and merchants. Doubtless it is an act of +great self-denial on their part, but they keep faith. + +Riding along the Pass one sees posted at intervals, on rock or peak, +the Pathan sentry keeping guard. He is a fine-looking man, as he stands +silently in his robes: tall, with black beard and moustache. His head +may be shaven or his long hair hang in ringlets over his shoulders. He +wears a little skull cap with, may be, a blue turban wound carelessly +round it: a loose vest reaching the knee is confined at the waist by +the ample folds of the cummerbund, or waist shawl. In this is thrust +a pistol or two and a big ugly-looking knife. The short trousers of +cotton, reaching half-way down the leg, are loose and not confined +at the ankle like the townsman's "pyjamas." On the feet he wears the +Afghan shoe with curved up toe: the ornamental chapli or sandal of +leather: or one neatly made of straw. Draped with classical beauty +around the shoulders is the large blue cotton lungi, or cloak. If the +morning is cold the sheepskin postin is worn, the sleeves of which +reach to the elbow. If it rain the postin is reversed, and the wool +being outside shoots the wet off. The next day's sun dries it. + +The rifle he has may be an old English musket, a Martini-Henry or a +native jezail, but, whatever it be, in the Pathan's hands it is deadly. + +The scenery in the Khyber is rugged and wild, the only vegetation being +stunted bushes and trees at the bottom of the gorge. The rocky cliffs +rise precipitously on either side, and gradually closing in, are, at +a little distance from the entry, not more than three or four hundred +feet apart. The road at one time leads by the stream at the bottom +of the gorge, and later creeping up the mountain it winds in and out +round the spurs or fissures half-way up the face of the cliff. It is a +good broad road, made, and kept in excellent repair, by the British. +Nevertheless, I was far from happy: my mare, accustomed to a town, +was frightened by the rocks, the sharp turns, and the precipices, and +desired to escape somewhere, anywhere--and there was no parapet. + +[Sidenote: Eccentricities of Rosinante.] + +By-and-bye, however, we descended and were in a stony valley, for the +Pass varies in width from ten or twelve feet to over a hundred yards. +Mr. Pyne suggested a canter. A canter! I knew the mare by this time, +and I had on only a hunting bit. Off we went. Pyne had a good horse, +a Kataghani that had been given him in Kabul, but we swept ahead, my +bony mare and I, much to Pyne's disgust--and mine, for I couldn't hold +her. Roads! what were roads to her? Away she went straight up the +valley, and such a valley! The ground was covered with pebbles and big +stones, and cut up by dry water-courses wide and narrow. The narrower +gulleys she cleared at a bound, the wider she went headlong into and +out of before I had time to hope anything. I soon was far ahead of the +guard, only the Captain managed to keep somewhere in my wake, shouting, +"Khubardar," "Take care!" I yearned to khubardar with a great yearn, +for in addition to the danger of breaking my neck was that of being +shot. Sawing at the reins did not check her, and at last I flung myself +back, caught the cantle of the saddle with my right hand, and jerked +at the curb. I was tossed in the air at every stride, and my loaded +revolver thumped my hip at each bound, but her speed diminished, and at +last she gave in and stopped, panting and snorting. Then the Captain +came clattering up, and I was obliged to turn the mare round and round +or she would have been off again. The Captain smiled and said, "Khob +asp," "It is a good horse." + +"Bally," I said, which means "Yes." + +We adjusted the saddle and waited till the others came up. Pyne +remonstrated with me and told me I ought not to have done such a thing, +it was not safe! He viewed it as a piece of eccentricity on my part. + +About eight miles from Jumrud, and where the defile is narrow and +precipitous, is the Ali Musjid fort. This is built on a high, nearly +isolated, rocky hill to the left or south of the road. The small +Musjid, or Mosque, from which the place takes its name, stands by +the stream at the bottom of the defile. It was erected, according to +tradition, by the Caliph Ali. The fort, which is called the key of +the Khyber, has at different times been in possession of Afghans and +British. We hold it now. The last man we dislodged was General Gholam +Hyder Khan, Orak zai, who was then in the service of Amir Yakub Khan. +He is now Commander-in-Chief of the Amir's army in Kabul and Southern +Afghanistan. He is a big stout man, about six feet three inches in +height. When I saw him in Kabul he did not seem to bear any malice on +account of his defeat. There is another General Gholam Hyder, a short +man, who is Commander-in-Chief in Turkestan, and of whom I shall have +occasion to speak hereafter. + +At Ali Musjid we sat by the banks of the streamlet and hungrily munched +cold chicken and bread; for Mr. Pyne had suggested at breakfast our +tucking something into our holsters in case of necessity: he had been +there before. + +Beyond Ali Musjid the narrow defile extended some distance, and then +gradually widening out we found ourselves on an elevated plateau or +table-land, bounded by not very high hills. The plain was some miles +in extent, and we saw Pathan villages dotted here and there, with +cornfields surrounding them. The villages were fortified. They were +square, surrounded by a high wall with one heavy gate, and with a tower +at one or all four corners. The houses or huts were arranged inside +in a row against the wall, and being flat roofed and the outer wall +loopholed there was at once a "banquette" ready for use in case the +village should be attacked. + +The mountains and valleys of the Khyber range and of the other Indian +frontier mountains are inhabited by these semi-independent Afghans +called, collectively, Pathans or Pukhtana. There are many learned and +careful men among the Government frontier officers who are at present +investigating the origin and descent of the Pathan tribes. + +[Sidenote: Pathans; their Appearance and Customs.] + +The Khyberi Pathan whom I have described as the "guard" of the Pass +is a fair type of the rest. The men are quarrelsome, are inveterate +thieves, but are good fighters. Many of them enter the British service +and make excellent soldiers. They are divided into a great number of +different tribes, all speaking the same language, Pukhtu, or Pushtu, +and bound by the same code of unwritten law, the Pukhtanwali. The +neighbouring tribes, however, are jealous of one another and rarely +intermarry. There is the vendetta, or law of retaliation, among them, +and almost always an ancient feud exists between neighbouring villages. +The women, unlike the Mahomedan townswomen, are not closely veiled; the +head is covered by a blue or white cotton shawl, which, when a stranger +approaches, is drawn across the lower part of the face. They wear a +long dark-blue robe reaching midway between knee and ankle, decorated +on the breast and at the hem with designs in red. The feet are +generally bare, and the loose trousers are drawn tight at the ankle. +Their black hair hangs in two long plaits, the points being fastened +with a knot of many-coloured silks. + +When one considers the nature of these mountaineers--hereditary highway +robbers and fighters, crack shots, agile and active, and when one +observes the unlimited possibility they have among rocks, valleys, and +passes of surprising a hostile army and of escaping themselves--the +advantage of a "subsidy" becomes apparent. + +At the distant or west extremity of the plateau, where we saw the +Pathan villages, is the Landi Kotal serai. An ordinary caravansary in +Afghanistan is a loopholed enclosure with one gate, and is very like +the forts or villages I have described. At Landi Kotal, in addition +to the native serai, is one built by the Government. It is strongly +fortified, with bastion, embrasure, and banquette, and any part of the +enclosure commanded by the adjoining hills is protected by a curtain or +traverse. + +Hot, tired, and thirsty, we four rode into the fort, and were received +by the British officer in charge. The Afghan guard took up their +quarters in the native serai outside. Good as the road was it had +seemed an endless journey. Winding in and out in the heat we had seemed +to make but little progress, and the unaccustomed weight of the turban +and the dragging of the heavy revolver added considerably to our +fatigue; but the march, after all, was not more than five-and-twenty +miles. + +This time there was ample accommodation for us, and after an excellent +dinner, the last I had in British territory for many a long month, we +turned in. + +[Sidenote: The Shenwaris: Caravan of Traders.] + +After Landi Kotal, the Khyber narrows up. We wound in and out round +the fissures and water channels in the face of the mountain, and +climbed up and down as before; but presently the guard unslung their +carbines and closed in round us. It was the Shenwari country we were +now traversing, and these Pathans, even by the Amir's soldiers, are +considered dangerous; for what says the proverb, "A snake, a Shenwari, +and a scorpion, have never a heart to tame." The Amir had, however, +partly subjugated them even then, and a tower of skulls stood on a hill +outside Kabul. + +Then we came to a series of small circular dusty valleys surrounded by +rocky mountains. There was nothing green, and the heat was very great, +it seemed to be focussed from the rocks. Further on we caught up with a +caravan of travelling merchants with their camels and pack-horses. + +These men belong almost entirely to a tribe of Afghans called Lohani. +They come from the mountains about Ghazni. In the autumn they travel +down to India with their merchandise and go about by rail and steamer +to Bombay, Karachi, Burma, and other places for the purposes of trade. +In the spring they go northward to Kabul, Herat, and Bokhara. Under the +present Amir they can travel in Afghanistan without much danger, but in +the reigns of Shere Ali and Dost Mahomed they had practically to fight +their way. + +They go by the name of Povindia, from the Persian word Parwinda, "a +bale of merchandise." When I was in Turkestan I became acquainted with +one of these men. He was a white bearded old Afghan who had been, he +told me, to China, Moscow, and even to Paris. He tried to sell me a +small nickel-plated Smith and Wesson revolver. + +We rode by the caravan of traders and reached Dakka, on the banks of +the Kabul river. This is the first station belonging to the Amir. The +Colonel commanding came out to receive us, and conducted us to a tent +on the bank, where we sat and drank tea. We were much interested in +watching some Afghans swimming down the river buoyed up by inflated +skins--"mussaks." Grasping the skin in their arms they steered with +their legs, the force of the current carrying them rapidly along. Two +men took a donkey across. They made a raft by lashing four or five +skins to some small branches; and tying the donkey's legs together, +they heaved him sideways on to the raft. Clinging to the skins they +pushed off, and, striking out with the legs, they were carried across +in a diagonal direction. By-and-bye some men floated by on a rough raft +made of logs. They were taking the wood to India for sale. + +The river here, though not very deep, is dangerous, on account of the +diverse currents. + +In the centre, to the depth of three or four feet, the current runs +rapidly down the river; deeper it either runs up the river or goes much +slower than the surface water. + +A few years later I was travelling past here, one hot summer, with +Mr. Arthur Collins, recently geologist to the Amir, and we determined +to bathe. Mr. Collins, who was a strong swimmer, swam out into the +middle: I paddled near the bank where the current was sweeping strongly +_up_ stream. Mr. Collins, out in the middle, was suddenly turned head +over heels and sucked under. He could not get to the surface, and, +therefore, swam under water, happily in the right direction, and he +came up very exhausted near the bank. + +[Sidenote: Camp at Bassawal.] + +After resting, we rode on through some hot pebbly valleys, with no +sign of vegetation, until we reached Bassawal, where we camped. The +tents were put up, sentries posted, and the servants lit wood fires to +prepare dinner. It soon became dark, for the twilight is very short. We +were advised to have no light in our tent, lest the tribes near might +take a shot at us; and we dined in the dark. It was the first night I +had ever spent in a tent, and to me it seemed a mad thing to go to bed +under such circumstances. I remember another night I spent near here +some years afterwards, but that I will speak of later. + +On this occasion the night passed quietly. + +The next morning they woke us before daybreak. The cook had lit a fire +and prepared breakfast--fried eggs, tinned tongue, and tea. As soon as +we were dressed the tents were struck, and while we were breakfasting +the baggage was loaded up. We had camp chairs and a little portable +iron table, but its legs became bent, and our enamelled iron plates +had a way of slipping off, so that we generally used a mule trunk +instead. The baggage was sent off, and we sat on the ground and smoked. +Starting about an hour afterwards, we rode along through fertile +valleys with cornfields in them: here water for irrigation could be +obtained. In March the corn was a foot high. Then we rode across a +large plain covered with a coarse grass. It was not cultivated because +of the impossibility of obtaining water. We camped further on in the +Chahardeh valley, which was partly cultivated and partly covered with +the coarse grass. The tents were put up near a clump of trees, where +there was a well. Unfortunately, there was also the tomb of some man +of importance, and other graves, near the well. The water we had from +it tasted very musty and disagreeable. Next day we went through other +cultivated valleys to the mountains again. The river here made a curve +to the south, and the mountains came close up to the bank. The road, +cut out of the face of the mountain, ran sometimes level with the bank, +sometimes a hundred feet or more above it. It was much pleasanter than +the Khyber Pass, for to the north (our right) there was the broad Kabul +river, with cultivated fields on its northern bank, and though the +scorching heat of the sun was reflected from the rocks there was a cool +breeze blowing. I thought it was a wonderfully good road for native +make, but I found, on enquiry, that it had been made by the British +during the Afghan war. + +After rounding a shoulder of the mountain, where the road was high +above the river, we could see in the distance the Jelalabad Plain and +the walled city of Jelalabad. However, it was a long way off and we had +to ride some hours before we reached it. + +When on a journey in Afghanistan it is not usual to trot or canter, in +fact, the natives never trot. They ride at a quick shuffling walk: +the horse's near-side feet go forward together, and his off-side feet +together--a camel's walk. It is an artificial pace, but very restful. + +[Sidenote: Advantages of Cultivation.] + +There was a shorter route which we could have taken from Bassawal, +avoiding Jelalabad altogether, but it was mostly over pebbly hills and +desert plains, and was exceeding hot. From Dacca we had kept fairly +close to, though not actually in sight of, the Kabul river. It makes a +vast difference to one's comfort in a tropical or semi-tropical country +to travel through cultivated land where, if only at intervals, there +is something green to be seen. Few things are more fatiguing than the +glare of a desert and the reflected heat from pebbles and rocks; we, +therefore, chose the longer but pleasanter route. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ARRIVAL AT KABUL. + + Arrival at Jelalabad. Reception by the Governor. The Palace. The + Town. The Plain. Quarters in the Guest Pavilion. The friendly Khan. + Tattang and the gunpowder factory. The Royal gardens at Nimla. + The Suffed Koh mountains. Arboreal distribution in Afghanistan. + Gundamuk. Assassination of Cavagnari: details of the plot. The "Red + bridge." Commencement of mountainous ascent to Kabul. Jigdilik. + Massacre of British in 1837. Former dangers of the valley of + Katasang. Enterprising peasants. Tomb in the Sei Baba valley. + Burial customs. The Lataband Pass and the Iron Cage. Distant view + of Kabul. The Amir's projected road at Lataband. The approach to + Kabul. The Lahore Gate. + + +We arrived at Jelalabad about the middle of the afternoon. The town is +fortified; surrounded by a high wall, with bastions and loopholes; and +is in a good state of repair. We entered one of the massive gates, rode +through the bazaars to the Palace. The bazaars, like those of Kabul, +are roughly roofed over to keep out the glare of the sun. + +The Governor of Jelalabad received us in the Palace gardens: seats were +placed in the shade: fans were waved by the page boys to keep off the +flies; and a crowd of people stood around. Sweets were brought--chiefly +sugared almonds--then tea and cigarettes, and bouquets of flowers. + +We rested for a while, and as we smoked the Governor made the usual +polite Oriental speeches. Then he invited us to see the interior of the +Palace. It is a large white building, standing in the midst of well +laid out gardens, in which are many varieties of Eastern and European +fruit-trees and flowers. The Palace was semi-European in its internal +decoration. It was unfinished at this time. There was a large central +hall with a domed roof, and smaller rooms at the side: a separate +enclosure was built for the ladies of the harem: near by were kitchens, +rooms for the Afghan bath, and a Guest house or pavilion in a garden of +its own. + +[Sidenote: Jelalabad.] + +The town of Jelalabad is between ninety and a hundred miles from +the Indian frontier town Peshawur, and contains, in the summer, a +population of from three to four thousand inhabitants. There is one +chief bazaar or street with shops. The other streets are very narrow. +Though much smaller it resembles in style the city of Kabul, which I +will describe presently. + +The spot was chosen by Baber Badshah, the Tartar king, founder of the +Mogul dynasty of Afghanistan and India. He laid out some gardens here, +but the town of Jelalabad was built by his grandson, Jelaluddin Shah, +also called Akbar, in 1560 A.D., just about the time when +Queen Elizabeth came to the throne. The place is interesting to us from +the famous defence of Sir Robert Sale during the first Afghan war, when +he held the town from November, 1841, to April, 1842. + +The river which runs near the town is here broad and rapid, though +shallow and with low banks. All along the river for miles the plain is +marshy and overgrown with reeds. In the summer when the swamp is more +or less dried up, one rides through the reeds rather than keep to the +glare and heat of the road. The plain of Jelalabad, nearly two thousand +feet above the sea, is about twenty miles long, that is, from east to +west, and four or five miles wide. Wherever it can be irrigated from +the Kabul river it is delightfully fertile, but everywhere else it is +hot barren desert. The climate of Jelalabad is much more tropical than +that of Kabul--more resembling the climate of Central India; and in +the winter the nomadic Afghans of the hills in the Kabul province pack +their belongings on donkeys or bullocks, and with their whole families +move down to Jelalabad, so that the winter population of the town is +enormously greater than that of the summer. + +Palm trees and oranges grow out in the gardens: pomegranates and grapes +in great quantities; and there are many kinds of tropical as well as +sub-tropical flowers. His Highness the Amir had an idea a short time +ago of establishing a tea plantation here. It is doubtful, however, +whether it would be successful, for in the summer there is the dust +storm and the scorching wind--the simum. + +After taking leave of the Governor we were shown into the Guest +pavilion in its enclosed garden. Here arrangements had been made for us +to spend the night. On the north side, where the pavilion overlooks the +Kabul river, was a stone colonnade or verandah with pillars. A sentry +was stationed here and also at the gate of the garden. One of the +Khans had asked permission to entertain us at dinner, and with Afghan +hospitality he provided also for the guard, servants, and horses. He +did not dine with us but came in afterwards for a chat. I noticed that +in spite of being a Mahomedan he did not refuse a cigarette and some +whiskey. This gentleman we were told had considerable power in the +neighbourhood of Gundamuk, and we were advised, in case it should ever +be necessary to escape from Kabul, to remember his friendliness; for +though Gundamuk is a long way from Kabul, one could ride there in a day. + +Next day we had a gallop through the fertile part of the valley. I had +changed my mare for a steadier horse and my mind was peaceful. Away +to the south it was stony and bare, and in the distance we could see +the snow-capped range of the Suffed Koh or White Mountains. We did not +go very many miles, but put up at the village of Tattang. Some of the +villages are built entirely as forts, resembling those in the Khyber +district. In others there is a similar but smaller fort, which is +occupied by the Malek or some rich man with his immediate retainers; +the other houses, flat topped and built of sun-dried bricks, are +clumped irregularly together near the fort. But the windows, for safety +and to ensure privacy, generally open into a walled garden or yard, so +that even these have the appearance of being fortified. The villages +are surrounded by orchards and fields. + +[Sidenote: Gunpowder Factory at Tattang.] + +At Tattang the Amir has a gunpowder factory, and the superintendent +showed us over it. The machinery is of wood, roughly made, and is +worked by water power. The water is obtained from a stream rising in +the Suffed Koh mountains, and is led by broad channels to the water +wheels. Along the channels, and indeed along most of the irrigation +canals that one sees in the country, are planted poplars or willows; +these protect the canal banks from injury, and possibly lessen by +their shade the rapid evaporation of water that takes place in a dry +hot climate. The gunpowder is not for sale, and severe penalties are +inflicted on those detected selling or stealing any. + +The following day we left the cultivated part of the valley and rode +through a stony desert and over pebbly mountains to Nimla. Contrasted +with the pleasant ride through the fields of the day before, the heat +and glare were most oppressive. The Nimla valley is, however, an oasis +in the desert. In it there is a very beautiful garden enclosed within +a high wall. It was made by Shah Jehangir about 1610 A.D., +and has been repaired by the present Amir. One can see the garden a +great way off, the deep green of its cypress trees being a striking +piece of colour among the blue greys and reds of the mountainous barren +landscape. There is an avenue of these trees about one hundred feet +wide, and between them, from one end of the garden to the other, rushes +a broad stream with three cascades artificially made and enclosed +within a stone embankment. The water is brought from a stream rising in +the Suffed Koh mountains, and rushes on to join the Surkhab, a branch +of the Kabul river. + +At one end of the avenue is a pavilion surrounded by flowers. Here we +put up for the night. Soldiers were sent off to the nearest villages to +buy provisions, and our Hindustani cook, having dug a shallow hole in +the ground in which to build his wood fire, placed a couple of stones +on each side to support his pots, and sent us an excellent dinner of +soup, roast fowl, and custard pudding. + +[Sidenote: The Suffed Koh, or White Mountains.] + +We started off early next morning. Leaving the Nimla valley we had a +rough road, often no more than a dry watercourse which led up over +rocky mountains and across stony plains for many miles. As we were +travelling westward, on our left hand, that is to the south, could be +seen the great range of mountains called the Suffed Koh, on the other +side of which is the Kurram valley, now occupied by the British. This +range forms the southern boundary of the Kabul province, and extending +from the Khyber mountains had been on our left the whole way. Our +route, however, had been somewhat north-west, for we had kept fairly +close to although not on the banks of the Kabul river, but at Jelalabad +we branched off from the river south-west, and came much closer to the +Suffed Koh. + +This range, unlike the other mountains we saw, is covered with great +forests of trees. In the whole country the arboreal distribution is +peculiar. The forests are confined entirely to the main ranges of +mountains and their immediate offshoots. The more distant prolongations +are bare and rocky. I remember once in travelling from Turkestan to +Kabul, everyone stopped and stared, for there on a mountain a solitary +tree could be seen; it looked most extraordinary. In the valleys there +are poplars and willows, which have been planted by the peasants for +use afterwards as roofing beams, and there are orchards of fruit-trees, +but I never saw a forest, a wood, nor even a spinney. The species of +tree on those mountains where they are to be found, varies, of course, +according to the height you find them growing. For instance, high up, +there are the cone-bearing trees, the various kinds of pine and fir. +Then come the yew and the hazel, the walnut and the oak. Lower down--to +3,000 feet--are wild olives, acacias, and mimosas. On the terminal +ridges you find simply shrubs and herbs. + +We passed Gundamuk, where in May, 1879, the "Treaty of Peace" was +signed by the reigning Amir Yakoub and by Sir Louis Cavagnari. Four +months later, in September, Cavagnari, while British Resident in Kabul, +was assassinated with the connivance of the same Amir. I heard the +whole plot of the assassination when I was in Kabul. + +The story was this. Cavagnari had been holding Durbars, giving judgment +in cases of dispute brought to him by the natives, and had been +distributing money freely, till the Sirdars, coming to Amir Yakoub, +said, "No longer is the Amir King of Afghanistan, Cavagnari is King." +Yakoub therefore took counsel with his Sirdars as to the best course +to adopt. They said, "To-morrow the Herati regiments come for their +pay--send them to Cavagnari." It was crafty advice--they knew the +hot fiery nature of the Heratis. The following day, when the troops +appeared, unarmed, as is the custom on these occasions, Amir Yakoub +sent word, "Go to Cavagnari--he is your King." Off rushed the soldiers +tumultuously, knowing the Englishman had been lavish with money. The +Sikh sentry at the Residency Gate, seeing a great crowd rushing to the +Bala Hissar, challenged them. The excited shouts of the crowd being +no answer, he fired. At once their peaceable though noisy excitement +changed to anger, and they retaliated with a shower of stones. The +Residency guard were called out, some of the Afghans rushed back for +their rifles, and soon all were furiously fighting, though no one but +Yakoub and his Sirdars knew why. Messages were sent to Amir Yakoub, and +the answer he returned was, "If God will, I am making preparations." +The end was the massacre of the British Envoy and all with him. + +[Sidenote: Commencement of Ascent to Kabul.] + +About ten miles beyond Gundamuk was Surkh pul, or "The Red Bridge." +This is an ancient brick bridge built over the river Surkab, which runs +into the Kabul river near Jelalabad. The bridge is built high up at a +wild looking gorge between precipitous red mountains, and the river +comes roaring out into the valley. The water of the river is reddish, +or dark-brown, from the colour of the mud in suspension; however, the +Afghans said it was good water, and while we sat in the shade of a +fakir's hut there, the servants boiled some of the water and gave us +tea. Then we crossed the bridge and rode on again. From here, almost +to the Kabul valley, the road is through a very wild and desolate +mountainous region; you gradually rise higher and higher, to nearly +8,000 feet, but just before you reach Kabul, descend some 2,000 feet, +the valley of Kabul being 6,000 feet above the sea. It is, of course, +a very great deal colder in this region than in Jelalabad; in fact, +while the harvest is being reaped in Jelalabad, the corn at Gundamuk, +only twenty-five miles further on, is but an inch or two above the +ground. It would, perhaps, be more accurate to say that the ascent +commences at Nimla. We rode some miles between two ranges of hills--the +long narrow valley being cut across by spurs from the mountains; then +climbed a very long steep ascent, with precipitous walls of rock on +either side, and descended a narrow winding gorge which appeared to +have been once the bed of a river. On either side of this gorge there +was brushwood growing, some stunted holly trees, and what looked like +twisted boxwood trees. Then we climbed the mountain, on the top of +which is the Jigdilik serai. This is 6,200 feet high, and the scenery +from the serai is the abomination of desolation--range after range of +barren mountains. It felt bitterly cold up there, after the heat we had +been through. + +They found us a room over the gateway of the serai, lit a blazing wood +fire, and we stayed there till the next day. In the first Afghan war +in 1837, during the winter retreat of the British army, of the 5,000 +soldiers and 11,000 camp followers who left Kabul, only 300 reached +Jigdilik, and of these only one, Dr. Brydon, reached Jelalabad, the +others were shot down by the Afghans, or died of cold and exposure. + +The village of Jigdilik is not on the hill where the serai is situated, +but in the valley at the foot. Here three gorges meet. One was the +road by which the ill-fated army came in their retreat from Kabul +through the Khurd Kabul Pass. We took another road to the north-west. +We climbed up and down over steep mountains and through narrow defiles +hemmed in by bare rocks. In the valleys it was rare to see anything +but stones, rocks, and pebbles. There was one valley at Katasung where +there was a little stream with grass growing by it. This valley, a +short time ago, was very dangerous to travel through on account of the +highway robberies and murders of a tribe living near. It is safer now, +for the Amir has killed some of them, imprisoned others, and dispersed +the rest. We camped at Sei Baba, a narrow valley of pebbles, with a +small stream trickling through it. An enterprising peasant, finding +water there, had picked all the pebbles off a narrow strip of ground, +piled them in a ring round his field, led the water by a trench to it, +and had planted some corn. He, however, was nowhere to be seen, nor was +there any house or hut there. + +[Sidenote: Irrigation Terraces.] + +We occasionally came across these patches among the mountains wherever +there was a trickle of water to be obtained. Sometimes they were more +extensive than this one, and, if made on the slope of the mountain, the +ground was carefully dug and built up into terraces, so that irrigation +was possible. In the middle of the Sei Baba valley was a tomb with a +low wall all round it, and a solitary tree was growing by. On the tomb +were placed two or three pairs of horns of the wild goat. This is done +as a mark of great respect. Every passer by, too, throws a stone on a +heap by the grave, and strokes his beard while he mutters a prayer. +The heap of stones, or "tsalai," is supposed to be piled only over the +graves of holy men or martyrs; but they are heaped over any grave that +happens to be apart from others, and by the wayside. The peasants, +not knowing, assume it is the grave of a holy man. The custom is said +by some to originate by imitation from an act of Mahomed, in which +the form but not the spirit of the ceremony, has been retained; for +Mahomed, fleeing for refuge to Mecca from Medina, threw stones at the +city and cursed it. By others, these heaps of stones are supposed to +be representative of the Buddhist funeral pillars, the custom having +remained extant since the days when Buddhism was the dominant religion +of the people inhabiting this country. The latter seems the more likely +explanation. + +By the side of some of these tombs a small shrine, "ziyarat," is built. +If the tomb is that of a known holy man, the passer by, in addition +to adding a stone and saying his prayer, calls upon the name of the +saint, and tears a small piece of rag off his garment which he hangs +on the nearest bush or tree. The shred is to remind the holy man that +the wearer has prayed him to intercede on his behalf with the prophet +Mahomed. On the grave, too, is generally planted a pole with an open +hand, cut out of zinc or tin, fixed on the top. If the deceased has +fallen in battle a red rag is fixed on the pole as well. What the open +hand pointing to the sky represents I never heard. + +When we arrived at Sei Baba we found that a party of peasants on the +tramp had halted there--one of their number died just as we arrived. +Seeing that we had a cavalcade of horsemen and much baggage, and there +being no village nearer than seven or eight miles, they came to us to +beg a little calico for a winding sheet. It struck me that ten yards, +the amount they asked for, was rather much for that purpose. Possibly +they thought the living men required it quite as much as the dead man. + +[Sidenote: The Iron Cage.] + +Next day we had a high and stony range of mountains to climb--the +Lataband Pass, nearly eight thousand feet above the sea. This part +of the journey between Lataband and Chinar, with the winding rocky +road curving high up round the spurs or plunging into narrow ravines, +always seems to me the wildest and most weird of all. The mountains +are so huge and rocky, the ravines so precipitous, and the silence +so appalling. A few years ago the Pass was dangerous not only in +itself--the road in one place runs on a ledge of rock overhanging a +seemingly bottomless precipice--but it was infested with Afghan highway +robbers. Being comparatively near the capital this was particularly +exasperating to the Amir. Finding ordinary punishments of no avail he +determined to make an example of the next man apprehended. As we were +riding along we could see fixed on one of the highest peaks something +that looked in the distance like a flagstaff. The road winding on we +drew nearer, and saw it was not a flag, it was too globular, and it did +not move in the wind. When we got right under the peak we saw it was a +great iron cage fixed on the top of a mast. The robber had been made an +example of. There was nothing left in the cage but his bones. I never +heard of there being any more highway robbery or murder near here. + +From this pass you get the first view of Kabul. In the distance it +seems a beautiful place, and after the long desolate march the sight +of it lying in the green Kabul valley is delightful. We reached the +foot of the mountains, rode some miles along a stony and barren plain +till we reached a village called Butkhak, where we camped. The next day +the cultivated part of the Kabul valley lay before us. First were the +fields surrounding Butkhak, then we crossed a small dilapidated brick +bridge over the Logar river, which runs north to join the Kabul river. +We had quite lost sight of our old friend the Kabul river since we left +Jelalabad: he was away somewhere to the north of us, cutting a path +for himself among the mountains. The Amir has spent several thousands +of pounds--or rather lacs of rupees--in trying to make a road in the +course of the river from Kabul to Jelalabad, but it was found quite +impracticable among the mountains in the Lataband and Chinar district. +The object, of course, was to avoid the climb over the Lataband Pass. I +have never been the route through the Khurd Kabul Pass to Jigdilik, but +I have heard that the road is not very good. + +After crossing the Logar bridge we mounted a range of low pebbly hills, +which run irregularly east across the valley, cutting it in two. +From the elevated ground we could see on our left a large reed grown +marsh surrounded by meadow land, which ran right up to the foot of +the mountains, forming the south boundary of the valley. We were much +nearer to the southern than to the northern limit. The mountains curved +round in front of us and we could see the gap or gorge between the +Asmai and Shere Derwaza mountains. From this the Kabul river emerged +and took its course in a north-easterly direction across the valley. + +[Sidenote: The Approach to Kabul.] + +On the south bank of the river near the gorge and at the foot of the +Shere Derwaza lay the city. Jutting out north-east from the Shere +Derwaza into the valley, about a mile south of the gorge, was the spur +of the Bala Hissar, and the city seemed, as it were, to be tucked into +the corner between the Shere Derwaza, its Bala Hissar spur, and the +Asmai mountain. On our right, about a mile and a half north of the +city, was the Sherpur cantonment or fortification, backed by two low +hills--the Bemaru heights. + +We descended the elevated ground, from which we had a birds-eye view of +the valley, and found ourselves riding along excellent roads fringed +with poplar trees. The cultivated fields separated by irrigation +channels lay to the left of us. On the right were the pebbly hills we +had crossed lower down, continued irregularly west. On the last hill +nearest the town, "Siah Sang," was a strong fort, built by the British +when Lord Roberts was in Kabul. It is called Fort Roberts. + +We rode along the avenues of poplar and plane trees right up to the +Bala Hissar spur. In the time of the Amir Shere Ali, on the high ground +of the spur stood the royal residence and the fort, and when Yakoub was +Amir this was the Residency where Cavagnari lived. It is now almost +all in ruins or demolished. The gateway stands, and a part of the +old palace. This is used as a prison for women, political prisoners, +Hazaras, and others. The wall and the moat exist, and inside, some +rough barracks have been built for a few troops. The native fort on the +higher ground of the Bala Hissar seems to be in good repair. I have +never been inside. It is used as a magazine for powder. + +We passed the Bala Hissar, leaving it on our left, and the road led +through a plantation of willows extending from the Bala Hissar some +distance north, skirting the east suburb of the city. The willows in +the plantation were arranged in rows about ten yards apart with a water +trench or ditch under each row of trees, and the shaded space between +was green with grass--an unusual sight in Afghanistan. The trees were +planted by Amir Shere Ali, whose idea was to camp his soldiers here +in the summer without tents. The willow branches are used now to make +charcoal for gunpowder. + +We entered the gate of the city called the Lahore Gate. It was rather +dilapidated, but looked as though it might once have been strong. There +were heavy wooden doors studded with iron, and large loopholes in the +upper brickwork of the gate which were guarded by brick hoods open +below, a species of machicoulis gallery. Possibly the loopholes were +once used for the purpose of pouring boiling water on the heads of an +attacking enemy. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RECEPTION. + + Position of Kabul. Its defences. Amir's opinion of the Founders + of his Capital. Entry into Kabul. Aspect of the Townsmen. Arrival + at the Arm Foundry. Visit of the Afghan Official. His appearance. + Absence of Amir. To be received at the Palace by the Princes. The + approach to the Palace. The Amir's Pavilion. Page boys. The Princes + Habibullah and Nasrullah. The Reception. Internal arrangement of + Pavilion. The earthquake. Abrupt ending of the Reception. Other + buildings in the Palace. + + +[Sidenote: The Defences of Kabul.] + +The city of Kabul, 5,780 feet above the sea, lies then at the foot of +the bare and rocky mountains forming the west boundary of the Kabul +valley, just at the triangular gorge made by the Kabul river. Through +this gorge runs the high road to Turkestan and Ghuzni. An ancient brick +wall, high, though somewhat ruined, with towers at intervals, leads up +on each side of the gorge to the summit of the Asmai and Shere Derwaza +mountains, along the latter to the Bala Hissar spur, where it joins the +fort. From the Asmai a line of hills extends west to the Paghman range. +Formerly the wall was taken across the gorge, bridging the Kabul river. +Remains of it are to be seen on a small island in the middle. The city, +therefore, was well protected on the western side--the side of danger +from invasion of the Tartars: it is comparatively unprotected on the +east, except by the Bala Hissar fort; for in those days little danger +of invasion was apprehended from India. + +The city extends a mile and a-half from east to west, and one mile from +north to south. Hemmed in as it is by the mountains, there is no way +of extending it, except in a northerly direction towards the Sherpur +cantonment. It is here midway between the city and Sherpur on the north +side of the river that the Amir has built his palace. + +His Highness speaks derisively of the founders of his capital, +"Dewanas," he calls them, "Fools to build a city of mud huts cramped +into a corner among the mountains." One of his ambitions has been to +build a new Kabul in the fertile Chahardeh valley to the west of the +Shere Derwaza and Asmai mountains, between them and the Paghman hills. +Amir Shere Ali had also the intention of building a new Kabul, and +"Shere pur," the "City of Shere Ali," was begun. However, he got no +further than three sides of the wall round it. + +The desire to build a new Kabul is not surprising when one has seen the +present city. The first thing that strikes you on entering it is the +general look of dilapidation and dirtiness. Closer acquaintance shows +you how inexpressibly unclean and unhealthy an ancient Oriental city +can become. + +We rode through the narrow badly-paved streets, and through the +bazaars, which were crowded with turbanned Afghans and Hindus robed +in bright colours. They moved out of the way of our rather large +cavalcade, but very few showed any appearance of curiosity; and we rode +on to the garden or orchard in the gorge between the Shere Derwaza and +Asmai mountains, where, by the side of the Kabul river, the Amir's +European Arm foundry has been established. This is protected on one +side by the river, on the three other sides by high walls. + +[Sidenote: Arrival at the Arm Foundry.] + +The entrance was through a large double wooden gate, where some +soldiers were on guard. Inside there were built along the walls a +series of rooms where tin workers, brass workers, and others practised +their handicraft. In one of the larger of these rooms Mr. Pyne and +myself were located, and an adjoining one was prepared for the two +English engineers, Messrs. Stewart and Myddleton, who had accompanied +us. + +In the centre of the ground three or four large buildings were in +course of erection. These had been commenced by Mr. Pyne during his +first short visit to Kabul. The walls were nearly completed. To finish +them were the corrugated iron roofs which Mr. Pyne had brought out +from England, and the machinery, some of which was lying around packed +in cases in two hundredweight pieces: the rest arrived on strings of +camels a few days or weeks after we did. + +In our room we found a large table loaded with sweets, cakes, +kaimaghchai, or cream and tea, and various other eatables. We set +to, but were presently visited and salaamed by some score or so of +Hindustani mistris, whom Mr. Pyne had engaged and sent on from India. +There was a very fair carpet on the earth-beaten floor. Our beds, +bedding, and chairs we had brought with us. A soldier was posted on +guard at our door and another on the roof. + +In the space inside the enclosure unoccupied by buildings, there grew +a great many mulberry trees, and outside the walls were large beds of +flowers, vines trailed over upright poles, and a fountain. This plot +of ground had once been the garden of a wealthy Afghan gentleman. + +On the day after our arrival in Kabul it rained hard, but on the +following day we received a ceremonial visit from Jan Mahomed Khan, +the treasury officer, who was accompanied by a large retinue of +servants. This gentleman was of medium height and slightly built. He +had a rather dark skin, but a very pleasant face, and was charming +in his manner. His costume was brilliant. It consisted of a black +astrakhan hat of the globular Russian shape, a purple velvet tunic +embroidered with gold, a belt and sword, both highly ornamented with +beaten gold, trousers and patent leather boots. The sword was not of +the European shape. It was made with a slight curve, had no hand guard, +and slipped almost entirely into the scabbard. Mr. Pyne was acquainted +with this gentleman, having met him during his first visit to Kabul. +I, therefore, was introduced. After the usual compliments and polite +speeches, it was intimated to us that Prince Habibullah, the eldest son +of the Amir, would receive us at the Palace that day. + +We learnt that His Highness the Amir himself was away in Turkestan, +where he had been fighting his rebellious cousin Ishak. + +[Sidenote: The Approach to the Palace.] + +After Jan Mahomed Khan had politely asked permission to depart, we got +ready to go to the Palace. Our horses were brought to the door, and we +rode, accompanied by our guard and an interpreter, to the Erg Palace. +This Palace is situated outside the town, about midway between it and +the Sherpur cantonment. We rode from the workshops some little distance +along the Kabul river, then skirted the Government buildings which are +built on the south and east sides of the Palace gardens, and arrived +at the east entrance, a big arched gateway in which, however, there +were no gates. Here we left our horses. Entering the gateway we walked +across the gardens, the guard unceremoniously clearing out of our way +the clerks, pages, and petitioners who were walking along the paths. +We saw in front of us the ramparts, moat, and bridges of the Palace. +The flame-shaped battlements of the walls, and the decorated gateway +set in a semicircular recess flanked by bastions, had a quaint Oriental +appearance. + +On the wall over the gateway was a small cupola sheltering what +appeared to be a telescope, but may have been a machine gun. From this +tower issues at sunrise and sunset the wild native music of drums and +horns, which is the invariable "Salaam i subh" and "Salaam i sham" of +Oriental kings. Many a morning in after years was I woke up at daybreak +by the weird monotonous howl of the horns and the distant rattle of the +drums. + +We crossed the bridge in front of us and entered the decorated gateway, +the wooden gates of which--massive and studded with iron--were open. +Inside was the guard-room, large and high, with passages leading off +from it, and the soldiers of the guard were grouped idly about. + +The sentry on duty with fixed bayonet was lounging in a wooden shelter +near the gates. He jumped up as we entered. We walked across the +guard-room, out into the open, and found ourselves in another garden. +On either side of the path were grass lawns and trees. The paths +were fenced off by thin iron railings. All around the gardens were +buildings symmetrically arranged: two stories high on each side of the +gateway, and one story elsewhere. We walked along the centre path, +till we came to a long high wall, with loopholes extending across the +garden, and evidently concealing other buildings; turned to the left +till we came to a small heavy wooden door studded with iron, and with +the posts and jambs somewhat elaborately carved. There was no porch, +but fixed in front of the doorway, about six feet from it, was a high +heavy wooden screen. The object of this screen I could not see, unless +it were to obstruct the view when the door was opened. Near the door +was a wooden bench for the use of those who were waiting. Between the +door and the screen we found an officer in uniform, armed with a sabre, +and several soldiers in uniform, all armed with Martini-Henry carbines +and sword-bayonets. We waited a few minutes while the officer went in +to report our arrival. + +We were admitted, and I saw, standing in the middle of a flower garden, +the Amir's pavilion. There were roses, wallflowers, stocks, and other +sweet-smelling flowers in the garden, and the walks between the +flower-beds were paved with marble. Directly opposite was the entrance +to the pavilion, and it struck me at once why the heavy screen had been +erected outside, opposite the gate of entry to the garden; for the door +of the pavilion being open it was possible to see into the interior, +and if the door into the garden were also opened it would be possible, +without the screen, for a man in a distant part of the outer gardens +to fire a rifle straight up to the royal couch. On either side of the +steps leading up to the entrance of the pavilion reposed a marble lion. +These I found had not been carved in Afghanistan, but were imported +from India. The pavilion struck one as an extraordinary piece of +architecture in an ornate style. + +[Sidenote: The Princes Habibullah and Nasrullah.] + +We went up the steps into the entry, where there were several page boys +waiting. They were not dressed as Orientals, but had on astrakhan hats, +velvet tunics of different colours, embroidered with gold, trousers, +and English boots. The lobby led into a circular or octagonal hall, +with a high domed roof, and, entering it, we found ourselves in the +presence of the Prince. + +His Highness was seated in an arm-chair, his brother, Sirdar Nasrullah +Khan, on his left, and several officers in a semicircle on his right. +The Prince Habibullah Khan is a broadly built somewhat stout man, and +appeared to be about twenty years of age. He is fair for an Oriental, +is shaven except for a slight moustache, has handsome features, and a +very pleasant smile. Sirdar Nasrullah Khan, who seemed about seventeen, +is of a different type. He is less broadly built than his elder +brother, and his features are more aquiline. Neither of the Princes are +tall. Habibullah Khan bears a strong resemblance to the Amir, though he +has a smaller frame and a much milder expression than his Royal Father. +The Prince stammers slightly in his speech, and His Highness, the Amir, +told me this affection first appeared after an attempt had been made +to poison the Prince when he was quite a child. The Princes and the +officers were dressed in European military uniforms, with astrakhan +hats, and though this was an Oriental court no one was seated on the +ground. + +Contrary to Oriental etiquette we took off the turbans which we had +been wearing, for it seemed better to act according to Western ideas +of courtesy than to attempt to imitate the customs of Orientals, of +which we then knew very little. We bowed as we were introduced, and +the Prince, without rising, shook hands with us, politely enquiring if +we were well, and expressed a hope that we were not fatigued by the +journey to Kabul. + +Chairs were placed for us in front of the Prince, at some little +distance, and to his left. Tea and cigarettes were brought. The Prince +spoke to us for some time, chiefly about the machinery and workshops. +He spoke in Persian, the interpreter translating. + +There were four alcoves or rooms leading off from the central hall +of the pavilion, each about twelve feet square: one constituted the +lobby: in the opposite alcove, I learnt afterwards, the Amir's couch is +usually placed, and one led off from each side. The four rooms leading +from the central hall were not separated by doors, and over each was +a corresponding room upstairs, also looking into the central hall, +but protected by a wooden railing. The rooms were lighted by windows +opening into the garden; and the central hall by borrowed light from +the rooms. The hall, though high and domed, was not more than about +eighteen feet across, and against the four short walls that intervened +between the rooms, were placed respectively a piano with a gold +embroidered velvet cover; a carved wood cabinet; a marble table covered +with brass candlesticks and ornamental lamps of different patterns, +from England and Russia; and a dark carved wood escritoire with writing +materials on it. + +As I sat facing the Prince with my back to the entry, I saw hanging on +the walls opposite me two framed chromo-lithographs--one representing +the English House of Commons and the other the House of Lords. A year +or two afterwards I became much better acquainted with this pavilion, +for I had to live there while I was attending His Highness during a +severe illness. The Amir told me he designed it himself; I fancy he got +the idea from one of the churches in Tashkend, of which I have seen a +picture. It was small, he said, but was built as an experiment; he had +endeavoured to make it earthquake proof by bracing it with iron bands. +It cost him a great sum of money. + +[Sidenote: The Earthquake.] + +The Prince lit a cigarette, and just as he began smoking we heard a +most curious noise. The lamps and vases rattled violently, and I saw +the Prince's face change. Pyne turned to me and said, "An earthquake!" +The rattling and shaking increased, the doors swung open, and our +chairs heaved. The Prince sat a moment while the noise and shaking grew +more and more severe, then suddenly he rose and walked rapidly out into +the gardens. The whole court, and we with them, followed hurriedly. +All thought the Palace would fall. With one exception it was the most +severe earthquake I ever experienced. The shock lasted four minutes, +and travelled from east to west. We returned again to the pavilion +for a short time, but presently were allowed to retire, so that the +reception ended somewhat abruptly. + +As we were coming out I found there were two other enclosures in the +fort beside that containing the Amir's pavilion. Next to the Amir's +garden was the large enclosure of the Harem serai. It is not etiquette +to walk past the door of this if you can get to your destination any +other way. I had to enter this enclosure once, but that I will speak of +later. + +Next to the Harem serai was a quadrangle containing the official +quarters of the Princes. Each Prince has also an establishment in the +city, where are his servants, and horses, and his harem. Besides these +enclosures there is the Treasury, the Amir's private Stores containing +valuables of all kinds, silks and diamonds, carpets, and wines: a row +of cook houses or kitchens: quarters for the court officials and pages; +and barracks for the garrison. The fort, though seemingly strong, and +no doubt useful in case of a sudden riot, is completely under the +control of the fort on the summit of the Asmai mountains. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AFGHAN HOSPITALS. + + The first attendance at an Afghan Hospital. Its arrangement. The + drugs and instruments. The Patients. An Interpreter presents + himself. Dispensers. Marvellous recovery of the Page boy. Its + effect. Buildings near the Hospital. The Durbar Hall and Guest + House. The Sherpur Military Hospital. Lord Roberts and the Sherpur + Cantonment. Adventure with an Afghan soldier. Arrangement of the + In-patient Hospital. Diet of Patients. Attendance of Hakims. + Storekeepers and their ways. + + +[Sidenote: The Out-patient Hospital.] + +The next day Mr. Pyne set to work to get the pieces of machinery +removed from their cases and put together. Followed by a sergeant +and a couple of soldiers of the guard he bustled about vigorously, +issuing rapid orders in a mixture of English and broken Hindustani, and +Persian, which compound language his workmen soon learnt to understand. + +I had received no orders as to attending patients, but hearing +from Pyne that there was a City Hospital I rode off with my guard +to see what it was like. I found the Hospital was situated in the +row of Government buildings erected outside the Erg Palace on the +wide poplar-fringed road running between the city and the Sherpur +cantonment, which was made by the British and called by them "The Old +Mall." These buildings skirt the gardens outside the Erg Palace on the +south and east. Like most of the buildings put up under the direction +of the Amir, they are better built than most of the other houses in +Kabul. Though only of one story they are very lofty, with thick walls, +and have glazed windows. The buildings do not open into the street but +into the gardens, access to which is obtained by the big gateway on the +east side, where we left our horses when we visited the Prince, and by +a similar gateway on the south. + +In the storeroom of the Dispensary I found on the shelves of glazed +cupboards a great many cases of old-fashioned surgical instruments, +some of which were marked "Hon. East India Co.," and on other shelves +a large collection of European drugs in their bottles, jars, and +parcels. The name of each drug was written in Persian as well as in +English characters. These had been ordered from time to time by certain +Hindustani Hospital assistants who were in the service of the Amir, +and who had had charge of the Out-patient Hospital and the European +drug stores. The Hospital assistants had not used any great amount of +judgment in their orders, nor had they considered expense in the least. +I found great quantities of patent medicines warranted to cure every +disease under the sun; and of the newer and more expensive drugs of +which so much is expected and so little is known. The old tried friends +of the Medical Profession, whose cost is reasonable and whose action +is known, such as quinine, ipecacuanha, carbonate of ammonia, Epsom +salts, were conspicuous by their absence. I enquired what plan had been +adopted by the Hindustanis when they were making out their orders, +and learnt that they got hold of the price list of some enterprising +vendor which had found its way to Kabul through India, and ticking +off any drugs or patent mixtures that seemed to promise an easy road +to success in treatment, they ordered great quantities of these, +regardless of cost and before they had tested them. + +The stores were in charge of a Hindustani, who had obtained a medical +qualification in Lahore, and who had been in the British service. He +showed me a medal, and was reported to be in receipt of a small pension +from the Government, though how he received it while in Kabul I never +heard. + +I reached the Hospital about nine o'clock in the morning, and found +myself confronted by some eighty sick Afghans who had heard of the +arrival of a "Feringhi doctor," and were all eager to be cured by him. +In the time when Lord Roberts occupied Kabul the regimental surgeons +had done good work among the Afghans. + +A guard, with fixed bayonet, stood at the door to keep off the crush; +he did not use the bayonet, but he used a stick that he had with some +vigour. + +[Sidenote: The First Patient.] + +Every patient who had a weapon, and most Afghans wear one of some kind, +was disarmed before he entered the room. I had no interpreter, and had +been advised by Mr. Pyne not to learn Persian; so that when the first +patient was admitted I was in somewhat of a difficulty. I had seen +in a Persian grammar that the word "Dard" meant _pain_, so that when +the first man came up I said, "Dard?" putting a note of interrogation +after it. The patient looked blankly at me. I thought he must be +intellectually very dull, and I repeated my word, but with no better +result. Not knowing quite what to say next, I examined him with the +stethoscope. + +He was greatly astonished, and shrank back somewhat suspiciously when I +placed it against his chest. However, when he found no evil resulted, +he allowed me to proceed. I could not find anything the matter with +him, and was again at a standstill. + +This seemed very unsatisfactory; when to my great relief, a tall young +man, in a turban and a brown frock-shaped coat, stepped forward and +addressed me in imperfect English. I found he was an Armenian Christian +who had been educated in a Missionary boarding school in India, but +he had been so long in Kabul that he had nearly forgotten English. He +afterwards became my interpreter, and grew very fluent, but at first I +had to learn _his_ English before I could understand him; it was quite +different from anybody else's. However--about the patient--I said, "Ask +this man if he has any pain." And then I found that my word "Dard" +ought to have been pronounced more like "Durrud." I tried "Durrud" on +them afterwards, but either they didn't expect me to know Persian, or +else there ought to have been some context to my word, for they looked +just as blankly at me as when I said "Dard." The ordinary Afghan is a +very slow-witted person. I found the patient had no pain, and I said, + +"Tell him to put out his tongue." + +The patient appeared surprised, and looked somewhat doubtfully at me. I +suppose he thought I was jesting in making such a request. However, he +put out his tongue: it was quite healthy. I said, + +"There is nothing the matter with him;" but the Armenian said, + +"Sir, a little you stop--_I_ find out." He said something in Persian, +and the man nodded. What words the Armenian used to enable me to +understand what was wrong I do not remember, but I found out eventually +that the patient wanted a tonic, for all he suffered from was an +inability to manage his many wives. I said, "Tell the man his complaint +does not exist in my country; I have no medicines for it." + +There were, I should think, a dozen who came the first day for the +same reason. Of other diseases, malarial fevers, eye cases, venereal +diseases, coughs and dyspepsia were the commonest. I was not able to +finish attending to all the patients in the morning, and returned in +the afternoon, finding them still waiting. As the days went by, the +number of patients increased to such an extent, that it finally became +no small matter to attend to them all, and do my own dispensing. There +were Hindustani dispensers, but I was not quite prepared to trust them, +till I knew them better. + +[Sidenote: Miraculous Recovery of the Page Boy.] + +One day a lad, one of the Court pages, was brought: he was suffering +from jaundice. I put the suitable medicine in a bottle, placed it on +the table, then turned to examine another patient, mixed his medicine, +and put the bottle by the side of the first one. I went on till I +had about a dozen bottles ready, then I ordered them to be filled +with water, and gave them out. The patients took their medicine and +progressed satisfactorily: the Page boy, in particular, rapidly +improved. I was naturally pleased and said so to the Armenian. I +thought he looked rather strangely at me, and he said-- + +"Truly God works for the Sir!" + +I wondered rather that he should be so impressive; but not for some +months after did I know why he was so. Then he told me. It seemed that +after I had mixed the Page boy's medicine and turned away to the second +patient, one of the dispensers seeing the bottle on the table ready, +as he thought, for use and not quite clean, washed it out and replaced +it. It was then filled with water and the boy rapidly became well. +The dispenser had not dared to say what he had done, lest I should be +angry. There was great wonder and awe at the hospital over that case, +and my reputation as a healer of the sick spread rapidly. + +"If the Feringhi," they said, "gives a pinch of dust (jalap powder) or +only water, the sick became well!" + +[Sidenote: The Durbar Hall and Guest House.] + +In the Palace gardens outside the moat, and about a hundred yards from +the out-patient hospital, I saw a large white building with pillared +verandah and corrugated iron roof. This was the "Salaam Khana" or +Hall of Audience. It is a long high hall, with twelve lofty windows +on each side draped with English curtains: two rows of white pillars +support the ceiling, which is decorated in colours with stencilled +and lacquered plates of thin brass. The floor is covered with English +carpets, and when, as is frequently the case, a dinner is given by +His Highness to the chief officers of his army, long tables occupy +the aisles, and each guest is accommodated with a cane-seated wooden +arm-chair. During a banquet or festival, the hall is lit in the +evening by two big "arc" electric lamps, the dynamo of which is +worked by a portable engine, which is brought from the workshop for +the occasion. The building lies east and west, and is entered at the +eastern extremity by a big doorway and portico. The western extremity +is entered through a large vestibule with portico and steps. Here the +building is carried up another story, and this part of the Salaam Khana +constitutes the Amir's Guest house. + +On the ground floor are the great hall, the vestibule or entrance +hall which opens into the Palace gardens, and three smaller rooms. A +stone staircase with wooden balustrades leads to the upper floor. Here +there is in the centre a large pavilion, the Guest House, lighted by +many large double windows, which open on to the covered balcony or +terrace on the roof of the lower rooms. The Amir and, sometimes, Prince +Habibullah, are accustomed to spend a month or two in this house, +living in the upper pavilion, or in one of the lower rooms. + +A few days after my first appearance at the dispensary, I heard +there was a military "In-patient" hospital situated in the Sherpur +cantonment, which lies to the north of the town about a mile and a-half +away. + +I determined to visit it, and one afternoon, after finishing at the +City dispensary, we started along the Old Mall which leads from the +town, past the Erg Palace to the cantonment. + +We passed first the Salaam Khana, and then, further on, at the +extremity of the Palace gardens, I saw a small monument about twenty +feet high. It was square at the base and carried upward like the spire +of a church. On the square pediment was an inscription in Persian. This +monument I learnt was erected by His Highness to the memory of those +soldiers who fell in the last war against the British. + +On the other side of the Old Mall, commencing opposite the Palace and +extending as far as the monument, is a row of one storied buildings. +These open not on to the road, but on the other side into vegetable +gardens and fields at the back. This row of buildings which turns a +corner opposite the monument and extends down a road running east to +the Kabul river, the Amir has built as a barrack for the soldiers of +his body guard. About four feet from the doors of this row of buildings +is a narrow stream of running water, artificially made and used, after +the Afghan custom, both for ablutionary and for drinking purposes, as +well as for the irrigation of the vegetable gardens. + +[Sidenote: The Sherpur Cantonment.] + +Proceeding on our way we approached the lofty battlemented walls +surrounding the Sherpur cantonment. This oblong enclosure which lies +nearly east and west a mile and a-half due north of the city, is a +mile and a-half along its front, nearly three-quarters of a mile along +either end, and backs upon two low hills about three hundred feet high, +the Bemaru heights, at the east base of which, within the enclosure, +lies the Bemaru village. The hills protect the north side: the other +three sides are protected by the high walls, which are complete except +for half the length of the east extremity just by the Bemaru village. + +It was this cantonment, it will be remembered, that was held by the +British at the time when Lord Roberts occupied Kabul during the second +Afghan war. + +The Afghans had planned a sudden night attack in which their whole +force was to move suddenly at a given signal upon the cantonment. As +Lord Roberts' force was exceedingly small, considering the great extent +of the cantonment, it was thought by the Afghans that an easy victory +would result. The signal was to be the sudden lighting of a beacon on +the Asmai mountain. But there are never wanting those among the Afghans +who, for a sufficient bribe, will reveal anything, and the British +were ready when the attack came. The rush was met by a continuous and +deadly fire, and after strenuous but vain efforts to gain an entry, the +Afghans retired, leaving great numbers of their comrades dead on the +field. + +The gate we entered was protected outside by a semicircular curtain. +Built along the inner side of the wall were buildings one story high, +with a massive pillared colonnade or verandah and flat roof. There were +wood-faced, clay-beaten steps at intervals leading to the roof, so that +it was possible for troops defending the cantonment to take their stand +on the roof and fire through the loopholes. + +Just inside the gate was a bazaar of small shops, where fruit, +vegetables, and bread were for sale; and soldiers in every style of +dress, Turkoman, Kabuli, Hazara, were grouped about. Some were seated +on the ground playing cards, some smoking the chillim or hubble-bubble, +others digging in little vegetable or flower-gardens. These were +created with great pains around irregularly arranged huts which formed +the north side of the street leading along by the colonnade. These +huts and the rooms under the colonnade were used as barracks. The +soldiers seemed to stare with more curiosity than the townspeople had +shown, and as we rode along towards the hospital one suddenly stepped +forward and seized my bridle. I thought it was a piece of insolence, +and raised my riding-whip to cut him across the face, when it occurred +to me that perhaps it would be as well not to risk a close acquaintance +with the ready knife of an incensed Afghan. My guard seized the man and +hustled him out of the way with many loud words, to which he replied +vigorously. Not understanding Persian, and an interpreter not being +with me, I could not enquire what it was all about, so I rode on. All +the centre of the cantonment was a huge open gravelled space, and here +troops were drilling. The words of command were in Afghani or Pushtu, +not Persian, but the titles of the officers were moulded upon English +titles: Sergeant was pronounced Surgeon; Captain, Kiftan; General, +Jinral; and there was Brigadier and Brigadier-Jinral. + +The hospital was in an enclosed garden within the cantonment, and was +entered by low but heavy double gates. A series of rooms was built +along the inner side of the walls of the garden in the usual Afghan +style. There was no connection between the rooms except by a verandah, +and there was no upper story. Each room was about eight feet by ten, +and as none of them had windows, but were lighted simply by the door +that opened on to the verandah, they were nearly dark. + +In the garden were a few trees, and in the centre a square sunk tank +for water: this, however, was empty. There was a cook house or kitchen, +with its coppers and ovens heated by charcoal, where the cook baked +the bread and prepared the diets for the patients: Pilau (rice and +meat), kabob (small squares of meat skewered on a stick and grilled +over charcoal), shorbar, or broth, and shola, which is rice boiled +and moistened with broth. There were two dispensaries, one containing +native drugs and one a few European drugs. There were, of course, no +female nurses: each sick soldier was looked after by a comrade. + +[Sidenote: Storekeepers and their Ways.] + +The Hakim on his daily round wrote on a slip of paper the date and the +name, diet and medicine of the patient he prescribed for. This was +handed to the attendant of each patient, whose duty it was to procure +the medicine from the dispensary and the food from the cook-house. I +never heard of an attendant eating the food intended for a patient. One +hakim, the cook and dispenser lived in the hospital. The slips of paper +were taken to the mirza, or clerk, who copied the daily diets on to one +paper and the medicines on another. The papers were then put away in +the stores. No daily totals were taken, so that if fraud were suspected +on the part of a storekeeper, dispenser, or cook, and the Amir ordered +a rendering or auditing of accounts, the matter took a year, a year +and a-half, or two years before it was completed. However, as I found +later, the order in Afghanistan to "render an account" is usually +synonymous with "fine, imprisonment, or death." + +The next morning at the out-patient hospital when the Armenian +interpreter appeared, I told him of the soldier seizing my bridle in +Sherpur, and asked him to enquire what the man wanted. He seemed rather +startled when I told him, and at once turned to the sergeant of the +guard to enquire about it. It was nothing after all, simply the man, +guessing I was the Feringhi doctor, wanted me to see a sick comrade. +They apologized for him, saying he was not a Kabuli but an uncouth +"hillman" who knew no better. However, an order from Prince Habibullah +arrived in the afternoon that I was not to attend at Sherpur till he +had communicated with His Highness the Amir. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +AFGHAN DWELLINGS. + + The Residential streets of Kabul. Their appearance and arrangement. + The Police. Criminal Punishments. The Houses. Their internal + arrangement. Precautions to ensure privacy. Manner of building + for the rich and for the poor. Effect of rain and earthquake. The + warming of houses in the winter. Afternoon teas. Bath-houses. The + Afghan bath. + + +The same day that I attended the Hospital, I received an order to visit +a man of some importance, the brother of the Prince's Chief Secretary +or Mirza. Although it was but a very short distance, I went on +horseback, for I found it was not usual for any man of position to walk +about the town. The patient was suffering from Paralysis agitans, or +Shaking palsy, and was of course incurable. I was not allowed to depart +until I had eaten some sweets and drank tea. + +[Sidenote: Residential Streets.] + +To reach his house we rode through the streets in which are the +living houses of Kabul. I think the most striking peculiarity of +these Residential streets is their narrowness, and the height and +irregular arrangement of the almost windowless walls. Generally, they +are simply narrow passages necessary to obtain access to one, or a +group, of the living houses. Few of the streets, except the bazaars, +can be called in any sense thoroughfares. They wind and twist about +most irregularly, sometimes open to the sky, sometimes covered in by +rooms belonging to the adjoining houses, and they usually end abruptly +at the closed door of a house or garden. When one or more rooms are +built over the street the builder rarely trusts to the strength of +the original wall: he fixes wooden uprights on each side to support +the cross beams. Dirtiness and want of ventilation are conspicuous. +Drainage and street scavenging are also conspicuous by their absence. +At one time it was exceedingly unsafe to traverse the streets after +nightfall--I mean for the Kabulis themselves. Robbery and murder were +every night occurrences. It is now, however, less dangerous. There are +sentries belonging to the military police posted at intervals, each +having a small oil lamp at his station. After ten o'clock at night +every passer-by must give the night word or be kept by the police till +the morning, when he is brought before a magistrate to give a reason +for his wanderings. And the Amir now punishes the crimes of robbery and +murder most severely. For robbery and theft the hand of the criminal +is amputated in a rough and ready way. It is done in this manner. The +local butcher is called in. He knots a rope tightly just above the +wrist of the criminal, and with a short sharp knife he severs the +hand at the joint, plunging the raw stump into boiling oil. Then the +criminal becomes a patient and is sent to the hospital to be cured. No +flap of skin has been made to cover the end of the bone, and the skin +has been scalded for two inches or more by the oil, so that months +go by before the stump heals by cicatrization. A priest one day--he +may have been a humane Afghan--suggested to the Amir that operations +of this and other kinds on criminals should be done by the European +doctor. The Amir negatived the suggestion with a sharp reprimand. + +For murder--hanging and other forms of putting to death were found +inadequate. So that now in addition to the murderer being given into +the hands of the deceased's friends for them to kill as they please, +such a fine is put upon his whole family--father, brothers, uncles, and +cousins--that they are all ruined. Mere life is of no great value to +an Afghan, and at one time if a man found it inconvenient to kill his +enemy himself, he could easily get someone who for six thousand rupees +would do it for him and take the risk of being hung, so long as the +money was paid to his family. + +[Sidenote: The Approach to the Kabul Dwelling-house.] + +Supposing you have to visit a person in the town, you are conducted on +horseback along the narrow winding streets. You dismount at a door and +stumble into a dark winding passage with your head bent to avoid a bang +against an irregular beam, and you go slowly for fear of puddles and +holes which you cannot see. You come into the open, and find yourself +in a garden with flowers and trees, and a tank or pond in the middle, +or in a small courtyard with simply a well. The house is built round +the garden or yard, and consists of a series of rooms opening by doors +into one another and with the windows all looking into the garden. + +[Sidenote: Internal Arrangement of the House.] + +The richer men, especially those whose houses have been built within +the present reign, have large and beautiful gardens full of fruit-trees +and flowers, and through them ripples a stream or channel to supply the +tank with fresh water. A house so placed that a stream can be brought +through the garden from some irrigation canal is of greater value +than one where water can be obtained only from a well. These modern +houses are better built and much more elaborate than the older ones. +The windows, large and often filled with coloured glass, are made to +open and shut on hinges. The floors, though rarely boarded, are of +beaten earth carefully levelled. The rooms are decorated all round in +the Oriental way with "takchas," or small niches having the Saracenic +arch. There is a frieze just below the ceiling, and below this is a +dado, with mouldings which are arranged also around the takchas and the +fireplace, if one exists. The mouldings are of a hard and fine cement +with which the whole wall is faced. The best cement is brown in colour, +very like Portland cement, and is found at Herat. Generally the wall +is whitewashed, and sometimes before the cement is dry it is sprinkled +with sparkling particles of talc. The ceiling may be boarded, but more +often the beams are hidden by crimson drapery stretched tightly across. +In the winter a crimson curtain is hung over the door. The windows, +except in the Amir's palace, are rarely curtained. + +The takchas or recesses are filled with vases, lamps, or candlesticks, +and the floor is covered with beautiful Turkestan rugs or carpets. +These, with the addition of a velvet-covered mattress, properly +constitute the furniture of a room, for Orientals habitually sit +cross-legged on the ground. Now-a-days, however, no rich Afghan +townsman considers his room furnished without a chair or two; not that +he uses them much except when a distinguished foreigner calls, but it +is a sign that he knows what is correct. Sometimes you even see a small +table, but this is not usual. The houses of the richer men are in the +suburbs. They cover large spaces of ground and are rarely more than one +story high. They are not built level with the garden, but are raised +some three or four steps. The roof is flat, and a staircase leads to +the top. In the summer, on account of the heat, it is usual for a tent +to be erected on the top of the house, and for the owner to sleep +there. There are apartments which are devoted solely to the ladies of +the harem, and also kitchens and quarters for the servants and slaves. +The stables are, as a rule, in another enclosure. The whole house and +garden, surrounded by its high wall and entered by only one gate, is +absolutely private and screened entirely from any curious eye. + +Generally there is a room arranged apart from the rest with its window +opening outside and not into the garden. This is often a story above +the others, and has a staircase of its own. It is for the reception of +male visitors who are not relatives or intimate friends of the host. + +The houses of the less rich, particularly those in the heart of the +town where space is limited, are two, three, or even four stories +high. They are built on very much the same plan, though the garden is +replaced by a small cramped yard. Many of these are very old houses, +and their window sashes do not hang on hinges, but consist of three +shutters one above the other, sometimes beautifully carved. If the +owner can afford glass the top shutter has one small pane, the second, +two, and the third, three; generally, however, there is no glass. The +shutters all push up out of the way, and the window is generally wide +open, for in the spring, summer, and autumn, the heat is considerable. +It is only in the newest houses that you see fireplaces, and these are +rarely used, not because the winter is not cold, but because wood is +too expensive to burn in such an extravagant way. There is coal in the +country, but it is not in use. Even if mines were worked it would be +far too costly a proceeding in the absence of railways to bring the +coal to town. Quite lately a little inferior coal has been brought for +use in the Amir's workshops, but there is none for sale. + +In the winter people keep themselves warm by means of a charcoal +brazier or sandali, which I will describe presently. In the city, the +houses being crowded so close to one another, it was to me a source of +wonder how the owners could prevent themselves being overlooked. I was +informed that if a man standing on the top of his house could see into +his neighbour's enclosure, even into the garden, he was compelled by +law to build a wall or screen to cut off his view: a violation of the +privacy of a man's dwelling by looking over the wall is a great offence +in Afghanistan. + +[Sidenote: The Building of the House.] + +When a house is to be built, a trench two feet deep is dug and large +stones or pieces of rock, unshaped, are packed in with a mixture of +clay and chopped straw. This is the foundation. The thickness of the +wall depends on the class of house and the height it is to be built. +Two feet is about the thickness of the wall of a house one story +high. In the poorer houses the wall is built of lumps of clay or mud +mixed with chopped straw: in the better houses, of sun-dried bricks +six inches square, an inch thick, and laid on the flat: in the best, +of similar bricks properly baked. The roof is supported on beams of +unshaped poplar. The wood being of poor quality the beams are arranged +close together, with a space of not more than two or three inches +between each. The beams are covered with rush matting, or, in some +houses, little pieces of wood, about four inches long and an inch +wide, are placed from beam to beam close together. Over this or the +matting is placed clay and chopped straw to the thickness of eight or +nine inches. Upper floors are made in precisely the same way. As there +is very little rain in the country, a house built in this manner will +stand for years, but it is necessary to repair the roof every autumn. +When a poor-class house is carried more than one story high, the upper +stories, often projecting beyond the lower, are framed with wooden +beams--poplar--and the interspaces filled in with sun-dried bricks, +making a wall one brick thick. The builder never trusts to the lower +wall alone to support a second or third story, but invariably fixes +uprights of wood in the ground against the wall to support the first +floor. This may be because the extra stories have been added on as +the need for more space became urgent. In the older houses the walls +are rarely perpendicular, but bulge and lean in all sorts of dreadful +ways. If a house seems inclined to tumble over on one side, several +extra props of wood are fixed under it. Sometimes an unusual amount +of rain in the autumn will wash a house down, and not infrequently an +earthquake will shake one to pieces. But considering how they are +built, and what they look like, it is astonishing how long they stand. + +In the better class houses, built of brick, there is not so much need +of the wooden uprights, though even in these you generally see them. +The walls of these better houses are some of them very thick: this is +the case when they are from the commencement intended to be more than +one story high. The house that I lived in in Kabul, after I returned +from Turkestan, was one of the better class. It was arranged in two +wings at right angles to one another, and was two stories high. It +was built of brick coated with mud and chopped straw. The lower walls +were about four feet thick and the upper about two feet. Nevertheless, +wooden uprights supported the upper floor where I lived. Below were +the stables, the kitchen, and the servants' quarters. I noticed in +the stable that one of the walls bulged alarmingly, so that I did not +feel any too comfortable when an earthquake--a common phenomenon in +Kabul--shook the house. The sensation produced by a slight earthquake +is somewhat similar to that produced when you are standing on the +platform of a small station and an express comes rushing through. +There is not so much noise, but the shaking is very similar. A severe +earthquake is very different. It commences mildly, and you think it +will stop soon--but it does not: it becomes worse and worse, the beams +creak, the windows and doors rattle, the house rocks, and you wonder +what is coming next. If it is daytime you escape from the house; if it +is night, and in the winter, with three feet of snow outside, you wait +for further developments, hoping your house will not fall on top of you. + +[Sidenote: The Warming of the House.] + +The houses, being built in this way with thick non-conducting walls and +roof, are wonderfully cool in spite of the intense heat of the sun in +summer. They should be equally warm in the winter, but, unfortunately, +the windows and doors never fit properly. There is no paint on the +woodwork, for paint is far too expensive to be used in such a wholesale +way, and the heat and dryness of the summer make great cracks appear. +Except in the Amir's palaces there are no latches to the doors such +as we have. The doors and windows are fastened by a chain which hooks +on to a staple. The windows of a room occupy nearly the whole of the +wall on the garden side of the room; and as passages are rare--one room +opening into another--there are two or more doors to each room. The +number and variety of draughts, therefore, can be imagined; so that +with the thermometer at zero, or below, it is utterly impossible to +keep a room warm with a wood fire in the fireplace--even if you have a +fireplace, which is unusual. + +The Afghans do not attempt to keep the room warm. They keep themselves +warm, however, by means of the "sandali." An iron pot or brazier is +placed in the middle of the room and filled with glowing charcoal. +Among poorer people simply a shallow hole is scraped in the earth of +the floor, and in this the charcoal is put. A large wooden stool is +placed over the charcoal and covered by a very large cotton-wool quilt, +or rezai. The people sit on the ground round the sandali, pulling the +quilt up to their chin. A big postin over the shoulders keeps the back +warm, and the turban is always kept on the head. In the winter there is +not much work done, and the people sit by the sandali most of the day. +Supposing you make a call, you find them, masters and servants (all +men, of course), sitting round the sandali chatting together or playing +cards or chess. The ladies have their own sandali in the harem--you +don't see them. Everyone rises as you enter, and room is politely made +for you at the sandali. One of the servants goes off to prepare tea, +making the water hot in the samovar. Another makes ready the chillim, +or hubble-bubble. The tray is brought in with an embroidered teacloth +over it, covering teapot, cups and saucers, and sugar-basin. The +servant places the tray on the floor and kneels down by the side of it, +folding up the cloth for a tea cosy. It is not etiquette for a servant +to sit crossed-legged in the presence of a visitor or a superior. In +the privacy of their own homes etiquette is, however, considerably +remitted. He puts two or three big lumps of sugar into the cup and +pours out the tea, breaking up the sugar with a spoon. He gets up and +hands you the cup and saucer with both hands. To use one hand would +be a rudeness. No milk or cream is drank with the tea, except in the +occasional cup of "kaimagh-chai." + +You must drink two cups of this sweet tea--it is flavoured with +cardamoms--and half a cup of tea without any sugar--"chai-i-talkh"--this +is to correct the sweetness. If you make two or three calls in an +afternoon, you feel it is as much as you can bear. In Afghanistan you +may call upon a man whenever you like, but you must not leave his +house without asking permission. I told them that in my country it was +different: people were not allowed to call upon us without invitation, +and they could go away as soon as they pleased. The Afghans seemed +to think this was very discourteous, for they are nothing if not +hospitable. + +[Sidenote: The Bath House.] + +All the larger houses have rooms for the Afghan bath; there is the +bath-room proper, and a small dressing-room. It is not a hot dry-air +bath like the Turkish bath, but a hot moist air, so that the heat is +never so great as in the Turkish bath. The walls are cemented, and +the floor either cemented or paved with an inferior marble that is +plentiful near Kabul. The cement is made of equal parts of wood-ashes +and lime moistened and beaten together for some days. In a recess in +one wall is a cistern or tank of stone or cement, with a fireplace +beneath it, which is fed from the stokehole outside the bath-room. +Public bath-rooms are quite an institution in Afghanistan. They are +rented by a bath-man or barber, who makes what he can out of them. +Some of the bath-houses belong to the Amir. The bath is by no means +an expensive luxury: the poorer people pay about a halfpenny. Richer +people who engage the services of the bath-man or barber to shampoo +them, pay about eighteenpence. The plan I adopted was to engage the +bath-room and the shampooer for the day. It cost but a few shillings. + +Having sent word a day or two beforehand, I used to start about ten +o'clock in the morning, accompanied by all my Afghan servants, +bringing bath-towel, soap and comb. It is the custom in Afghanistan +when the master has engaged the bath-room, for the Afghan servant to +seize the opportunity of having a free bath. Hindustani servants in +Kabul do not presume to accompany the Sahib on such an occasion. The +outside appearance of the bath-house is not very inviting. As a rule, +there is a large pool of stagnant water near by--the waste water of +the bath--and you dismount in a hesitating way. When you get into the +small dark unpaved entry, and slip about on the mud, the inclination is +to turn round and go out again. However, having got so far, you think +you may as well face it out. You find the dressing-room clean and dry, +and the bath proprietor (or tenant rather) comes out to receive you. +He is dressed--or undressed--ready to shampoo you, his only garment +being a waist-cloth. The servants pull off your boots, and help you to +get ready, and then fix a waist-cloth, which reaches the knees, very +tightly round the waist, fastening it with a particular twist. The +bath-man taking your hand, raises the curtain over the arched door of +the bath-room, and leads you carefully in. The reason is that the floor +being very smooth and wet, you are exceedingly likely, without great +care, to have a dangerous fall. When you enter, the air being damp as +well as hot, you feel almost suffocated. + +[Sidenote: The Process of the Bath.] + +A good class bath-room is generally octagonal, with a vaulted and +groined roof, not much decorated, but displaying a certain amount of +taste in the building. The windows are arched and glazed, and very +small, so that the room is rather dark. The Afghan servants quickly +follow you in, attired in the same way as yourself, and though they +treat you with due respect, all seem for the time, more or less, on an +equality, and as they dash the water over each other, they chat and +laugh quite unrestrainedly. The process of massage, or shampooing, +which the bath-men thoroughly understand, is rather a long one; and +it is not at all uncommon when bathing to spend a great part of the +day--four or five hours--in the bath-room. For myself, I found two +hours quite as much as I wanted. A cloth is folded up for a pillow, and +you lie on a warm part of the marble, or cement floor. You generally +see, at first with some disgust, a few large long-legged ants, running +quickly about near the walls: afterwards you become indifferent, for, +as the bath-man says, they are harmless, they don't sting. There are +such swarms of insects of all kinds in the East, that you divide them +roughly into those that sting and those that don't. The latter you take +no notice of, the former you treat with more respect. The shampooer, +having dashed on a little warm water, begins by stretching and kneading +the skin of one arm, the rubbing being done in the direction of the +blood current; the knuckles of the fingers he cracks with a sudden +jerk. Then he goes to the other arm. Having treated all the limbs +the same way, he places his two hands on the sides of the chest, and +suddenly throws his whole weight on to them, which stretches the skin, +and compressing the ribs, drives out the air from the chest with a +grunt and gasp. Then he kneads and rubs the muscles of the chest, +shoulders, and body. After that he brings you into sitting posture, and +fixing you with his knee, he seizes one shoulder and twists you round +as far as you can go, and with a sudden jerk in the same direction he +makes the back-bone crack. A similar twisting is done the other way +round. He then takes a coarse flesh glove and proceeds to rasp your +skin off. The more he can get off, the better pleased he is. They left +me the first time with a "fox bite" on the chest, which lasted for +days. On subsequent occasions I called attention to the fact that I +was an Englishman and not a cast-iron Afghan. After the flesh glove, +come two courses of "soaping"--how it smarts! hot water being dashed +on at frequent intervals. The Afghan shoe leaving a part of the instep +exposed, the skin becomes thick and coarse, and a piece of pumice stone +is used to scrub the feet with. This, after all the rest, was too much +for me, and I rebelled, excusing myself by explaining that my life was +of value to the Amir on account of the number of sick poor in the city. + +[Sidenote: The Lack of Ventilation.] + +Finally you stand up, and two or three bucketfuls of hot water are +thrown over your head. Your servant then comes up, wraps you in a +bath-towel, and you go off to the dressing-room. There are no velvet +couches to lie on, so you proceed to rub down and dress: then tea is +brought, you have a cigarette, and ride languidly home. The Afghan bath +is an excellent institution for cleanliness in a hot climate, but it +certainly is neither exhilarating nor stimulating. There is little or +no arrangement made for ventilating the bath-room, and it is customary, +in the bitter cold of a Kabul winter, for poor people to obtain +permission to sleep there at night. It is a not uncommon occurrence for +one or two to be found suffocated in the morning. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE KABUL BAZAARS. + + The unpopular Governor and his toothache. The meeting in the Erg + Bazaar. Appearance of the Kabul Bazaars. The shops and their + contents. Boots, shoes, and cobblers. Copper workers. The tinning + of cooking pots. Impromptu tobacco pipes. Tobacco smoking by + the Royal Family. Silk and cotton. "Bargaining." "Restaurants." + Tea drinking. Confectioners. The baker's oven. Flour mills. The + butcher's shop. Postins and their cost. Furs. Ironmongers. Arms. + "The German sword." The Afghan tulwar. Rifles and pistols. Bows. + Silver and gold-smiths. Caps and turbans. Embroidery. Grocers: tea, + sugar, soap, and candles, and where they come from. Fruiterers. + Tailors. "The Railway Guard." Costume of the Kabuli townsmen. + Personal effect of the Amir on costume. Drug shops. + + +One day soon after I arrived in Kabul the Governor of the city--the +notorious Naib Mir Sultan--of whom I shall have more to say later, +sent to say he was very ill. He had been suffering for days from an +agonizing toothache. I was advised not to visit the Naib because he +was not in favour with the Prince. I therefore sent him some medicine +and directed the Armenian interpreter to go, and if he found a decayed +tooth to introduce a small pellet of cotton wool soaked in creosote. A +day or two after, as I was returning from the hospital, I met the Naib +in one of the bazaars. He was surrounded by a guard of the military +police, whose Chief he was, and by a great crowd of servants. At that +time he was execrated in Kabul. He did not, however, look very evil. He +had a dark skin but not a disagreeable face. I enquired how he was, and +he said the pain had entirely left him. He dismounted, and I examined +the tooth in the street. It was decayed and the socket inflamed. I +wanted to pull it out there and then with my fingers, but he would not +let me touch it. + +[Sidenote: The Appearance of the Kabul Bazaars.] + +The bazaar in which I met the Naib is a modern one built by the present +Amir, the street is wider and the shops are better built than those of +the other bazaars. + +There are three chief bazaars or streets of shops in Kabul. Two lead +from the direction of the workshop gorge eastward through the town. +One running near the foot of the mountains to the Bala Hissar, and the +other near the middle of the town. These two are for a considerable +distance broader, better paved, and more carefully roofed than the +others. In the best part the houses are two stories high. They are flat +topped, and beams supporting a roof to the bazaar extend across from +house to house. In other parts, where the houses are but one story, +the bazaar is not roofed in. The other chief bazaar extends from a +strong wooden bridge over the Kabul river, southward through the middle +of the town. This too is roofed over in a part of its course, but it +is neither so broad nor so carefully built as the others. There are +a few smaller bazaars and many narrow streets or passages striking +off in different directions from the others. They are badly paved, +undrained, and exceedingly dirty. The shops are small and open, like +stalls, with no front window. The floor of each is raised three or four +feet above the street, and the shopkeeper sits cross-legged among his +goods. At night he closes his shop with shutters, fastening the last +shutter with a chain and a curious cylindrical padlock. Some parts of +the bazaars are reserved for the sale or manufacture of particular +articles. There is, for instance, the shoe bazaar. This is in the +street leading from the wooden bridge south. The Afghan shoes are of +heavy make, are sewn with strips of leather and have the pointed toe +turned upwards. Some are elaborately embroidered with gold. The women's +shoes or slippers are generally green in colour, and are made with a +high heel. They are almost sandals, having an upper only at the toe. +They are awkward things to walk in, I have noticed, for they drop at +the heel at every step. The native shoes are those most on show, but +one can buy English boots of all kinds, from the elaborate patent +leather of Northampton to the three-and-sixpenny army boot. There are +also long Russian boots made of beautifully soft leather: these are +the fashion among the highest class; and a cheaper Turkoman boot of a +similar shape with a high heel that cavalry soldiers who can afford +the luxury invest in. A shopkeeper is, however, none too ready to show +you his best goods. He does not exhibit them in the shop, for the +Government officials have a way of buying anything that takes their +fancy at their own price. + +I noticed in the boot bazaar that in the three-foot space under the +floor of the shop the poorer men, the cobblers, did their business. +There was just room to sit, and there the cobbler sat stitching, with +his nose on a level with the knees of the passers by. A customer with a +shoe to mend squats down beside him and gives his orders. Cobblers who +can't afford to rent even such a "shop" as this, sit by the roadside +in the shade of a wall or a tree and carry on their business. + +[Sidenote: Copper Workers: Tinning of Copper Pots.] + +There is a copper bazaar. Though copper is found in Afghanistan, most +of that used comes from India. This bazaar is in the street running +east through the middle of the city. Here, there is shop after shop +of men hammering out copper into the different shaped utensils: the +long necked vase for the chillim, or hubble-bubble pipe: bowls and +pots for cooking kettles: water vases with long neck and handle and +tapering curved spout. The shapes are all those made by their fathers +and forefathers; there is no new design invented. The pots used for +cooking are tinned over inside and out. Supposing the tin has worn off +your cooking pots, you send to the bazaar for one of these men. It is +interesting to watch how he sets to work. + +He brings a pair of hand-bellows with him and a stick of tin. Settling +himself on the ground in the garden he digs a shallow hole six or seven +inches across. This is to be his furnace. From it he leads a little +trench about six inches long, which he covers over with clay, placing +his finger in the trench as he moulds each piece of clay over it. +Thus he has a pipe leading to his furnace. The nozzle of his bellows +is fitted into the distal end of the pipe. He begs a little lighted +charcoal from the cook with which to start his "furnace," piles it +over with black charcoal, blows his bellows, and soon has what fire he +wants. A small boy with him having cleaned the pots with mud and sand, +he places the first one, supported on three stones, over his furnace. +When it is at the proper heat he rubs it round with a rag smeared with +wood ashes, touches it with the stick of tin, then rubs it round again +with his wood ashes, and the pot is tinned. If you are watching him he +may make it extra superfine with another touch of tin and another rub +with the wood ashes, and so he goes on till he has finished them all. + +[Sidenote: Tobacco Smoking by the Royal Family.] + +Supposing the pot to be tinned is a large one, the small boy, having +thrown in the mud and sand, stands inside the pot, and jerking it round +and round with his hands, cleans it with his bare feet. Describing the +way that the "furnace" is made reminds me that I have seen men prepare +an impromptu tobacco pipe the same way. The principle is exactly the +same, only instead of blowing air through the pipe they suck the smoke +from the tobacco which they have lit with a match. To lie on your +face on the ground in order to get a smoke seems rather excessive, +but if a man has tobacco, a match, and cannot get a pipe, this is one +way out of the difficulty. I have also seen a soldier use his bayonet +for a pipe. He filled the cylindrical part that fits on the muzzle of +the rifle with tobacco, and having put a lighted match on the top, he +fitted his two hands round the lower end and sucked the smoke between +them. Most Afghans are inveterate smokers. The tobacco they smoke is +not the American tobacco that we have. It grows in Kabul, Kandahar, +Herat, and many parts of Afghanistan, but the best comes from Persia. +The leaf is paler, apparently uncured and is not pressed, nor cut, +but simply broken up. I have smoked it, but it is very hot in a short +pipe. It smokes best in the chillim. The Amir himself when he smokes, +which is not often, generally has a Turkish cigarette. The eldest +Prince, Habibullah, smokes cigars from India. Prince Usuf, the Amir's +uncle, one of the younger sons of Amir Dost Mahomed, smokes American +birdseye tobacco. He is a courtly old gentleman, dresses exceedingly +well, and is of the bluest of the blue blood, and it strikes one as +very incongruous to see him puffing away at a short clay pipe; he never +smokes anything else. + +There is the cotton and silk bazaar in the street leading from the +gorge to the Bala Hissar. The shops here are mostly kept by Hindus. +Every Hindu in Kabul, and there is quite a colony of them, has to pay a +poll tax, and is not allowed to wear a blue turban. It must be either +yellow or red--generally they wear red. + +Besides the rolls of silk from India and Bokhara, and the plain and +printed cotton goods which come from India, there are many English +undergarments to be seen: for English clothing of every kind is very +fashionable among the upper classes in Kabul. There are cotton and +merino vests, socks, and handkerchiefs hanging on strings across the +little shops. The Hindu shopman in Kabul strikes one as oppressively +civil, he "salaams" so low with the hand on the forehead. The Afghan +trader does not. You can buy or not as you please. If he has a piece +with a yard or two more than you want, often he will not cut it for +you. You can take the lot or leave it, he is not particular. But Afghan +and Hindu alike ask you a much higher price than they will afterwards +take. + +If you want to buy anything, you send for a shopkeeper to your house +and ask his price. He tells you. You smile derisively, and offer him +just a third. He is pained, he is indignant, the thing is absurd, he +gave a great deal more than that himself. You say, "Good morning." +Then he says--Well, he will do what he can, for you are a friend to +the poor, but it will be a dead loss to him; and he knocks a little +off his price. You say, "No," but add a little on to yours, and so +it goes on for a variable time, derision and sarcasm on your side--a +pained indignation on his. Finally, he takes less than half of what he +asked originally, and is well paid then; but when he goes away you feel +rather as if you had swindled the poor man. + +Though shopkeepers in Kabul selling similar goods tend to congregate +in the same bazaar, they do not do so to the same degree as in some of +the towns of India. You find boot shops in other streets than the chief +boot bazaar; and so with other goods for sale. + +In the tea-drinking shops you see a large samovar, about three feet +high, in one corner, where water is kept boiling hot by the glowing +charcoal in the centre pipe. Men drop in and seat themselves, +cross-legged, for a chat and a cup of tea. The shops will hold some +three or four. The Afghans like their tea very hot, weak, very sweet, +and flavoured with cardamoms, which are put unpowdered into the teapot. +They pay a pice, that is a little less than a farthing, for a cup of +tea. If a man has some tea with him, and he often has, he can always +send to one of these shops for a teapot and hot water. He pays a pice +for it. There is also a preparation they call "kaimagh-chai," but this +is comparatively expensive, and is drunk only at festivals or times of +rejoicing. It is a mixture of tea, sugar, cream, soda, and cardamoms. +It is thick, curdy, pink, and very sweet--not at all bad to taste, but +very "rich." The teapots, cups, and saucers in use are generally from +Russia. Some of the richer men have them from China or Japan. + +[Sidenote: The Kabul Restaurant.] + +Besides the tea-drinking shops there are the eating-houses. These have +no marble-topped tables or velvet-covered chairs. The shop is the same +as any other shop, except that it looks rather dirtier, probably from +the amount of fat or oil used in the cooking. The customer carries his +lunch away with him, or stands outside to eat it. The space inside +the shop is taken up by the cook and the cooking pots. They sell +kabobs--little cubes of meat skewered on a long stick and grilled over +charcoal. A stick of kabobs, with some bread, is uncommonly good if you +are hungry; you tear the meat off the stick with your fingers. They +have also meat, finely minced and mixed with fat, which they squeeze in +their hand round a thin stick and cook over charcoal. It looks rather +like sausage, I don't know what it is called. They use any kind of meat +for this--mutton--or, failing that, the flesh of the camel or horse +that age or infirmity has rendered unfit for further service. There +are many kinds of pilau too. Rice, boiled skilfully till every grain +is soft without being soppy, is piled over the meat, stewed to such +tenderness that you can easily tear a piece off with the fingers. There +are chicken pilau, mutton pilau, sweet pilau with raisins in it, and +so on. Kourma is another dish--meat stewed in small pieces and eaten +with stewed fruit. + +For his pudding the Afghan goes to another shop, the confectioner's. +Here there are sweets of many kinds: sugared almonds, "cocoa-nut +ice," sweets made in the shape of rings, sticks, animals, or men; +gingerbread, soft puddings made of Indian corn, much sweetened. In the +summer different kinds of iced sherbet, lemon, orange, or rose are sold +in the street. + +In the bread shop, the baker squatting on the floor kneads out the +dough into large flat cakes and claps it in his oven. The oven is a +large clay jar about three feet across and three feet deep, with the +neck a foot in diameter. This is buried beneath the shop, the mouth +being level with the floor, and is packed round with earth. It is +heated by making a fire inside. When the heat is sufficient, and the +fire has burnt out, the baker puts his hand in the mouth and flaps the +flat doughy cake against the wall of the oven, where it sticks. When +baked, it generally brings away some grains of charcoal or grit with +it. You pay two pice (a little less than a halfpenny) for a cake of +bread a foot and a-half long, a foot wide, and an inch thick. + +Flour is ground in a water mill. A hut is built by the side of some +stream which has a sufficient fall. The water pours down a slanting +trough over the water wheel, and turns two circular flat stones which +are arranged horizontally in the hut. The miller, squatting down, +throws the grain into an aperture in the upper wheel and scoops up the +flour as it is ground away from between the stones on to the floor. +The bread made from the flour varies very much in grittiness, some is +hardly at all gritty. The Afghans are very particular about eating +their bread hot, they don't care to eat it cold unless they are on a +journey. One of their proverbs is, "Hot bread and cold water are the +bounteous gifts of God," "Nan i gurrum wa ab i khunuk Niamati Illahist." + +[Sidenote: The Butcher's Shop.] + +Butchers' shops are not very common; meat is an expensive luxury. +Mutton is the usual meat eaten. By very poor people other meats are +sometimes eaten, especially in the form of mince. In the latter case +it is impossible to say what the meat is, so the impecunious Afghan +assumes it to be mutton. If there is any meat in the mince that is +unclean--on the shopkeeper's head be it for selling anything "nujis" to +a True Believer. + +There is very little meat to be seen hanging in the shops, for the +climate being a hot one and flies numerous, the meat will not keep more +than a few hours. What the joints are it is impossible to say, for +they cut the sheep up quite differently from an English butcher. At +one time I used to try and puzzle out when the joint came to the table +what it was: I gave up the attempt afterwards as futile. The mutton is +excellent in quality and very cheap. I wished to give a dinner one day +to a dozen Afghans--the Amir's palanquin bearers. I bought a sheep for +4s. 6d., some rice, butter, bread, and firewood, and the whole cost +less than 6s. + +Kabul is famous all over Central Asia for the manufacture of the +postin or sheepskin pelisse. While riding along the bazaar running +from the wooden bridge south, I used to wonder at one place what the +faint disagreeable smell was due to. I found on enquiry that there +was a manufactory of postins there. I have not seen the whole process +of tanning. The skin of the sheep or lamb with the wool on it is +cleaned and scraped, then soaked in the river and pegged out in the +sun to dry; afterwards it is tanned yellow with pomegranate rind. The +leather is beautifully soft, and it is usually embroidered artistically +with yellow silk. The wool is, of course, worn inside. The better +ones are trimmed at the collar and cuffs with astrakhan. There are +several different kinds of sheepskin postins. The long one reaching +from shoulder to ankle, with ample folds that you wrap yourself up in +on a winter night: there is nothing more cosy and warm to sleep in. +The sleeves are very long and are more for ornament than use. These +are but little embroidered, they cost from fifteen to thirty rupees. +There is a short one with sleeves, which is elaborately embroidered. +This is worn in the winter by the soldiers--cavalrymen, for instance, +if they can afford the necessary ten or fifteen rupees. Similar but +cheaper ones with less beautiful wool and no embroidery, can be bought +for four or five rupees. There is the waistcoat postin of lamb's +wool, which is made without sleeves, this costs two rupees six annas +Kabuli, or half-a-crown English. These waistcoat postins and the long +sleeping postins are used by all classes, rich and poor. The others +are used only by the poorer classes, the peasants and the soldiers. A +gentleman or a man of position would no more think of putting one on, +were it ever so beautiful and elaborate in its embroidery, than would +a resident of the west of London think of appearing in the "pearlies" +and velvet embroidered coat of the coster. The rich men wear, in the +winter, coats of cashmere, velvet or cloth, lined with beautiful furs +from Bokhara and other parts of Asiatic Russia. + +[Sidenote: Furs: Their Cost.] + +The most valuable fur that is imported I have not seen, only the Amir +wears it, and he rarely; from the description they gave me I conclude +it is sable. The next most valuable is the "Khuz," a species of Marten. +There are two kinds, the Khuz i Zulmati, which is dark, and the Khuz i +Mahtabi, which is much lighter and of an inferior quality. These can +be bought sewn together in the sheet, either with or without the tails +of the animals attached. There were twenty-four skins in the sheet I +bought. The shopman asked L10 for it, but he let me have it the next +day for L6. + +Then there is the "Altai," a beautiful fur taken from the inner side +of the leg of the red fox. A sheet consists of many pieces, each with +a deep black centre surrounded by a dark red margin. I bought one in +Turkestan for L6, which I was told was cheap. Squirrel fur made into +the sheet, with or without tails, either grey or grey and white, is +very popular. It is called "Sinjab," and is less expensive than the +others. There are several other cheaper furs--a white one they call cat +skin--though of what cat I do not know, the fur of it soon rubs off; +and a short brown fur, the name of which I never heard. Astrakhan, of +which the Amir has the monopoly, is exported largely to Russia and in +small quantities to India. It is used chiefly to cover the round or +straight-sided Russian hats that Afghan Colonels and Captains wear. It +is difficult to get hold of any in the Kabul bazaars. + +In the ironmongers' shops are nails, hammers, locks, knives, and +horse-shoes. The last are made broad, flat, and rather thin, in the +Russian style. I was told that this pattern is considered to protect +the frog of the horse's foot from the numerous stones and pebbles he +has to go over on a journey. Shoes in the English pattern are more +expensive. I heard that the Amir had imposed a small tax on the sale of +them. + +[Sidenote: Weapons: Their Nature.] + +In the "arms" shops are swords, guns, and pistols of various kinds. +There is the curved "shamshir," or scimitar, with a cross hilt. Most +of these come, Mr. Pyne told me, from Birmingham, some, I suppose, +from Germany. They can be tied in a knot if necessary. The Armenian +interpreter one day brought me a sword to examine; he was thinking of +buying it for eight rupees. It looked like an English sword, and was +brightly burnished. I put the point on the ground and bent the sword to +try its spring. It seemed easy to bend. I raised it up and it remained +in the position to which I had bent it. + +"Wah!" said the Armenian, "and he is English sword!" + +"Oh, no," I said, "German." + +Then I had to explain where Germany was. But I don't know, it may have +been English; I hope not. I advised him not to buy it for eight rupees. +He said, "I not have him at one pice." + +There is the straight-pointed Afghan sword, the blade of which broadens +to three inches at the handle. The back from point to handle is +straight and thick. There is no handguard. The best of these are made +in Khost, a frontier district south of the Kurram valley. The blades +are often beautifully damascened, and the handles of ivory or horn are +carved and inlaid with gold or silver or studded with jewels. They +are very sharp, the steel is of good quality, and they are rather +expensive. For one of good quality without a scabbard, and which was +not elaborately ornamented, I gave sixty rupees. I had a scabbard made +in Kabul. The scabbard is made of two long pieces of wood thinned and +hollowed out to receive the sword; these are fastened together and +covered with leather. Formerly they were covered with snake skin. Mine +was covered with patent leather and mounted with silver. I weighed out +rupees to the silversmith, and when the mounts were finished he weighed +them out to me before they were attached to the scabbard. The scabbard +is made longer than is usual in England, for it takes the handle +all but about an inch, as well as the blade of the sword. In these +shops are also rifles for sale--the native jezail with a curved stock +ornamented with ivory, and with a very long barrel fastened on with +many bands. The Afghan hillmen and the Hazaras make these, and they +are good shots with them. They make their own powder also. There are +old-fashioned English rifles, flint locks and hammer locks: some very +heavy, with a two-pronged support hinged on to the barrel, presumably +to rest on the ground and steady the rifle when taking aim; native +pistols and old English pistols of various kinds; old shirts of chain +mail and small shields with bosses on. These are not used now except +for ornament. Lance or spear heads, old Indian and English helmets, +firemen's helmets; powder flasks made of metal or dried skin; and heavy +tough very strong wooden bows, with a straight handpiece in the middle +of the bow: these were used in the time of Dost Mahomed. I never saw +any arrows, and the bows were sold merely as curiosities. Boys and +lads, now-a-days, use a bow with two strings which are kept apart by a +two-inch prop. They use it to kill birds, shooting small stones from a +strip of leather attached to the two strings. + +The silver and goldsmiths make native ornaments similar to those one +sees in India: broad, thin perforated bracelets; studs for the nostril, +that the hillwomen wear--this custom, however, is not so common as +among the Hindus; necklaces of coins and discs, amulet boxes, belt +buckles, and so on. Nothing original or peculiar to Afghanistan seems +to be made. + +[Sidenote: Turbans and Caps.] + +In the cap shops there are rows of small conical caps, hanging on pegs +and on bars across the top of the shop. The Afghan turban is wound +round the cap which is jammed on the back of the head. If put more +forwards the weight of the turban causes a painful pressure on the +forehead. + +There are several different kinds of caps. The Kabul cap is thickly +quilted with cotton-wool. Inside, at the top, a little roll of paper +enclosed in silk is sewn. This is supposed to have a sentence from +the Koran written on it to protect the wearer from harm. I opened a +roll one day to see what was written, but found the paper blank. The +best caps are embroidered all over with gold thread from Benares. Some +are but little embroidered, have simply a star at the top, and others +not at all. Some are made of velvet, and some of cloth. Those from +Turkestan are not quilted. They are not so heavy as the Kabul caps, are +of very bright colours, and are worn indoors or at night. The caps are +of all prices, from three or four pice to fifteen rupees. The lungis, +or turbans, are also of many different kinds: the commonest being +cotton dyed blue with indigo--these are of native make: or of white +cotton or muslin from India. A better kind are of blue or grey cotton, +embroidered at the ends with gold thread, in wider or narrower bars, +according to the price. These come from Peshawur, and they look very +handsome on a tall dark-skinned Afghan. Others are from Cashmere, most +beautifully embroidered, and are fawn-coloured, turquoise-blue, black, +green, or white. The ordinary length of a lungi is nine yards; the +cashmere, being thicker, are not so long. The only white cashmere lungi +I ever saw was the Amir's. He gave it me one day; but that is a story I +will relate further on. + +In the cap shops are also Kabul silk handkerchiefs for sale. They are +of beautiful colours--purple, crimson, and green. I do not know what +dyes are used, but they are not fast, they wash out; and the silk is +of poor quality, not to be compared with English or French silk. In +these shops, too, are gold brocades of various kinds, mostly from Delhi +or Agra. Some, however, are made in Kabul, the design being copied +from English or European embroidery that has been imported. Many of +the workers imitate European embroidery with wonderful exactness, +though they do not seem to be able to originate any new designs. If one +bolder than the rest attempts to do so, the design is greatly wanting +in beauty of outline. The brocades are used for tea-cloths, and by the +Amir and richer men for table-covers. The skill of these men is also +called into use to decorate the dresses of ladies, and the tunics of +pages and gentlemen. + +In the grocer's shop the most prominent things to be seen are the big +loaves of white sugar from India and Austria. The native sugar is made +in small conical loaves--about a pound each. It is very sweet, but +not so white as European sugar. The loaves of native sugar are always +wrapped round with coloured paper--pink, red, or blue--so that the shop +looks quite smart. The tea for sale is chiefly green tea from Bombay. +It is brought by koffla--camel and donkey caravan, from Peshawur +through the Khyber Pass, by the travelling merchants or carriers. Many +of the rich men of Kabul own trains of camels, which they hire out for +carrying purposes. There is black tea also, but in small quantities and +expensive. It is said to be brought from China through Asiatic Russia +and Turkestan. The Afghans always call black tea "chai-i-famil." + +[Sidenote: Lamps, Candles, and Soap.] + +The candles are of two kinds, tallow and composite. The tallow are of +native manufacture--dips--with cotton wick. They are not used very +much, as they gutter and melt away very quickly. There is a much better +tallow candle made in Afghan Turkestan, thicker than the Kabul candle, +which burns exceedingly well. The composite candles are much more +popular, and are not very expensive. They come from Bombay or Peshawur, +and are used largely by the Amir and the richer men. The poorer people +use an oil lamp, very much the shape of the old Roman lamp. It is of +clay or terra-cotta, saucer-shaped, with or without a handle, and with +a spout. The cotton wick floats in the oil, and extends a quarter of +an inch beyond the spout, where it is lighted. The oil they use is, I +believe, almond oil: it is called "Tel-i-kunjit." It has a smoky flame, +and gives a poor light. Some lamps on the same principle are larger, +elaborately made of brass, and hang by chains from the ceiling; they +have four or five wicks. Others, also with three or four wicks, are +made of tinned iron; they stand on the ground supported on an upright +about a foot high. Paraffin oil from Bombay can also be bought, and +some of the richer men occasionally use cheap paraffin lamps "made in +Germany." + +Soap is both native and imported. The native is in saucer-shaped lumps. +It is not used for washing the hands and face--an Afghan rarely uses +soap for this purpose; but for washing clothes or harness. It is rather +alkaline and caustic. A soap "plant," with its tanks, has been erected +in the workshops, and doubtless when the working of it is better +understood the soap will be of usable quality. At present it does not +sell. Other soap in the form of tablets is imported from India, Russia, +and Austria. By what route it comes from Austria I do not know, unless, +like so many cheap German goods, it comes through India. Russian soap +is the cheapest and worst, it crumbles up in your hands the second time +you use it. Next is the Austrian, which is not at all bad; the best and +most expensive is the English. The native salt--powdered rock salt, +pinkish in colour--is not very good. You have to use so much before you +can taste it. I don't think any salt is imported. Spices of most kinds +can be bought--pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and so on; but these are bought +at drug shops. + +Fruit shops are in great numbers, for fruit and vegetables form +important items in the diet of the poorer people: in the summer fresh +fruit and vegetables, and in the winter dried fruits, particularly the +mulberry, are largely used. The fruit shops are, as a rule, arranged +very tastefully. Grapes of different kinds are in great quantities and +exceedingly cheap--a donkey load for a rupee. Melons and water melons, +apples, quinces, pomegranates, pears, and various kinds of plums, +nectarines, peaches, and apricots. Dried fruits, almonds, roasted peas, +pistachio nuts, dried mulberries, apricots, and raisins, are sold by +the grocers. Fresh fruit, as soon as it is ripe, and even before, is +eaten in large quantities, far more than is good for the health of the +people. + +The Englishmen in Kabul had to be exceedingly careful in eating fruit. +Unless taken in very small quantities it produced, or predisposed to, +troublesome bowel affections. The natives, though, as a rule, not so +susceptible as the English, were affected in the same way, sometimes +dangerously, occasionally fatally. + +[Sidenote: Tailors. "The Railway Guard" Costume.] + +In a tailor's shop you see one man sitting on the ground hard at +work with a sewing-machine, another cutting out or stitching. There +are no ready made clothes in a tailor's shop, these are to be bought +elsewhere. A rich man has, as a rule, a tailor attached to his +establishment. Those less rich having procured their material send +for a tailor from the bazaar. He cuts out the material in front of +the employer and takes away the garment to his shop to make up. This +is a check upon the tailor, so that there can be no purloining of +material. Ready-made clothes, new or secondhand, are for sale in many +shops. English coats of all kinds sell readily, especially old military +uniforms. One day a man walked into the hospital evidently thinking +himself rather smart. For the moment I was startled: I thought he was +an Englishman. He was dressed in the complete costume of a railway +guard. + +The costume of the hillmen and peasants is the same as that worn by +the Khyberi Pathans, which I have described. An Afghan in typical +native town costume--say a mirza, or clerk--is dressed somewhat more +carefully than the Pathan. He wears the loose oriental trousers, or +pyjamas, gathered in at the waist and hanging in multitudinous folds +draping from the hip to the inner side of the knee and ankle, the band +at the ankle fitting somewhat closely. The native shoes with turned +up pointed toes are worn without socks, that is, unless the wearer +is wealthy. The embroidered camise, or shirt, falls over the pyjamas +nearly to the knee. A waistcoat with sleeves is worn reaching a little +below the waist and slit at the hip. Finally, a loose robe or coat +worn unfastened and with long sleeves, reaches midway between the knee +and ankle. The waistcoat is of velvet or cloth, quilted and generally +embroidered with gold. The coat is of thinner material, and, as a +rule, of native cloth. The townsmen, however, generally, though not +always, modify the native costume with European innovations. As a rule +the higher they rise in the social scale the more Europeanized they +become--in costume if in little else. The Afghans, though invariably +spoken of as religious fanatics, are far less "conservative" than the +Mahomedans of India. You never see one of the latter with an English +hat on: a very great many refuse to adopt even European boots. In +Afghanistan the readiness to become Europeanized, at any rate in +appearance, probably depends upon the personal influence of the Amir. +After European weapons and knives--these are readily adopted by all +who can afford them--the first thing taken is the belt with a buckle, +instead of the cummerbund or waistshawl. It is, however, open to +question whether this innovation is an improvement, for in a climate +with such great variations of temperature as that of Afghanistan the +cummerbund is an excellent protection to the abdominal organs. Socks +are readily adopted even by the conservative. Then come European +coats, which are worn by a great many of the townsmen. After the +coats, European boots. Trousers are worn, as a rule, only by the +upper classes, including the court pages and by some of the soldiers. +They are made somewhat loosely and are worn over the pyjamas. When +a gentleman or Khan arrives at home after the business of the day +is finished, he throws off his European garb and appears in native +costume. First, the belt and tunic are removed, and he dons the loose +robe. Then his boots and trousers, and he can curl his legs up under +him once more in the comfortable Oriental way, as he sits on his carpet +or cushions on the floor. To sit on a chair for any length of time +tires an Oriental very much more than a European can realize. + +Finally, English felt hats, or solar helmets, are worn by the more +liberal minded, or those who are more ready to imitate the Amir. +Russian astrakhan hats, semiglobular shape, and those wider at the +top, have been worn for many years by gentlemen and officers in the +army. This was not such a striking innovation, for the somewhat similar +Turkoman hat of astrakhan has been familiar to the Afghan for ages. + +[Sidenote: Drugs.] + +In the drug shops are native drugs for sale. Some few English drugs can +be bought: quinine, of which the Afghans are beginning to realize the +value; and chloral hydrate, of which some are beginning to learn the +fascination. The native drugs are such as manna, camphor, castor oil, +and purgative seeds of various kinds. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ETHICS. + + Sir S. Pyne's adventure in the Kabul river. The Tower on the + bank. Minars of Alexander. Mahomedan Mosques. The cry of the + Priest. Prayers and Religious Processions. Afghan conception of + God. Religious and non-Religious Afghans. The schoolhouse and the + lessons. Priests. Seyids: descendants of the Prophet. The lunatic + Seyid. The Hafiz who was fined. The Dipsomaniac. The Valet who + was an assassin. A strangler as a Valet. The Chief of the Police + and his ways. Danger of prescribing for a prisoner. "The Thing + that walks at night." The end of the Naib. Death-bed services. + Graves and graveyards. Tombs. The Governor of Bamian. Courtship + and weddings among the Afghans. The formal proposal by a Superior + Officer. The wedding of Prince Habibullah. Priests as healers of + the sick. The "faith cure." Charms. The "Evil Eye." Dreadful fate + of the boy who was impudent. Ghosts. + + +[Sidenote: Adventure in the Kabul River.] + +When we had been in Kabul about a fortnight, His Highness the Amir +nearly lost the services of Mr. Pyne. It occurred in this way. We +were riding along the lanes around Kabul, accompanied by a guard of +troopers, and Mr. Pyne was lamenting that he had drank _water_ for +lunch. "There it was," he said, "still deadly chill." He certainly +had water enough and to spare very shortly after. He had galloped +on a little ahead towards the river, and when we turned the corner +expecting to catch sight of him, he was nowhere to be seen. The Kabul +river, swollen by rains and melting snow, was roaring and foaming by. I +galloped along the bank expecting to see him. Hearing a shout, I looked +back and saw one of the sowars, who was some yards behind me, jump off +his horse and run to the bank, which was here some three or four feet +above the river. I sprang off my horse and ran up just in time to see +Pyne dragged out, dripping, by the lash of the soldier's whip. + +He was galloping, he said, along the path on the river bank when +he came to a place where the bank was lower and the river partly +overflowed it. Never thinking but what there was firm bottom he did not +stop, and down his horse sunk till Pyne was up to his armpits in water, +icy cold. The next minute the current swept him off, and he found +himself under water near his horse's heels, with the animal striking +out violently in its endeavour to swim out. He came to the surface and +tried to swim to the bank, but his arm caught in the rein and he and +his horse were swept together to the middle of the stream. He got clear +of the rein by sinking, and struck for the bank again, but found the +current turned his head up stream. Meanwhile, his riding boots became +filled with water, and his turban and clothes soaked. The current swept +him along, but by violent exertion he reached the bank, here four or +five feet high, caught at a root and shouted. The root was torn out, +and again he was swept into midstream: things now seemed to be getting +serious. He saw two men wrestling on the bank, and a priest on a tower +calling people to prayer, but no one would look round at him. With the +heavy turban weighing him down, and wet clothes impeding his action, he +could with difficulty keep his head above water. His breath was going, +and his muscles aching when he once more got under the bank. He saw me +go galloping by, and shouted. The sowar who was near heard the shout, +saw him, jumped off his horse, and threw him the lash of his whip. + +Just under the bank his feet touched the bottom, and he stood up to his +neck in water, holding on to the whip and panting to get enough breath +to scramble up the bank. He was hauled out, dripping, and then we +looked round for the horse. The poor brute was struggling and snorting, +and being rapidly carried along midstream. Pyne ran along the bank and +called to him. The animal turned his head, pricked up his ears, and +struck vigorously for the shore. He reached the bank, and with two or +three violent plunges scrambled up to dry land. + +Pyne did not tell me all this on the river bank, for we mounted at +once and galloped off to the workshops, so that he could get into dry +clothes; then I heard the whole story. + +No evil resulted, but the soldiers of the guard were informed that if +Mr. Pyne had been drowned, their lives would have been forfeited--a +strong inducement to a "guard" to be watchful and attentive. + +I mentioned a "priest on a tower calling people to prayer." There are +several towers round about Kabul, mostly to the north-west of the city. +They are not of great height, and I doubt if they were built originally +for religious minarets, for they are not attached to any mosque or +musjid. Probably they were originally watch-towers put up by the +peasants to guard their crops and herds from local marauders. On the +mountains near Kabul one sees stupendous minars which were built, it is +said, by Alexander to mark the road through Afghanistan to India. One +of these may be seen from Kabul on the distant peak of a mountain to +the east of the Kabul valley; another can be seen west of Kabul, from +the elevation of the Paghman hills. + +[Sidenote: Mahomedan Mosques.] + +Mosques, or, as they are called, musjids, are numerous in Kabul. Some +are comparatively large, with a courtyard and a domed roof with a +minaret on each side. These have either a stream of water near, or a +tank or well, for the use of those who come to pray: for Mahomedans +invariably wash hands, feet, and face before they pray, and cleanse +also the nostrils and mouth. There is a rush matting on the floor, and +the worshippers leave their shoes outside, as they do when entering any +house. Inside, the musjid is very empty and bare. + +In the west wall is the niche, or mihrab, marking the direction of +Mecca: or the Kibla, so called because of the Kibla or stone of Mahomed +in Mecca, and towards this the worshippers turn their faces when they +pray. In the larger musjids there is also a pulpit or platform with +three steps, called a Mimbar, from which the Imam or preacher recites +his Sabbath oration, Friday being the Sabbath. The Amir's new rupee is +stamped on one side with a decorative representation of a musjid with +a three-stepped pulpit inside. At early dawn, and at four other times +during the day, the priest mounts the minaret, and, standing upright, +with his thumbs in his ears and his hands spread out, he utters in a +penetrating falsetto voice the call of the faithful to prayer, "Allah +akbar! Allah akbar, Mahomed Ressul Allah!" and so on. "God is great, +God is great, Mahomed is the Prophet of God. Come to Prayers, Prayers +are better than sleep. Come to salvation, God is great. There is no +god but God." Then a few people begin to gather in, ten or twelve to a +musjid. + +They stand in a row, their faces towards Mecca, and the priest, having +descended, stands in front of them with his face in the same direction. +The priest recites the prayers, standing, or stooping with his head +bent, kneeling or prostrating himself with his forehead touching the +ground, according to the law of the ceremony. The people imitate the +priest in his motions. They are supposed to repeat the prayers to +themselves, but the prayers are in Arabic, which very few Afghans +understand: so that if they have learnt them by heart they repeat them +simply as a parrot does. + +The smaller musjids have no courtyard, they are flat-roofed and open +on one side, the roof being supported on that side by carved wooden +pillars, and the musjid is raised three steps above the street. These +have the mihrab, or altar, but no pulpit, and the minaret is replaced +by a block of stone about a foot square outside the musjid, on which +the priest stands to utter the call to prayer. These, too, have a +stream, a well or tank, or some other water supply for ablution. + +So far as I could judge the majority of people do not go to a musjid to +pray except when there is some national calamity, such as a visitation +of cholera. On these occasions they go in procession with bands of +music and flags. I once saw a procession in the distance, but though I +felt some curiosity to see it nearer, I did not thrust myself unduly +forward. There are drawbacks to doing so when Mahomedans are in a +state of religious enthusiasm, for there is the possibility that one of +them, overcome by excess of zeal, might obtain Paradise for himself by +putting a knife into a Feringhi. It was not my ambition to be, in this +way, a stepping-stone to Paradise. + +Ordinarily such Afghans as profess religion go through the ceremony of +prayer just where they happen to be when the time of prayer arrives. +There are five periods appointed in the day. The first, just before +sunrise; the second, just after midday; the third, an hour before, and +the fourth, just after sunset; and the fifth, when they can no longer +distinguish a white from a black thread. If they happen to be at Durbar +they withdraw a little from the presence of the Amir--for His Highness +sits towards the west of the audience chamber--spread their cloaks +or coats in lieu of "praying carpets," and turning towards the west, +or Mecca, go through their prayers. The Amir's two eldest sons pray +regularly at the appointed times, and if they happen to be in Durbar at +the time some of the chief officers join them. + +His Highness the Amir does not pray, at least so far as I know. I have +never seen him do so openly, though it may be he prays in his heart. +I have noticed that some of the greatest scoundrels at the Court are +those who openly pray, or go through the form of prayer most regularly. + +[Sidenote: Afghan Conception of God.] + +God, as conceived by the Afghans, seems to be an All-powerful Being, +towards whom it is necessary to behave with the greatest politeness; +for if one detail of etiquette be omitted God will be offended--and +then what harm He can bring upon the offender! It is far less dangerous +to offend against a fellow-man by annexing his property or taking his +life than to insult God by omitting to bow down to Him on one of the +five appointed times. + +There are many, however, who do not trouble to be religious. I do not +know how they look at things: whether they think too much is required +of them, or that they will probably be able to gain Paradise in the end +by killing some unbelievers, or whether they simply don't care. When +attending medically any man of education, I had always to be careful in +enquiring whether he were "religious" or not; for if I gave a tincture +(containing spirit) to any "religious" man, I got into trouble--he +evidently considered that I wished to injure his prestige with God. +With the uneducated, or poorer people, I had no trouble of that kind. +They swallowed anything I liked to give them unhesitatingly. I never +found the "religious" Afghan a whit less ready to "do his neighbour in +the eye" than a non-religious one. + +[Sidenote: The Languages Learnt in Afghanistan.] + +The musjid is also the schoolhouse, and is presided over by the priest. +A learned priest will get a good many pupils, but an unlearned one +none. I have often seen boys from eight to thirteen years of age +seated in a row in the musjid with the moolah, or priest, opposite +them. Their open books are propped on an =X= shaped support, and the +boys sway backwards and forwards as they drone out in a monotonous +voice whatever they are committing to memory. The education of the +majority seems to be of the very slenderest. They learn to read parts +of certain books and to write a little. With some, education is +carried further, particularly among those who are intended for priests +and mirzas. Some of the latter study Persian sufficiently to write +a well worded and flowery letter: they learn, too, a certain amount +of mathematics--arithmetic and Euclid. The moolahs learn some Arabic +because the Koran is written in that language: otherwise, foreign +languages are not taught. The Court pages seem to be taught rather more +than other boys; some of them learn the different languages of the +country--Pushtu and Turki--as well as Persian. The Amir's eldest son, +Prince Habibullah, was learning English when I was in Kabul, though +I never heard of anyone else learning the language. I have heard the +Amir speak Persian, Pushtu, and Turki. He told me he could speak Arabic +also. Of Russian he said he knew two words only, I have forgotten what +they were; and of English he knew two words: "tree," he said, meant +"dirakht," and "gown" meant a lady's dress. + +The income of the priests is derived from their fees for performing the +ceremonies of marriage and of burial, and from charitable donations. + +A priest who is a Seyid, or a direct descendant of the Prophet, +is hereditarily a beggar. He can demand from anyone he pleases a +sufficient sum of money for his wants. The Seyids in Afghanistan do not +seem to have the exclusive right of wearing green turbans: in fact, I +never saw one with a green turban on, though I have often seen page +boys and others not Seyids wearing them. One of my servants, the mirza, +or secretary, was a Seyid. He was a good sort of man in his way, and I +quite liked him. However, he used to smoke Churrus, or Indian hemp, +and it affected his intellect. At times he behaved like one insane. He +never attempted any violence towards me; in fact, though I was warned +against him, I think he was too attached to me to do me an injury: but, +perhaps, I am wrong in this; however, he never did do any harm. If he +were upset he would cover his face with chalk and walk about shaking +his head in a dejected way, muttering, "Tobah, tobah," Alas! alas! One +day he removed all his clothing, and went out into the street with his +beggar's wallet only. I sent one of the military police to fetch him +back, and asked him if he were not ashamed to behave in that manner. He +said he was tired of work. I said, "You are earning an honest living +and are able to send money to your wife and children in Jelalabad." He +said, Yes, but he had to write when he didn't want to write. It was +better that he should go out with nothing and beg for his few wants. As +for his wife and children, God would take care of them. There seemed a +certain amount of "method" in this. Occasionally, however, he was very +violent, though not with me, and I could hear him raving like a madman. + +[Sidenote: The Hafiz who was Fined.] + +One of the compounders at the hospital was a Hafiz and a moolah; a +Hafiz is one who from memory can repeat the whole Koran. He was a tall +handsome young man with courtly manners. He lived at my house, and at +daybreak I was often dreamily roused by his fine tenor voice as he +was chanting his prayers. Once his early prayer was of considerable +worldly service to me and the neighbourhood, for he found that the +bathroom of my house was on fire; the beams were already alight. He +summoned assistance, the fire was soon put out and the matter ended. +If the house had been burnt the affair would have reached the ears +of the authorities, and the neighbours would have had a fine imposed +upon them unless they could produce the incendiary! This young man had +asked permission to live at my house because he could do so cheaply. +He was saving money to pay off a debt incurred in Peshawur, his native +town. I thought, What an honest worthy young man! but I found the money +had been borrowed to pay off a fine imposed upon him for a murder he +committed in Peshawur. He escaped hanging because there was an element +of doubt in the case, and possibly for the reason that his elder +brother had been some years in the British service. He admitted to me +that he had stabbed the man, but he did not regret it. The man was a +"bad man" and had injured him. + +"Surely the Koran does not tell you to commit murder," I said. + +"No," said he, "the Koran is God's book, but we are all sinners." + +One of the hospital assistants, a Hindostani, working under me, was +also a Hafiz and a priest. He was a very gentlemanly man of about +forty-six, and well educated. He had been in the Bengal cavalry. I +liked him very much, but, unlike most Mahomedans, he was a dipsomaniac. +For a fortnight or so he would be miserably drunk. He drank the native +spirit made from raisins, methylated spirit, or any kind of intoxicant +he could get hold of. He explained his condition to me by saying that +"Shaitan" came to him occasionally and said, "You have drunk no shrab +for so long, now is a very good time to drink," and so he listened to +Shaitan and drank. He afterwards gave up alcohol and took to chloral +eating and opium smoking. I was very sorry for the man. I think he was +not such a scoundrel as some of them. + +When I first entered the service I picked up a man in Kabul who could +speak a little English, and had him to look after my clothes and wait +upon me--my valet. He was a short thick-set man, with a shaven head, +on which he always perched a little red fez. He was wonderfully gentle +with sick children, who were brought to me to prescribe for. He was +very lazy, but was cowed at once if I were angry. I found he was a +hired assassin who had escaped from Peshawur into Afghanistan. When I +discharged him he made a large sum of money by gambling in the bazaar, +and then returned to Peshawur. The last I heard of him was that he had +been apprehended and was in jail. + +At one time, after I returned from Turkestan, I used often to go +and dine at the workshops with the other Englishmen, and two of the +military police who guarded my house came at ten o'clock with a lantern +to escort me home. My interpreter did not like my doing this at all, +because I had to ride through some narrow winding streets and across +the large orchard or garden before I reached the shops. He said, "It +is known that you often come home at that time of night, and you might +easily be shot, and there be no possibility of finding the man who +fired at you. In that case your guard would be killed, and probably I +as well for not warning you." However, it was too depressing to be +always alone, and no one ever shot at me. One of these soldiers who +came for me was a big, very handsome man, but he had a curious furtive +look in his eyes. He used to pull my riding-boots off when I got home, +and put out the candle. I remarked once upon the curious look in his +eyes, and was told that all in his particular profession had that look. + +[Sidenote: A Strangler as a Valet.] + +I enquired what he did besides guarding my house. They said, "Have +you not noticed that on some nights another man takes his place?" I +had noticed it. I was then informed that he was one of the official +executioners, whose duty it was to strangle certain of the prisoners in +jail. The unfortunate is told one day that he will have the privilege +that night of sleeping in a separate room. He is conducted there, and +finds there is one other occupant of the room. As soon as he is asleep +the other occupant--my friend!--secretly placing a noose round the neck +of the sleeper, suddenly draws it tight and throws his whole weight +upon the chest, striking the victim violently over the heart. + +The late Governor of Kabul and chief of the police, Naib Mir Sultan, +whom the Amir hanged recently for his iniquities, largely employed this +means of getting rid of prisoners. An anxious woman would come to him +with perhaps a thousand rupees, and implore his intercession on behalf +of her husband who was in jail. The Naib would say, "Yes, he would do +what he could, he knew the case was coming on directly, but it was an +expensive business; if she could bring another thousand perhaps the +thing could be done." And he would keep her dangling on some time, +squeezing out of her all the money he could get, and then she would be +informed officially that her husband had died in jail of an illness! + +Sometimes a prisoner who was sick would ask permission to see the +doctor, and he would be brought to me at the hospital with chains round +his ankles, in charge of a soldier with fixed bayonet. But I was very +careful about prescribing for a prisoner, for the Naib was an adept +in the use of poisons as well as of stranglers, and a death might be +imputed to me. Another way he had of removing objectionable men who +were not prisoners. Some night two of the police knock loudly at a +man's door, saying, "Get up at once, Amir Sahib calls you." This is +quite likely to be true, for His Highness often continues at his work +late into the night, and the man hurries on his clothes and goes out +with the police. He is never seen again; but some days afterwards his +head is found in one place and his body in another. Then the widow in +great distress goes before the Amir and tells her story. + +The Amir naturally enquires, "Who is your husband?" The woman explains, +saying, "Amir Sahib sent for him on such and such a night." The Amir, +of course, tells her that he did not, and enquires if she can identify +the soldiers who came for her husband. She cannot, for it being night +and she a woman, she has never seen them. The natural conclusion is +that some enemies of her husband have personated soldiers and murdered +him. + +I have, however, heard other explanations of these incidents. + +[Sidenote: The End of the Naib.] + +The Naib was not a bad-looking man: he had a dark skin, but rather +an agreeable expression than otherwise. He never dared go out without +a large guard of his police, the townspeople would have torn him to +pieces. Prince Habibullah disliked him even when I first entered the +service in 1889, and, finally, his iniquities were proven to the Amir. +I forget what the particular charge against him was, but he was fined, +they said, a hundred lacs of rupees to begin with, somewhere about half +a million! He paid it, and another fine was imposed which necessitated +his selling up everything. Brought before the Amir soon after this, he +was insolent, and His Highness in exasperation seized him by the beard +and struck him in the face. The soldiers then hurried him away to a +tree outside. Someone suggested his praying. "Pray!" he said, with a +laugh, "after a life like mine? No, I'll die as I have lived;" and they +hanged him on the tree. + +This is the story as I heard it at the time. I did not see him hanged, +for there was a cholera epidemic in Kabul, and I was there. The Amir +was at Paghman in the mountains. + +Though Friday is the Sabbath, the shops are open on that day as well as +on other days in the week. Somewhat less work is done, especially at +the time of the priests' oration in the principal musjids, about two +in the afternoon. In Kabul the Amir's workshops are closed, and the +Out-patient Hospital also. The Amir himself, too, does less work on +that day, otherwise there is no great difference between the Sabbath +and other days in the week. + +I spoke just now of fees to a priest for a "burial" service, but, +perhaps, that is hardly a correct term to apply, for I never saw any +service or ceremony performed at the actual time of burial. However, it +is possible there may be, though I never saw one, but I have seen the +service performed at a death bed. + +When I was in Turkestan a young officer, a cousin of the Sultana's, was +ill. The Hakims, who were attending him, not knowing the use of the +stethoscope, could not diagnose the case, and after some days I was +sent for. I found that he had had Pneumonia, or Inflammation of the +lung, and that instead of clearing up, the inflamed lung had become +tubercular, and a cavity could be detected in it. He had developed +consumption. I did what I could, but it was too late for any permanent +relief to be afforded him. + +He became worse, and one day when I called, he was manifestly dying. I +found several men sitting on the ground by the bedside reciting prayers +continuously. I enquired why they were doing so at this time, and was +told they would continue praying till he died, for he was then passing +to Paradise over the narrow bridge whose edge was sharper than a razor, +and that the continuous prayers kept away the evil spirits who were +endeavouring to drag him down into the abyss. + +The men praying were his nearest relations, and with them was a priest; +for although it is the Mahomedan custom for the nearest relatives to +recite the prayers on this occasion, a priest is generally sent for +also. + +[Sidenote: Royal Tombs.] + +The graves of the richer Afghans have upright headstones of marble +or slate carefully shaped and ornamented. The writing on them is in +relief, the stone being chipped away from the letters. The tomb of an +illustrious man is bricked round, about two feet high, and covered with +a slab of marble. Occasionally one is surrounded by a fence: trees +and flowers being planted in the enclosure. The grave of the Amir's +father near Kabul is cared for in this way. Others have a sort of small +mosque or musjid built over them; and the deceased, when his name is +forgotten, becomes a holy man and a saint. + +The grave of a poor man has a flat stone, the largest his friends can +find, planted upright to mark the place of burial: many have no mark at +all, but the collection of mounds is not to be mistaken. The graveyard +is not walled in or enclosed. The tombs of the kings are, some of them, +imposing. That of Timour Shah in Kabul (son of Ahmed Shah, founder of +the Durani Empire) is a very fine piece of brickwork. A huge central +dome is surrounded by a series of flat-roofed rooms, the ground plan +of the structure being octagonal. No care is taken of it, and it is +becoming dilapidated by time. The tomb of Babur Shah, just outside +Kabul, is also becoming dilapidated. It is smaller and of marble, in +the style of the smaller musjids, with pillars to support the roof. +Another tomb just outside Kabul is built in the shape of a musjid. It +is that of a grandson of Amir Dost Mahomed. I knew his son very well, +Sirdar Abdul Kudus Khan. The latter once was of great service to the +Amir. In one engagement, by a brilliant charge, he completely turned +the fortunes of the day. Success was too much for him, and he became +presumptuous. He was accordingly ordered into honourable confinement. +Some time afterwards he was allowed to appear at court, but for many +years no appointment was given to him. Quite recently, he received +office, being made Governor of the province of Bamian. + +[Sidenote: The Proposal of Marriage.] + +The marriage ceremony differs very much from ours in England. Firstly, +the young Afghan does not see his sweetheart till she becomes his +wife--at any rate he is not supposed to. He hears that such a man has +a very pretty daughter, and that she is likely to have so much dowry. +He therefore sends his mother or sisters on a visit to the harem. The +ladies, properly veiled, are conducted there by their servants in a +closed palanquin. On their return they give their opinion, and all the +information they have managed to glean. If everything is satisfactory +to the young man, he approaches the father or guardian, and makes his +proposal. If he is accepted as a suitor, an opportunity is given to the +young lady to see the swain herself, unobserved. She can, if she like, +refuse him, and if she be a girl of strong character, may be successful +in her refusal: but I know that sometimes considerable pressure is +brought to bear, if her wishes are contrary to those of her father or +guardian. Sometimes the young man, if he holds a subordinate position, +will prevail upon his superior officer to make the proposal for him +to the father or guardian. It may have more weight. I once had this +onerous and pleasing duty to perform. I marshalled all my servants, +and rode off with as much ceremony as possible, to the house of the +young lady. I had a vague sort of an idea I might see her; but I did +not: she saw me, which was not so satisfactory. When I arrived at the +house, I was conducted through the courtyard into an upstairs room, +where the guardian--her brother in this case--received me. A party of +gentlemen were in the room, and they all rose as I entered. After the +usual salutations a chair was offered me: the rest seated themselves +cross-legged round the room. I made a formal proposal in the name of my +subordinate, and a discussion followed. I was surprised at the free and +open way in which they said the man for whom I was making the proposal +was a rascal and a liar, and that he had not the money he said he had. +There was no delicate hinting that, perhaps, they had erred in assuming +his fortune was such and such. I naturally anticipated a refusal; no, +out of respect for me, he was accepted! Then a large tray of loaf sugar +broken into pieces was brought in, and first I and the guardian, then +the others, ate a little, and the rest was given to the servants. After +that we had tea, and I rode off home again, where the anxious lover was +waiting for me. I said, + +"They called you very bad names." + +"That matters little;" said he, "did you eat the sugar?" + +"Yes," I said. + +"Ah! then all is well! the other is a custom." + +The actual ceremony of marriage is performed at the house of the +bridegroom, though there is often a reception at the bride's house +afterwards--not that you see the bride or any other ladies. The father, +guardian, or brothers receive you. + +At the marriage ceremony the amount of dower is first discussed +and settled, and then the priest formally enquires, first of the +bridegroom then of the bride's legal representative, whether they each +agree to the marriage. On receiving an answer in the affirmative he +pronounces a few short prayers and blessings, remaining seated while +he does so, and the ceremony is concluded; sometimes, also, rings are +exchanged. Then comes the reception of guests at the bride's house. + +I was invited to the wedding of Prince Habibullah. I did not see the +ceremony, where the priest blesses the union, but I attended the +reception at the house of the bride's father. It happened to be in +the suburbs, near where I was living, and I walked there escorted +by my servants and guard. I was shown into a large flower-garden +where several tents were erected. A great many guests had arrived, +but not the Prince. Presently, I heard the "Salaam-i-Padshah"--the +representative of our National Anthem--being played by a brass band. +It is a solemn and slow chant, reminding one of a dead march: it is +very impressive and by no means unmusical. I was told it was composed +by an Englishman--who he was I do not know. Then the Prince rode into +the garden, followed by his brother, Nasrullah Khan. Both were dressed +in scarlet and gold uniforms. Prince Habibullah wore a military helmet +with plumes, and Nasrullah Khan a grey astrakhan hat. I bowed as +the Prince went by, and he pulled up to enquire why I had not taken +possession of the tent prepared for me, and he pointed out a very gay +one. There were people in it, but they turned out at once. The Prince +gave orders to one of the chamberlains for tea and cigarettes to +be served for me there, and then rode on to another tent, where he +dismounted. Taking his seat he received the salaams of the assembled +guests. I sat in my tent, and people came in and chatted, and then went +on to other tents. I drank tea, ate fruit, and smoked, while musicians +and nautch women went through their performances. Then large trays of +sweetmeats and sugar were brought to each of the tents, and when I had +eaten a little I departed, for it began to rain. The servants of each +of the guests carried away their master's tray of sweets, for it was +the fast of Ramazan, when Mahomedans cannot eat nor drink till night. +The father of the bride was the Shaghassi, or Master of the Ceremonies +in Mazar, and when we left there he was made governor of Turkestan. +Soon after we left, however, he had sunstroke--mania, the hakims +said--and the Amir recalled him to Kabul. + +I found my horse waiting for me at the gate of the garden. In spite of +the rain, the streets were crammed with people, and I had some trouble +in the crowd, for my horse was restive, and plunged; however, we got +home without accident. I went also to the wedding of Prince Nasrullah, +but I will describe that later. + +[Sidenote: The Faith Cure.] + +Some of the priests have gained a certain amount of reputation as +healers of the sick; not by the administration of medicines, for +that is a privilege reserved for the hakims and doctors, but by the +employment of the "faith cure." It is an axiom in the Mahomedan +religion that to utter the name of God a great number of times is +of inestimable benefit to both body and soul; also that if a part +of the body be diseased, it is an efficient cure to bind on it the +written name of one of the attributes of God, "the Merciful," "the +Compassionate," "the Restorer." The sick, therefore, go first to +the priest for help, and by the payment of a fee obtain the written +scroll. This is rolled up in silk or leather, or, if the patient be +wealthy enough, is enclosed in a little cylindrical box of silver made +for the purpose, and bound on the diseased part of the body. If the +patient recover, great credit is given to the priest, and other sick +people seek his aid. If recovery does not ensue, either the patient is +resigned, considering that his "Nasib" is thus written in the book of +fate, or else by the payment of a larger fee he engages the medical +skill of the hakims, or native physicians. + +Every patient with chronic disease of any kind who came to me had one +of these little packets fastened by a string round his arm or neck. + +[Sidenote: The Evil Eye.] + +Many of the children, even those in good health, have similar charms +fastened to them. I noticed that the Sultana, or her women, fastened +one in a gold cylindrical box on the arm of the little Prince Mahomed +Omar, soon after he was born. This was to protect him from accident +or other evil. Sometimes, for the same purpose, a piece of string +only, over which a few prayers have been recited, is tied round the +child's limb. This is done by the poorer people. Against the "Evil +Eye"--which, as far as I could understand, is the eye of "envy, hatred, +and malice"--something blue is a great protection. Men wear turquoise +rings, children and woman turquoise ornaments or blue beads. When a man +buys a new horse the servants at once fasten a blue bead or ribbon +among the hairs of his tail. It is not necessary for the blue to be +seen: it is just as sure a protection when it is hidden. The Evil Eye +is a dangerous weapon, so many possess it, and it works silently and +secretly. Paralysis, wasting, rickets in children, impotence, and +sudden death, the illness of cattle and horses--all these are imputed +to the evil eye. + +Just outside the house I occupied, after my return from Turkestan to +Kabul, there was an open space with a small pond in the middle; this +was a favourite playground for the boys of the neighbourhood. I rode +through it as usual one morning on my way to the hospital. When I had +finished my work and returned home again, my interpreter, who seemed +rather upset about something, said to me-- + +"Sir, I very sorry you kill that boy to-day." + +"What do you mean?" I said; "I've not killed any boy." + +"Oh, yes, sir; you remember he called you Feringhi this morning." + +I remembered then that while riding through the playground, one of the +boys, a good-looking lad of about twelve, had attracted my attention +by calling out something, and he laughed as he ran away. I looked up +carelessly and then rode on, thinking no more about it. I said-- + +"I remember a boy saying something, but I didn't hear what it was." + +"Sir, he very fool boy to call you Feringhi, but he is dead now." + +"That is very sudden! What did he die of?" I asked. + +"Oh, sir, I poor man--what I know? You looked at him, and he died; +perhaps trouble come for us." + +"Nonsense," I said, "he must have died of something. Boys don't die +because you look at them." + +"Sir, in this country often it is they do!" + +I indignantly said, "What do you mean! _I_ haven't got the evil eye!" + +He looked at me meaningly, then looked on the ground and shook his head +dolefully: I couldn't persuade him that the thing was a ridiculous +impossibility. As there is a kind of vendetta in Afghanistan I rather +wondered what would happen next. I told my interpreter to make +enquiries and find out what the boy really died of. He said, + +"Why for we make enquiries? Better it is we keep quiet for a few days +and say nothing." + +I never heard what was the cause of death, and the matter blew over. + +[Sidenote: Ghosts.] + +Besides the evil eye the Afghans believe in other forms of magic; in +certain days of the week being lucky, and others unlucky; in ghosts, +and jins, or devils. A man told me one day that the house he lived in +was formerly occupied by the three sisters of one of the kings, Shah +Shujah, I think it was, and that they were evil women. One night on his +return home, just as he entered the house he heard sound of women's +laughter in the bath-room on the ground floor. Wondering who could be +there, he opened the door. Three women, whom he did not recognize, +sprang up and rushed, laughing, through the further door into the +inner bath-room. He slammed the door to, and fastened it, and hurried +upstairs, where he found his wife and the women of the household. He +enquired who were the women in the bath-room. They said there could be +no women. The house was of the usual kind--only one door leading from +the street into the courtyard, and every one entering could be seen. +Lights were procured, and he descended to the bath-room, unfastened the +door, opened it, and peeped in--no one was there. He went across to +the further door and found it fastened with a chain and padlock on the +outside in the usual way. He thought, "The women cannot have fastened +themselves in." He took the key from his pocket, unlocked the door and +looked in: this room also was empty. He is convinced he saw the wraiths +of the women who formerly occupied his house. + +Almost every house in Kabul has its ghost or jin. The house I had on +my return from Turkestan had a reputation. The soldiers who were put +to guard it in the winter while I was at the Palace at last refused to +sleep in one of the ground floor rooms. They said it was haunted, that +jins and devils came and pinched them, and moved their rifles and belts +from where they had placed them. So in spite of the intense cold they +moved out into the porch of the big gate opening from the courtyard +into the street, and there they took up their quarters permanently. One +day, just before sunset, after I had returned, the syce came out of +the stable, which was under the room I occupied, and called one of the +other servants. The latter came to me afterwards and said that just as +it was beginning to get dusk he went to look into the stable, as the +syce had called him. To his astonishment he saw what seemed to him to +be two small children running round the legs of the bay horse, and +jumping on its neck and off again. He went forward to gain a clearer +view, and the children, or jins, as he called them, disappeared. He +searched the stable thoroughly, and found nothing out of the way, +except that the bay horse was trembling and covered with sweat. + +Many similar stories were related to me at different times, but though +for months I slept alone in the "haunted wing" I never saw any ghost, +jin, or devil--except those clothed with flesh and blood; doubtless it +was a privilege reserved for "True Believers." There was, however, one +incident; but I will relate that by and bye. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AFGHAN SURGEONS AND PHYSICIANS. + + Accidents from machinery in motion. The "dressers of wounds" in + Afghanistan. Their methods of treating dislocations, fractures, and + wounds, and the awful results of the same. The "Barber surgeons." + Tooth drawing and bleeding. The Hindustani "Doctors." "Eye Doctors" + and their work. The Hakims or Native Physicians. Treatment of + disease by the People. Aspect in which European Physicians are + viewed by the different Classes. + + +[Sidenote: Machinery Accidents.] + +One morning soon after our arrival in Kabul, when I was at the Erg +hospital, a messenger arrived in a great hurry to say a man had been +injured at the Workshops. I jumped on my horse, which was waiting, and +galloped off. Just outside the Workshop garden, on the road by the +river bank, I saw the heavy portable engine with a crowd of people +round it. Mr. Pyne was there in the middle of the crowd, and a man, one +of the Afghan workmen, was lying on the ground. I examined the patient +and found he was dead. Mr. Pyne was very upset and at first refused +to believe it. He sent off a man to the shops for whisky, and begged +me to send someone to the hospital for ammonia. I did so, though, of +course, it was useless. They were moving the engine to the Salaam Khana +or Durbar Hall to work the dynamo for the electric light there, but no +one in the crowd seemed to have seen how the accident occurred, whether +the man was crushed under the wheel or whether he had been struck on +the head. There was no inquest, and post mortem examinations were not +viewed with favour. + +Later on, when the machinery was put together and some of it was in +working order, accidents and deaths were, as might be expected, of +frequent occurrence. In stepping over the shafting which ran across the +entrance to one of the shops, about a foot above the ground, the long +sheepskin postin or coat would catch, and the wearer be whirled round +and killed. Familiarity breeds contempt, and in spite of accidents it +took a long time to educate the ordinary Afghan, after he had got over +his first awe, up to the point of learning that machinery in motion +should be approached with circumspection. + +They had a way of putting their fingers under the punches of the +cartridge machines, forgetting that the punch would inevitably come +down at its appointed moment. It took one man in the palm, I remember, +and I had to amputate his first and second finger and his thumb. +Another got his hand between some steel rollers in motion, and but for +the fact that Mr. Pyne was on the spot and at once threw the machine +out of gear, the arm would have gone too. As it was, the skin was taken +neatly and cleanly from the wrist and turned backwards like a glove +over the finger tips. The bones of the hand were crushed, and I wished +to amputate in the lower forearm; but the man, who was brought to the +hospital, refused to have the hand taken off because he could move the +fingers a little. I pointed out the danger he was running of further +serious results, but he would not consent. + +As he refused the only treatment that I felt was suitable, I could not +undertake to treat him, and he was removed to his home in the city. +I do not know who attended to his hurts, probably one of the native +"dressers," but four or five days afterwards he sent a friend to beg +that I would come and remove the hand. Unfortunately, it was too late; +"tetanus," or lockjaw, had set in. + +[Sidenote: Afghan Treatment of Dislocations.] + +The "dressers" of wounds in Afghanistan are a body of +men--natives--whose duty it is to dress wounds and ulcers, set broken +limbs, and probe for bullets. They have no knowledge of even the +groundwork of their profession. Never having dissected, nor studied +anatomy, they are quite ignorant of the position and shape of the +bones, to say nothing of the course and distribution of the larger +arteries of the human body, so that the abscess knife and the scalpel +put into the hands of one of these men work grievous harm. They carry +about with them a flat tin box, with partitions inside, something +like a paint box; and in it is a collection of most filthy looking +ointments of different colours. These they plaster on indiscriminately; +if one does not cure an ulcer perhaps another will. For dislocation +of joints a mixture of flour and yolk of eggs smeared on is a certain +specific; they have no idea of reducing the dislocation. For a broken +bone, flour and yolk of eggs again comes in. Say the bone of one arm +is broken between the shoulder and elbow, the following treatment is +adopted. Some narrow strips of calico, smeared with the flour and egg +mixture, are bound tightly round the limb at the seat of injury; thus +breaking the first law of surgery, that no bandage be put on under +a splint. Over this bandage are arranged longitudinally four or five +narrow pieces of wood about five inches long, very like those you buy +in a bundle for firewood, and utterly useless as splints, and another +bandage is wound firmly over these; there is no padding with cotton +wool. The patient is then left. The result is, of course, that the limb +below the bandages becomes exceedingly swollen and painful. + +When the pain has reached such a pitch that it is no longer bearable, +the patient releases his arm from the bandages, and the dresser is +sent for to readjust them, so that the unfortunate limb is relieved +for a time before it is tortured afresh. In spite of the dresser the +bone sometimes unites, usually at a more or less obtuse angle; but +not uncommonly, especially in compound or comminuted fractures, the +pressure is taken off too late, and the whole limb mortifies. The +patient, after months of suffering, may or may not recover. I have had +them brought to me with the broken end of the bone protruding from a +hanging mass of stringy and sloughing muscle and tendon, the rest of +the limb being hidden from sight by unclean rags. + +Such "dressers" as I could get hold of I put through an examination at +the hospital, to try and find out what they knew, and endeavoured to +teach them some elementary facts in anatomy and one or two common sense +rules in surgery, but only one of them would even pretend to learn, and +he was a humbug. They all knew better than I did how to treat wounds +and ulcers, and set broken limbs, and they received any suggestions of +mine in offended silence. I showed up one or two, pointing out the +disastrous results of their treatment, but it did no good. I only had +an extra enemy or two to consider, for they were very venomous. + +[Sidenote: The Barber Surgeons.] + +Besides the comparatively modern "dressers," there is another body +of men in Kabul who practise the noble art of surgery, namely, the +"barbers." The line they specially take up is that of bleeding and +tooth drawing. They have very rough forceps for the latter operation, +and when, as not infrequently happened, they snapped the crown of a +tooth off instead of extracting it, they passed the patient on to me. +It is annoying for a surgeon to have to extract broken but firmly-fixed +fangs from an injured and bleeding jaw. It is not a pretty operation at +all. + +For fevers, dyspepsia, gout, headache, or any feeling of malaise, the +barbers bled their patients--but besides these, which may be called the +_irregular_ bleedings, there are regular bleedings every spring and +autumn. These are generally done out of doors by the road side. The +barber, squatting down by the side of his patient, makes his incision +at the bend of the elbow: fortunately, not into the vein immediately +over the great artery of the arm, the one usually bled from in England, +but into one adjoining. The patient holds out his arm and allows the +blood to drip on to the ground till he thinks enough has run away. +There is not the slightest attempt made to measure the quantity of +blood lost. The only precaution taken is to avoid drinking any water +for twenty-four hours afterwards, lest it should mix with the rest of +the blood in the vein and make it thin; or if they do drink any they +hold the wounded arm above their heads to prevent the water running +into it! Wet cupping, too, is performed by the barbers and dressers, +and is a very popular means among the townsfolk of getting rid of +their blood. It is a common thing to see an Afghan scarred all over +the shoulders and loins. Cupping is employed generally as a remedy for +muscular rheumatism. The custom was introduced some years ago by the +Hindustani hospital assistants, who, after having had in India some +slight training in the European system of medicine, found their way +into Afghanistan under the guise of "doctors." The majority of these +were unqualified men, and were quite unfit to be anything but hospital +assistants. Let loose upon the people they have worked as much havoc +among the sick as a similar number of the hakims could have done. + +[Sidenote: Eye Doctors and Hakims.] + +There are also native "eye doctors!" These may do good sometimes by +accident, though I never heard of a case, but they do an incredible +amount of harm: for eye diseases, on account of the glare and the dust, +the absence of proper treatment and ordinary care are very common in +Afghanistan.[1] + +[1] The commonest affections I met with were granular lids, chronic +entropion, corneitis, nyctalopia, and cataract. + +Finding out that I sometimes used sulphate of copper--an astringent +and caustic--of which there was plenty to be had in the bazaars, they +would put this powdered into any eye--say, of a child who had ulcer of +the cornea! The Hindustani hospital assistants were not much wiser, for +they sometimes used solutions of sulphate of zinc, a similar remedy, +for the same purpose. The eye being irreparably damaged the patient is +then handed on to me, and the Hindustani, like the dresser, smugly says +that "If _he_ couldn't cure the patient, neither could the Feringhi." + +However, the people and the Amir judged, I found, according to general +results. I remember in Turkestan a soldier getting leave of absence, +travelling down to Kabul, and bringing his old mother on a donkey the +two hundred odd miles over the mountains, for me to cure her eyes. They +were past all hope.[2] The painful part of the affair was that they +would not believe I _could_ not, but that I _would_ not restore her +eyes; and the old woman went down on her knees to implore. + +[2] Entropion, with nebulous and vascular cornea in an old woman of +seventy. + +There was one old fellow, an "eye doctor," in Kabul, whom I used to +notice on my way to the hospital. He sat in a hut of rushes and mud by +the roadside, with his medicines in little packets before him. I often +wished he would come and have a little elementary instruction in the +"eye." But he had such a sour expression when I went by, and he never +would look at me, that I did not suggest it to him. + +The hakims--the physicians of Afghanistan--practise purely as +physicians; they do not use the knife surgically, rarely even for +bleeding. When they find it necessary to treat an abscess, they apply +an irritating ointment which causes ulceration of the skin. Since the +introduction of European drugs into Afghanistan some of the hakims have +made use of them; but as they do so in ignorance of their therapeutic +properties, the results are rarely satisfactory, and, in some cases, +are disastrous. They have great faith in the healing properties of a +purge, but do not consider it has had any effect unless it acts at +least twenty times. The way is prepared by administering every day for +a week a large bowl of laxative mixture; afterwards, one or more bowls +of a drastic purge are given. Some of the people seem to establish +toleration of this class of medicine, and require a large dose before +they are acted on; but with a vast number this mode of treatment, +combined with the custom of eating largely of ripe and semi-ripe fruit, +certainly predisposes them to the obstinate and often fatal bowel +affections that are such a scourge in the spring and autumn. + +These bowel troubles, according to a popular native idea, are caused +by drinking tea immediately after having eaten fruit, particularly +mulberries. There is no doubt, however, that some of the cases are +due to the debilitated and enfeebled state of the digestive organs, +produced by the malarial poison, the immediate exciting cause often +being the sudden change in temperature experienced when climbing a +mountain after a residence in the hot valleys. Other cases are due to +the presence of minute intestinal parasites, the ova of these being +ingested during the drinking of impure water, a common custom among the +careless Afghans. + +[Sidenote: Treatment of Disease by Hakims.] + +The hakims practise, I was informed, according to the Yunani or ancient +Greek system of medicine. The only books I could obtain on this system +were written in Arabic, and this was an obstacle to my studying them; +but, whatever the teaching of their books may be, the hakims I found +knew nothing whatever about anatomy, physiology, or pathology. Their +treatment of disease is entirely empirical. They act according to +"authority." Studying disease, not in the living subject, but in their +books only, they have made no progress whatever upon the teaching of +their ancestors. A sick man is brought to them, and some prominent +symptom forces itself upon their notice. This is at once diagnosed as +the disease. For instance, pain in the abdomen is to them "colic." +It is described in their books and a certain line of treatment is +directed. They do not examine their patient, or attempt to find a cause +for his pain; nor do they differentiate between different forms of +colic, for they have not noticed that pain in the abdomen is sometimes +unconnected with the bowel. As an example, Perwana Khan, the Deputy +Commander-in-Chief in Kabul ("Dipti Supersala"), was for some weeks +attended by the hakims, who, reporting him to be suffering from colic, +administered purge after purge. As, however, he did not seem to be +getting any better, the Amir desired me to examine him. I found he +had acute pain in the left loin, shooting downwards; the attacks of +pain came on, he said, after he had been riding on horseback, and he +had other symptoms, all pointing unmistakably to stone in the kidney. +I administered suitable medicine for the relief of the pain, and he +was overjoyed, imagining himself cured. I explained, however, to His +Highness what was wrong. + +To the hakims dropsy is a disease, and can be cured by the treatment +set forth in their books. No attempt is made to discover the cause +of the dropsy--whether it is due to kidney disease, heart, liver, +lung or blood disease--it is simply an accumulation of gas (bad) in +the tissues! In diseases of the chest, they do not, of course, employ +auscultation with a stethoscope, nor percussion; and bronchitis, +pneumonia, and phthisis are classed together under the name of surfa, +or cough. This, they say, is due to an accumulation of "slime" +(balgham) in the body. In some cases the surfa is accompanied by dard +i sina, or pain in the chest, and occasionally blood as well as slime +is coughed up: these are recognized as bad cases. I have related the +case of the young brigadier in Turkestan, cousin of the Sultana, whom +the hakims were treating for surfa, and who was dying of an improperly +treated pneumonia, which had, eventually, become tubercular. As I did +not want to have the credit of killing him, I sent in my report to the +Amir at once. The hakims did not in the least mind my being sent for to +their cases, after they had become hopeless; for, like the dressers, +they said, "Behold, the Feringhi doctor cannot cure them any more than +we." + +Malarial fevers are diagnosed as "cold fever" or "hot fever" (tap i +larza--tap i gurrum), according to whether there is a shivering stage +or not. They are treated by copious bleedings and purgings, and by +very low diet. Malarial fever, however, being due to the presence in +the blood corpuscles of a microscopic animal, an amaeba, the treatment +that the hakims adopted was not likely to be very successful. Quinine +in sufficient dose destroys this organism, but the hakims would rarely +give it, or if, following my plan, they did so, they gave it in doses +so small as to be useless, for they said, "Quinine is _hot_, and, +therefore, bad for fever." + +What they meant I do not know. + +The hakims divide not only malarial fevers into "hot and cold," but +they arrange all diseases into these two classes, and I was asked of +almost every disease that came under my notice whether it were hot or +cold; for instance, whether dyspepsia were hot or cold. The reason for +the classification in the case of malarial fevers is obvious enough, +but for the other diseases I never was able to find out upon what they +founded their conclusions. It certainly was not simply whether the +patient had fever or not. + +It was particularly embarrassing when the Amir asked the question, and +I once told His Highness that in Europe we did not speak of diseases +as being either hot or cold, that it was often impossible to consider +them as either one or the other. His Highness was quite indignant at +my denying what apparently seemed to him such a self-evident fact, so +much so that he doubted if my interpreter had translated what I had +said correctly. After that, when I was asked, I told the interpreter +to class the disease as hot or cold, according to the custom of the +country. + +[Sidenote: Treatment of Disease by the People.] + +In the distant villages, where there is no hakim, and the priest's +amulet has failed to cure, the people either go untreated or treat +themselves. A popular mode of treatment for diseases of bones and +joints, and also for almost any pain in the chest, abdomen, or back, +is the employment of the "actual cautery." A piece of live charcoal is +placed against the skin until a deep burn is produced; this is done in +two or three places, the scars, of course, remaining till the end of +the patient's life. + +Another custom, mostly for diseases accompanied by fever, is to kill a +sheep, skin it rapidly, and at once wrap the patient in the hot skin. +I do not know that it does any harm. The Amir himself, when suffering +from gout, and when the hakims had failed to relieve him, employed this +essentially Afghan mode of treatment for his leg and foot. Afterwards +he sent for me. + +For wounds, ulcers, or abscesses the villagers bind on either a piece +of fresh sheepskin, which they leave on till it stinks, or a piece +of an old water bag (mussack), which they soften afresh by soaking. +Sometimes they plaster on mud or clay. In the case of ulcers, the +fact that they _never_ heal under these circumstances does not seem +to strike the Afghans, and they continue in the old custom. If the +discharge oozes from under the clay they plaster on a little more. +Cover a sore, get it out of sight, is the golden rule of hakims, +dressers, and people. The condition of the ulcer when the clay is +removed is indescribable. In some cases the only possible treatment is +the removal of the limb. + +[Sidenote: The Feringhi as a Healer.] + +I noticed that the richer and more educated Afghans did not seem so +ready to avail themselves of European medical aid as the poorer people, +and it struck me there were two reasons for this. First, that the +hakims took the trouble to explain to the richer people, from whom +they expected to receive fees, that Europeans use deadly poisons in +their medicines, which are just as likely to kill as to cure. A certain +amount of weight attaches to this by the often unfortunate results +of medical treatment by the Hindustani hospital assistants. The other +reason seems to be due, not to the hakims, but to the influence of +the priests. The more religious of the Afghans apparently look upon a +European as one who, by the help of the Powers of Evil, has in this +world the gifts of knowledge, skill, and wealth, but who in the next +life must inevitably be consigned to eternal torment. Doubtless with +his deadly poisons he can cure diseases if he wish, but it is not wise, +and, indeed, is scarcely lawful, for a sick man to make use of him. + +They feel it will offend God less if, before they traffic with the +evil one by employing a Feringhi doctor, they use all lawful and right +means to become well, such as trying the efficacy of prayer, or the +wearing of amulets and charms: should these fail, by placing themselves +under the care of their hereditary physicians, the hakims, who attended +their fathers and their fathers' fathers. They can always call in the +Feringhi as a last resource. + +The peasants and the hillmen, the soldiers and the poorer townsfolk--in +fact, all those who are but occasionally under the influence of the +priests, and from whom the hakims can expect a small, if any fee--these +are ready enough to trust themselves, when sick, to European medical +skill. They take advantage of that which seems to them good, as an +animal might, without entering upon the deeper question whether it is +religiously right or wrong--in fact, they even look upon a doctor as +one to be classed with Dewanas or madmen, and prophets, who are all +more or less sacred. + +It must be a powerful reason, such as the fear of being poisoned or +damned, that prevents the richer Afghans from employing European +medical aid, for they have to pay the hakims, whereas at the hospital +no fees or presents were received, and it is not the nature of an +Afghan to pay for a thing if he can get it for nothing. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE MARCH TO TURKESTAN. + + Jealousy and its results. Sport among the Afghans. The Prince + hawking. The "Sportsmen" among the mountains. Wild-fowl shooting. + Order to join the Amir in Turkestan. Preparations. The start. + Camp at Chiltan. The Banquet. The Nautch dance. Salaams by the + Villagers. Among the Hindu Kush mountains. The camp in the Hazara + country. The dismal night. Courtesy of Jan Mahomed. The hungry + morning. Mountain paths. Iron spring. The underground river and + the Amir's offer. The Red mountain and the Deserted City. Camp in + the Valley of Bamian. The English prisoners of 1837. The Petrified + Dragon. The Colossal Idols: their construction and probable origin. + The Cave-dwellers. The Pass of the "Tooth breaker." Ghuzniguk. + Story of Ishak's Rebellion. Fording the River. Tash Kurghan: the + Shave and the Hospital. "The Valley of Death." The Plains of + Turkestan and the heat thereof. The Mirage. Arrival at Mazar. The + House. Story of the death of Amir Shere Ali. + + +[Sidenote: Jealousy: Revenge.] + +About a month after our arrival in Kabul an incident occurred which, +though gruesome in its details, I cannot refrain from relating on +account of the light which it throws upon the nature of the Afghan. + +One of the soldiers had made a favourite of a boy in the town. Some +time afterwards the boy was seen to associate with another man in the +cantonment. At once the jealousy of the soldier was aroused. He taxed +the boy with it, and in a moment of jealous anger he drove his knife +into him, killing him instantly. + +Forthwith the mother of the lad appealed to Prince Habibullah for +justice and revenge. She claimed the life of the murderer. The Prince +heard the case in detail, and, according to the Afghan law (an eye +for an eye and a tooth for a tooth), granted the woman's request. The +soldier was hurried off to the execution ground, close to the hospital +where I was. His hands were fastened behind him, and he was tied in a +sitting posture in a chair. A knife was handed to the woman: she seized +the man's beard, wrenched his head back, and with a cry of "Allah, +akbar," cut his throat. Then, flinging down the knife, she plunged her +hands in the spirting stream, and lapped the blood into her mouth. + +On Friday, the Mahomedan Sabbath, there being no work in the workshops, +Mr. Pyne and I went for a ride along the beautiful lanes fringed with +poplars, which lie between the fields around Kabul. + +We saw in a large field among the young green corn some seven or eight +horsemen sitting silently on their horses. Presently I recognized the +slender form of Prince Nasrullah. We rode up to salute His Highness, +and he informed us he was hawking for partridges. The bird used was, I +believe, a species of falcon, though I am not sufficiently skilled an +ornithologist to say what species. The bird is carried, hooded, on the +wrist, and is unhooded and cast off when the prey is sighted. For large +game the bigger female falcon is used. + +The group of riders made quite a picture as they sat: the gold +embroidery of their military uniforms sparkling in the sun; the black +of the astrakhan hat, the long waving mane and tail of the horses, +all sharply distinct against the background of soft spring green and +distant shadowy mountains. + +[Sidenote: Mountain "Sportsmen."] + +As a nation the Afghans are fond of sport. Game of many kinds +is plentiful in the country. A short time ago, the sport of all +sports--for the excitement of great possible gain came in--was the +picking off of unwary travellers and annexing their belongings. Here +was not only sport but the indulgence of a passion so dear to the +Afghan, that of gambling. + +A sportsman on the hills saw trudging along the road a traveller with a +burden on his shoulders. From the distance he examined him with care. + +"To my eye this traveller has rupees and much gold in his pack. Without +doubt he is a rascal Hindu usurer, who, journeying to Kabul, is about +to plunder the Faithful. Soul of my father! Shall this be?" And the +bullet sped on its way. Springing from rock to rock, with agility born +of a mountain life, the sportsman was soon on the road. Quickly he +opened the pack and--out rolled a melon. + +His arms sunk to his sides, his head drooped, and he stood the picture +of despair. For his sins he was thus punished. "Tobah! tobah! alas and +alas!" he groaned; "my cartridge, my good cartridge is gone, wasted, +for ever lost; and I, what have I? a melon! Wai! wai!" and he wept. + +But, nowadays, since the great king, Amir Abdurrahman, has occupied the +throne, this form of sport is less popular than it was. Possibly it may +be due to the fact that consequences far from pleasing to the sportsmen +and their friends are apt to follow indulgence in this pastime. +Imprisonment has occurred; the being compelled to work in chains on the +roads or in the workshops; ignominious death even, as by hanging, or +by being thrust into an iron cage and left thirsting on the high peak +of a mountain. So, therefore, as I said, it is becoming less popular. + +There are, however, many other forms of sport. Wild-fowl shooting in +the marshes around Kabul is a favourite pastime. + +Sometimes the sportsmen go in a body on horseback, ride into the +marsh where it is shallow, disturb the duck and fire into the flight. +Sometimes they go singly, conceal themselves and use a decoy. In the +plains they stalk the deer or use a body of beaters to drive the game +to certain points. In Turkestan, tiger, wild pig--which they shoot--and +bear are to be obtained. Duck shooting in the autumn and winter, and +hawking in the spring are, perhaps, the sports in which the Royal +Family most frequently indulge. + +[Sidenote: The Start for Turkestan.] + +Not very long after our arrival in Kabul it was rumoured that the Amir +needed my services in Turkestan, and a month and a-half afterwards +the official order arrived. I was to accompany Jan Mahomed Khan, +the Treasury Officer, who was about to convey a supply of bullion +to Turkestan for the use of His Highness. Accordingly, as soon as +I received the order, I engaged some servants: a Peshawuri--the +"assassin," whom I have already referred to--as valet, and a Hindustani +cook, whom I found in Kabul. I was fortunate in being able to obtain +a cook, as hitherto Mr. Pyne and I had shared one between us. The man +I engaged had been cook in the family of Sir Louis Cavagnari. The +other servants were Afghans. After some extra cooking pots, dried +fruit, salt, and various other things, which the cook said he must +get from the bazaar, were obtained, and the baggage was packed, Mr. +Pyne accompanied me to the house of Jan Mahomed Khan. We were received +in a large room, which was crowded with people standing. We seated +ourselves at the end and drank tea with Jan Mahomed. Then a bottle of +champagne was opened, complimentary speeches made, and, finally, about +midday we started. We stopped at the Palace, dismounted, and went in to +take leave of His Highness, the Prince. When we remounted we were met +outside the Palace by Perwana Khan, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and +Naib Mir Sultan, the Governor of Kabul, each with their attendants, so +that with our own crowd of servants, and a guard of sixty soldiers, we +made a large cavalcade. A crowd of people on foot accompanied us part +of the way, running by the side and in front of the horses. The sun +shone brightly; the dresses of the officials--crimson, and purple, and +green--were brilliant with gold embroidery. The glitter of the gold +and silver ornaments on belt, scabbard, and bridle, the blue and gold +turbans of the attendants, the black sheepskin busbies of the soldiers, +horses caracoling, and the look of bustle and excitement, made an +artistic and interesting picture. + +We rode by the bank of the Kabul river westward, past the workshops and +through the gorge between the Sher Durwaza and Asmai mountains out into +the Charhardeh valley. + +The first day's journey was short, for we went only a few miles across +the valley to a place called Chiltan, where on a hill Jan Mahomed has +a "country residence." The house was pretty, and well built, in the +style of a bungalow with a verandah; around it were flower gardens with +a small fountain. Down the hill and around the foot of it were vines +and fruit trees, and the view from the house was over the cornfields +and vineyards of the beautiful Charhardeh valley, circled with +mountains. + +The Governor of Kabul did not accompany us to the house, but the rest +of us sat down to dinner together, in the Mahomedan fashion, that is, +on the ground. Pyne and I were accommodated with cushions. As we were +not able to double our legs up in the Eastern fashion we "reclined." +It was my first "native" dinner, and I enjoyed it immensely, for the +ride and excitement had made us hungry. With the fruit, champagne was +brought, and afterwards sweets and tea. Then when we lit our cigars +nautch girls and musicians were introduced. + +[Sidenote: The Nautch Dancer.] + +I can speak of the wild barbaric music from seithar, rubarb, and drum; +of the passionate Oriental love song pealing forth in unison from +strong male voices; of the unveiled girl dancers undulating to the +music; of the glances cast by the dark eyes, the waving of arms, the +clinking of bangles, and the tinkling of bells on their ankles, as the +dancers stepped daintily on the carpet. + +I can also speak of the indescribable ear-splitting din, without +either time or tune, which was torn from the tortured instruments and +hurled at us as "music;" of the harsh voices roaring till they were +hoarse something which we did not understand; of the attempts of the +singers to produce a trill by shaking the head; of the utter absence of +modulation or feeling in their singing; of the dancing women shuffling +about, clapping their hands and throwing themselves into uncouth and +to us unmeaning postures; and I thought, "Oh, for an hour of Augustus +Druriolanus to open the eyes of these Easterns." + +We turned in at midnight, Pyne and I sharing a room, and he broke my +only egg cup with his heel. We started next morning at eight, said +good-bye to Pyne, who returned to Kabul to superintend the workshops, +and then rode on. On the way villagers came out and lined the road to +salaam Jan Mahomed and offer him presents. As they stood in a row they +held out their hands, palm upwards, muttered a prayer, and stroked +their beards--that is, those who had beards: the young men and boys who +had not, pretended to do so. At some places they slung a string across +the road with a Koran fixed in the middle of it, and as we passed under +it we held out our hands, palm upwards, muttered a prayer, and stroked +our beards. At other places they killed a bullock or a calf by cutting +its throat. I do not know the significance of the operation. + +It rained somewhat when we got among the mountains, and Jan Mahomed, +who had on a purple velvet tunic, put up an umbrella to protect +himself. I found he had brought his little son, four years old with +him. The youngster was seated in a little chair, which was securely +fastened on the back of a steady horse, an attendant holding a leading +rein. I was not on very good terms myself with my horse. He was a +very showy creature, and had been given me by the Prince, but he had +evidently not been ridden lately, and was very fresh. A march is a +fatiguing function at the best of times, and my horse was not up to +the quick shuffling walk which is so restful. He would do anything +else--buck, kick, gallop, or trot. Finally Jan Mahomed ordered one of +the soldiers, an iron Afghan, to change with me, and I was at peace +again. + +Sometimes we stopped at a village and put up in the different houses; +other times the tents were pitched near a stream. When we got among the +Paghman offshoot of the Hindu Kush mountains we had pelting rain and +sleet for hours; a violent storm of thunder and lightning; then had to +ford a wide roaring stream with a stony irregular bed, and, finally, to +camp outside a Hazara fortified village in the sloppy melting snow. + +[Sidenote: Courtesy of Jan Mahomed.] + +The village (Kharzar) was too filthy inside for us to enter, and too +cramped in space to accommodate us, if we had entered. I went to +look--for my tent had not arrived. For food the villagers were too +ill provided themselves to be able to sell us anything, and hungry, +wet, and tired, it seemed likely we should have a cheerless night. +When Jan Mahomed's tent was ready he kindly invited me to enter it. I +took off my soaked ulster, sloshed and slipped into the dusk of the +tent, sat on a stool, and shivered miserably. Nothing else seeming to +be forthcoming, a pipe was the only resource, and with shaking hand I +tried to light it. Match after match fizzed in the damp and went out. +The pipe chattered in my teeth, and, woe is me, I felt that the cold +and the wet and the hungry emptiness would last for ever. But it did +not. Jan Mahomed Khan noticed presently that I seemed uncomfortable. +He rose from the camp stool on which he was sitting enveloped in the +voluminous folds of a huge sheepskin postin, came across the tent, +slipped the postin from his shoulders and threw it around me. I tried +to refuse; but he insisted. He said nothing, for he could not speak +English nor I Persian, then he smiled, bowed and sat down again. I felt +very grateful, and at the same time rather ashamed at having robbed +him, but presently a soldier brought him a cloak in which he wrapped +himself. + +Meanwhile, the attendants, having succeeded in obtaining some straw, +scattered it thickly inside the tent and spread carpets over it. Then +they endeavoured to light a fire in a large iron pot outside, and when +there was a feeble glimmer of a flame they brought it in. We gathered +round it joyfully, but soon a dense fog of smoke from the damp wood +filled the tent. Though I still shivered under the postin, I had +managed to light my pipe, and I sat puffing away with the smarting +tears trickling down, finally the smoke fog became so dense that I was +compelled to sit with my eyes shut. Neither Jan Mahomed nor any of the +Afghans seemed to mind it in the least. Jan Mahomed himself is not an +Afghan. He is a Samarcandi whom the Amir purchased as a boy. He was the +Amir's faithful attendant when in exile in Russian Turkestan; and when +His Highness came to the throne Jan Mahomed was put into a position +of trust, finally becoming treasury officer, or "Chancellor of the +Exchequer." + +The tent, by-and-bye, became warmer, and I took off my solar helmet +which I had worn during the rain storms. The Afghans, however, attach +great importance to keeping the head warm, and they all insisted upon +my putting on that or some other head covering at once; otherwise, they +said, I should take fever. The fire began to blaze up brightly and +the smoke to disappear, when an iron vessel was brought, containing +a few pints of milk with water added to eke out the quantity. They +put it over the fire and, when it boiled, a handful of tea was thrown +in. There was enough for all in the tent to have a teacupful; I, +the guest, and Jan Mahomed, received two each. By-and-bye, an iron +camp bedstead was prepared for my host, and he retired; one of the +attendants kneading and massaging the limbs till he slept. My bedding +not having turned up I threw a buffalo rug over my feet, and lay down +on the carpet enveloped in the folds of the sheepskin. It was not a +comfortable bed, but I was tired and slept more or less, waking up +occasionally with aching bones. + +The morning was bright: the rising sun in the clear sky lit up the +white snow all around, and a keen wind was blowing. My interpreter, +the Armenian, appeared. He said he had had fever in the night, and had +found shelter in one of the huts inside the Hazara fort. He brought me +a small piece of dry bread which the cook had found among the baggage +when my tent arrived. Some hot tea was made, and I munched my crust +with great satisfaction. They told me we should have a cold march that +day, by Hajiguk, and the Armenian said:-- + +"Sir, you not wear the long coat; he is wet, and fever come for you." + +"I must wear something," I said. + +"Another you have," said he, and off he went. He presently returned +with my dressing-gown. I objected; but, no, there was nothing +extraordinary in it; in fact, it was very like an Afghan robe. I wore +it, therefore, though it did not seem a very suitable riding coat. + +[Sidenote: Mountain Climbing.] + +It was a cold march as we crunched along through the snow, in spite of +the fact that the sun was shining brightly. We were at an altitude of +over sixteen thousand feet, and had to make long detours, for the road +was in places blocked or rendered unsafe by the snow. In some of the +detours where there was no path, we scrambled up and down terrifying +slopes. My saddle, a hunting one, could not be kept in place, and we +had to extemporize a breast-plate with string. In one ravine where +we halted, trying to find a way out, there was a sudden crack and a +splash. We had stopped over a stream crusted with ice and covered with +snow, and the horse of one of the soldiers went through. The stream, +however, was shallow, and only the man's feet were wetted. There was a +laugh as he urged his horse out. + +We descended from the region of snow into valleys where the air +quivered with heat, and one's face was nearly blistered. In one, where +we stopped for lunch, I put a clinical thermometer for a moment against +my coat sleeve. The mercury shot up to the top at once. I was glad when +we moved on again. We passed a spring bubbling up near the road, whose +waters were impregnated with iron, the ground all round being stained +brown. Jan Mahomed said the water contained copper and was poisonous. + +I remember one narrow but wild rocky ravine, with a river foaming and +roaring down it. The road ran along a few yards above the water. There +was a natural bridge of rock, over which the road ran, and just beyond, +a waterfall of some depth, where, at the bottom of the fall, the water +rushed under an arch of rock and was lost to sight. It reappeared, I +was told, in a valley about two miles off, and they said His Highness +the Amir one day, when travelling by, offered a prize of a hundred +rupees to the man who would plunge in and explore the underground +river. A duck had been put in and had reappeared alive in the valley. +A soldier undertook the adventure at once, and was preparing for his +perilous journey when the Amir forbad it. His Highness said, "If he is +drowned I lose a man of courage, and if he succeed what gain is there? +Give him the rupees." + +[Sidenote: Camp in the Bamian Valley.] + +We were now about ninety miles from Kabul. For the first forty miles we +travelled due west, after that north-west, till we entered the ravine +I spoke of, which led nearly due north. As we rode on, the ravine +descended and opened into a large and very fertile valley. The mountain +at the west of the gorge was red in colour, quite different from those +we had been travelling among. Looking up with some interest at it, I +distinguished battlemented walls and towers leading up the mountain, +and, at the top, clusters of ruined houses and walls. There was no +sign of life. The city was deserted. They told me the place was called +Zohak-i-Marhan, and was built a thousand years ago ("hazar sol") by +the Emperor Alexander ("Sekunder"). + +I did not, however, in the style of architecture see anything that +could lead one to suppose the buildings were of Greek origin. It +is interesting to note that there is in Afghanistan a tribe called +Zohak, which is a division of the Ushturyani (the Stauri of Pliny), +who formerly occupied the district west of Bamian. Zohak is stated by +Dr. Bellew to be the same as Zak and Sak, and stands for the ancient +inhabitants of Sistan and Makran, Assyrian subjects of Nimrod, king of +Babylon. + +We descended into the valley and camped not far from the red mountain, +near the village of Topchi. + +It was the month of May, the sun shone brightly, and the fields around +were green. Jan Mahomed had brought the musicians--but not the dancing +girls--with him. We luxuriated after the bitter winds and sleet of the +mountains, and the heat and weariness of the stony valleys. When lunch +was over Jan Mahomed sent me some sweets and a bottle of champagne. I +found that my servants, though Mahomedans, felt they were justified +after their fatigues in finishing the bottle. The musicians sat playing +in Jan Mahomed's tent, and as I lay in mine reading a novel, the quaint +music, softened by the distance, was more pleasing than I had supposed +possible. For years afterwards the twang of the rubarb, the irregular +thud of the drums, and the monotonous sound of the singing, brought +back vividly to me that day in the Bamian valley, when I was a new +comer in the country. + +The Bamian valley extends from Topchi nearly ten miles in a westerly +direction, and is about eight thousand feet above the sea. It is +interesting to know that Lady Sale, Lady MacNaughten, and six other +English ladies, who were taken prisoners in the first Afghan war in +1837, were conducted over the road we traversed to this very valley. +Lady Sale, relating their adventures, says that though they suffered +hardship, privation, and much anxiety concerning their future fate, +they were treated with kindness and consideration by the villagers +on the way. The order was that they were to be conducted to Khulum, +a hundred and twenty miles further on among the mountains toward +Turkestan, there to be delivered over to the Governor. This would have +meant to them a hopeless captivity. Happily, Sir Robert Sale, after the +defeat of the Afghans by Pollock, hurried on, and was able to rescue +the party in Bamian. Lady MacNaughten, less happy than Lady Sale, had +seen her husband, diplomatist and Oriental scholar, murdered before her +eyes in Kabul. + +While we were in this valley Jan Mahomed went some miles out of the +road to show me a petrified dragon, or as my interpreter put it, "a +stone cow." Akbar Mahomed had slain this dragon in single combat, and +Allah had changed it into stone. "Why _cow_?" I asked the Armenian, +some time afterwards. "It is a snake or a dragon." + +"I not know English word snake and dragon; I must say some animal, and +'cow' came into head, therefore I say _cow_." The dragon I found to be +a curious shaped rocky hill formed in the course of ages by the deposit +of carbonate of lime from a spring that was still bubbling there. + +[Illustration: COLOSSAL FIGURE, "SA-MAMA," IN THE BAMIAN +VALLEY. + + _From a photograph by Arthur Collins, F.G.S._] + +[Sidenote: The Colossal Figures.] + +This valley was full of surprises, for the next day we came up with +three colossal figures, cut in relief on the face of the mountains (the +Hindu Kush range) on the north side of the valley. These figures, they +said, were statues carved by order of Jelaluddin Shah, of himself, +his wife and son (Jelaluddin lived about the year 1230). Away on the +other side of the valley we could dimly see on the heights the ruins +of a deserted city--"the city of Jelaluddin." We were too far off to +see anything characteristic in the ruins, but it is possible that +the city belongs to the same era as that of Zohak-i-Marhan, a few +miles further down the valley. The figures, it is probable, are of +Buddhist origin, and date back to the time which preceded the Mahomedan +conquest of Afghanistan, when Buddhism was the dominant religion of +the country. The largest of the three figures, which has the local +name of "Sa-mama," is 173 feet in height. The smaller, "Sul-sol," 120 +feet, and the smallest not more than 80 feet. They resemble in style +other figures of Buddha. The drapery, moulded and fastened on with +pegs, shows no sign of classical influence, arranged, as it is, in +stiff conventional folds. These are in places broken away, showing +the peg holes. To give an idea of their relative size, I saw a man on +horseback ride up to one figure--he and his horse together were not so +high as the toe. The figures are hollow, and there are steps leading +up to chambers inside the body and head. These are used by the Amir +as storehouses for grain. On the wall of the chamber, in the head of +the largest figure, are the indistinct marks of a fresco painting, of +which Mr. Collins, the geologist, managed, some years afterwards, to +get an imperfect photograph. It is, however, impossible to make out the +subject, and I heard no story as to when or by whom it was painted. In +the face of the mountain, by the side of the figures, are chambers or +caves hollowed out of the rock. Some of these are beautifully cut, with +domed roofs--to use the words of Mr. Collins, who examined them--in +"hard conglomerate rock, and are coated with a layer of lustrous +bitumen." Doubtless, they were used as temples and dwelling-places for +the Buddhist priests. Many of the other caves are in "soft sandstone +and conglomerate." These could be easily cut, the hard conglomerate +forming a natural roof for rooms dug in the softer sandstone beneath. +Presumably they are of later origin than those cut in the harder +material. Narrow, almost impossible staircases lead up to the caves, +and there dwell the poorer Hazara agriculturists of the Bamian valley. +There are cave-dwellers in many parts of Afghanistan, and it is men of +this kind, who combine the professions of agriculturist and warrior, +who would be likely to cause more trouble to an invader of Afghanistan +than would the regular army of the Amir. During the last Afghan war the +English were at first much puzzled by the rapidity with which thousands +of armed men would appear, and, if occasion required, the equal +rapidity with which they would vanish. All that could be found was here +and there a peaceful peasant hard at work in the fields with his +mattock--the rifle was left at home. + +The furniture of one of these rock dwellings is simple enough. The +most prominent feature is the great ornamented earthen jar, in which +grain and provisions are stored: a strip of carpet occupies the place +of honour in the centre of the floor: a few copper cooking utensils, a +"chillim," an Afghan "samovar" for tea, and a rough "charpoy," complete +the establishment. + +In the Bamian valley, fertile, full of interest and with a delightful +climate, we travelled deliberately, taking two days to traverse the +ten miles or so. As we rode, my Armenian told me many stories. I do +not know what they were about; I didn't then. One only I understood. +He said that once on a march, utterly wearied, he went to sleep on +horseback. "It is thrown out," said he, meaning himself; and pointing +to his forehead, with a mild smile, he said, "He is broke, and blood +is come." I laughed, and asked what happened next. "I got him upstairs +horse, but I not go to sleep again." + +[Sidenote: The Pass of the "Tooth-breaker."] + +Then we turned north, and the next day was wearisome: not so much +from the length of the march, it was only thirty miles, as from the +incessant climbing. We had a mountain to cross, to which all that we +had hitherto seen was a mere joke. The Afghans call the mountain the +"Tooth-breaker" (Dandan shikan). I don't mind trifling adventures, +such as riding along the tops of walls, or foot-wide bridges, but when +it comes to riding an iron-shod horse along smooth rock, slanting to +a precipice of unknown depth--well, it is past a joke. We had to do +it, and then descend a horrible "zig-zag." I don't call it a path, +because the predominant features were boulders, smooth tilted slabs, +and rolling pebbles. You lean back in the saddle, leaving your horse to +make his own arrangements. He picks his way warily, lower and lower, +and you thank Heaven you have got so far, when, just as you reach the +end of one "zig," and your horse's nose is over the edge, there is a +crunching slip of his hind feet: you catch in your breath and--think. +But he does not make a plunge over the edge, he pivots round on his +four feet, and goes down the "zag." This is repeated frequently, and +at last, after many years, you arrive with your nerves in a shattered +condition at the bottom. The next time I came over this road, a year or +two later, there were accidents; but that I will speak of later. + +We travelled on, day after day, through valleys and over +mountains--sometimes putting up at villages, sometimes camping in our +tents. Rain and hail alternated with scorching heat. To blacken you +properly, you want a dry scorching heat, alternating with icy winds and +hail. Some of the soldiers looked exactly as if they had been smoked: +the eyelids and creases of the face being white--the rest black. + +[Sidenote: Story of Ishak's Rebellion.] + +We often had music when we camped, and one evening I played chess with +Jan Mahomed. He beat me. We were then at Ghuzni guk, the valley where +the armies of the Amir and of his cousin Sirdar Ishak Khan met and +fought. The story I heard was this: His Highness the Amir and Ishak +had always been friends, and when the Amir ascended the throne, Ishak +was made Governor of the Turkestan provinces. All went well for some +years. Suddenly, news arrived in Turkestan that His Highness had had +an attack of gout, and had succumbed.[3] Ishak called his officers +around him, and discussed what steps to take. The chiefs urged him to +seize the throne. He, however, was a nervous man, not a warrior by +nature, and he hesitated. The chiefs seeing this, broadly hinted that +unless he seized the moment while he could, they would place another on +the throne, and Ishak, much against his will, was constrained to do as +they wished. He sent his women-folk and children across the Oxus into +Russian Turkestan, and marched with his troops and chiefs for Kabul. +They had not advanced many days' journey when news was brought that +the Amir was very much alive, and that his army was marching under +Gholam Hyder, the less, to meet them. Ishak knew now that he must meet +his Great Cousin, and in fear and distrust he posted relays of horses, +so that, if the worst came, he could escape across the frontier. They +met in this valley a few miles beyond Kamard. It is said that Ishak's +army at the outset had the best of it--the men knew they were fighting +for their lives--but Ishak, neither Mahomedan nor Christian, did not +wait to see the end of the day. He made use of his horses, and rapidly +escaping across the frontier into Russia, he left his unfortunate +followers to bear the brunt of the Amir's terrible vengeance. It +appears that the rumour of the Amir's death had some foundation: His +Highness had been seized with a sudden attack of syncope, in which he +fell insensible to the ground. + +[3] The news reached India. It was the first thing I saw in the papers +when I arrived there to enter the Amir's service, Sept. 1888. + +One Sunday we had a very long march, thirteen hours, with two rests of +an hour each. Going one pace all the time is tedious, and one's bones +ache abominably. We got into a ravine with a rapid stream roaring +along it, and part of the path was undermined and slipping. We had to +dismount and skip across on foot, the soldiers getting the horses over. + +The ravine narrowed, curved to the right, and opened out into a +valley. The river roared round the corner, figure =S= shape, in some +places cutting away the path completely. Our horses had to plunge, and +stumble, and splash through that river three times in twenty yards, +before we could get out into the valley. It is at times like this that +the beautiful song "One More River to Cross" becomes full of meaning. A +mile or two more of hill and vale, and soon after dark we reached "Tash +Kurghan," or "Khulum," the place where Lady Sale and her companions in +captivity were to have been taken. + +We put up at the citadel or fort, which is built on a rocky hill in the +middle of the town. We rested here all day Monday, and I enjoyed the +luxury of a hot bath. The Armenian waxed philosophical. He said, "It is +good to rest a little. Tired is go away, and hungry is go away." Also +he suggested that a shave might commend itself to my judgment. + +"But who is to shave me?" I said. + +[Sidenote: The Wounded Soldiers in Tash Kurghan.] + +"There is bolber in the town." He called it barber afterwards. They +fetched the barber, and I wondered if it were dangerous for him to +shave me, for I had heard that Afghans were treacherous fanatics. +He did not destroy me. He merely rubbed some oil on my chin and +then scraped the skin off with a knife--a painful process. When the +operation was completed, I was conducted to the hospital. No, not on +account of my chin, but to examine the patients. The hospital was an +ordinary but rather large dwelling-house, and there were many wounded +soldiers lying there. It was exceedingly unclean and smelt badly. The +patients--I never before in my life saw such a condition of things. The +ghastly state to which battle wounds can come from neglect and improper +treatment, is too awful for words. I wanted to move the men from the +house, and to amputate at once some half-dozen arms and legs that were +_worse_ than useless to their owners. I could not, for I had neither +knives nor chloroform, and I had to leave the men--to leave them as I +found them--with their wistful eyes on me. + +After that Jan Mahomed took me out to dine at a local magnate's house. +My cook accompanied me, bearing knife, fork, spoon, and plate. In the +absence of table and chair I had to kneel to use my knife and fork. +It was not a comfortable dinner. I could not understand what the +conversation was about; and there were those men at the hospital ever +before me. + +Beyond Tash Kurghan we turned west, and the scenery completely changed. +For some miles there was undulating plain covered with coarse grass. As +we rode on we started a herd of antelope, and had a gallop after them: +the change of motion from the everlasting walk was a great rest to the +muscles. + +In one place the road dipped down between some low clay hills, the +defile of Abadu. Until very recently this little grip had had the +credit of being exceedingly dangerous; in fact, it is even yet called +"the Valley of death:" this on account of the caravan thieves and +robbers who infested the neighbourhood. + +It is less dangerous under the present Amir, for I had occasion while +in Turkestan to send for two additional dispensers from Kabul, and +these two men rode the whole distance from Kabul to Mazar unattended. +They had for safety's sake a revolver. It was, however, unloaded, and +they had no powder. + +The plains became gradually flatter and more dusty, till, finally, it +was little more than a desert with the scantiest vegetation. + +The heat was intense, and the glare from the white dust most wearying. +Away in the distance in front of us, I saw a lake with some trees round +it, and I longed for the time when we should arrive and get cool again +in the shade. "There is no lake there," they said. Nonsense! I knew +there was. This was no "mirage." I mean, you could see the thing. There +weren't any towers or castles, or people walking upside down, simply +one or two trees near some water. But, alas! we dragged on and on in +the parching heat, and never got nearer the lake. We passed a camel, +dead, by the roadside, loading the hot air with foulness. The gorged +vultures only hopped lazily a little way off, and sat and stared at us. +We halted at last, dismounted, and sat in the sun while the "chillim" +bearer blew up his charcoal and passed round the pipe. I had a pull at +it. He kept a little silver mouthpiece for my especial benefit, which +he slipped on the end of the tube. I was glad of this, though I knew it +was simply done lest I had eaten pork or anything unclean. After all +had smoked, the pipe charcoal was used to light some sticks that the +pipe-bearer had brought with him; the kettle was boiled, and we had hot +tea--scalding hot: the hotter it was, the more it seemed to satisfy our +thirst. + +[Sidenote: Arrival at Mazar.] + +Then we mounted and rode on again. By-and-by, Jan Mahomed politely gave +me a handful of English sweets, those round discs like pennies, with a +fancy edge, and with words printed on, "For a good boy": they tasted +of peppermint. I wished they had been gelatine lozenges. Some hours +afterwards we halted again. This time it was at a village on the plain. +There were small mud-huts, and quaint-looking domes of wickerwork with +bits of scrub tucked into the interstices. It was cool in the shade, +and the villagers, Turkomans, gave us lettuces to eat. It was delicious +to crunch up the cool crisp leaves. We drank more tea, then rode on +again amid the salaams of the Turkomans. At last we came in sight of +the trees, the cupola and minarets of the town of Mazar-i-Sherif. This +was no phantom scene. A great crowd of people on foot and on horseback +came to meet us. I noticed that many of them kissed the hand of Jan +Mahomed, those on horseback dismounting to do so.[4] I also noticed +that one man running by the side of Jan Mahomed had a rifle slung +backwards under his arm, and that the barrel kept persistently in a +line with my head. It annoyed me. I could not get out of the way of the +brute. I need not have been disturbed, the gun was not in the least +likely to have been loaded: powder was too expensive. + +[4] I was very sorry to hear recently, that Jan Mahomed Khan is no +longer living: a machine gun exploded and he was killed. + +We reached the town at five in the afternoon, rode through the gate +along the narrow bazaar to the Palace. We dismounted under some big +plane-trees growing by a tank in the outer garden of the Palace, and +the report of our arrival was taken to His Highness the Amir. The pages +and other officials crowded round, busily brushed the white dust off +us, and brought us bowls of iced water. Thirst! I knew what it was now! +Ride for ten hours over a dusty plain, with the thermometer over 100 deg. +in the shade, and anything you like in the sun, and see. + +Word was brought that His Highness would receive us the next day. Jan +Mahomed then handed me over to the care of one of the court officials, +the "Ferash-Bashi," or "Keeper of the Carpets." This was a short stout +gentleman of few words, and with a sour expression. + +He was dressed rather gorgeously in a cashmere tunic, gold-bedecked +belt, trousers, high boots and turban. When I got to know him better, +I thought he was not such a villain as he looked. This gentleman +conducted me, accompanied by the Armenian, to a house near the Palace. +We passed through a covered porch, guarded by a pair of heavy gates, +into a garden surrounded by high walls: went along the stone-paved +paths, up some steps into a suite of rooms on the north side of the +garden. The rooms were beautifully carpeted, and looked very bright +and handsome in the setting sun. The "Bashi" informed us that he had +orders to send dinner from the Amir's kitchen; then politely saying +"Binishined"--take a seat--he departed. Seeing there was no seat to +take, I took the floor, and waited hungrily till dinner should arrive. +I had not long to wait, and was delighted to see the servants bring a +portable chair and table, with the dinner. I don't remember what the +different courses were, but the dinner was European--soup, joint, and +entrees--and ended with a very delicious ice-pudding and fruit. + +This house, which His Highness was kind enough to put at my service, +is of interest. Here, His Highness himself lived, before he built the +Mazar Palace. Here, too, Sirdar Ishak, in the days when he was Governor +of Turkestan, kept the ladies of his harem; and here Amir Shere Ali +lived--and died--in the very room I was dining in. + +[Sidenote: Story of the Death of Amir Shere Ali.] + +Amir Shere Ali had been friendly with the British: troubles arose, and +he turned to the Russians. The British occupied Quetta in 1876, and +in 1878 the Amir received a mission from Russia. A British mission +being refused entry into the Kyber, war was proclaimed. I need not +trace the outline of the war; it is enough to say that Amir Shere +Ali did not receive the help he expected from Russia, and he fled to +Mazar-i-Sherif. Here he was seized with his old enemy, gout--a disease +that is hereditary in this reigning family.[5] + +[5] There is a saying in Kabul that only those of the family suffer +from gout who afterwards occupy the throne; and since Prince Nasrullah, +the second son, has had twinges of pain in one of his lower limbs, some +have looked upon him as a probable successor to the throne! + +They say that he was being attended by a Russian physician, and that +the pain being very severe the physician introduced some medicine +beneath the skin; then escaping by night to the Oxus he crossed into +Russian territory. In the morning Amir Shere Ali was found dead. For +some days his death was concealed, but finally the fact was betrayed by +a serving woman. + +At once the soldiers of the regular army commenced looting. The Palace +was stripped; then the bazaars and the wealthier people suffered, +and soon there was a pandemonium of riot, robbery, and murder. This +having occurred once, the fear is lest it may occur again. Many of the +well-to-do natives of Afghanistan have that dread; and at the time when +the present Amir was severely ill, in 1890, there was such trepidation +and anxiety in Kabul, that many of the well-to-do concealed their more +portable valuables by burying them in the earth, and sought for safer +retreats outside the town, to which they could hurry in time of need. + +[Sidenote: The House.] + +The house did not differ from those of the richer Kabulis. The +windowless twenty-feet-high walls, in addition to ensuring privacy, +enabled the occupant on closure of the massive doors to convert his +house into a place of defence. It was partly overlooked, however, by +one tower or observatory built on the top of a high house some little +distance off. It was here, I was informed, that Sirdar Ishak lived. He +could, therefore, catch a glimpse of the ladies of his harem when they +were walking on the roof. + +The large square garden was filled with fruit-trees and flowers: roses, +wallflowers, sweet-williams; and in the centre was a movable wooden +platform. In nearly every garden in Afghanistan you find, in some +shady place, generally by the side of the stream that ripples through +the garden, a platform a foot or two high, either of wood or carefully +smoothed earth. Here the Afghan, in his loose native garb, loves to +spread his carpet and sit in the hot summer afternoons lulled by the +murmur of the water, lazily talk to his friends and drink unlimited +tea. I have done it myself. + +On the north side were my rooms raised six steps above the garden. +Passing up the steps to the lobby one entered the outer room with +its seven arched windows overlooking the garden, its one huge carpet +covering the floor, and, passing through, reached the inner room, +parallel and of the same size. There were the white sparkling walls +ornamented with frieze and dado, the arched niches or takchahs, with +small mirrors between them, the fireplace with ornamental mouldings, +the draped ceiling and the smooth earth floor with beautiful rugs +that are usual in the homes of the wealthiest Afghans. The inner room +was lit from the outer by a triple arched window, filled with stained +glass, which reached nearly to the floor. It was in this room that +Shere Ali died. It is said that on the takchah over the fireplace there +was left in the hurry when Ishak fled, the sum of R80,000 in gold. +At any rate, while I was there, one of the Court officials was fined +heavily by the Amir for appropriating the money. + +The rooms appointed to the interpreter and servants adjoined mine, but +were uncarpeted and less elaborately ornamented. On the south side of +the garden the rooms were occupied by one of the chamberlains, Mirza +Abdur Rashid. The Mirza was an excellent fellow, and we were friends +during my whole stay in Afghanistan. He was a pure-blooded Afghan about +my own age, with handsome features, and a skin so dark as to be nearly +black. For an Afghan he was well educated, and it was his duty night +after night to read aloud to His Highness the records of the kingdom +and books translated into Persian, of travel, geography, history, and +general information.[6] + +[6] I have heard recently that the Mirza, following the example of +other misguided Afghans, endeavoured to escape from the country into +India. Unfortunately for him he was one of the unsuccessful ones. He +was seized, brought before the Amir, and--Fate is now unkind to him. + +On the east of the garden were rooms for the Afghan bath, and on the +west a colonnade where I kept my horses and where the soldiers of the +guard congregated. Night and day a sentry was on duty in the porch by +the big gates. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE AMIR. + + To be presented. The Palace gardens. The Palace. The Amir. The + Presentation. Questions asked by His Highness. Another European + present. Punishment of Rebellions in Afghanistan. Asiatic motives + from European standpoint. Departure of the Captain. Amir's + arrangements for my safety. Bazaars and houses of Mazar. The + suburbs. The Military Hospital. The Patients and their condition. + The medical attendants. Afghan appreciation of European medical + treatment. The daily routine. Insubordination of Hospital + assistants. The two chief Hakims. Hindustani intrigue. Amir's sense + of justice. The Trial. A Courtier's influence. Breakfast under the + almond trees. The guard of the Amir's table. + + +[Sidenote: To be Presented.] + +On the appointed day I accompanied Jan Mahomed Khan to the Palace, to +be presented to His Highness the Amir. Mazar is a much smaller town +than Kabul, and as we had so short a distance to go we walked. The +bazaar and the streets bear a strong resemblance, in their squalor +and narrowness, to those of the larger town; we, however, were on the +outskirts where the roads were wide and the houses at intervals. + +We reached the outer garden of the Palace, where we had dismounted on +our first arrival in the town, and word was at once taken in to His +Highness. After waiting a few minutes the sentry at the gate admitted +us, and we entered the inner garden. This appeared to be extensive, and +was so filled with almond and other fruit-trees as almost to resemble +a wood. Along by the paths were planted sweet-smelling flowers. There +were page boys and other officials walking about, and presently we +came in sight of the Palace. In front was a large open space free from +trees and flowers, and protected from the sun by a crimson and white +awning. This was in place of a "Hall of Audience," where congregate +those who have petitions to offer or disputes to settle. + +Between the open space and the Palace ran a stream of water about six +feet wide, which meandered through the garden. The Palace was small. +It resembled in style a bungalow, such as one sees in India. There was +a broad and high verandah supported on carved wooden pillars, a high +sloping roof, and large windows on each side of the centre door: the +one on the left reaching nearly to the ground. + +We drew nearer, everyone making way, and we saw, surrounded by pages +and courtiers, that remarkable man who, had he lived a century +ago, would in all probability have been, not the petty prince of +a half-barren country, but the great conqueror of the East--"Amir +Abdurrahman, Amir of Afghanistan." + +He sat, a swarthy heavily-built man, with broad white forehead and +piercing eyes; his stooping attitude, with head advanced, showed little +of grace, but seemed the personification of watchful strength; as the +full-lipped mouth and square jaw betokened the inflexible will. + +Almost Persian in type, with the aquiline semi-Jewish features and +coal-black hair of his race, he added to the courtesy of the Oriental +something of the bluff heartiness of an Englishman. + +We had crossed the stream by a foot-bridge, but had paused at a little +distance from His Highness. Jan Mahomed receiving a sign, went quickly +forward, knelt at the feet of the Amir, kissed his hand and pressed it +to his forehead and eyes; then, rising, he presented me to His Highness. + +[Sidenote: Questions asked by His Highness.] + +The Amir welcomed me to his country, and courteously expressed a hope +that I was not fatigued by the long and trying journey. A chair was +placed, and His Highness, desiring me to be seated, asked me many +questions as to my medical experiences. In particular, he asked what +opportunities I had had of studying the disease, Gout--"neqris." I +said that in Europe "gout" was called the "English disease," and that +as all my professional life had been spent in London, I had had many +opportunities of studying and treating this complaint. His Highness +then described to me the symptoms that he suffered from, and showed +me where the pain seized him. He traced out exactly the course of the +sciatic nerve, and I saw that, whatever else he might suffer from, +there was no doubt whatever that he had chronic sciatica. He asked +also many questions in Science and Natural History, with the object, +presumably, of testing one's general knowledge. He did not, however, +enquire concerning my Degrees or Diplomas in Medicine, though he well +knew of the existence of such things. + +His Highness's words were translated by an Interpreter at the Court--a +Hindustani who spoke English exceedingly well. I confess I was glad the +Armenian was not, at that time, called upon to perform this duty, or I +am afraid my answers would have been less to the point. However, later +the Armenian became very fluent, and I learnt to understand him. + +Seated some little distance from the Amir was another European, Captain +(now Major) C. L. Griesbach, C.I.E. This gentleman, I heard, had been +with the Amir some two years as Geologist. When my "examination" +was satisfactorily over, permission was given us to retire, and I +accompanied Captain Griesbach to his house and dined with him. The +Captain informed me he was not remaining much longer with the Amir, +but was returning to India to continue his service under the British +Government. After dinner he sketched the character of the Amir, and +gave me a good deal of information as to the life in Turkestan. He had +heard of the terrible punishment that had been inflicted on the rebel +followers of Sirdar Ishak and their unfortunate families. One form +of punishment appeared to have been introduced from Russia. Men were +described as being tied, in the bitter winter of Turkestan, naked, to +a post; water was thrown over them, and they were left to freeze: a +strong man would last two days. Girls had been fastened to the earth +and tortured; women and children sold as slaves--and much more. + +I came away in anything but a cheerful state of mind. + +[Sidenote: Asiatic Motives from European Standpoint.] + +By whose orders had these things been done? I asked myself. Who was +responsible for them? The Prince, whose service I had just entered? He +whom I was to attend in sickness; to the preservation of whose health I +was to devote all my knowledge and skill? I tried to believe not; that +the deeds had been done without his knowledge; that the stories were +exaggerated: anything than that they were true; but the horror of it +all remained with me long. As the months went by, however, I perceived +that to view the conduct of an Asiatic ruler over a turbulent country +from the standpoint of Western nineteenth century civilization, is to +commit not only an error, but an injustice. It is an error, for it +leads one to quite wrong conclusions as to the character of the chief +actor: the Amir was simply proclaiming, in language that Asiatics +understand, his determination of being king in Afghanistan. It is +an injustice, for education and civilization _cannot_ advance with +such strides in an isolated Eastern country as in Europe; and without +the progress of knowledge the sons cannot learn better than their +fathers. Again, the Mahomedan religion--does it uphold forgiveness, +long-suffering, pity, and humility, as virtues? On the contrary, it +claims an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It tends rather to +encourage cruelty, for it spreads its very tenets by slaughter. With +what justice, then, could I view these things from our Nineteenth +century standpoint, seeing that less than two hundred years ago, with +_our_ religion, similar deeds were committed among us. + +A fortnight after my arrival, Captain Griesbach departed for India. He +was accompanied by the Interpreter who had translated for me before +the Amir: His Highness had desired the Interpreter to remain in his +service, but the man refused. + +During the interview when I was presented, His Highness had directed me +to take charge of the military hospital in Mazar. Remembering the men +in Tash Kurghan, I wondered what I should see. Early in the morning I +rode off, accompanied only by the Armenian. His Highness had decided +that in Turkestan it was unnecessary for me to be followed everywhere +by a guard of soldiers. He was my guard, he said, "and the Mazaris +are little likely to injure one for whose arrival they have been +anxiously watching." One or two precautions he directed the Armenian +to take. He was not to conduct me out on the plains more than a mile +from the city--this on account of Turkoman highwaymen; nor near a gang +of prisoners, for they were dangerous men, and in spite of search +carried concealed weapons; nor near a regiment of soldiers with fixed +bayonets--for as he significantly put it, "They have attempted even +_my_ life!" + +The way to the hospital was through the narrow, covered bazaar or +market-place. This was crowded with people, and caravans of camels and +pack-mules from Kabul and Bokhara. + +[Sidenote: Houses and Plains of Mazar.] + +The rough roofing of the bazaar forms a grateful shelter from the +scorching sun. The shops are similar to those of Kabul. After the +bazaar come winding streets among the houses. Space here is not so +limited as in Kabul, and though the streets are no wider, the houses +are less lofty. In style they differ much from the Kabul houses; +generally, the rooms are square, eight or nine feet high, with a domed +brickwork roof. One, two, or more rooms, side by side, for master, +servants, and horses, constitute the house. Often there are no windows, +light being admitted through the door and through an aperture in the +centre of the domed roof. This last acts also, when a wood fire is +lighted, as a convenient chimney. The sandali, however, is generally +used in the winter. The houses stand in an enclosed yard or garden, +but since the domed roofs of the houses are not used for the promenade +as are those of Kabul, the garden-walls have no need to be more than +seven or eight feet high. This style of house is peculiar to Turkestan, +though there are, in the suburbs of Mazar, many houses precisely like +those of Kabul. The walls, built of sun-dried bricks and coated with +mud, become painfully white and glaring in the summer sun. + +We reached one of the gates of the town and rode out. Here, in the +suburbs, are the summer gardens of the richer men. Far away are the +mountains, blue in the distance. Mazar lies on a malarious, almost +desert plain in Turkestan, nine miles east of the ancient city Balkh, +and thirty miles south of the Pata Kesar ferry, on the Oxus river, so +that we were near the Russian frontier. + +The plain is desert, because of the absence of water. When the snow +melts in the warmth of the spring, the plain becomes a blaze of red +flowers, wild tulips--poppies, my Interpreter said: but these shrivel +up and die in the summer. The gardens of the town, and the fields +immediately around it, are irrigated by an artificial canal, made, I +was told, by the Amir's father during the few months he reigned. They +said the water was brought south from the Oxus, but I fancy it must +come from the mountains towards Malmul. + +The hospital, a short distance out of the town, was once the suburban +house and garden of a wealthy man. + +The patients lay in the garden: some were under the trees, others were +protected by long thatched roofs supported on poles. None were in the +house. In Tash Kurghan the patients with festering wounds were shut +in a house when they should have been out in the open. Here they were +out in the open, lying on the earth, and dying by scores from malarial +fever. They should have been in the house, which was cool, and raised +four or five feet above the earth. + +There were about three hundred patients when I arrived, most of them +down with severe Remittent fever. The Hakims were treating the fever by +bleeding, purging, and starvation. Had they left the men untreated some +of them might have recovered: as it was, the victims were being carried +out five and six a day. In spite of their want of success, the Hakims +continued blindly and persistently with their mode of treatment. + +I walked round examining the patients and determining what I would +do. Evidently it was useless taking the poor fellows who were already +drained of their blood by the Hakims. I must take the new comers if I +was to succeed in the essential object of medical treatment, that of +curing the patient. I therefore directed that all new comers--and they +poured into the hospital--should be taken to the inner garden and their +beds arranged in the vacant rooms of the house there. A sentry was +posted at the gate of the inner garden, with orders to shoot any Hakim +attempting to enter. + +One room contained a heterogeneous collection of European drugs and +surgical instruments. In a small room on the roof lived a Hindustani +hospital assistant--the gentlemanly dipsomaniac whom I have already +introduced. There were two other Hindustani assistants, but they were +utterly and hopelessly ignorant. These men happily had spared the +patients. They had done no work at all. + +I had, therefore, the first day seven or eight new cases secluded from +the rest under my own hands, and, excluding bribery, beyond the reach +of Hakims. After some months, when I had become known, I found whom I +could trust, and did not take such stringent precautions. + +[Sidenote: Afghan Appreciation of Medical Treatment.] + +I made a preliminary round of my cases with a note-book, for, at that +time, distinguish Mahomed Akbar from Mahomed Hassan, and him from +Mahomed Hussain or Gul Mahomed, I could not. I then made a second round +with medicines, which were administered before me; for the possibility +of bribery occurred to me, and I knew the Hakims would shrink from +nothing to bring discredit upon a Feringhi interloper. My wards filled +rapidly, and for a week I had no deaths, the fever yielding readily +to quinine. The difference in the mortality after European and after +native treatment was naturally striking, and the news spread far and +wide, especially among the soldiers, the poorer townsfolk and the +peasants, so that I soon had far more work before me than I could +possibly get through in the day. + +The way my time was allotted may be interesting. + +After a light breakfast I galloped off to the hospital at daybreak, to +escape the intense heat. Having completed my rounds there I returned +home about eleven, washed and changed, putting on a dry suit of +flannel; then, lying on a couch in the inner room, with all the doors +and windows shut to keep out the heat, I munched some of the most +delicious fruit--peaches, grapes, and melons--that it has ever been my +good fortune to taste. At this time I had not become saturated with +malaria, and I could eat fruit without any evil resulting. I slept +for an hour, had lunch, and at two o'clock repaired to an underground +room, which was comparatively cool, to see the patients, townsfolk, and +soldiers who had been gathering in crowds round the house. I continued +attending to them till six in the evening and then ceased, whether +there were many or few remaining. After dinner I saw the one or two +favoured ones who had obtained from the Amir a special order for me to +visit them at their homes. + +I had at first some little trouble with the Hindustanis. Work was +uncongenial to them. Only one of them, my friend the drunkard, had any +medical knowledge, even such preliminary attainment as the use of the +stethoscope. Of the other two, one I made a compounder, and the other a +dresser of wounds. + +Having one day to amputate a thumb, I desired the dresser to remain +at the hospital and administer chloroform. He objected, saying he had +finished his work for the day. He did not understand English, but spoke +in Hindustani, in which language my Armenian was fluent. I said several +things, more or less severe, which my interpreter translated, but the +Hindustani went on his way. Had I then been acquainted with Afghan +customs I should at once have ordered a soldier to thrash him, but such +a procedure would have been unprecedented in a London hospital, and I +did not do so. Instead, I wrote to His Highness to enquire if I had +authority over the Hindustanis or not. His Highness answered that I had +authority over all the Hindustanis and Hakims in the kingdom, with the +exception of three men--one Hindustani and the two chief Hakims. He +added, that if there were any insubordination I was at liberty to order +the offender to be whipped or put in irons. + +[Sidenote: The Two Chief Hakims.] + +The Hindustani over whom I had no authority was a qualified man, who +had been hospital assistant in the British Army, but who, accused +of murdering his superior officer, an Englishman, had escaped into +Afghanistan. The Amir found him a beggar by the wayside and took him +into his service, appointing him to attend to the slaves of the harem. +He was at the time of which I am writing, in Kabul. The Hakims who were +excepted were two old men who had attended the Amir's father. One, the +Mirza Abdul Wahid, was an interesting old man, with wrinkled face of a +Roman type. I read of him in a Russian book that Captain Griesbach lent +me. For a Hakim he was an intelligent man, and I had a respect and a +liking for the courtly old fellow. He died while I was in Turkestan, +and I went to see him shortly before his death. With a courtesy that +pained me he rose from his sickbed and ordered tea and sweetmeats to be +brought. + +The other Hakim, Abdul Rashid, was a fat old fool, pompous and +ignorant, with many words. He came to see me--but I will relate that +presently. The chair he sat on never recovered. It was rickety ever +afterwards. + +[Sidenote: Hindustani Intrigue.] + +I knew now what my powers were. The Hindustanis did not openly rebel +again, but they hatched a plot which, had they been more careful, might +have led to unpleasant results. First, as I afterwards heard, one of +them, the one whom I had made compounder, appealed to the Amir for +protection. I was his enemy, he said. _His_ enemy! But the Amir waited +and watched. It _might_ be true, India is a conquered country. His +Highness appeared to take but little notice of me. He was courteous as +always, and allowed me to be seated in his presence; but he spoke very +little to me. The Hindustani, however, marred his own plot, for, not +content with opposing me, he needs must quarrel with his countrymen +instead of standing by them. He made a false accusation against the +"dresser," who, on his part, made a countermove. They were arrested +and brought before the Amir, each swearing a contradiction to the +other. They were both put to the torture--the "wedge and post"--and the +compounder, screaming with fright, gave in at once and confessed. He +was dismissed the service. + +He knelt, imploring pardon and permission to stay; but the Amir said, +"I send you away for your own good. Twice you were taken in adultery, +and, as a foreigner, I spared you. Now you falsely accuse and endeavour +to ruin your own countryman. Go, before I kill you." + +I think I have not described the "wedge and post." It is a simple +thing. There is an upright post in the earth. The criminal is seated on +the ground and his feet lashed to the post; wedges are inserted between +the sole of the foot and the post, and are hammered home. It is a +painful process, they say, but a dogged Afghan will sit till the bones +of both feet are crushed, before he will utter a sound. + +The Hindustani before he departed came to take leave of me--his enemy! +the coachman is not an enemy to the horses. I gave him some tea and +sent him away, but I noticed he did not limp; he must have given in +soon at the post. + +Then the other one, the dresser, linked the drunkard with him, and they +aimed, not at me, but at the Armenian. They would cut him off. Now this +fellow had been honest according to his lights. Every piece of advice +he gave me I found to be sound: he instructed me in the customs of the +country, described what should be done at festivals, what at visits +of condolence; told me who were the dangerous men and who the true +servants of His Highness; prevented my servants robbing me, and though +he was rough and unpolished he had showed to me in a hundred minor ways +a careful thought almost amounting to affection. Added to this, his dry +humour and his yarns in broken English had whiled away many a dull hour +when, as a newcomer, the sense of utter loneliness had oppressed me. He +seemed my one friend. Was I to go back on him? + +The Hindustanis wrote to His Highness accusing the Armenian, among +other things, of translating the Amir's words to me falsely--a most +serious matter. But how could they know the Armenian translated falsely +if they did not understand English? The drunkard understood, though he +spoke "book English," and haltingly; hence the necessity of him in the +plot. + +I saw the Armenian one day looking very dejected, and I asked him what +was the matter. He told me of the accusation that had just been made +against him. + +"Perhaps Amir Sahib kill me," he said. + +Wishing to cause him as much distress as possible, the Hindustanis had +shown their hand. It was a weak thing to do. The original conception +was crafty, for I saw at once how difficult a thing it was to rebut; +and then, too, it was just the idea to "catch on" in the mind of an +Oriental monarch. How could I say the Armenian translated correctly +when I understood little or no Persian? + +If anything was to be done it must be done promptly. I determined, +therefore, to carry the war into the enemy's camp, and I sat down at +once and wrote to His Highness in English. + +I said it had come to my ears that these men--mentioning their +names--had accused my Interpreter of translating falsely; that I had +no reason to believe the accusation was true, for I found the accusers +unworthy of trust. I then proceeded to explain why; describing the +drunkenness of the one and the ignorance of the other; and pointed out +their neglect of duty, naming a man of position as witness in each +case that I brought forward. I was, fortunately, able to do this, for +in two or three surgical operations that I had had to do, when they +showed themselves neglectful and incompetent, there had been men of +position, military officers, who witnessed the operation. I sent for +the secretary of Col. Attaullah Khan, then British agent with the Amir, +who understood English, asked him to translate for me, mentioning in +the letter that he had done so, and at once sent the translation in to +His Highness. + +[Sidenote: Amir's Sense of Justice.] + +That night the Amir sent for the witnesses and examined them. The +next morning a messenger arrived with a written order from the Amir +that I was to bring the Armenian before him on the following day; the +Hindustanis were to be accompanied by one of their countrymen, or +rather a Kashmiri, who spoke English fluently. This man was a civil +engineer who had served the Amir for some eight years--a clever man, +well known at the Foreign Office in India.[7] + +[7] This man has since been executed for treason: he was smothered. + +I felt some amount of nervous disturbance, wondering what turn the +affair might take. I had not been long in the country, and I did not +know what were the possibilities of the case. The whole story of the +Hindustanis is, in itself, unimportant. What does it matter whether +they rebelled against me or not? But it brings forward one trait of the +Amir's character--his sense of what is fair--and for that reason I have +related it. + +The morning came. + +The Armenian, with a white face, silently walked with me to the Palace. +It was a sunny warm morning, the fruit-trees in the garden were in +full bloom, and I remember the scent of the flowers, as we walked +along the path. How is it, I wonder, that slight external impressions +dwell for ever in one's memory when the mind is busily turned inwards? +The awning was not up, and we took our stand, the Armenian and I, in +the sun on the open space opposite the Palace. The two Hindustanis +came up looking very yellow, accompanied by the Kashmiri, who was an +intelligent looking man, with a dark skin. We waited a few minutes +without speaking, and then His Highness with some attendant pages came +from the Palace, and took his seat on an arm-chair on the verandah, +opposite to us. The natives "salaamed," I bowed, and His Highness +touched his hat in acknowledgment. His Highness then addressed the +Kashmiri engineer in Persian. The engineer turned to me, he had my +letter in his hand; and he said in a severe manner:-- + +"I have here a letter purporting to be from you. I notice that it is +not dated." + +"Confound your impudence," I thought, but I said nothing; I bowed. + +"You know," said he, approaching nearer and altering his manner, "that +this Armenian fellow cannot speak English, you had very much better----" + +"Who asked for your advice, sir!" I said, turning on him suddenly. "His +Highness ordered you to enquire whether that letter were mine or not." +This was a shot, for when His Highness spoke, I understood only two +words, "letter" and "doctor." + +The engineer appeared startled, and he said:-- + +"A learned man like yourself, the most scientific in Afghanistan, and +one on whose shoulders a grave responsibility rests, should have his +words translated exact in every detail. If you expressed a wish to +that effect, I am sure His Highness would engage from India at a large +salary, an interpreter----" + +At it again, I thought. + +"That is my letter, sir. Inform His Highness." There appeared nothing +more to be said, and he turned to the Amir and addressed him in Persian. + +[Sidenote: A Courtier's Influence.] + +Then His Highness burst forth. I did not understand his words, but +there was no mistaking his manner--the knitted brow, the flashing eye +and the low rumble, lashing up to a roar. The storm descended upon the +heads of the two Hindustanis. They stood shivering, and from yellow +became green. _They_ knew, and I afterwards had frequent opportunities +of observing, that in moments like this the Amir is dangerous; men's +lives tremble in the balance. A clever man who has the entree of +the Durbar, and who happens to be in favour, may sometimes on these +occasions, by dropping a word here and edging in a sentence there, +gradually turn the current of the Amir's thought. If he can also by +some appropriate witticism bring about a relaxation of the muscles of +that grim face, causing a smile or perhaps a laugh, then a man's life +is saved. They, however, more often employ their wits in adding fuel to +the fire. + +The Hindustanis crept away, and I was about to bow and retire, when His +Highness signed to me to stop. I was then informed that breakfast was +prepared under the almond trees in the garden, and His Highness desired +my company. + +This was the first occasion on which the Amir showed me any act of +familiar kindness, and my relief from suspense was such, that in +attempting to describe the breakfast I can hardly do full justice +to the situation. The air was balmy, as we sat in the shade of the +blossoming trees. Sweet-scented flowers were at our feet, and I sat +sipping tea and munching macaroons in the luxurious enjoyment of +living. The Armenian stood silently behind my chair, and I fancy he +too, though in a more realistic sense than I, felt the luxurious +enjoyment that mere life could afford. + +His Highness spoke to me for some time, though I remember but little of +the conversation, except the more full description His Highness gave of +his bodily ailments. He did not yet ask me to prescribe for him. + +When we reached home, I found my neighbour opposite, the Mirza +Abdur-Rashid, had a guest. They were drinking tea together in the +garden, and invited me to join them. The guest was a tall, very +handsome man, plainly dressed in grey military tunic and astrakhan +hat. He had very considerable dignity of manner, and was, I found, the +Sirdar Gholam Hussain, a relative of His Highness, of the same clan. It +is the duty of this gentleman to wait upon the Amir at dinner, and to +take charge of all food laid before His Highness. It is an honourable +and also an onerous task in a country where the danger of poison is +ever before the King. The drinking water of His Highness is in charge +of a trusted page, the foster-brother of one of the Princes, and when, +some time after this, I was attending His Highness medically, this page +it was who was entrusted with the keys of the medicine cabinet. + +[Sidenote: The Blind Singer.] + +As we chatted over our tea, a blind boy came into the garden to sing. +He would have been much improved by a few lessons on voice production, +but for all that we listened to him with pleasure. His voice was soft +and sweet, with a pathetic ring in it. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +LIFE IN TURKESTAN. + + General Nassir Khan. The Story of the Shield. The Belgian's + Request. Escape of Allah Nur: his Capture. The Amir's Decision. + The Turkestan Commander-in-Chief. Operation on Allah Nur. The + Armenian's Comments. Illness of Hadji Jan Mahomed. The Haughty + Colonel: further comments by the Armenian. Sundry Acquaintances. + Excursion to Takh-ta-Pul. Fortune-telling among the Afghans. The + Policeman-cook and the Lunch. Balkh. The Mosque at Mazar-i-Sherif + and its Miracles. Called to His Highness. The Cool-air Pavilion: + evil results of the same. Illness of the British Agent: the + Armenian's advice: the Answer from the Amir. Brigadier Hadji-Gul + Khan. Afghan Endurance of Suffering. The Country Cousin among the + Court Pages. Euclid and Cards. + + +A few days after this I was sent for to see General Nassir Khan, who +was sick. He was a bent old man, but had been, I heard, a tiger to +fight. He was with the Amir during His Highness's exile in Asiatic +Russia. They said that he entered the Russian service, and rose to the +rank of Colonel. He did not, however, forget his master, for he sent +the greater part of his pay to the Amir, retaining only enough for bare +necessaries. Concerning this old man, I heard a little story, which +throws a side-light on the Amir, and may therefore be interesting. + +[Sidenote: The Story of the Shield.] + +There had been brought to His Highness, as a present, a very beautiful +shield inlaid with gold. This was when he had come to the throne, and +was Amir. + +Everyone in the Durbar Hall feasted his eyes upon this beautiful thing, +and the courtiers edged anxiously nearer the royal chair, in the hope +that "Amir Sahib" might perhaps, as he sometimes did, bestow a present +upon a "faithful and deserving slave." The Amir slowly cast his eyes +round the ring, and each heart beat high, as the Amir's eyes rested a +moment on this man or that. Suddenly, the Amir called out, + +"Nassir, Pesh biar," "come forward." + +Out of a far corner came Nassir. The Amir turned to the anxious circle, +and said, + +"Look upon this man. He was with me in Samarcand." The hearts of the +courtiers sank; Nassir, then, was to be the recipient of the shield. + +"He was with me in Samarcand, and for a little thing he turned and +cursed me. These were his words"--and the Amir repeated the curse. "Is +this so?" he said to Nassir. The old man hung his head in shame. + +"He cursed me; he half drew his sword on me, his master. What is this +man worthy of?" + +There was a dead silence: the shield was forgotten, for behold Nassir's +day had come. It had; but not in the sense anticipated. + +"Give him the shield," said the Amir. "He was with me in Samarcand." + +I should finish the story by saying Nassir treasured the shield as the +apple of his eye, and shewed it me with honest pride--but no, he sold +it next day for what it would fetch. Afghanistan! + +When I went to see him he was suffering from lumbago. He was a courtly +old man, and he gave me black tea to drink, in a Russian tea-glass. + +I saw him at the Court, some time afterwards, and he came up to speak +to me. He had a stoop in his shoulders, and the tailor had not cut his +tunic properly, so that he had unbuttoned the top two or three buttons +to release his throat. It was a gorgeous tunic, richly embroidered with +gold; his sword-belt and scabbard were loaded with plates of solid +gold, and he had an old-fashioned bowler hat, too large for him, on +the back of his head. I was sorry. It took so from the dignity of his +appearance; at least in my eyes: not so in the eyes of the Afghans, to +them it was quite _en regle_. + +Shortly after my visit to the general, I developed, from being +constantly among the sick, a "Hospital throat," and had to stop at +home for a day or two. His Highness sent me a very kind message of +condolence; and while I was at home there was brought to me, from +the Post Office, a post card written in French and addressed to the +"Postmaster-General, Afghanistan." The Amir wished to know what was +written. I found the card came from the Postmaster of some small +Belgian town. It was a proposal on his part to the Postmaster-General +of Afghanistan to exchange "stamps." He was, he explained, a "stamp +collector." With the help of the Armenian I sent a Persian translation +to His Highness. The Amir directed me to write and enquire what was the +colour of the stamps the collector required: on receipt of his answer +they would be forwarded to him. I imagine His Highness considered that +the collection was more for artistic effect than on account of the +intrinsic value of the stamps. The Belgian received his stamps in due +time. + +Just at this time, too, I received a letter from the Editor of one +of the Indian papers asking me to contribute a series of articles on +Afghanistan. As, however, I was in the service of the Amir I did not +feel justified in doing so, and was compelled to leave the letter +unanswered. + +[Sidenote: The Escape of Allah Nur.] + +Another incident also occurred. There was in the Hospital a soldier +named Allah Nur. He was suffering from disease of the elbow, which had +advanced to such a degree that the joint was completely disorganized. +The Hakims had promised to cure him by the application of ointments. +I explained to him, however, that this was impossible, and that the +only remedy was to remove the arm. Poor Allah Nur had been ill a long +time: he was much reduced by pain and constant discharge, and he begged +me from day to day to postpone the operation. He explained his dread +of the knife, of which he seemed ashamed, by calling attention to his +pitiable state of weakness. When I was laid up with my throat he seized +the opportunity one night to make his escape from the Hospital: he got +on a donkey which some kind friend had provided, and managed to reach a +place called Takh-ta-Pul, some three or four miles off, before he was +captured. + +The next morning he was brought back and taken before the Amir. His +Highness said:-- + +"A child or a fool is he who runs from his Physician." + +He sent for a probe and proceeded to examine the joint. + +"Without doubt the limb must come off," said he. + +"Baraie Khuda!" said Allah Nur. + +"Be silent!" said the Amir. + +"For God's sake, do not. My Lord----" + +The Amir reached out his Royal hand and boxed his ear. Allah Nur was +conducted back to the Hospital. That afternoon, my throat being better, +I attended the military Durbar. His Highness discussed with me the case +of Allah Nur, advising amputation. + +"It would appear wise, however," said he, "considering the man's +condition of weakness, to postpone the operation for a few days, +feeding him meanwhile on strong soups and administering 'Portwein.'" + +I need not say that I entirely concurred. + +His Highness then spoke of other matters. He explained why he walked +so little and was carried from place to place in his palanquin. It was +on account of the pain he suffered from chronic sciatica. The horses +reserved for his riding were chosen for their steadiness, and he had +ordered them to be led about the streets after dark to cure them of +any habit they might have of shying. In moving, even from one chair to +another, he found the assistance of a walking-stick necessary. He spoke +also very kindly to me concerning my professional work, and finally +asked me to visit an old friend of his who was sick--the Hadji Jan +Mahomed. + +Things were going well with me evidently, for directly the Durbar +was over the Commander-in-Chief in Turkestan came up to speak to +me and we walked out of the Palace gardens hand-in-hand:--I hate +walking hand-in-hand with a man. He was very chatty, and asked me +to visit a Colonel of his who was ill. The name of the Turkestan +Commander-in-Chief was Gholam Hydar, but he was a man of a much smaller +frame than his namesake the Commander-in-Chief in Kabul. Also he bore +a most startling resemblance to Dr. Lauder Brunton, F.R.S., the London +Physician. No two brothers could be more alike. They were the same +build. The very beard and moustache were trimmed in the same fashion. +The only difference I could see was that Dr. Brunton is fair and the +Suparsalar Gholam Hydar Khan was dark. I had, therefore, from the +beginning a pre-disposition in favour of Gholam Hydar on account of his +resemblance to my former teacher. + +[Sidenote: The Operation on Allah Nur.] + +The next morning on arriving at the Hospital I found Allah Nur only +too ready to have his arm amputated. While he had been away from the +Hospital the flies in that hot climate had found access to the sore, +and there were maggots squirming about in the joint. It was very +horrible. There was no postponing the operation now. + +We had no operating table, and Allah Nur was laid on a mound of earth +in the shade of a tree in the garden. I arranged the instruments near +and took off my turban lest it should obstruct my view at a critical +moment. I put the man under chloroform, screwed up the tourniquet, and +ordered the Armenian to hold the arm steady. There were two or three +sweeping cuts, the grate of the saw, and the arm was off midway between +shoulder and elbow. + +The Afghans in the Hospital made an interested ring of spectators. One +of the Hindustanis, however, nearly fainted, and the Armenian said: + +"Sir, I very glad you quick, my head is go round and round, and my eye +is like I drink a bottle of brandy and a bottle of rum mixed--all is +blood!" I did not ask him to help in an operation again. + +After dressing the stump and seeing that Allah Nur had recovered +properly from the chloroform and was comfortable, I rode off to see His +Highness's old friend, the Hadji Jan Mahomed. + +I found that the Hadji lived in a typical Turkestan house in the +outskirts of the town. There was the row of isolated dome-shaped rooms +or houses side by side, and in front a large garden almost entirely +covered with grape vines. These ran along ridges of earth about six +feet apart, each being some three feet high and six feet wide. + +The Hadji was a venerable-looking old fellow of about seventy, with +a long white beard. He was of the same tribe as His Highness--the +Barakzai Durani. + +After tea and fruit had been brought, and we had had some general +conversation, the Hadji informed me that he had lately arrived from +Bokhara, and was suffering from a disease of the leg that is prevalent +in that district. On examination I found he was suffering from "Guinea +worm," a thread-like creature some two or three feet long, that burrows +through the tissues of the body, generally infesting the feet and +legs. The treatment adopted at the present day is the same as that +pursued by the old Persian surgeons, who extracted the worm by gentle +and continuous traction, winding the exposed end of the worm round a +small stick of ivory, bone or wood. If the worm is broken, local and +even severe constitutional mischief is apt to ensue, and this is what +had happened to the Hadji. The attempt to extract the worm had been +unsuccessful, it had been broken. He had been exceedingly ill, he +said; and I found a large burrowing chronic abscess above the right +knee. It was a troublesome case, and I visited him several times. At +last, one day I had the good fortune to detect the broken end of the +worm, and with the greatest gentleness and care managed to extract it. +The leg then soon healed. + +[Sidenote: The Haughty Colonel.] + +After I had visited the Hadji, who, by the way, presented me with half +a pound of Orange Pekoe, I went to see the young Colonel whom the +Commander-in-Chief had asked me to visit. His house was not very far +from the Palace gardens, and I found him seated on a charpoy under +the trees in his garden: one or two friends and a Hakim sat with him. +He was a small dark man with a haughty expression, but he looked very +ill. He had had fever, but was now suffering from suppuration of the +parotid, so that he had a great unbroken abscess in his cheek and neck. + +I examined him carefully and decided that the abscess should be +opened without delay. He did not, however, view the suggestion with +any favour. He told me, very politely, that he should prefer applying +certain ointments that had been advised by his friend the Hakim. +I do not remember the name of the Hakim. He was one of the minor +practitioners whom I really never took note of. + +The Colonel also explained that should the ointment not have the +desired effect, he would wish to try the efficacy of prayer. After +this, what was there to be said? I bowed, refused the tea he politely +offered, and begged permission to withdraw. + +Coming away I said to the Armenian:-- + +"What infernal nonsense it is calling me to fellows like that." + +"Yes, sir," said the Armenian, "he is fool man. And that Hakim! he is +nothing. His _father_ cannot sit in your presence." This was soothing, +perhaps. As we were going home I met little Mahomed Omer, son of +Perwana Khan, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief in Kabul. He was a bright +little lad of about thirteen. His face was distinctly of the Tartar +type. We grew very friendly, and he often came with his tutor or "Lala" +to see me. I gave him my felt hat, and he walked about proudly with it +over his ears. + +[Sidenote: A Day at Takh-ta-Pul.] + +Soon after this I went to Takh-ta-Pul, the place where my friend +Allah Nur had escaped to, in order to inspect the hospital there. The +Commander-in-Chief sent a Captain--Seyd Hussain--a huge Afghan hillman, +some six feet three inches high, to accompany me, so one morning he +and I and the Armenian and some servants rode off together. Seyd +Hussain was quite a friend of mine; he came very often to see me, and +afterwards said such polite things, that the Commander-in-Chief used +to call him my "son." We took about an hour over our ride: it was so +excessively hot. When we arrived at Takh-ta-Pul, I called upon the +Commander-in-Chief, who was there for a few days, had tea with him, +and was then conducted to a house prepared for me. I was shown into an +upper chamber, carpeted and decorated, which overlooked the garden, a +large square one with trees and flowers, and commanded a view of the +town and the distant mountains. + +My "son" came too, and five or six others, including the Armenian, +to amuse me. They sang songs, told stories, and the captain read my +future in the palm of my hand: I was surprised to find palmistry an +Afghan accomplishment. He told me I should have two severe illnesses +in the country, but should return to my native land in safety. We had +grapes and tea, and, at about one o'clock, tiffin or lunch. There was +roast mutton, I remember, exceedingly oily, which one of my servants, +the groom, had cooked for me. This gentleman, whom I had picked +up--or rather the Armenian had picked up for me--in Turkestan, was a +Peshawuri. He had been a policeman in Burma, he said. He also said he +could make a pudding; and he did, a watery rice pudding. Then a pillow +was brought, and I lay on the floor and slept for an hour. After that +we had more songs and stories, and at six, when the heat of the day +had gone, I called again on the Commander-in-Chief and had more tea. +He wished me to stay the night, but I remembered I had not inspected +the Hospital yet, besides, for all I knew, the Amir might want me. I +decided therefore not to stop. + +We started off for the Hospital, which was a little way out of the +town. It was precisely like that of Mazar, except that there were only +five or six patients in it. These were looked after by a Hakim. In the +evening the Captain, the Armenian, and I rode back to Mazar, and I +prepared my report for the Amir. One thing I often regret: it is that +I did not at this time act on the Armenian's suggestion and ride to +the ancient city Balkh, which was only some six or seven miles beyond +Takh-ta-Pul. However, I had the feeling that I had taken a day off at +Takh-ta-Pul, and must not waste any more time when there were so many +sick waiting for treatment. Balkh, "the mother of cities," is situated +in a province capable of great cultivation, and was a flourishing city +in the time of Alexander the Great. The population, however, was so +nearly exterminated by Ghengis Khan, and again by Tamerlane and his +successors, that it is doubtful whether it will ever again recover even +a moiety of its former importance. + +There is at Mazar-i-Sherif a great Mosque or Temple, from which the +town takes its name. It is a huge ornate building with minarets, and a +lofty cupola built of a shining blue stone. It is held in veneration by +all Mussulmans, but more especially by the sect of Shiahs. The Mosque +contains a tomb which is supposed to be that of Ali, son-in-law of +Mahomed, though some European authorities consider that Ali was buried +near Baghdad. Be that as it may, the Mosque possesses considerable +revenues, the gifts of wealthy votaries and other pious people, which +are used to feed the crowds of indigent pilgrims who, at certain times +in the year, flock in great numbers to Mazar. Moreover, the remains of +Ali, or whoever the gentleman may be, are capable of working miracles +of no mean order. They restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, +and health to the sick. During one of the religious festivals which +occurred while I was in Turkestan, there were no less than five men +whose sight had been restored by their pilgrimage to the Mosque! I know +this is true, for the Amir told me so himself! + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Cool-air Pavilion.] + +One morning His Highness sent for me to examine his ear. He fancied he +had some insect in it. This was in July, and the weather was very hot. +I found His Highness seated in a small circular pavilion in the Palace +garden. I had often wondered what this little building was. It was a +cool-air chamber. There was a door and one window. This window was +filled in with interlaced branches of an aromatic shrub; water from a +gutter trickled over the lattice work, and a current of air was driven +in by a paddlewheel fan, which a man outside worked with a handle. I +was ushered into the semi-darkness of the room; I bowed, and a chair +was placed midway between the door and the window in an awful draught. +After the hot dry air of the outside this horrible little room felt +like an ice well. I literally shivered, and there sat His Highness in +the full draught, and, what is most unusual, without a head covering. + +It was too dark in the Pavilion to see the condition of the ear, and +His Highness at once consented to come out into the open. A chair +was brought, and His Highness sat with bare head in the blazing sun. +"Surely there is danger of sunstroke," I thought. + +I begged permission to put on my helmet, saying I was afraid of the +sun. I thought His Highness might then cover his own head; no, he did +not seem to mind the heat. I examined the ear with the speculum and +found nothing in it. He had, however, a slight catarrh of the throat +and of the Eustachian tube leading from the throat to the inner ear. +I pointed out the danger of exposing the body while the skin is +acting freely to a draught of cold damp air; and indicated the line of +treatment I should adopt if I were to attend to the ear. His Highness +coincided with my views, said that he had the medicines I spoke of, +and should certainly try them. It struck me that all he wanted really +was to know if there were anything in his ear: he had not asked me to +prescribe for him. + +I heard that His Highness spoke highly of me after I left. I think he +was not yet prepared to place himself entirely in my hands, and I had +not forced him into the uncomfortable position of having to refuse my +treatment and, therefore, appear somewhat discourteous. + +There is, in this part of Turkestan, a disease which bears a strong +resemblance to the so-called Delhi boil--or, more correctly, Delhi +ulcer. It was exceedingly prevalent while I was in Turkestan, and after +trying various remedies ineffectually I hit upon one which had a marked +beneficial effect. Formerly, the ulcers--which appear on the exposed +parts of the body, the hands, feet, and face--were very intractable and +rarely healed in less than a year. Under the popular native treatment +they sometimes attained enormous proportions, and became covered with +most exuberant granulations--great mounds of proud flesh: now they +healed rapidly in a month, or less, according to the size, so that I +gained a sort of reputation in this line. One day the British Agent, +Colonel Attaullah Khan, sent his Secretary to ask me to visit him, as +he was suffering from one of these sores upon his heel, and his own +Hindustani medical attendant had been unsuccessful in giving him relief. + +I said, certainly, I would come, and was pulling on my boots, when the +Armenian said:-- + +"Sir, please you kind, a little you wait." + +"What for?" said I, with a boot half on. + +"First, I write to Amir Sahib and ask; then you go or you not go, as he +says. You Amir Sahib's servant." + +"Well, but----" However, I thought there was no harm in his writing at +any rate, and I waited. His Highness's answer arrived. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Answer.] + +He acknowledged the receipt of my letter of such a date, in which I +asked--Had I the Royal permission to visit--and so on. He was deeply +grieved on account of the illness of the Sirdar, for whom he had +the greatest affection and respect, but there were weighty matters +to consider. I, though an Englishman, was his servant. If, through +an unforeseen calamity God should strike the Sirdar, while under my +medical care, with an illness more severe than the present one, or, +God forbid, even with death, then the honourable Government of England +might consider in their wisdom that I, his servant, instigated by evil +men, had worked harm upon the Sirdar. + +The gist of it was, that whatever His Highness's reason might be, he +did not wish me to attend the Agent. I therefore sent my apologies. +At the next Durbar His Highness appeared pleased that I had asked his +permission before visiting the Agent, and he entered more fully, though +on the same lines, into his reasons for refusing permission. + +That afternoon a Brigadier named Hadji Gul Khan, with his Staff, called +upon me at my house. They all came in, about a dozen of them, and the +Brigadier, in a hearty sort of way, shook hands and asked how I was. I +was surprised, as he was quite a stranger to me, though it is possible +I was not so to him. He was a relative of the Amir's, a Barukzai +Durani: he had called to ask if I would attend to one of his soldiers +who had a disease of the leg. I said, "With pleasure, which is he?" + +"This is the man." + +I examined him, and found he had a fatty tumour on the outer side of +the right thigh. I said-- + +"It will be necessary to remove this swelling with the knife. It +consists of a mass of fat." + +"Bisyar khob," said the Brigadier; "very good; remove it." + +"Kai?" said I. "When?" + +"Hala," said he. "Now." + +"Certainly; come into the other room," for I did not want to spoil +my beautiful carpets. I was short of chloroform, and I said to the +Armenian, + +"Tell the man I shall hurt him." The man said, + +"Khair ast, it is nothing. Tell the Doctor Sahib, if he cut me to +pieces I shall not speak." + +"O, all right," I said, "tell him to lie on the ground." He lay down. I +made a longitudinal incision over the tumour, and proceeded to dissect +it out. It must have been very painful, but the man said nothing, +neither did I; but the bystanders, when the mass of yellowish white +fat appeared between the edges of the wound, exclaimed, "Wah! wah!" in +excited admiration. + +I bandaged the leg, and the soldier walked back to his barracks. He +had to be in bed, however, for some time afterwards. We were very good +friends after that--the soldier and I. I am sure I don't know why, +except that I admired his pluck, and had hurt him. + +[Sidenote: The Country Cousin among the Court Pages.] + +I called on the Hadji Jan Mahomed again, and found his young son there. +Both the Hadji and his son kept to the pure Afghan costume, with the +turban and picturesque flowing robes. The boy afterwards became a +Court Page, but he looked very out of place among the Europeanized +youngsters who swaggered about at the Palace. He looked out of date and +countryfied in his robes, and he felt it. I noticed when I was at the +Hadji's what beautiful feet he and his son had: they were like the feet +of a Greek statue. The toes had shape. They were not degenerated like +ours, by descent through a boot-wearing ancestry. + +One of the Pages lived next door to me; he was an ugly little beggar, +but rather amusing, and the Armenian suggested one evening, to +while away an hour, that we should go and see him. He was hard at +work puzzling over Euclid. It seemed very odd to see the well-known +diagrams in the midst of Persian writing. We played cards--a sort of +three-handed whist--and other games. They taught them to me, but I have +completely forgotten how they were played. The cards used were just +the same as those we have, except that they were cheap ones, made in +Germany, and were exceedingly dirty. + +Another Page-boy lived opposite; next door to the Mirza Abdur Rashid. +He was an exceedingly pretty boy, and was, in consequence, very +gorgeously dressed in a scarlet and gold uniform and Kashmir turban. +Personal beauty is a fairly certain cause of rapid promotion at the +Amir's Court. Some of the Court Pages are the sons of nobles, of +officers, or of wealthy men. Others are slaves. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE INHABITANTS OF AFGHANISTAN. + + Slaves in Kabul: prisoners of war and others. The frequent + rebellions. The different nationalities in Afghanistan. Origin of + the Afghan race. The Turk Sabaktakin. Mahmud of Ghuzni. Buddhism + displaced by Mahomedanism: agglomeration of different strains. + Border Afghans. Duranis, Ghilzais. Founding of a Dynasty of + Afghan Kings. Ahmad Shah. Timur Shah. Danger to the Empire. The + Sons of Timur. Zaman Shah. The Afghan "Warwick." Execution of + Painda. Rebellion of the Shah's brother. Mahmud Shah. Another + brother rebels. Shujah-ul-Mulk crowned: deposed by the Barakzai + chief. Exile of Shujah. The Koh-i-nur. The Puppet-king and the + Barakzai Wazir. Murder of the Wazir. The Wazir's brother becomes + Amir. The first Afghan War. Rule of Dost Mahomed: A Standing Army + established. Accession of Shere Ali. Amir Afzal Khan. Abdurrahman. + The Ghilzais: origin and customs. Border Pathans, Afridis, + Shinwarris. Possible origin of Barakzais. The Hazaras: their origin + and country: their language and government. Moral and physical + condition. Religion. Their outbreaks and the cause. Turkomans, + Usbaks: their uncouth nature. Other races. The Christian Church. + + +[Sidenote: Slaves in Kabul.] + +The slaves of Kabul are those who have been kidnapped from Kaffristan, +or who are prisoners of war, taken when some tribe breaks out in +rebellion against the Amir. When it is remembered that the Afghans, +though at present the dominant race, form only a part, and a minor +part, of the population, there being several other nations, of +different physical conformity, different language, religion, and +customs, inhabiting the country, the fact of frequent outbreaks and +rebellions is less inexplicable than it would otherwise be. + +Of the Afghans, to commence with, there are three chief divisions: +the Durani or Afghan proper, of which race is the Amir; the Ghilzai; +and the Pathan or border Afghan. Each of these is divided up into many +different tribes: the tribes into branches, and the branches into +families. + +We gather valuable information concerning Afghanistan--Ariana--and the +peoples inhabiting it, from the ancient writers; but the Afghans, as a +distinct people, do not appear in history until the commencement of the +tenth century; and it was not until the eighteenth century that they +were established as an independent nation under a king of their own +race. + +According to the most recent investigations, the Afghans, though they +assert themselves to be a Jewish nation descended from Saul, are a +conglomerate race, some tribes, or sections of tribes, having in +their veins strains of Persian, others of Indian, Greek, or Scythian +blood. Of the tribes at the present day some bear the very names and +occupy the same positions that Herodotus tells us of as existing in +the Persian satrapies of Darius, and others, the names of Macedonian +and Greek tribes, who were introduced after the conquest of Alexander. +Others again, especially in eastern Afghanistan, bear the names of +Rajput tribes renowned in Indian history. + +[Sidenote: The First Afghan King.] + +In the tenth century was the invasion by Tartar hordes headed by the +Turk Sabaktakin, who established himself in southern Afghanistan, +making Ghuzni his capital. + +He and his son, Mahmud of Ghuzni, founded a dynasty in Afghanistan. +They were recent converts to Islam, and destroying the then dominant +religion of the country, Buddhism, shrouded under the cloak of Mahomed +the strains of different nations that existed in the country. This wild +mixed race, called collectively Afghan, was at all times turbulent and +difficult to govern, and the tribes fought against each other without +the least scruple. Their present unsettled condition, therefore, can be +somewhat better understood when we consider that it has existed, and in +a far greater degree, from remote ages. + +It would be tedious merely to enumerate the multitudinous divisions +into which the Afghan nation is divided, and I have grouped many +important tribes under the comprehensive term Border Afghans. These, +as the name implies, occupy the mountains on the Indian frontier, and +it is they who, by their raidings, thievings, and turbulence, cause so +much trouble to the Government of India. + +From their position, it has been possible for investigators among the +Indian Frontier Officials to study the customs, laws, and descent of +these tribes more closely than those of the Afghans occupying the +interior of the country. + +Of the latter, the Durani and the Ghilzai tribes are, from their +numerical superiority, the more important. In addition, the Durani +tribe has, from two of its branches, given to the country its Afghan +Kings. + +It was in the last century, 1747, that Ahmad Khan, of the Suddozai +division of the Duranis, created himself Ahmad Shah and founded a +dynasty. It occurred in the following manner. Nadir Shah, a Turkoman +robber chief, invaded Persia, driving thence the Afghans, who had held +the country for some six or seven years. He placed himself on the +throne, and then proceeded to annex Afghanistan, seizing first Herat, +and after a nearly two years' siege Kandahar, and finally Kabul. + +He ruled with vigour and generosity, and in such a manner that he +completely won the hearts of the people, and was able to bring to +the assistance of his own troops large contingents of Afghan cavalry +recruited especially among the Duranis and the Ghilzais. The chiefs +of the tribes commanded the troops raised from their tribesmen. These +men accompanied the Turk Warrior in all his expeditions, sharing +his glory and his success. So much help did they give him that he +openly preferred them to his own troops, causing, thereby, great +jealousy among the Persian soldiers. Finally, when in 1747, Nadir was +assassinated, the Persians fell upon the Afghans with such fury that +the latter, greatly outnumbered, sought safety in flight. On their +return to their native country, the nobles of the Durani and Ghilzai +tribes met together to decide upon the best means of organizing a +Government for Afghanistan. Any union with the Persians was declared +henceforth impossible, and they determined to elect a chief from +among themselves. After much discussion, Ahmad Khan, the chief of the +Suddozai Duranis, was elected King of the nation, his only formidable +rival, the chief of the Barakzai Duranis, withdrawing in his favour. +Ahmad Khan was crowned in the Mosque at Kandahar in 1747, taking the +title of Shah. In the midst of the festivities there arrived a convoy +in Kandahar, bearing from the Punjab and Scinde the tribute due to +Nadir Shah. Ahmad Shah at once seized the convoy, which was of extreme +value, and wisely consolidated his power by distributing the contents +liberally among the soldiers, officers, and nobles of his newly-founded +kingdom. + +[Sidenote: Downfall of the Empire imminent.] + +This was the commencement of the Durani dynasty of Afghan Kings, and +Ahmad, by frequent invasions, extended his Empire from Mashad in Persia +to Lahore in India. He reigned twenty-six years, and was succeeded by +his son, Timur Shah, a weak man, who, moving the seat of Government +from Kandahar to Kabul, employed his time, not in strengthening and +consolidating his father's Empire, but in gratifying his senses. The +result was what might have been anticipated: Law became a dead letter; +no longer was any road safe from highway robbery; disorder and anarchy +once more spread over the country, and the downfall of the Empire was +imminent. The Persian provinces were lost; then followed the Punjab, +Scinde, and Beluchistan. + +At the death of Timur, in 1793, matters became even worse, for his +many sons, who were ruling singly or jointly over different provinces, +plotted and counterplotted against one another in the endeavour to +obtain the throne. Three of the sons came to the front. Zaman Shah, +who held the throne for a brief period; Shujah-ul-Mulk, his full +brother, who held Kandahar and plotted to obtain Kabul; and Mahmud, +who ruled in Herat as an independent Prince, and declared himself Shah +of Afghanistan. At this time the most powerful and influential of all +the Sirdars was Painda Khan, chief of the Barakzai Duranis, and son of +the man who withdrew his pretensions to the Afghan throne in favour of +Ahmad Shah. + +Painda, another "Warwick," supported Zaman, and by his power +and influence placed him on the throne. The other brothers were +entrapped and kept in prison on a meagre diet till they acknowledged +his accession to the throne. Zaman Shah, his court in factions, +his brothers plotting against him, his Treasury empty, India as a +looting ground shut against him by the East India Company, and Persia +threatening on the west, endeavoured, nevertheless, to rule on the +autocratic principle, and though the Barakzais had hereditary right to +the great offices of the State, he presently degraded and then executed +the chief, Painda Khan, to whom he owed the throne, and whose power and +intellect would have been invaluable to him. + +At once the sons of Painda fled and joined the King's brother, Mahmud, +at Herat. Him, after much solicitation, they persuaded to advance +against Zaman Shah. They were joined by the whole of the Barakzai +tribe, who, recognizing Fethi Khan, eldest son of Painda as their +chief, at once placed themselves under his orders. After much fighting, +and some treachery, Zaman was deposed, and his eyes put out by order of +his brother. He had reigned four years. + +It was in 1800 that Mahmud became Shah. His throne was an uneasy one. +First, the Ghilzai tribe rebelled against him, and several encounters +were necessary before they were subdued. Then a most sanguinary +religious riot arose in Kabul between the two sects of Mahomedans--the +Sunnis and the Shiahs, and the Shah, by supporting the Shiahs, +alienated his own tribes, both the Suddozais and Barakzais, who are +Sunnis. This was the commencement of his downfall, for while Fethi Khan +was in Bamian subduing a rebellion of Hazaras, the other chiefs formed +a conspiracy and invited Shujah-ul-Mulk, the Shah's younger brother, to +advance on Kabul, promising him their support. Shujah at once advanced, +Mahmud fled to the Bala Hissar fort, and Shujah was placed on the +throne amid the greatest rejoicings. + +[Sidenote: Shah Shujah deposed by the Barakzai Chief.] + +The first act of the new Shah was to seize his brother, the ex-King, +and order his eyes to be put out. This order, however, he revoked, +owing to the influence of his new Wazir or Prime Minister--one of the +chiefs who had invited him to seize the throne. He imprisoned the +ex-King, therefore, in the dungeons of Bala Hissar. + +Fethi Khan returning from Bamian found Shujah King. He had, however, a +vendetta against the new Shah for the murder of his father, Painda, by +the Shah's full brother, Zaman. + +Secretly, and with the help of his brother, he rescued Mahmud from +prison, and again placed him on the throne in Kabul, himself taking his +hereditary post of Wazir. Shah Shujah, routed by Fethi Khan, fled to +India, and sought the support of Runjit Singh, the Sikh Maharajah of +Lahore. But Runjit Singh held certain provinces formerly belonging to +Afghanistan, and he would do nothing for Shujah. He, however, extorted +from him a valuable diamond that Shujah had guarded through all his +adventures. This diamond had passed from Moghul to Turkoman, from +Turkoman to Afghan, and from Afghan has passed through the Sikh to +England. It is the Koh-i-Nur. Shujah, in terror of his life, escaped +from the Sikh, and in 1815 threw himself on the mercy of the East India +Company, who gave him a pension and a residence in Ludhiana. + +Meanwhile, in Kabul, Mahmud gave way to every kind of sensual excess. +He was a puppet in the hands of his powerful minister, Fethi Khan, +under whose rule the country recovered some of its former prosperity. + +Mahmud's son and heir, Kamran, jealous of the power and increasing +influence of Fethi Khan, succeeded in entrapping the minister, and, +with most atrocious tortures, he murdered him. The death of this master +spirit, warrior, and statesman was an irreparable loss to Afghanistan, +and anarchy once more spread over the country. + +Mahmud and Kamran fled to Herat, and the rest of the country was +divided among the brothers of the murdered Wazir--Kabul, Jelalabad, and +Ghuzni falling to the share of Dost Mahomed, the favourite brother of +Fethi Khan, and the most resolute and gifted. + +The government of the country, therefore, with the exception of Herat, +which was still held by Mahmud Khan, fell from the power of the Durani +Shah to that of the Durani Wazir. + +Dost Mahomed took the title of Amir of Kabul, or Military Commander, +and to him British envoys were sent on missions of commerce and +discovery. + +At this time Russia was urging on Persia to take Herat, but as Herat +commands Kandahar, and thus is, as it were, the gate of India, the +British were compelled to make a counter-move. Then came the first +Afghan war--the disastrous endeavour on our part to revive the extinct +Suddozai Durani dynasty. Dost Mahomed was taken prisoner to Calcutta; +Shah Shujah was put on the throne at Kabul; and Mahmud, with his son +Kamran, as successor, acknowledged as Governor of Herat. + +[Sidenote: The Rule of Dost Mahomed: a Standing Army.] + +The failure of the plan is a modern story. Shah Shujah was murdered +by the Afghans in 1842, and Dost Mahomed was released and allowed to +find his way back to Kabul, where he was welcomed to the throne with +acclamations. + +The rule of Dost Mahomed, compared with what had gone before, was a +boon to Afghanistan; merchants and caravans could travel with some +amount of safety through his dominions. Trade recovered considerably, +and with its growth the revenues of the Amir increased. For a long time +he made no attempt to extend his dominions, but contented himself in +rendering secure and prosperous those provinces he already possessed. +His brothers lacked the power, though not the wish, to compass his +overthrow, for though they were bold fighting men, they possessed +neither the capacity nor the resolution of the Amir. The danger to +the sovereigns of Afghanistan had, hitherto, been the difficulty in +retaining the allegiance of the great Chiefs--the Barons--those men who +could call into the field the thousands of their clansmen to fight for +or against the King. Dost Mahomed, though not lacking in generosity +towards them, nevertheless showed them that it would be both difficult +and dangerous to attempt to throw off their allegiance. As a check +to their power in the field he established, for the first time in +Afghanistan, a standing army. The Chiefs submitted, though at first +unwillingly, to the rule of the Amir, for doubtless it seemed better to +yield to a monarch both just and generous than to attempt revolts, the +issue of which was in any case doubtful, and might place them under the +insecure and cruel despotism of the Suddozais. Of the extension of his +dominions to Kandahar, Herat, and Turkestan I will speak later. + +Dost Mahomed appointed a younger and favourite son, Shere Ali, to +succeed him, the only one of his sons whose mother was of Royal blood. +In 1868 Amir Shere Ali was deposed by his elder brothers, Afzal Khan +and Azim Khan. + +Amir Afzal Khan, eldest son of Dost Mahomed, reigned but five months +and died. He left one son only, the present Amir, Abdurrahman. + +He was succeeded by his brother, Azim Khan, who, however, was not +recognized as Amir by the British, and in the following year Shere Ali +again obtained the throne. His estrangement with the British, their +advance, and the Amir's death in Mazar, I have spoken of. Yakub, who +was Amir when Cavagnari was assassinated, was son of Shere Ali. When +Yakub was deposed Abdurrahman Khan was invited by the British to ascend +the throne. + +Considering the line of men through whom he is descended, it is not so +surprising a thing that Amir Abdurrahman has shown talent as a ruler, +politician, and general of so high an order. Dost Mahomed and his +brother, Fethi Khan, their father and grandfather, Painda and Jummal +Khan, were the type of men who change the course of history. + +I have given this very curtailed sketch of what has been happening in +Afghanistan during the last hundred and fifty years, so that one may +see _who_ Amir Abdurrahman is and why he is Amir. + +We may now go back to our former subject, the peoples inhabiting +Afghanistan. + +[Sidenote: Origin of the Ghilzais.] + +The Ghilzai Afghans are of doubtful origin: they are sometimes reckoned +as Pathan. Their language is Pukhtu, and their manners, customs, +and religion the same as those of the Duranis; but they are said to +have come into the country with the Turkoman Sabaktakin in the tenth +century, and to be the representatives of a Turk tribe from beyond the +Jaxartes, called Khilichi, "swordsmen." More recent investigation seems +to point, however, to their being of Rajput (Scythian) descent; for the +clans into which the tribe is divided have mostly Indian names. + +The Ghilzai is a very numerous and powerful tribe occupying that +part of the country which lies between the provinces of Kandahar and +Kabul. They are a race of fighting men, but have not given a ruler +to Afghanistan. One reason for their submission to the government of +the Duranis at Kabul, is the fact that a large portion of the tribe +is nomadic in its habits, moving from highlands to lowlands with the +seasons. They spend the summer among their villages on the uplands of +the Suffed Koh, Tobah, and Khojah Amran Mountains, and in the winter +packing their belongings on camels, asses, and bullocks, and driving +their flocks before them, they descend and camp on the warm plains. +Without their winter quarters on the plains they could not exist, +neither themselves nor their flocks. + +Of the numerous tribes of Pathans or Border Afghans I will speak +only of the two to which I have already referred in the course of my +narrative: the Afridis, who occupy the mountains around Peshawur and +the east of the Khyber; and the Shinwaris, who occupy the western +extremity of the Khyber. The Afridis, who number about thirty thousand +families, say they were transplanted by Mahmud of Ghuzni from the +Ghor country, which lies between Kabul and Herat, to their present +hills as military colonists for the defence of the Khyber Pass. Two +centuries later the colony was increased by fresh arrivals planted by +Shahabuddin Ghori. They are probably of Turkish descent. The Afridis +are partly cave dwellers, but live also in movable huts of matting and +wickerwork--a rough imitation of the Turkoman _Khirgar_. They have +few villages and no tents. They are described by Dr. Bellew (a keen +observer, who spent many years on the frontier in the study of the +Pathan) as a warlike and predatory people, "of lean wiry build, with +keen eyes and hungry features, and of light complexion, but not of fine +physique." + +Other of the Pathan tribes near them differ in physical conformity, for +they are tall and manly, being often as fair and as strongly built as +Englishmen. + +The Shinwaris, whom I mentioned in the early part of my narrative +as being considered dangerous even by the Amir's troops, are by +some supposed to be of Albanian descent, and to have been placed by +Nadir Shah in their present position as a guard to the Khyber. They, +however, do not show a trace of such an origin, for their manners and +customs are Pathan and their language Pukhtu. Bellew considers them +as probably the Sanobari or Sinawari Indians of Rajput descent. Their +"peaceful" occupation is that of muleteers, and they breed herds of +mules for the carrying trade. + +One interesting point in the descent of the Amir's tribe, the Barakzai +Duranis, is called attention to by Bellew. He considers that they are +probably an offshoot of the Baraki mentioned by the Emperor Babar +as one of the principal tribes of Kabul in the early part of the +sixteenth century. These Barakis are considered a distinct race by +themselves, and are not claimed by Afghan or Pathan, Ghilzai or Hazara. +They use among themselves a dialect which appears to resemble a Hindi +language. Bellew identifies the Baraki tribe of Kabul with the Barkai +of Herodotus, who were recognized as Greeks by Alexander and his +followers. They were a colony of Greek exiles transported from Kyrene +in Lybia, to the Logar Valley of Kabul, by Darius Hystaspes. This +valley is to-day their principal settlement. The Baraki have for ages +retained the reputation of being excellent and reliable soldiers, and +the Royal Barakzai Durani family have always entertained a body-guard +composed of Baraki. The separation of Baraki and Barakzai, with the +diminution in number of the one and the increase of the other, is +explained by the probable suggestion that the former reluctantly, and +the latter readily, accepted the religion of Islam in the early period +of its introduction. + +[Sidenote: The Hazaras.] + +Another nation, and in point of numbers the most important, occupying +Afghanistan, is the Hazara. They are mostly of the Tartar type, and +occupy the mountains of the west and north-west of Afghanistan. They, +like the Afghan, are a mixed race. Though chiefly Turk they have tribes +among them of Rajput, Kopt, Abyssinian, and Persian descent. The +Hazara proper, who inhabit the Ghor country, claim to be descendants +of military colonists planted in this country by Ghengis Khan, the +Turkestan chief, in 1200. Probably, however, the influx was slow, +extending over several generations, and was more the migration of a +nation than a purely military conquest. The language of the Hazaras +is an old dialect of Persian with some admixture of Turki words. +At the Kabul Hospital when a Hazara came for treatment I found his +language so difficult to understand, that in the absence of my Armenian +interpreter, I often had to call upon some one to translate for me into +modern Persian. With their high cheek-bones, small oblique eyes, and +scanty beards, they differ much in physiognomy from the Afghan, and +their form of government, manners, and morals are equally divergent. + +The government of their chiefs is more despotic and less republican +than that of the Afghan chiefs. Though some tribes are said to be +nomadic, predatory, and the poorest and most barbarous of all the +races in Afghanistan, those I came in contact with seemed, compared +with the Afghans, a hard working peaceful people, unless they were +roused by cruelty and oppression; then, indeed, they fought with dogged +persistence. They seemed to have a certain simplicity of character +which contrasted strongly with the duplicity of the Afghan. Though +undersized, they are of great physical strength, and as slaves taken in +war, or servants for hire, they seemed to me to do all the hard work in +Kabul. In religion they are mostly Shiah Mahomedans, and therefore to +the Sunni Afghans they seem almost as much infidels as the Christians. +They make their own powder and rifles, are excellent shots, and, in +spite of the mountainous country in which they dwell, are excellent +horsemen. As a nation they have an intense love of liberty, and have +been more or less independent for generations. The last monarch who +subjugated them was Timur Shah or Tamerlane. They have, however, paid +tribute to the present Amir, though many a battle was fought before +they yielded. + +[Sidenote: Cause of Hazara Rebellions.] + +To this day the Hazaras are constantly breaking out in rebellion, but +from stories I heard in Kabul I gather they would willingly pay tribute +to the Amir as King, but for the outrages and atrocious cruelties +practised upon them by His Highness's troops. + +In their day these Hazaras formed a very powerful sovereignty, which +extended from the Euphrates to the Ganges. They it was who supplanted +the Turk at Ghuzni, and who overthrew the Rajput dynasty, conquered +India, and established the Mahomedan religion in that country. + +Further north, on the banks of the Oxus river, the border line that +divides Afghan from Russian Turkestan, are Turkoman and Usbak tribes. +The Turkoman is, as the name implies, of Turk descent. This people +lived to the south of the Thian Shan or Celestial mountains, and in the +eleventh and twelfth centuries overran Bokhara, Armenia, and Georgia. +Physically they are immensely strong men, taller than the Hazara, of +rough manners and coarse fibre, seeming more or less insensible to pain +or sorrow: their cold insensible nature contrasting strongly with the +more amorous nature of Afghan and Persian. + +I had a practical illustration of their rough manners one day in Mazar. +I was riding back from the Hospital, and at some little distance from +the city I met a troop of Turkoman cavalry. I was interested and rode +quietly on, never dreaming of getting out of their way, for I naturally +thought they would do as others had done, make way for a Distinguished +Foreigner. Not in the least. They just did not ride over me, but in a +moment I was in the midst of the troop, and as they rode carelessly +and rapidly by, one man brushed against me, ripped my boot, tore the +buttons off the leg of my breeches, and nearly twisted me out of the +saddle. Consider the iniquity of the act! The Amir's own Physician and +a common Turkoman! I was indignant; but decided to ride on and take no +notice; they are men of such exceedingly coarse fibre. + +These people are nomads, living in tents, or, when they camp for a +longer period, in temporary huts, or oftener in a sort of wickerwork +wigwam, dome-shaped, and covered with felt called the "khirgar." These +wigwams can be taken down and packed on a camel in less than an hour. +The Turkoman women are unveiled, and work in camp and field, and weave +the beautiful rugs that are so much in demand in Afghanistan and India. + +The Usbaks are a confederation of many Turk and Tartar tribes, not +one race. They are flat faced, with scanty beard and slanting eyes. +They speak the same language as the Turkoman--Turki--and have the +same disposition, tastes, and ferocity. They do not, however, lead +a wandering life, but dwell in villages, and may be considered the +established and civilized inhabitants of Central Asia beyond the Oxus. +Their type is occasionally somewhat altered by intermarriage with the +Persians. + +There are other prominent but less numerous races in Afghanistan: +for instance, the Kizilbashes, who are the better educated among the +townspeople. There is a colony of them in Kabul, at Chendawal, to this +day. They are Persianized Turks, who were brought to Afghanistan by +Nadir Shah in 1737. They speak pure Persian, and constitute chiefly +the merchants, physicians, traders, and scribes. His Highness's chief +secretary, the Dabier-ul-Mulk, was a Kizilbachi. These men belong to +the Shiah sect of Mahomedans. + +[Sidenote: The Christian Church.] + +At one time there was a colony of Armenians in Kabul, brought from +Persia by Nadir Shah, and a Christian church was in existence, until it +was accidentally blown to pieces in the last Afghan war. + +The Armenians, however, have drifted away to the large towns in India +and Persia, and only one family remains, that of my Interpreter. + +I went one day to pay my respects to a Christian lady in Kabul, an +aged Armenian some ninety years old. She wept bitterly as she told me +of the church built by a Mahomedan King for their use and destroyed by +Christians. + +Of other races in Kabul, there are Tajiks of Arab descent, Hindkis of +Hindu descent, and Kohestani and Pashai tribes, who are considered to +be the unconverted aborigines of the Kabul province. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE BIRTH OF PRINCE MAHOMED OMER. + + Hazara slaves, Kaffir slaves, and others. The slave boys at the + Palace. Court Pages. High positions occupied by slaves. Treatment + of slaves in Kabul. The slave boy and the Son. Price of slaves. + Wife and children of Hazara Chief in slavery. Hazara slaves a + glut in the market. Illness of the Hostage of an Afghan Chief. + Abdur Rashid down with fever. Own illness and the aches thereof. + The British Agent's postal arrangements. Occasional fate of the + letters. Postage in Afghanistan. Power of annoying possessed by + Interpreters. The Chief Bugler. The Page boy and the Sirdar. + Outrageous conduct: the punishment. The Page boy and the Amir: the + result. The uproar on September 15th: the cause. The bearer of good + tidings. Congratulations to the Sultana. The crowd outside the + Harem Serai. The Sultana's reply. Matter of succession complicated. + Display of fireworks: the accident. Surgical operations. The Priest + with a blemish: his request. The Amir's reply. The operation. The + Mirza's comments. + + +I was speaking of the slaves of Kabul when the subject of the peoples +inhabiting the country presented itself. Just now the majority of +slaves in Afghanistan are Hazaras, probably because they have lately +been fighting against the Amir. + +There are also children and women taken prisoners from other rebellious +tribes, and Kaffir slaves kidnapped as children from Kaffristan. A +batch of the former were brought to Mazar while I was there. His +Highness took about a dozen. They were good-looking boys of the Persian +type, and I was told they came from the direction of Maimana, to the +north-west of Afghanistan towards Panjdeh. No one understood their +language. It was not ordinary Pushtu, nor Turki, nor Persian. They, +however, picked up Persian very quickly. + +[Sidenote: Slaves in High Positions.] + +The slave boys at the Palace are placed under the care of one official +whose duty it is to look after their comfort and train them in their +several duties. They are really Court Pages, and their work is shared +by the sons of nobles and gentlemen. A slave boy, if he has beauty, +ability, and fidelity--a rare combination, perhaps--can rise to the +highest positions under the Government. + +One whom I knew, holding a very high position in the Afghan army, was +sold by the Amir when he was in exile in Russia. The man ran away from +his master, and found his way back to the Amir; again he was sold and +again escaped. He returned to Afghanistan with the Amir and was raised +to high estate. He was a kindly man, but, in spite of his dog-like +fidelity to the Amir, was not of strong character. I do not know of +what nationality he was: I was told that he was not an Afghan, but came +from the north-east. His son was distinctly of the Tartar type, though +he himself had more the regular features of the Persian. I saw in the +newspapers a short time ago that he was dead. + +Two others I knew, slaves, holding high positions in the Amir's +service, who were with him in Russian Turkestan. His Highness will +forgive much in these men, and punish but lightly shortcomings on their +part. + +As regards the treatment of the slaves in Kabul, it is simply a +question of property: a man has the power to sell, kill, or do as +he pleases with his slave; but, speaking generally, the slaves are +well-treated, especially among the upper classes. Sometimes it is +impossible to tell from their appearance which is a man's slave-boy and +which is his son. + +In Mazar, two boys used often to come and see me: they were dressed +very much alike, in gold embroidered tunics, and each had a little +revolver. I heard one of them was a slave, but for a long time I +thought the slave was the son. He was an amusing little fellow, quick +at repartee; but he lacked the dignity of the other--the almost +mournful quality of which made me think he was the slave. + +[Sidenote: Hazara Slaves a Glut in the Market.] + +The price of slaves varies according to their quality: ordinarily it +is thirty rupees the span: by span I mean the distance from the outer +side of one hand to the outer side of the other when, with the fingers +closed, the thumbs are extended to their utmost, the tips touching. +This is roughly about a foot, so that a baby that length would cost +thirty rupees. However, in Kabul, a short time ago, a Hazara baby was +bought for half-a-crown; the purchaser got the mother for fifteen +shillings, and a little boy of six for five shillings. This woman, +with her children, were the family of a Hazara of wealth and position. +Unfortunately the tribe rebelled; the men were mostly killed, and the +women and children became a glut in the market. Some time after the +purchase I was asked to examine the small boy of six medically. He had +been ill about ten days, and a Hakim had been called to attend him. +The case had been diagnosed as typhoid fever--and the opinion given +that the child was improving. I found the child had meningitis, or +inflammation of the membranes of the brain. He died the same night: a +sheer loss of five shillings to the owner. + +I saw the mother during my visit, she was a good-looking woman for a +Hazara. She did not make much disturbance at the death of the child, +at any rate while I was in the house. She seemed more stunned than +anything else. + +Recently in Kabul it was a very common sight to see a gang of Hazara +women, with their unveiled faces and their dingy blue dresses, ragged +and dirty, conducted through the town by a small guard of soldiers with +bayonets fixed. As the war progressed they became so plentiful that His +Highness would often reward a faithful servant or officer by presenting +him with one or more as an addition to his Harem. + +I had been in Turkestan some three months when I was sent for one +morning to see a young man, the brother of one of the few remaining +powerful Afghan chiefs. Most of the others have been "expunged." As +a rule I did not visit the sick at their homes unless I received an +order from His Highness to do so, or unless some one I knew personally +sent for me to visit him. This young man, however, was a friend of the +Armenian's. His brother's territory lay not very far from the British +frontier, and he himself was a hostage with the Amir for the good +behaviour of his brother, the Chief. I found he had malarial fever very +severely. When I returned home my neighbour opposite, the Mirza Abdur +Rashid, sent for me to see him. He also was down with the fever. I +prescribed for them both. + +The next morning I felt rather ill myself, but started about eight to +see the Chief's brother again. The sun seemed frightfully scorching +that morning, it was August, and presently the headache I had grew so +intense that each step was agony. + +I gave in at last, and turned my horse home again. I went into the +inner room and sat on the charpoy. The Armenian shut all the doors and +windows to keep out the heat, and propped me against the wall with +pillows. Then the backache began. Oh, my bones! I was one great ache. +The Armenian had seen the treatment I put others under, and he weighed +out the medicines and brought them to me. I was too stupid with fever +and aches to care what I took. + +Just then the British Agent's Secretary, Amin Ullah, was announced. +He was an interesting man, but I was compelled to greet him with +lugubrious groans. He brought me five home letters, which my aching +eyeballs would not allow me to read. + +[Sidenote: Postal Arrangements for the British Agent.] + +I used to send my letters through the Agent's post in those days. He +had a separate compartment in the Amir's post-bag which, by arrangement +between the Government and His Highness, was locked and sealed. Once +or twice the letters did not reach their destination, and it was said +that some of the wild hillmen had pounced on the postman and carried +off his bag. They might do the same to anyone carrying a bag, but it +was never found out who were the robbers. Afterwards, I did not send my +letters through the Agent's post, but sent them direct to the Amir's +post-office. His Highness allowed me to send and receive three letters +monthly, free of postage. This was not so small a matter as it seems, +seeing that in Turkestan the postage of each letter came to rather +more than its weight in silver. All I had to do, therefore, was to +stick on an Indian stamp. I found my letters arrived about as safely +through the Amir's post as through the Agent's, at any rate for some +years. Afterwards, when we came to Kabul, I found there an Interpreter, +a Hindustani, who was in favour with the Prince. He tried hard to get +on as Interpreter for me; thinking, probably, that baksheesh from the +patients could be worked; as I would not have him, he proceeded to +intrigue against me. I did not take much notice of the man, knowing +that he could not do much harm. However, he succeeded in getting hold +of some of my home letters, which was sufficiently annoying, and once +he placed me and the other Englishmen in Kabul in a position of no +little danger: how this occurred I will relate presently. + +I got well of the fever in about a fortnight, and then I heard that +both the Chief's brother and the Mirza Abdur Rashid were still ill. I +had thought that, of course, the medicine I had prescribed had been +given them every day. No, everything was at a standstill, both with +them and at the Hospital, just as I had left it a fortnight before; +this is so truly Oriental. + +I, of course, visited them, and they rapidly got well under quinine. + +At this time His Highness requested me to visit one of the page boys, +the son of a former Commander-in-Chief at Herat, who was sick. He was +a smart lad of about fifteen; in appearance very like an English boy. +His house was just opposite a low tower where the chief bugler took his +stand morning and evening to sound the royal salute. As I visited the +boy when my day's work was done, I was generally in his house when the +evening salute was sounded. The bugler was a stout red-bearded man with +blue eyes: he looked just like an Irishman. But however much these men +may look like English and Irish, closer acquaintance shows how strongly +contrasted the Oriental is with the Occidental. The boy recovered in +due time, but there is a story about him, an incident that occurred a +year or two later, while I was in the country, which may be interesting. + +[Sidenote: The Page Boy and the Sirdar.] + +The boy was not a bad sort of boy--he looked English--and we were very +good friends, so that I quite enjoyed my visits to his house--but he +was an Afghan. One day the Sirdar Gholam Hussain, the dignified man who +has charge of His Highness's food, directed the boy to perform some +slight task, I forget what, and the boy bluntly refused. The Sirdar +spoke sharply to him, but the boy apparently resented being spoken to, +for he at once drew his revolver and shot at the Sirdar; he missed, +and whipping out his sword he rushed on him. The Sirdar warded off +the blow and threw the boy down. He was brought before the Amir. In +consequence of his former behaviour--he had been rather a favourite +with the Amir--and on account of the services his father, who was dead, +had rendered the Amir--his punishment was remitted to the extent of a +severe caning, and he was discharged from the Court for a time and sent +back to Herat. + +Some months later he was recalled. This was not the end of his +adventures, for soon after his return he objected to the smallness of +the pay he received as page. The Amir increased it somewhat. The lad, +apparently presuming upon the Amir's remarkable forbearance, again +expressed discontent. His Highness is not a man to be played with. He +was exceedingly angry, and the punishment was proportionately severe. +The boy was degraded and sent to jail in Kabul. This is a horrible +place, and they who enter it are often never seen again. However, when +we returned to Kabul, I met a gang of prisoners in chains returning to +jail after the day's work in the arm foundry: the boy was among them; +but he covered his face as I rode by. He was in prison about two years. +I met him one day after he was released. He looked very haggard and +old, not at all like the boy I had known in Turkestan. I pulled up to +speak to him, but he seemed even then to wish to escape observation, so +that I merely said, "Jour-asti? Are you well?" and rode on again. + +The Chief's brother, when he became quite well, came very often to see +me. He was a handsome fellow, and I made a sketch or two of him in my +note-book. He had a great desire to learn drawing, but he was never +any good at it. I taught him how to write his name in English, and he +learnt a few words also. + +One Sunday morning, September 15th, 1889, I was surprised to hear a +considerable uproar: there was the report of rifles, the playing of +military bands, and there seemed to be an air of bustle and excitement +with everyone. Presently a man came rushing breathlessly into my house +to tell me the news. It was not an advance of the Russians, nor even +an outbreak of the Hazaras: no, the Sultana, the favourite wife of the +Amir, had given birth to a _son_. Had it been a daughter the matter +would probably have been hushed up. + +[Sidenote: The Bearer of Good Tidings.] + +"Why this hurry?" I said to the Armenian. + +"This man, Din Mahomed, a little he is my friend; I know a child come +into house of Amir Sahib, but I know not when: better this, at once we +go to Harem Serai and send in Salaam, and Her Highness made glad upon +you." + +"Ah, I see," said I, "and the little, your friend, Din Mahomed, he +would like baksheesh?" + +"Please you kind," said the Armenian with an engaging smile. + +"How much?" I asked. + +"Sir, your wish. One twenty rupees," he said, carelessly. + +"Isn't it rather dear at the price?" I said. + +"Oh, sir! no. Other gentlemen, and rich man Supersala and Officer, give +twenty or forty gold _tilla_ and three or four horses." + +"To a servant! For just bringing news!" + +"The servant, he is not keep it. He bring to his master, Amir Sahib, +and Highness make glad upon that. Some he give to servant, and some +he give to other servant. And Officer and Supersala make glad that +Highness not send it back." + +"Well, oughtn't I to give more than twenty rupees?" + +"No, sir. In my o-pinion twenty rupees enough. You, mussafir and +stranger, and not know custom of Afghanistan." + +The bearer of news is rewarded with presents or with blows, according +to the quality of the tidings. + +Mounted men were racing off full speed to Kabul and the other big +towns; those who got in first received the baksheesh. + +We rode off to the Harem Serai to offer my congratulations. I found a +large crowd in the garden outside the Serai. There was an elephant with +gay trappings, which attracted a great deal of attention. Two brass +bands, with crowds round them, were hard at work, their style reminding +one of a parish school band. Pipers were marching up and down, gaily +playing _Scotch_ tunes on their bagpipes. Native instruments were +giving vent to moans, shrieks, and thuds. + +When we got into the garden I found I attracted rather more +attention than I either expected or desired. However, seeing the +Commander-in-Chief and some other officers sitting on a bank under the +shade of a tree, I went up and shook hands with them, and with the +assistance of the Armenian we had some conversation: not about the +weather, that is a subject which is never discussed in Afghanistan. +Presently I saw my small friend Mahomed Omer, son of Perwana Khan, who +was one of the Pages in the Harem, and I sent in my congratulations +by him. By and bye two of the Amir's younger sons, the Princes Hafiz +Ullah and Amin Ullah, about ten and six years old--who had visited the +Sultana that morning--came from the Harem. They conveyed the Sultana's +thanks for congratulations. Her Highness seemed very pleased that I had +called, for she sent me a present of five hundred rupees by the hand of +the little Princes. It struck me at the time that possibly she viewed +the visit rather as a national than a personal compliment. + +The birth of the youngster may, perhaps, in the future complicate the +matter of succession. Before his birth the heir presumptive was the +Amir's eldest son, Prince Habibullah. The mother of the eldest Prince, +however, is not of the royal tribe, whereas the Sultana is royal on +both her father's and her mother's side. Her father was a Priest and +a Seyid, or descendant of the Prophet, and therefore hereditarily +a beggar: but he was also a Suddozai Durani, and he asked for and +received the daughter of Amir Dost Mahomed in marriage. + +Now, therefore, that there is a son who is royal on both sides, Prince +Habibullah's claim is less decided than it was. + +On the day after the Prince's birthday the Festival was continued. +Bands were playing all day, and in the evening a display of +rockets--native made--was given. + +[Sidenote: The Accident.] + +One small boy managed to get hold of some explosive affair--a bomb I +heard--and was playing about with it when it exploded. As he was not +killed they brought him to me. The child was not pleasant to look +upon, for the injury was chiefly in his face. I gave him a few whiffs +of chloroform and cleared away the blood; but it took some little +time to fit in the pieces and sew up the rents. I had a good deal of +trouble, I remember, with the corner of his mouth and with the brow +and left eyelid, so much was gone. It was a sort of puzzle to fit +things together. The left eyeball had to be removed entirely, it was +destroyed. However, he made an excellent recovery, with remarkably +little disfigurement, except for the loss of the eye and part of the +eyebrow. + +I seemed to be in for operations just then; and one I had to do whether +I wanted to or not. + +It was on a young Moolah or Priest: he had a goitre--or enlarged +thyroid. + +I think I have mentioned that a priest is disqualified for the +priesthood if he has any bodily blemish, and this enlargement in the +throat distressed the Moolah greatly, for he was jeered at on account +of it. Several times he had asked me to "cut away" the tumour, but +there were reasons why I refused to employ _surgical_ treatment. He +was improving, though slowly, under _medical_ treatment; the swelling +was distinctly smaller. Removal of a goitre by the knife is not +an operation to be generally recommended; firstly, because of the +proximity of the gland to the great arteries of the throat and its very +free blood supply; and, secondly, because, if the gland is removed +successfully there are serious consequences that invariably follow, +namely, the slow development of a most curious disease called Myxoedema, +in which the sufferer has the appearance of being dropsical, though +he is not so, and in which the speech and intellect are curiously +affected. + +I could not explain all this to the Moolah through the Armenian, and I +contented myself by saying "Ne me-kunum, me-muri." "I shall not do it, +you would die." + +He bothered me time after time, and at last I said impatiently to the +Armenian-- + +"Tell him to go and get an order from His Highness." + +I thought that would end the matter, never thinking that he would go. +He went, and, moreover, got the order. I at once wrote to the Amir and +explained that the operation was not necessary, and that, if attempted, +the man would probably die. I received His Highness's answer very soon +after. He said-- + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Reply.] + +"Your letter, in which you say ---- and so on ---- has been received by +me. The reasons therein set forth as to the danger of the cutting need +not be an obstacle in the way of its performance. If the man recover it +is good, and if he die, what does it matter! He himself is willing to +undergo the risk." + +There was nothing for it, therefore, but to operate. I told the Moolah +he was foolish, and the operation would probably cost him his life. He +said--being interpreted-- + +"No, sir. I have no fear. You will not let me die." + +His complete confidence, however, did not inspire me with the same +feeling. There was a wooden platform in my garden, and we pulled it +under the colonnade, where it was shady, and the Moolah lay down. I +had sent for one of the Hindustanis to give chloroform, but he did +not come: it was the Sabbath, Friday. My neighbour, the Mirza Abdur +Rashid, said _he_ could give chloroform, he had seen it done. As I +could not operate and attend to the chloroform as well, I was compelled +to let the Mirza try. He put the man under successfully--he had seen it +done--though he knew nothing of the dangers of giving too much. I made +a longitudinal incision in the middle line of the throat and commenced +dissecting down with a knife and a pair of forceps, the skin being +stretched back by one of the soldiers, who were gathered in a group +round. When I had got rather deep there was a sudden gush of blood, +rapid and copious. I had divided the first of five arteries that had +to be cut through before the tumour could be removed. I wanted to tie +the artery, but there was no finding it at the bottom of a deep narrow +cut that filled with blood the moment the sponge was lifted. At last I +managed blindly to catch the artery with a pair of forceps and tie it: +the bleeding ceased. After this, I dissected down and tied the arteries +before I cut them. Then I removed the tumour in its capsule. It weighed +ten and a-half ounces. I sent it to the Amir, who congratulated me on +the success of the operation. The Moolah we left on the platform under +the colonnade, covering him with a sheepskin postin, and gave orders to +the soldiers of the guard to take turns in watching by his side, and to +call me if the bleeding broke out or if he seemed worse. The Moolah, +poor fellow, had high fever the next day, and the third day he died. A +day or two afterwards I said to the Mirza how sorry I was he had died, +but the Mirza laughed and said:-- + +"Dek ne me-showi. Be not sorrowful, you said he would die, and he died. +It was so written in the book of Fate." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE REARING OF THE INFANT PRINCE. + + The Amir's autograph letter. Medical consultation concerning the + rearing of the Prince. Conflicting customs of the Orient and + the Occident. Conservative nurses. The "Hakim fair to see": the + patient: his fate. Lessons in Persian and lessons in English. + Portrait painting. Dietary difficulties. Gracious acts of His + Highness. Amir's letter of condolence. The Royal visit by deputy. + Congratulations of the British Agent. The doleful dumps of + illness and the cheery Armenian. Accident to the favourite Page. + The khirgar. Story of the attempt upon the life of the Amir. An + earthquake. Afghan appreciation of pictures and jokes. Generosity + of the Amir. The first winter Durbar. His Highness's invention. The + Royal costume. The bearing of the men brought before His Highness. + The Amir's question: the Parable. Arrangement and furnishing of + the dining-room. The guests. The breakfast. The press of State + business. Amir's thoughtful kindness. The Armenian's comment. Visit + to the Commander-in-Chief. The ride to the Hospital. Adventure with + the "fool horse." Hospital patients in winter. "Two much and three + much." + + +At the beginning of October I received an autograph letter from His +Highness, directing me to consult with the two chief Hakims, Abdul +Wahid and Abdur Rashid, and advise as to the best manner in which to +rear the infant Prince. This is a literal translation of His Highness's +letter:-- + +[Sidenote: Amir's Autograph Letter.] + + "To the Honourable and Righteous Dr. Gray, + + "Be it known to you that my two Physicians, Mirza Abdul Wahid Khan + and Mirza Abul Rashid Khan, are directed by me to consult you and + take your advice concerning the customs and ways in which Europeans + of to-day rear their children, and also concerning the proper + time for putting on and removing the bandages, and the time of + giving milk, and of cradling and sleeping, and all things which + are necessary for the nourishment of a child, which are written + by the doctors and scientific men of Europe. These physicians are + acquainted with the customs of the Greeks, and I desire that they + be informed concerning the customs of Europeans." + + AMIR ABDURRAHMAN, + "Finis." "I have written it." + + +The Hakims arrived at half-past seven in the evening. I have spoken +of the courtly old Abdul Wahid with his Roman face. He was Hakim to +Amir Shere Ali. Abdul Rashid was the very fat man with interminable +words. He did the talking, because he was ignorant, and Abdul Wahid sat +silent. They were both exceedingly polished as became Court physicians. + +We compared the customs of Orientals and Occidentals in the rearing of +infants. The Hakims were very surprised to hear that we did not bandage +infants closely from shoulder to ankle, and so prevent them from moving +a limb. + +"How then can you ensure that the child's limbs grow not crooked? What +other method is there for keeping them straight?" + +I said, "Cannot Allah who created each child finish His work and cause +its limbs to grow straight without our help." + +"Beshak--undoubtedly, Allah is all-powerful and all-wise; but our +fathers, and our fathers' fathers, placed bandages on the children, +and they were wise men. How do you account for the fact that in some +children the legs are bent?" + +I forthwith entered into an explanation of the causes of rickets. How +that want of pure air, of sunlight, and free movement of the limbs, of +suitable food, produced a disease of the bones in which the lime salts +were absorbed, leaving only the soft bendable gristle, and so on--but +it was not any use: they knew nothing about pathology, or anatomy +either. So we left that and went on to other matters. + +[Sidenote: The Rearing of Afghan Infants.] + +The Afghan baby--among the rich--is wrapped up as to the head and +neck by a stifling head-dress, rather like that which an Arab wears +to protect him from the sun, and I could not make them understand the +advantage of dispensing with a head covering indoors. + +The cradle is a massive wooden concern. It consists of a hammock or +shallow box, suspended at either end from a longitudinal bar supported +on uprights, so that it will swing from side to side. When the child is +asleep every breath of air is excluded by thick curtains, which fall +from the bar over the sides of the cradle--and this in a hot climate. +What could I say? We differed in almost every detail; there was no +common ground to start from. + +The Sultana had expressed her desire that the European doctor should +attend the Prince medically. I saw a cheerful future before me, +for I found that the nurses would diverge, not in the slightest +degree, from the customs of their ancestors. It is possible to +move a mountain--granted time and a sufficient amount of blasting +material--but no amount of blasting will move an Oriental woman out of +the rut that ages of custom has made. + +The Sultana did not nurse her child. A nurse therefore was sought for +to rear the little Prince. + +Before the Hakims left my house the fat one expressed his deep sense +of gratitude that I had granted him my friendship, and he ended a +polite speech by asking me to see a patient of his. I ought to have +remembered the poet's lines:-- + + "I know a Hakim fair to see," + (Only he was dark and fat, but that does not matter)--"Beware! + He can both false and friendly be--Beware! + Trust him not he is fooling thee." + +I went to see the patient: he was one of the Chamberlains, Nasir +Courbon Ali. He was exceedingly ill with malarial fever, and his skin +was yellow, which was bad. I thought there was a chance of saving his +life if vigorous remedies were used. I returned home and directed the +compounder to prepare a mixture and deliver it himself. I visited the +Nasir three times that day, but he did not seem to be improving. The +next day he was worse. I had to go on to the Hospital, but when I +returned home I said to the compounder, + +"You sent the Nasir's medicine this morning?" + +The compounder had picked up a little English from the Armenian. He +said, + +"No, sir, I forget it." + +Forget it! I was exceedingly angry. + +"A man's life is in extreme danger, and you _forget_!" + +Then he explained, or rather the Armenian did. When he had delivered +the medicine he found the Hakim there: he left the medicine, noticing +where it was placed; he returned once or twice during the day, but +found the bottle just as it had been left. Not a dose was given that +day or afterwards. Why, therefore, did the fat old fraud ask me to go +and see his patient? I do not know. The Nasir died the next day. + +[Sidenote: Lessons in English.] + +Towards the end of September the cases of malarial fever among the +soldiers and townspeople began to decrease in number, and I had more +leisure. I commenced to study Persian, with the occasional assistance +of Munshi Amin Ullah, secretary to the British Agent. The Armenian was +not, at that time, sufficiently learned to attempt to teach me. He had +very vague ideas as to moods and tenses: and pronouns and prepositions +bothered him considerably. I tried to teach him English. He knew the +letters, but words, whose sound and meaning he knew well, baffled him +completely when written. I found this was chiefly due to the fact that +when he spelt out a word he pronounced it exactly as it was spelt. +"Enough" was a complete stumper, because there was no "f" in it. He +considered it ought to have been "enuf," and wished to argue the point +with me; so that his English reading did not progress very rapidly. He +spoke fluently in Hindustani and some of the other Indian languages, +in Persian and Pushtu, and was picking up Turki while we were in +Turkestan; English, too, he was becoming better acquainted with: all +these he learnt by ear, but Hindustani and Persian he could both read +and write. + +About this time I found leisure to take up painting again. Rather +fancying myself in Afghan turban and robes, I painted my portrait from +the reflection in a hand-glass. It happened to turn out a success, +and created quite a little mild excitement. The Armenian was not the +man to let my light shine under a bushel: he looked upon me as a sort +of possession of his. Anything that I could do and others could not, +reflected, he seemed to think, a great deal of credit upon him: so +that he trumpeted the news abroad. I had a great many visitors, and +every second one asked me to paint his portrait. The Armenian said: + +"Sir, you not do. This man, who is?" + +Which sentence, though it sounds odd, is simply a literal translation +of the Persian, "Sahib, shuma ne kuned. In mard, ki'st?" + +However, I consented to paint my neighbour the Mirza Abdur Rashid, and +he gave me some sittings. He had good features, and was dark-skinned +for an Afghan, so that when attired in green velvet and gold he made +rather a striking picture. The matter reached the ears of His Highness +the Amir, and he sent for the two portraits. They were taken to the +Palace just as they were, though the Mirza's turban was unfinished. +When the pictures were brought back I heard that His Highness was +pleased with them. My own portrait I rolled up and addressed to +England, intending to have it posted home by one of the British Agent's +men, who was returning to India on leave. In the evening, just as I had +addressed it, His Highness sent for it again. + +[Illustration: + + Dr. Gray and his Armenian Interpreter, + from a photograph by Van der Weyde.] + +I went to the military Durbar the next day, Tuesday: His Highness was +very gracious. He spoke some time about the Moolah upon whom I had +operated for goitre, and desired me to instruct the native dressers: +then he spoke about the portraits, praising them highly, and finally +told me that he would himself give me sittings for a portrait. + +A day or two afterwards a carpenter arrived to take instructions for +the making of a frame to stretch the canvas upon. The next day I caught +a most severe cold. It was the end of October, the sky was clouded +for the first time, and the weather seemed suddenly to have become +autumnal. + +[Sidenote: Dietary Difficulties.] + +Though the canvas was soon ready it was a long time before I began +the Amir's portrait. The cold I had became better, but, after two or +three days, instead of feeling well I felt much worse. I could not +rouse myself to anything, and I had a constant backache. It struck +me suddenly I might have fever. I had; rather severely. It was quite +different in type from the first attack I had had. Unfortunately, a few +days before, I had discharged my cook for some rascality or other, I +do not remember what, and the only man who could cook in the European +way for me was my syce, or groom. This was the man who had been in +the Burmese Police, and who cooked dinner for me the day we went to +Takh-ta-Pul. He could roast meat and make a rice pudding, but that was +about the extent of his capabilities in the cooking line. With the +fever on I did not seem to hanker after the grey, thin, greasy liquid +he denominated "soup," neither did I seem to desire the slippery, +sloppy, watery dish he called "custard" pudding. As bread was not to be +obtained, but only the leathery chupatti, which is not appetizing when +you are ill, the fact began to force itself upon me that I should be +obliged to undergo the Hakim's treatment of fever--that of starvation. + +However, in a day or two it reached His Highness's ears that I was +ill. He at once ordered the two chief Hakims and all the Hindustani +Hospital assistants to wait upon me, and discuss what could be done for +my relief. It was kind and gracious of the Amir; but it appeared to me +that if I submitted to the treatment of all or any of them, I should +be likely to find myself in a great deal more danger of dying than +there otherwise seemed any immediate probability of. But His Highness's +thoughtful kindness was not exhausted. Hearing that food suitable for a +sick European was not to be easily obtained from the bazaars, he gave +orders to his chief Hindustani cook, a man who had been imported from +one of the hotels in India, to prepare anything that seemed agreeable +to me. The cook came every day for orders. I had soups, bread, beeftea, +jellies, puddings, and fruit, and, in addition, His Highness sent me +some claret and a bottle of Chartreuse. + +I learnt a good deal about malarial fevers from a patient's point of +view before I was well again, for I had three consecutive attacks of +fever, each differing from the preceding one in its manifestations. + +When I had been ill rather more than a fortnight, His Highness wrote me +a very kind letter enquiring after my health; this is a translation of +it: + + "To the Honourable and Respected Dr. Gray,-- + + "May Almighty God grant you health and safety. I write to you for I + wish greatly to hear of your health. My prayer to God is that I may + see you always well and happy." + + "AMIR ABDURRAHMAN," + "Finis." "I have written it." + + +At different times salaams and messages of condolence were received +from the Commander-in-Chief and other people. I was gratified to hear +that the soldiers and townspeople were wishing for my speedy recovery, +for, certainly, it is a privilege to feel you have been of use. + +I became better, and went for an hour's ride, which I enjoyed +immensely, but the next day the second attack came on violently. +During this attack, when I was becoming better, I had the honour of +receiving a Royal visit from the Amir--by deputy. + +[Sidenote: The Royal Visit by Deputy.] + +His Highness sent one of his chief secretaries, Mir Ahmad Shah, a tall +and courteous man. I received him, of course, in my bedroom, as I was +not able to get up. He brought me many kind messages. His Highness had +signified his intention of visiting me personally, but explained that +he was prevented by his lameness and the press of State business. He +was greatly pleased with the work I had already done in his service, +and was convinced that I had no other motive or desire than to serve +him faithfully. I endeavoured to express my gratitude for the honour +His Highness had done me, and for the many kindnesses he had showed me +while I was in his country. + +The next day the secretary of the British Agent arrived bearing the +Sirdar's congratulations to me, upon being the recipient of such signal +marks of His Highness's favour. + +Some time before I was taken ill I had written to Dr. Weir, the health +officer of Bombay, to whom I had been introduced when in India, for +some vaccine lymph, and a day or two after my "Royal visit" I received +a letter from him. He said that all our mutual acquaintances were well, +but that he himself was suffering from a recurrence of the fever he had +caught some years before in Turkestan! This was cheerful news, seeing +that I had had the Turkestan fever five weeks already. I said to the +Armenian, + +"I suppose then this will stick to me for the rest of my days--even if +I get better now, which seems doubtful"--for my liver was touched. + +But the Armenian was equal to the occasion. + +Oh, no: that fever my friend had was quite another kind: it was caught +at such a place--I forget where he said--and was a very bad fever. +Everybody knew that fever, it came on sometimes years after. But this +fever it was no-thing. + +"Sir, if you very ill, how you can smoke papyrus--cigarette?" and with +other specious words did he beguile me. I got better after some days, +and wrapping up carefully, for I concluded I must have got a chill the +time before, went for a short ride. I was all right that day, and went +out the next day for two hours, and came home feeling utterly fagged +and aching in every bone. Back came the fever. The temperature chart, +this time, was quite different from either of the other two. + +The snow commenced, but we did not have very much, not more than we +often have in England, but the winds sweeping across the plains were +bitter. This attack lasted about a month. In the middle of it I heard +that one of His Highness's Page boys, rather a favourite one, named +Samander, had met with an accident. While out riding his horse had +become unmanageable, and the boy's leg had been dashed against a tree. + +The Hindustanis, who had been sent for, came to me to make their +report. There seemed some doubt whether the leg was broken or not. They +had, however, put on a splint, but when I asked what kind of splint, I +found that it was one that was quite unsuitable if the leg were broken. +There seemed nothing for it but to get up and dress and go off and see. +Wrapping up well, and taking a stick, I hobbled off with the Armenian +for the Palace. The snow was not very deep, not more than six or seven +inches. + +[Sidenote: Attempt upon the Life of the Amir.] + +I found Samander living in a Turkoman khirgar, in the Palace gardens. +The khirgar was a circular dome-shaped wigwam, about fourteen feet +across by fourteen feet high, and was made of a number of light but +strong wooden uprights, which bent inwards seven feet above the ground, +their ends fitting into a wooden ring above. It was covered over with +thick felt and then with canvas. A wooden door was fitted on one +side--this is not used in the summer--and a carpet hung over the door. + +Around the khirgar was a small trench to carry off melted snow or rain. +Inside, the floor was carpeted, and my patient was lying on a mattress +on the ground. The khirgar was very warm, for in the centre was a large +brazier with glowing charcoal. Light was to be obtained only by opening +the door or by lighting a lamp. In the summer, when the felt-covering +is dispensed with, light is obtained by pushing back a flap of canvas. + +On the boy's thigh there was bandaged a wretched little splint, quite +useless if the bone were broken. I soon had it off, and found that the +bone was broken in the lower third. It took some little time to have a +long splint made and to put it on. Several Page boys, who were living +in other khirgars, came in, and also the official whose duty it is to +look after the boys. When I was putting on the splint, I noticed the +scar of a bullet in the upper part of the boy's thigh. I enquired how +he had got it, and then I heard the story of the attempt upon the life +of the Amir which had taken place the year before. + +His Highness was reviewing the troops on the plains outside the town of +Mazar. The pain of his Sciatica was troubling him so that he was not on +horseback, but sat in an arm-chair, which was placed on a large square +mound or platform some four or five feet high, artificially made. His +Highness sat smoking a cigarette, the Commander-in-Chief, Page boys, +and officials were grouped around his chair, and seated on the ground +by his side was Captain Griesbach, C.I.E., the geologist. + +An Herati regiment was passing, and suddenly one of the men stepped +out of the line, threw up his rifle, and fired point-blank at the +Amir. Just at that moment His Highness leaned over to speak to Captain +Griesbach, and the bullet whizzed under his arm, through the chair +back, and caught Samander just below the hip. + +The Amir continued what he was saying without a pause, and still smoked +the cigarette. The Commander-in-Chief sprang instantly from the mound +and rushed on the man to cut him down. + +Then the Amir shouted "Stop!" But it was too late, the +Commander-in-Chief's sword flew to pieces on the man's head, and the +bystanders instantly dispatched him. + +The Amir, presumably, wished to go into the matter, for the Herati was +a known shot, and to enquire the motive of his action with a view of +determining if he were alone in the plot. But whatever may have been +suspected I never heard that anything definite was found out. It was, +however, an evil day for the officers of that regiment. + +Samander receives a larger pay than any of the other Page boys, and is +naturally somewhat of a favourite. + +It was two hours before the splint was made and properly put on, and at +the end of it I was quite done up. I found that the fact of my arrival +had been reported to the Amir, for His Highness most kindly ordered the +palanquin of one of the Princes to be brought to the khirgar to convey +me back to my house. I visited Samander once or twice after that to see +that everything was all right, but my temperature began creeping up in +a way that was not at all satisfactory, so that I had to give up going +and simply trust to reports from the Hindustanis. + +[Sidenote: An Earthquake.] + +We had an earthquake a few days after this, at half-past five in the +afternoon. The bed shook and the door and windows rattled, but it was +quite a slight affair compared with the Kabul earthquakes. I called out +to the Armenian, who was in the next room playing cards, to ask if he +felt the shock. He came in to know if I wanted anything. + +"Didn't you feel the earthquake?" I said. + +"The what, sir?" + +"The earthquake! Why, man, the house shook." + +"Ah!" said he, "I did think a little the earth shivered, but I not +notice." + +On Christmas day my fever departed. Some time before, I had written to +Mr. Pyne to ask him to send me a cook, if he could find one, and on +Christmas day a cook arrived bringing a box of newspapers, Graphics +and Punches, and a case of briar pipes, which had reached Kabul from +London. + +The Graphics and Punches were a constant source of amusement to +myself and my visitors, the older as well as the younger ones. I was +astonished to find how little idea some of them had as to what a +picture was intended to represent. + +For instance, in one of the Christmas numbers--it was of the year +before, but that didn't matter--a pig was represented standing up on +his hind legs to take a view of the world outside his stye. Little +Mahomed Omer, son of Perwana Khan, could not make the picture out at +all; finally he came to the conclusion that it represented a horse in +his stable. The Armenian allowed him to remain with that idea. + +The pig is unclean to the Mahomedans, and he would have been very +disgusted if he had thought that we ate such a nasty creature. + +A frequent visitor at this time was a young man named Shere Ali, who +was, I was told, the second son of the ex-Mir of Bokhara. A friendship +commenced at that time between us which, like that of the Mirza Abdur +Rashid, lasted till I left the country. + +Shere Ali was greatly interested in "Misterre Punch." I had to go over +the jokes and explain them to the Armenian--sometimes, in the more +subtle ones, a matter of no little difficulty--and he translated them +to Shere Ali in Persian. Shere Ali generally laughed, though I fancy +from the little I had picked up of Persian, that the Armenian made his +own point when he had missed mine. He was quite capable of both seeing +and making a joke, as I found in after years when I brought him to +London. + +With the aid of the pictures I gave the Armenian vivid descriptions of +London and the glories thereof. One day, somewhat to my surprise, he +said:-- + +"Sir, let me see London. If I die then--don't matter!" + +The officer who had charge of the Page boys, came to see me; he was +a short thick-set man, and sensible. He asked me many questions in +surgery, and seemed willing to learn a few simple remedies in case of +emergency. I was very glad to teach him. + +[Sidenote: Generosity of the Amir.] + +At this time I was brought very low in the world as regards tobacco. +I had been reduced to smoking in a pipe broken-up cigar stumps which, +in view of this difficulty, I had carefully saved. Tobacco, except +uncured, and to me unsmokable Persian tobacco, was not to be obtained +in Mazar. I said to the Armenian, "I shall be cleaned out of tobacco +soon--and then, Chaos!" + +He said, "Sir, I not know Chaos, what is; but Amir Sahib has plenty of +cheroot and cig-rette." + +"That is very likely," I said, "but I haven't." + +"You not care it, I write him, Amir Sahib, and he give it you. What a +few cigar or cig-rette! no-thing!" + +"No! you must not do that," I said, "I can't cadge of His Highness." + +"Sir, please you kind, you say nothing. _I_ write, you not write." + +Sure enough he did write. I confess I was rather ashamed when His +Highness sent me ten boxes of most delicious Turkish cigarettes, four +boxes of cigars, and a silver cigar-case and match-box. + +His Highness had forbidden me to go out till I was quite strong, and +it was the 4th of January before I ventured to do so. I went to see +Samander and found his leg was progressing satisfactorily. + +[Sidenote: The First Winter Durbar.] + +On the 7th, it was a Tuesday, was a military Durbar, and after I had +seen Samander and had tea with him, I determined to go on to the Durbar +and pay my respects to His Highness: this was at eleven o'clock in the +morning. It was the first winter Durbar I had ever been to. + +The Armenian accompanied me. He was gorgeous to look upon, being +attired in a white turban, a yellow leather postin, and light blue +trousers. + +We walked from Samander's khirgar along the paths of the garden to the +Palace. The trees were white with snow, and great icicles hung from the +branches. The sky was grey, and the water and mud by the paths frozen +hard. Everyone looked nipped up in the icy wind. In the far distance to +the south were the mountains dimly blue. + +In the open space opposite the Palace was a large crowd of people +with petitions to offer or disputes to settle. Near at hand was the +Amir's guard with fixed bayonets. On each side of a large open window, +which reached nearly to the ground, were secretaries and other Court +officials. At the window sat His Highness. + +The Armenian and I skirted the crowd and went towards the window, the +crowd very politely making way for us. + +I waited awhile, until His Highness had finished speaking, then when he +saw me I took off the Astrakhan busby I had on, went forward and bowed. +His Highness enquired very kindly after my health, expressed his +pleasure at seeing me, and then directed me to come into the room where +he was sitting. + +I was very glad to do so, for in spite of my furs the bitter wind began +to make me shiver. + +I made my way through the door of the Pavilion into the centre hall or +passage, turned off to the left, and raising the curtains over the door +entered the room where His Highness was. Compared with the outside it +was, in spite of the open window, delightfully warm. + +His Highness was seated in an arm-chair facing the open window: at his +left hand was a little table with a cup of tea on it. He directed a +chair to be placed for me and some more tea to be brought. At first +the pages placed my chair some little distance from the table, but His +Highness ordered them to bring it near. While I was drinking the tea +His Highness continued giving judgment in the cases brought before him. + +Presently a man, apparently a carpenter, was ushered into the room, +bearing in his hand a curiously shaped pair of wooden sandals with +spikes of iron fixed into them. His Highness examined them, and then +turning to me explained that he had invented these things himself, that +they were to fasten on the boots to prevent a slip when one was out +shooting among the mountains in the winter. + +The Amir looked very handsome. He was dressed in a postin of dark +purple velvet, trimmed and lined with a valuable fur, called in Persian +Pari-pasha, I think a kind of sable. He had gold shoulder knots, and a +belt covered with bosses of gold. In his right trouser pocket he had +a small nickel-plated revolver, for I saw him take it out when he was +searching for a seal to give to one of the secretaries. A fur rug was +thrown over his knees, and he wore a beaver busby ornamented with a +diamond star. + +It was interesting to note the bearing and appearance of the different +men as they came before him. Almost everyone, who was not attached to +the Court, turned pale, some went white to the lips, or yellow if they +were dark skinned. I understood so little Persian then, that I could +not follow what was being said, and thus was unable to judge if there +were any reason for this emotion, beyond the awe that the presence of +majesty inspires. + +Presently, with a suddenness that was quite startling, the Amir turned +to me, and said in Persian:-- + +"Men in autumn and winter are blown upon by _cold_ winds, and at once +take _hot_ fever (tap-i-gurrum). In your eyes, what is the reason of +this?" + +It seemed pedantry to talk pathology, and I spoke in a sort of parable. +I said:-- + +"A gun is loaded with powder and shot, the trigger is pulled, the cap +flashes and the gun explodes. The men of this country are the guns; +they are loading themselves with a poison rising from the earth by +breathing it constantly, the malarial poison. A slight shock, the chill +of the wind, brings about the explosion, and fever seizes them." + +His Highness seemed struck by the plausibility of this explanation, and +presently he said, + +"Darust, darust, it is right!" + +He asked me several other questions, but I am sorry I have forgotten +what they were. + +[Sidenote: The Dining-room.] + +The room we sat in looked not unlike an English drawing-room. The +windows, however, were different. They were wider than English windows +generally are: the larger ones were filled with plain glass, the +smaller with coloured glass; over the lower part of one large window +was a sort of fretwork of wood, which, as the light was reflected from +the snow outside, was rather a relief to the eye than otherwise. The +door panels and the window jambs were somewhat elaborately carved: they +were neither painted nor polished. Draped over the doors and by the +side of the windows were silk curtains of different colours. The floor +was covered with Persian and Turkestan rugs. The walls were white, and +the ceiling decorated rather crudely with colours. The ceiling sloped +up on each side to a beam, supported at each end by a slender wooden +column carved in distinct imitation of a Corinthian column, but not +fluted. Ranged against the wall were two or three arm-chairs covered +with velvet, and some small tables with writing materials, vases, and +lamps upon them. The table-covers were mostly of velvet embroidered +with gold: one or two were Indian. In the middle of one wall was what +looked like a white "overmantel," though there was no fireplace. This +was more Oriental in appearance than the rest of the room, the keynote +of the decoration being the Saracenic arch. [Illustration: Saracenic +arch] On the shelves and in the recesses of this were small ornaments +and vases of various kinds. Below this decorative arrangement, and in +the position usually occupied by the fireplace, was a table covered +with heavily embroidered velvet, and on it were two lamps and several +brass candlesticks with many branches, each holding a wax candle, so +that the whole looked rather like an altar in a High church. In the +window that had fretwork over it was arranged a bank of flowers in +flower-pots. The centre of the room was clear, except that exactly in +the middle was a large brass brazier filled with glowing charcoal. + +At the far end of the room, away from the Amir, were seated, +cross-legged on the ground, the chief officers of the army, with the +exception of the Commander-in-Chief, who was ill. + +At about two o'clock in the afternoon the Durbar was over, the +petitioners and disputants disposed of, and His Highness arose. We all +stood up. + +His Highness did not leave the room, but took another chair in front +of a small oblong table with a white table-cloth which the servants +had brought in. I did not know whether I was to stop or go, and was +debating the point in my mind, when the Armenian, who was standing +behind my chair, leant over and whispered:-- + +"Sir, please you stop, Highness wish it." + +[Illustration] + +[Sidenote: The Breakfast.] + +His Highness sat at his table, and a small table with a table-cloth +was placed in front of my chair. The officers sat where they were. In +front of them was spread a large leather cloth, and over it a white +cloth--I was going to say "table-cloth," but it was on the ground. Then +lunch, or breakfast, was brought in. The dishes were protected with +curiously shaped covers, which were perforated in designs. One or two +were placed upon His Highness's table, and several more in front of the +officers. His Highness helped himself, and then the dish was brought to +me. A knife, fork, spoon, and plate were provided for me, though they +are not used in the East except by Europeans. + +I was glad of the fork and spoon, for in those days I had not learned +how to eat pilau with my fingers. I was just in front of His Highness, +and the Armenian told me that the servants--who really waited very +well, considering--were reprimanded rather sharply by His Highness for +not bringing me a clean knife and fork for each dish: they were not +used to such things. + +First, I had a sort of pancake, tasting something like that ancient +sweatmeat called a "jumble;" after that some meat, I didn't know what +it was, cooked in a curious way; then some pilau. Altogether I thought +it very tasteful. Afterwards, they took away the white table-cloths +and put others in their place, mine was blue velvet embroidered with +gold, and fruit was brought, mostly grapes, which had been kept from +the summer in cotton wool. His Highness lit a cigarette, and I, pulling +out the silver cigar-case, lit a cigar. For the officers, the native +chillim or hubble-bubble was brought and handed round to them one after +another. Each drew a volume of smoke into his lungs and handed back the +pipe to the servant, who, after blowing the smoke out of the tubes, +passed it to the next guest. + +Then the officers got up, salaamed, and filed off. I did not. I said to +myself, + +"I am a stranger, and it is the Armenian's business to direct me: he +has not hinted that the time has arrived to withdraw: meanwhile, I am +very comfortable. If an error is being committed, on his head be it." + +There was no occasion to disturb myself. Presently, tea was brought in +and I had another cigar. + +Meanwhile, His Highness was busily engaged: secretaries came in, spoke, +received their directions and went. Letters or reports were brought +singly and in bundles. His Highness opened them and generally answered +each one there and then; writing his answer on the flyleaf of the +letter or on the back of it. Then he placed it in a fresh envelope, +fastened it down, addressed it and threw it on the ground. These +letters were gathered up by one of the secretaries. Other letters, +after he had read them, he handed over to a secretary to answer, but +these were comparatively few. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Thoughtful Consideration.] + +In the midst of all this business a youngster, about ten years old, +dressed in tunic, trousers, and turban, came into the room; as he +entered the silence of the room, he piped out in his young penetrating +treble the usual salutation, + +"Salaam aleicoum," "God be with you." + +The Amir, who was engaged reading a letter, answered mechanically, + +"W'aleicoum"--"and with you." + +Then he looked up to see who it was: when he saw the small Page +boy he said something in Persian, in which I recognized the word +"Khunuk"--"cold." The boy disappeared and presently came back with a +postin on. I was rather struck that His Highness, in the midst of the +great amount of State business he transacts, should notice and give +orders about such a small thing as the possibility of a little Page boy +taking cold. + +When the press of work was over, His Highness turned and addressed +some very kind remarks to me. He said, among other things, that he +had examined and found that I was more intent upon doing my duty and +serving him faithfully than upon anything else. In future, I was not +his servant only but his friend. + +He appointed a time for me to vaccinate the little Prince Mahomed Omer, +and--which concerned my comfort considerably--he, at a suggestion +from the Armenian, ordered the Afghan bath-rooms attached to my house +to be heated any or every day, whenever I wished. This is rather an +extensive operation, and one to which, considering the price of wood, +my income hardly stretched. Wherefore, I was duly grateful. I had some +more tea, finished my cigar, and then asked permission to withdraw. +Before I left, His Highness desired me to visit the Commander-in-Chief, +who was ill with fever. I bowed and retired. We came away at half-past +four, and the Armenian was jubilant at His Highness's kindness and +condescension. With Oriental exaggeration he said that no man had been +so favoured as I. + +"Highness very kind upon you: very much wish you," he said--meaning +"like you," I suppose. + +We visited the Commander-in-Chief, drank the necessary tea, and then +I got home rather fatigued by the excitement and the exercise out of +doors. I took off my furs and lit a pipe for a quiet evening, but had +to go out again to see a Page boy who was very ill with fever. + +I was on the watch that evening and the next morning to see if I should +have any return of fever myself. As there was none, I had my horse +saddled, and started, after breakfast, on a visit to the Hospital, +where I had not been able to put in an appearance for several weeks. + +I enjoyed being out on horseback again. I was riding a young horse that +the Amir had given me. He seemed to enjoy being out also, for presently +he began to toss his head and snort and plunge. + +The Armenian said, sagaciously, + +"Sir, he very fool horse." + +The plunging was not sufficiently satisfying, and he commenced rearing +and kicking. Unfortunately the fever, in addition to making my legs +shaky, had taken a large slice off the normal amount of pluck that one +ordinarily possesses, so that in proportion as his jubilation increased +mine diminished. + +The road was very lumpy and frozen hard, and it seemed to me that the +"fool horse," in his lunatic caperings, must inevitably slip down and +break my leg. There was an evil time to come. We had got through the +Bazaar without any serious mishap when, just outside, we happened to +come alongside of another man on horseback. This was what my "fool +horse" desired; the very thing he was waiting for--he always was a +regular bulldog for worrying with his teeth, and was a ruffian at +striking: up he reared and simply pounced on the other horse. He caught +him by the neck and shook him, and drove him up against a wall. Both +reared upright, and then commenced the screams and the strikings of +two incensed stallions. The other man was even less happy than I, for +my brute was getting the best of it. I wondered which of us would be +killed, and began to think it would be the other man. + +The Armenian shouted, + +"Sir, please you hit him with spur." + +I hadn't a spur to "hit" with, for, knowing the horse would be "fresh," +I had not put any on. I tore at his mouth with the curb, and hit him +over the head with my fist. It seemed to astonish him, for he let go +the other horse, and settled on his four feet again. It was all the +other man wanted: he was out of sight round the corner before you could +say "Parallelopipedon." + +We got outside the town and had a large open space to cross. Some +horses in the distance were neighing, and, of course, mine answered +them shrilly and fiercely, and he tried to be off at a furious gallop +to get another little boxing match. This I was able to put a stop to, +fortunately, for the ground was much broken up and very slippery. +Having nothing better to do, therefore, he reared and kicked again. We +reached the Hospital at last, and, with shaking knees and a thankful +heart, I dismounted. + +[Sidenote: The Hospital in the Winter.] + +There were a great many sick soldiers at the Hospital, some sixty or +seventy. I was not yet strong enough to attend to them all, and I chose +out about a dozen who were very ill. + +Some of them were mere lads, and there they lay coughing and panting +with acute inflammation of the lungs. It was in times like this that I +missed so frightfully the well-appointed hospitals and the women nurses +of England. The soldier attendants did their best, no doubt, but very +few showed any sympathy or gentleness with the sick. In many of the +cases it was necessary for the patient to sit up for me to listen to +the sounds of the chest. In England the nurse slips her arm under the +shoulders and head of the patient and helps him up. Here a curt "sit +up" was all. One or two could not do it, and I had to lift them. + +Coming away I decided that the Armenian should ride the "fool horse" +and I would take his. He said:-- + +"Oh, yes, sir, I can ride him, but I 'fraid we make late for your +lunch. Better this--you take mine, I take soldier's horse. Other horse +come afterwards. In my o-pinion we get home soon this way." + +"Very well," I said, "_I_ can't ride him home; it is too much." + +"Yes, sir," he answered, "it is _three_ much! a little you not strong, +and he very fool horse." + +It was a long time before I could make him believe it was "_too_ much, +and not _two_ much." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE AMIR'S CONVERSATION. + + Sent for to the Palace. Fragility of Europeans. The Amir's postin. + The Bedchamber. The King's evening costume. The guests. The Amir's + illness. School in the Durbar-room. The Amir's conversation. + Companies of Khans: the water supply of London: plurality of wives. + The Amir is bled. Further conversation. His Highness a physician + in Turkestan: an iron-smith: a gold-smith. Drawing. Discussion + as to the Amir's portrait. Amir's choice of costume. The Shah of + Persia. Portraits of the Shah in ignominious places. The rupee and + the Queen's portrait. Cigar holders. Concerning Afghan hillmen. + Dinner. The Amir's domestic habits. Amir's consideration for + subordinates. Conversation concerning European customs. The new + Kabul. Native drugs. Soup and beef tea. The paper trick. Page-boys + with fever. The Kafir Page. European correspondence. Vaccination + of Prince Mahomed Omer. Afghan women. The Prince's house: his + chamber: his nurse. The Prince. The operation. Abdul Wahid. Afghan + desire for vaccination. The Armenian's useful sagacity. An Afghan + superstition. The dreadful old lady and her suggestion. The nurse's + remark. The Agent's secretary. His comments upon Bret Harte: the + meaning of "By Jove": the Christian belief in the Trinity. European + "divorce" from an Oriental point of view: plurality of wives. + + +That evening, about seven o'clock, a messenger came from the Palace +saying that the Armenian was wanted at once by Amir Sahib. I was +a little startled, wondering if anything had gone wrong. About +half-an-hour afterwards the Armenian, accompanied by a soldier with a +lantern, returned, and said that His Highness wished to see me. + +[Sidenote: Sent for to the Palace.] + +Outside it was dark and freezing, and His Highness had been kind enough +to send by the hand of the Armenian a postin for me, lest I should take +a chill again and have a return of fever. For, as the Armenian put it, +"Highness say Afghan is stone man, heat is not hurt it, cold is not +hurt it; but European very soft man, likes flower, soon cold is take +it." + +The postin, of crimson velvet lined with a valuable fur called in +Persian, "khuz"--I think a species of marten--was made to fit the +noble proportions of the Amir. On my lean figure it showed to better +advantage wrapped round as a cloak. + +Guided by the soldier with his lantern, we reached the Palace and +waited a minute or two in the anteroom: presently a Page boy came out +and called me in. I wondered what could be the matter. But it occurred +to me that it could not be anything disagreeable or His Highness would +not have sent me his own postin. + +I was shown into His Highness's bedroom--at least, so I conjectured, +though it bore no resemblance to our ideas of a bedroom. It was a +smaller room than the one I had been in at the Tuesday's Durbar, and on +the other side of the centre hall or passage. + +At one end of the room was His Highness, seated on a divan or broad +couch which was covered with furs. In front of him was what looked +like a large ottoman covered with a quilt which was partly concealed +by a cover of Indian embroidery. This was a "sandali," and underneath +was the charcoal brazier. On the divan were piled cushions and large +pillows covered with velvet and silk brocades. + +His Highness wore a small white turban of Indian muslin: over his +shoulders was thrown a robe of crimson silk lined with fur and almost +covered with gold embroidery. The room was brilliant with innumerable +wax candles. Two brass candlesticks with branches stood on the +sandali, and many more were placed round the room. It was a very +striking scene. Several Page boys were standing at the far end of +the room--there was no talking or whispering--and, at a sign or word +from His Highness, one of them moved silently to do as he was told. +Seated on the ground at the side of the room, about midway between His +Highness and the Page boys, were three of the Court: one was the Sirdar +Usuf Khan, the Amir's uncle; another was the Master of the Horse, +Sirdar Abdullah Khan; and the third, my old friend, General Nasir Khan. + +I bowed to His Highness and he ordered a chair to be placed for me: +then tea was brought. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Illness.] + +His Highness said that he hoped I should suffer no inconvenience +from the night air, and that he had asked me to visit him as he was +suffering from a severe chill. He had studied many Persian books on +medicine, he told me, and was intending to take certain medicines. He +took the trouble to show me the medicines and explain their action. +I asked permission to make an examination of his temperature and +condition, and found he had four degrees of fever (102.4 F.). Granting +that the medicines acted as he supposed, he was adopting a rational +line of treatment, and I told him so, explaining, at the same time, +that I had not studied the action of the remedies he spoke of. He +talked to me for some time and told me, amongst other things, that he +had studied medicine while he was an exile in Russia. He said that he +never learnt Russian, but that he could talk Persian, Arabic, Pushtu, +and Turki. + +By-and-by sweetmeats and fruit were brought in, pomegranates and +pears, oranges, grapes, and dried fruit. His Highness offered me a +cigarette, or rather directed one of the Pages to do so, and I smoked +while he spoke to me. At about nine o'clock His Highness indicated that +he felt inclined to sleep, and I was permitted to retire. + +The next morning at eleven o'clock I was sent for again. It was snowing +fast and I had to put a plain cloak over my finery, leaving it, of +course, in the anteroom when I reached the Palace. I found His Highness +very little better; he was feverish and still had pain in the shoulders +and back. He said he had had a very restless night, with much fever. +The attendants said he had been delirious, but I doubt if they knew +what they were talking about. + +After talking to His Highness for a short time we all retired to the +Durbar room and His Highness got a little sleep. For us the inevitable +tea was brought, and I smoked cigars and talked to the Armenian. +There were several small Page boys in the Durbar room; they were +seated cross-legged on the ground round the charcoal brazier and were +receiving lessons in reading and writing. One or two were handsome +boyish boys, and another was very pretty, but in face more like a +little Italian girl than a boy. + +At half-past one breakfast--in my case lunch--was brought in. It was +practically a repetition of Tuesday's, except that His Highness was not +there. After lunch I smoked on till I had finished all the cigars I had +in my pocket, and then one of the Chamberlain's, my friend, Shere Ali +Khan, brought me some cigarettes. We had tea again, two sweet cups, and +half a cup without sugar. + +At four o'clock in the afternoon I was called in to His Highness. He +still had some fever, but felt better. There were several people in the +room. Beside the Pages there were the two chief Hakims, Abdul Wahid and +Abdur Rashid, and other people, some of whom I knew and some I did not. +All were seated on the ground round the room, and everyone was very +still. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Conversation.] + +His Highness addressed his conversation to me. He told me much about +the customs of the Russians that he became acquainted with when he was +in exile; and he asked me many questions about London. He seemed to +know a good deal about it himself. He described, for the benefit of +the listeners, an English custom in which gentlemen--Khans--of wealth, +band themselves together for the purpose of trade, and that each band +is called "a Comp'ny." He asked much about the water supply of London, +enquiring whether it were a Government undertaking, or managed by a +Comp'ny of Khans, and he dropped a remark or two that showed me he had +taken the trouble to secure previous information on the subject. + +The conversation drifted to many subjects, and I remember he +proved--though I do not say entirely to my satisfaction--how much +better it was to have five wives than one. So that, although I was at +the Palace purely in a professional capacity, I found myself being +entertained by the Royal patient in most interesting conversation. At +last he said I must be tired, having spent the whole day at the Palace. +I need scarcely say that the enjoyment of listening to His Highness, +and adding what I could to his stock of information, quite made up +for any ennui I may have felt while smoking innumerable cigars and +cigarettes in the Durbar room. + +We got home about six in the evening. I had then to go and see my +neighbour, the Mirza Abdur Rashid, who had sent to my house several +times. He had fever again. I did not call on the Commander-in-Chief a +second time while he was ill, as I found he preferred trusting himself +to the skill of the hereditary physicians of his country, the Hakims. + +The next morning I went to the Palace again. His Highness said he was +better: certainly he had no fever, but he looked uncommonly ill. He +told me that, feeling very feverish and oppressed in the evening after +I had left, he ordered a vein in his arm to be opened and a quantity +of blood to be withdrawn. He expressed himself as feeling considerably +relieved by the operation. + +In the afternoon, at half-past four, when I went again to see him, His +Highness seemed to have recovered somewhat from the blood-letting, and +was in very good spirits. He related many interesting details of his +life when he was in exile in Samarcand and Tashkend. He told me that, +after having read up the ancient Greek system of medicine as set forth +in the Persian books at his command, he practised as a Physician among +the natives of Russian Turkestan: that in his spare time he worked at +the forge to learn the manufacture of war materials: that he learnt the +details of gunpowder manufacture, and even worked at the more delicate +and artistic handicraft of the goldsmith. He said that he tried to +learn drawing, knowing that the art can be applied to so many uses, but +that he never was able to succeed. He praised my capabilities in that +line in the complimentary language of an Oriental, and asked me to show +those in the room how one began a drawing. + +[Sidenote: Drawing and Painting.] + +I asked what should I draw? He left that entirely to me. A paper and +pencil being brought, I made a sketch of a man's head, and handed it +to His Highness. He looked at it critically, and said that the only +improvement he could suggest was that the eyebrows should be a little +heavier. After I had corrected this he approved entirely, and a Page +boy took the sketch round to every one in the room. + +"Wah, wah!" they said, in admiration. + +The King had approved; the Courtiers admired. + +His Highness then said that the only thing he could ever draw was a +tree in the winter-time. I asked him if he would honour us by showing +us how a tree should be drawn. He took the paper and pencil and drew +two trees excellently. I intended to have asked His Highness to give +me the sketch, for it was really drawn for my benefit, but one of the +Courtiers was too clever for me, and he annexed it. I did not like to +ask then, for I knew the man would get into trouble if I did. + +His Highness desired me to commence a portrait of himself as soon as he +was well enough to sit. I said it would give me very great pleasure to +do so. There was a discussion then, in which the Courtiers joined, as +to the size the painting should be. Some suggested that it should be an +equestrian portrait, life size; others that it should be of the King +sitting: and many different costumes were suggested, all more or less +gorgeous. I said that I had only enough canvas for a "head portrait." +His Highness said that if I would make out a list of anything I wanted +in the way of canvas, brushes, and paints, he would order them to be +brought from Bombay at once. I finally suggested that a head portrait +should be finished first, and if His Highness approved of it, a "full +length" could be done afterwards. His Highness had never sat for a +painting, and I think that he scarcely realized what an undertaking it +is to sit for a full length life-sized portrait. As regards costume, +His Highness said he preferred a plain coat and a fur busby. Embroidery +and bright colours, he said, were more fit for women and boys than men. + +Afterwards he told us many interesting stories about the Shah of Persia +and other people. The Shah he did not take at all seriously, and, in +particular, he laughed at the custom there is in Persia of putting a +portrait of the Shah on almost everything; even on utensils that are +used for ignominous purposes. He described the Persians as not at all +cleanly persons. + +[Sidenote: The Queen's Portrait on the Indian Rupee.] + +It is to be noted that the Amir will allow no representation of himself +on vessels, stamps, or coins, and when I learnt this, I confess I +was surprised that he wished his portrait painted. However, when the +portrait was eventually finished, it was apparently looked upon as an +effigy or representation of Royalty, and, as you shall hear presently, +was treated with some ceremony and no little respect. While he was +speaking about the Shah, he happened to take up an Indian rupee, and +was spinning it about on the sandali in front of him. Suddenly he said, +as he picked it up-- + +"How old was Queen Victoria when this portrait was taken?" + +I hesitated a moment: it was a difficult question to answer. Finally I +said, + +"It is intended to represent the Queen, but it is not a portrait of Her +Majesty as she is now, nor, I believe, as she was when she was young." + +His Highness at once said, + +"You are right; every feature is incorrect--eyes, nose, and mouth; and +even the crown on her head is not the crown she wears." + +It was impossible for me to explain, through the Armenian, that the +impression on the coin was a heraldic decoration, and was not meant for +an exact portrait of Her Majesty. + +Meanwhile, fruit and sweets were brought, and I lit a cigar. When I had +smoked to the stump, I stuck my pocket-knife in to hold it by. + +His Highness said, "Have you no cigar-holder?" + +On hearing I had not, he gave some directions to a Page boy. The boy +disappeared, returning presently with about a dozen cases. His Highness +opened the cases, examined them, and then, choosing two, gave them to +me. + +They were meerschaum and amber cigar-holders, the case being stamped +with the name of a firm in Bombay. One was in the shape of a hand +holding an oval, and the other was straight with a prancing horse +carved on the top of it. They looked so beautifully pure in colour that +it seemed a pity to defile them with tobacco smoke. However, aesthetic +ideas did not prevail, and before long I had coloured them both a rich +brown. + +By-and-bye I began to think it must surely be getting somewhere +near dinner time, when just then the clock struck--it was ten p.m. +However, it was not yet the hour for the Amir's second meal, and he +continued conversing. He told me of the habits and customs of the +Afghan hillmen; of their agility and hardiness, their great stature and +bodily strength: that with them meat was a luxury to be obtained only +by the few and by them rarely; of the weapons they manufactured for +themselves, their love of fighting, and their love of robbery. I said, + +"They must be good stuff to make soldiers of." + +"Yes," said His Highness, "but they needed taming." + +A little before midnight dinner was brought. The Amir has two meals in +the day: one about midday and the other about midnight. Occasionally +the time is varied. He may breakfast at ten a.m. and dine at nine +or ten p.m. He takes a cup of tea on rising, and, as a rule, some +biscuits--macaroons and other sweet cakes--are brought, though he +seldom eats them. At breakfast and dinner he eats as heartily as +one would expect a robust man to do, but not more so. The _piece de +resistance_ being pilau, which consists largely of rice, I think +that the Amir does not eat so much meat in the day as an ordinary +Englishman. He drinks water only, at meals. Tea he drinks in the early +morning and in the afternoon, and, curiously enough, tea is usually +brought half-an-hour before and sometimes half-an-hour after a meal. +There is no set rule as regards tea drinking. It is taken at all hours +of the day, except with meals. + +When dinner was brought, a tray was placed before His Highness on the +sandali. A small table was brought for me, and the Courtiers sat on the +ground. + +The Armenian, who had had a little fever the day before, had been +standing behind my chair all this time--rather more than seven +hours--and translating. He looked fagged to death. His Highness +happening to notice him standing while everyone was sitting, said, "Sit +and eat." + +The Armenian, however, did not dare to take the Amir at his word and +excite the resentment of the Courtiers, the Chief Secretaries, and +Officers, by joining them, and, moreover, he felt shame at presuming to +sit eating in the presence of the Amir, so that he made some excuse. +His Highness, seeing his embarrassment, ordered dinner to be served for +him in another room. + +When dinner was over I asked permission to retire, and His Highness +gave orders for a guard with lanterns to conduct me to my door. We got +home at half-past one. + +The next day, Sunday, I spent in a similar way at the Palace. I found +His Highness better. After being with him a short time I withdrew to +the Durbar room, where lunch was served for me. + +[Sidenote: The New Kabul.] + +I was called in again in the afternoon and His Highness continued his +conversation. He spoke much about European customs, and surprised me by +the extent and accuracy of his knowledge. The Courtiers sat listening, +dumb with admiration at the "boundless knowledge of the great King." +He told me of the city of his dreams, the new Kabul, that he hoped to +build in the Charhardeh Valley, drawing a plan of the city and of its +fortifications. I enquired whether there were materials for building +near at hand; and asked where he would get his water supply from, and +so on, and he entered into all the details most willingly. + +He gave me further information about the Afghans as a nation: though +he described more their obvious characteristics than those that are +unknown to European investigators. He sent for samples of native drugs +and plants, and instructed me in their alleged action on the human body. + +At dinner, soup was brought for my especial benefit, for the Amir knew +that Europeans took soup before meat when they dined. The conversation +then turned upon the making of soup, and His Highness sent for the +cooking utensils that were used by his cook and described the process +to me. I did not know how soup was made, but I knew how to extract the +nourishing properties of meat, and I described the making of "beef +tea," giving the reasons for each step in the process. + +After dinner--I forget what led up to it--I asked for a piece of paper +and a pair of scissors, and having cut a square the size of the palm +of my hand, I said to His Highness that I could cut a hole in it big +enough to put my head through: would he ask his Courtiers if they could +do the same. One after another they took the paper, and the Amir seemed +much amused as they turned it every way, and finally declared the thing +was impossible. It was given back to me and I made the usual cuts. One +down the middle and others alternately from the middle cut and from the +outer edge--this fashion. [Illustration] Of course, it would go over my +head then. The Amir enjoyed immensely the astonishment and discomfiture +of the Courtiers, and laughed heartily as he mocked and jeered at them. + +[Sidenote: The Kafir Page, Malek.] + +All this time the little Page boys had to be standing, and they +looked dreadfully tired. One of them, the Amir's favourite, had fever. +He was a slave from Kaffristan, about fourteen, named Malek. He was +fair-skinned and quite like an English boy in face, though he wore two +large emeralds looped in each ear by a ring of gold. + +There was a hard frost that night, and we did not get home till +half-past two. + +The next morning, when I arrived at the Palace, I found His Highness +was asleep, so I betook myself to Samander's khirgar or wigwam. It was +as well I went, for I found he had fever. I took the opportunity also +of prescribing for the favourite Page, Malek. He was a nice lad, and +I had a chat with him. He seemed to be quite proud that he was not a +Mahomedan in religion, though he couldn't quite tell me what he was. He +remembered only a few words of his native language. + +Afterwards he became a very good friend to me. He had infinite tact, +and if I wished to call the attention of His Highness to any matter +without making a formal report, Malek was always ready to choose the +fitting moment in which to speak to His Highness. + +I did not see the Amir that day, for he was engaged, busily and alone, +answering European correspondence. I heard, however, that he was much +better. + +On the following day, Tuesday, His Highness held the usual military +Durbar. He sat at the window of the Palace enveloped in furs. When I +arrived, he desired me to examine the throat of a woman who was there, +unveiled, among the petitioners, and diagnose the disease she was +suffering from. When I had given my report, His Highness invited me +into the Palace and I lunched with him as before. He asked me why I +had ceased, since my recovery from fever, from sending to his kitchen +for lunch and dinner. He desired me to continue sending, so long as I +remained in the country. + +After that the Amir's cook waited upon me daily at my house to receive +orders. + +A day or two after this, on Sunday, January 19th, I was called before +daybreak to vaccinate the little Prince, Mahomed Omer. The very fat +man, Hakim Abdur Rashid, came for me while I was dressing; the servants +prepared tea and then we started. The Prince was not living in the +harem with his mother, the Sultana: he had a house of his own not very +far from mine. + +The Hakim waddled by my side, talking and talking, and panting, and +still talking in his unctuous voice, and I stalked on in the darkness. +Dawn was so near that we brought no lanterns, and before we reached the +house the light of morning was gleaming on the snow. At the high gate, +leading to the gardens, was a sentry with fixed bayonet. + +Just as we reached the gate an old "sakabi," or water-carrier, was +passed in by the sentry. Before he was allowed to cross the gardens +with his leather water-bag to fill the house deghchis, or water-pots, +the sentry made him unloose his turban and droop the end of it over his +eyes so that he could see on the ground only. + +"Women about?" I said to the Armenian. + +"Yes, sir. Highness' sister here and other lady." + +"Shall we see them?" I asked. + +"Sir. Please you not talk. Perhaps this fat man understand. Highness +make angry if he hear." + +Our eyes were not bandaged, though the Armenian and I were a good deal +younger than the "sakabi." The fat Hakim did not count. We crossed the +garden and went up some steps into a lobby and the Hakim called out:-- + +"Kussi ast?" "Anyone here?" + +A door on our right opened and the old Hakim, Abdul Wahid, appeared, +and raising a curtain ushered us into the room. + +The usual charcoal brazier stood in the middle of the carpet, curtains +hung by the windows and over the doors. + +The curtain over a doorway, at the far side of the room, was slightly +pulled back, and, though we could see no one, it was here I heard that +the ladies were concealed. + +Seated by the side of the brazier was a fair young woman with a baby on +her knee. These were the little Prince and his nurse. There were two +older women, also nurses, seated by the fire. None of the women were +veiled, but each had a cashmere shawl over her head, which she pulled +slightly across the lower part of the face. All rose as we entered. + +[Sidenote: Vaccination of Prince Mahomed Omer.] + +The Prince was a bright-eyed healthy-looking little fellow, with a +skin slightly darker than that of an English baby. He was very much +swaddled-up in clothes. Over his head was thrown a square of white +cashmere, which was held back from the face and kept in position by a +band round the head. A chair and a little table were placed for me, +and the inevitable tea was brought. + +The Hakim and nurses sat on the ground again. The Armenian remained +standing. + +Presently, I said to the Armenian, "I am quite ready now to vaccinate +the Prince." + +It was broad daylight by this time, and I had my lancet and vaccine +lymph with me. + +The Armenian spoke to the Hakim Abdul Wahid, and he directed the nurse +to undress the child sufficiently to expose the upper arm. The nurse +commenced to unfasten the innumerable strings and bandages in which +the Prince was bound up. As this operation needed both her hands, of +course it was not her fault that the shawl fell back from her face. +She was really a very pretty girl. She had a little crimson jacket, a +long white camise reaching to the knee, loose oriental trousers, and +a little gold-embroidered cap, like a polo cap, put coquettishly on +one side: the embroidered cashmere shawl draped from the head over the +shoulders. As she sat with the child on her knee and the early sun +shining on them, it struck me what a picture they would make for the +Madonna and Child. + +The two old ladies were not so smartly dressed. They had dark-grey +shawls and a sort of hood on the head. They looked like nuns and acted +as a "foil" to the nurse. + +When the little Prince's arms were free, he waved them about and crowed +joyously. As he lay on the nurse's lap I was obliged to sit on the +ground to vaccinate him. The operation did not take many seconds. He +looked somewhat astonished when he felt the first prick of the lancet: +possibly it was the first sensation of pain he had ever experienced, +and he gave a little whimper before I had quite finished. Then his arm +was bound up and he was dressed again. + +When we came away, the portly Abdur Rashid took a ceremonious and +courtly leave, but Abdul Wahid walked part of the way home with me. He +did not talk. He was dressed in pure Afghan costume of the plainest +kind. A loose brown coat or robe reaching to the knee, plain blue +turban and a thin brown cloak, or lungi, of camels' hair draped in +classic folds over his shoulders. + +I never saw anyone who could throw the end of the cloak over the left +shoulder so negligently, and yet have it fall in such folds as he could. + +[Sidenote: Afghan desire for Vaccination.] + +The old Hakim departed on his way home, and we met the "Master of the +Carpets," Bai Mahomed Khan. He apparently had been lying in wait for +us, and he begged me to come to his house and vaccinate his infant son. +As I had plenty of lymph we went on to his house to do so. We waited in +the porch while he went in to drive all the women away; consequently, +the child had to be undressed and held by a man-servant. In the +afternoon, two of the little Prince's Kaffir slave boys were sent to my +house to be vaccinated; and on succeeding days several more were sent +for the same purpose. + +Many people, even those not attached to the Court, came and asked, as +a favour, that I would vaccinate their children. Some cases I was, of +necessity, obliged to postpone until I could get a further supply of +lymph. In Kabul, I saw many people suffering from the frightful results +of that dread disease, Small-pox, when it seizes upon those unprotected +by vaccination. In England, where vaccination is so universal, it is +rare to see a bad case. + +I visited the Prince every day for about a fortnight. Abdul Wahid +generally met me at the house. He and I were to attend to the Prince's +health and up-bringing. Abdur Rashid did not appear after the first +visit. I did not vehemently press European innovations after the first +day or two, for the Armenian said, with useful sagacity:-- + +"Sir, suppose you take away bandages and head coverings, and curtains, +and Shahzada Sahib take cold, blame come upon you. Better you let the +women do in Afghan custom, then no harm come for you." + +I took his advice, and the more willingly, because none of my +suggestions had, hitherto, produced the slightest effect. For immovable +obstinacy there is nothing to match the conservatism of an Eastern +woman. + +I soon became friendly with the little Prince, and trotted him on my +knee, or walked about the room with him in my arms. I never kissed +him, for I thought it better to consider the religious scruples of the +Sultana. Being a Feringhi there was always a chance that I _might_ have +eaten pig. + +One day he was very merry, and was laughing when I said good-bye and +left the room. Immediately one of the old nurses followed me out and +begged a hair from my head, so that no evil should result from my +having left him while he was laughing. The hair was burnt with due +ceremony. + +[Sidenote: The Dreadful Old Lady and her Suggestion.] + +This old lady asked me one day if I were not very +"dek"--_ennuie_--living alone in a strange land. She said, + +"Why do you not buy a little Kaffir girl with a white skin, and make +her your wife?" + +I said I was betrothed to an English girl. + +"England!" she said, "that is a far journey from here. Take to yourself +a wife in Afghanistan, and your English wife can remain in England." + +You wicked old lady! I thought. I said, + +"It is not the custom of my country, and is forbidden by our religion." + +She laughed. + +I began to get afraid of this old lady. + +Another day the younger nurse volunteered a remark. She asked me--Were +there in England any women as beautiful as she, with skin as white and +eyes as dark. + +The old ladies remarked that her question was exceedingly ill-bred, and +one likely to cause offence to me. + +The Armenian told her that she, and such as she, were not fit to carry +the shoes of an English lady. I said he was quite right: so she was +snubbed all round. However, she did not seem to mind, for she sat and +smiled to herself. + +Meanwhile, I was continuing my Persian lessons, whenever Munshi Amin +Ullah, the Agent's secretary, could spare an hour to visit me. One day +I persuaded him to read "Bret Harte" aloud to me. It was delicious to +see this highly-educated Mahomedan--he was an excellent fellow--sitting +cross-legged on the ground, solemnly declaiming the "Heathen Chinee." + +As I laughed, I said, "By Jove! it _is_ funny!" + +He said he thought it was very difficult and very incorrect English. +I told him that was just where the joke came in. He smiled politely, +and asked why I said "By Joe!" He had often heard Englishmen use the +expression, and knew that Joe was an abbreviation of Joseph, though why +we should say "By Joe," or who Joe was, he had not heard. I explained +the origin of the expression, and described Jove as the god of the +Romans. + +I asked him if he had considered the Christian Religion. He told +me he had studied the Jewish Bible and the Christian Testament. He +could not understand how a race so intellectual as the English could +accept the--to him--incomprehensible idea of three Gods. I said that +Christians believed in one God only, and I endeavoured to illustrate +the Trinity in Unity by describing the trinity that exists in every +man: of will, intellect, and deed. To do anything one must first have +the wish, or will, from that is begotten the thought how to do it, then +comes the deed. He did not discuss the point. + +He said another thing that puzzled and surprised him considerably was +the custom among the English of selling their wives. I said, + +"But Englishmen do not sell their wives." + +"Yes," he said, "and, moreover, it is published in the newspapers when +they do so." + +"What on earth do you mean?" I asked. + +"I mean this: an English woman becomes wearied of her husband, +and prefers another to him. The man who is preferred is called a +'co-respondent.' Straightway they go before the Kasi--the Magistrate, +and, after much discussion, it is decided at what price the +co-respondent shall buy the woman. The money is then paid to the +husband." + +This gave me a sort of shock. + +"People of my race," he continued, calmly, "do differently. When a +woman prefers another to her husband--they kill her." + +I asked if he were married. He said "No." + +[Sidenote: Plurality of Wives.] + +"Do you," I said, "consider that a plurality of wives is to be desired?" + +"Among people of my race," he replied, "a plurality of wives is lawful; +but that which is lawful is not always expedient." + +"In what way is it inexpedient?" I asked. + +"Firstly, there is the question of expense. Secondly, a plurality of +wives is a source of constant annoyance and anxiety. One wife will live +in peace with her husband; but with two or more, there is no peace: for +ever they are quarrelling." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE FIRST SITTING. + + Morning prayers. Early tea. The weather. Breakfast. The first + sitting for the Amir's portrait: difficulties to contend with. + The Courtier's criticism. The Amir's rebuke. The Deputation. + Conversation with the Amir: the climate of England and Australia: + differences in the time of day: the cause of clouds. Awe of the + Courtiers. The favourite Page-boy's privileges. The newspaper + paragraph: the Amir's comment. Serious incident at a sitting. The + Captain's toothache. Present of a rifle from the Amir. The shooting + expedition and its dangers. Courage of the "Burma policeman." + The eccentric rider. The singing Afghan. The scenery of Mazar. + Salutations in the market place. The meeting with Prince Amin Ullah. + + +A day or two after the vaccination of the Prince, His Highness sent +word that he would be prepared to give me a sitting for his portrait on +the following day. + +Paint-box, canvas, and easel were therefore taken to the Palace at once. + +The next morning I woke up as usual about six, opened the windows of +the inner room and the top sash of one of the outer windows, to let +in the light and air. I could hear Hafiz, the compounder, who was a +Priest, reciting aloud his prayers in the servants' room. It took him, +as a rule, an hour and a half to two hours to say his prayers in the +early morning. During my illness I had had the Armenian sleep on the +floor of my room, and the noise I made in opening the windows woke him. + +"Sir, how do you do?" said he. + +"I open the windows," I said. "That is how I do." + +"Sir, why you not call me? I open windows." + +"Open them, then," I said. + +"Sir!" said he, "my wish is not I get up." + +I went to the door of the servants' room. Hafiz stopped his prayers to +say, "Sir?" I told him to bring me some tea. He boiled the water, and +brought me some tea in a very short time, then went on with his prayers. + +I wanted to continue a letter home, but it was too dark to see till +half-past seven. Outside it was snowing fast: there was a dull and +leaden looking sky, and it was bitterly cold. The weather had been very +changeable. We had had rainy muggy days, hot sunshiny days, snowy days, +and bitterly cold, dull, windy days, one after another. The result +was that people went about sneezing or coughing. At eight I had my +breakfast, hot bread and milk, and then went off to the Prince's house +to see that his arm was progressing satisfactorily. From there I went +on to the Palace. It had ceased snowing, and the clouds had broken. + +[Sidenote: The First Sitting for the Amir's Portrait.] + +His Highness asked, Where should he sit? I found I had considerable +difficulties to face. There was no platform to raise my sitter level +with the eye, nor any way in which I could get a suitable top light +which would cast some shadow under the eyebrows and chin. I had to do +the best I could with the ordinary light from a large window. The most +serious obstacle was the reflection _upwards_ from the snow outside. + +His Highness sat exceedingly well, and the Courtiers and Pages +clustered in a group round, as I made my charcoal sketch of His +Highness on the canvas. It came very well--I can draw a good deal +better than I can paint--and the Courtiers said, "Wah! Wah!" One of the +chief secretaries, however, ventured a criticism on the drawing of the +eyebrow. When he had finished what he had to say, I bowed and offered +him the charcoal to continue the drawing. He seemed rather taken aback, +and said--No, no, he could not draw. The Amir told him not to make a +fool of himself before an Englishman. + +I thought the "drawing in" would be enough for one sitting, and +when I had just finished, a Deputation of citizens from one of the +neighbouring towns arrived; they waited upon His Highness to petition +him concerning a tax that had been imposed. I did not understand all +the details, but His Highness told them to dig for gold on the banks of +the Oxus. There is alluvial gold there: for I afterwards bought several +hundred pounds worth. + +When the Deputation had departed lunch was brought in, and afterwards, +while I was smoking, His Highness asked me much about the climate +of England, and compared it with that of Australia. He spoke of the +difference in the time of day in those two countries at any one given +moment. He also discussed the cause of clouds in the sky, and the +Courtiers listened in awed astonishment. + +I came away about half-past three in the afternoon, and Malek, the +favourite Kaffir Page boy, came out with me. I had a rough whitethorn +walking-stick in my hand, that a friend had cut out of a hedge and +saved for me in England. Malek asked why I carried such a stick, and I +explained. He thought it a poor stick for a gentleman to carry, and +ran in and brought me out one of His Highness's walking-sticks. I said +to the Armenian:-- + +"Is this correct?" + +"Yes," he said, "Malek can do so." + +I haven't the stick now, for someone "annexed" it a few months +afterwards. + +The next day one of the Hospital assistants got into trouble. He gave a +patient too much strychnine: however, he was not punished. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Comment on the Paragraph.] + +During a sitting shortly after this, His Highness told me of a report +he had had from his Agent in Calcutta, concerning a paragraph in a +newspaper there. It stated that I had given an opinion to the effect +that His Highness was suffering from gout in the stomach, and could not +live more than five years. As a matter of fact, I had given no such +opinion. His Highness told me not to allow my mind to be distressed, as +he considered either the report or the paragraph to be false. + +At another sitting an incident occurred which might have given rise +to a serious mishap. It occurred in this way: I was working at the +watch chain, but presently His Highness moved and the chain became +disarranged. Without thinking where I was--for I was absorbed in +the painting--and acting as if he were an English gentleman and not +an Oriental Prince whose life had already been attempted, I walked +suddenly up to the Amir to re-arrange the chain. There was a dead +silence, though I hardly noticed it at the time, but I saw that the +Amir looked very hard at me. Then with a bow I went back to my work. +Nothing was said. + +When we reached home the Armenian told me that he and every one else in +the Court were exceedingly startled by my walking suddenly up to His +Highness. He was just as likely to have shot me as not. It was contrary +to etiquette to approach near uninvited; and the suddenness was so very +suggestive of evil designs. However, His Highness was not seriously +annoyed. He saw at once that I meant no evil, nor any disrespect. + +When I went to the Prince's one morning, I was informed that the +Sultana wished me to paint her little son's portrait. He was not to be +painted as a baby four or five months old, but sitting upright with a +tunic and busby on, like his father, the Amir. The tunic and busby were +then being made. This seemed likely to be a difficult task. + +I was accompanied back to my house by the Captain of the Prince's +guard, who had had a very severe toothache for some days, and he came +to have the tooth out. He was a very large Afghan, much taller than I, +but he was very nervous about the operation. I sat him in the chair, +selected my forceps, put my arm firmly round his neck and pushed the +forceps well home. + +He screamed, slid down in the chair, and kicked violently. It was no +use, however: I had him firmly, and the tooth too. He thanked me very +profusely when the operation was over. + +[Sidenote: The Shooting Expedition and its Dangers.] + +At the next sitting, His Highness asked if I were fond of shooting. +The Armenian at once answered, that it was the one particular delight +of my soul. His Highness said he would send a rifle to my house, so +that I might ride out on the plains and have some antelope shooting. +Accordingly, the next afternoon, when the rifle arrived, the Armenian +and I, accompanied by a servant, started on our expedition. We rode +through the city, my horse going beautifully, as quiet as a trotting +camel, till we reached the plain. Then, suddenly, he gave a scream, +sprang up in the air, flung out his heels, and----but he did not have +me off. No! I was not just convalescent from fever then, and he went +quietly again. But I was on the watch, for I knew his ways. Four times +he tried that buck. I am not a bold rider, I much prefer a quiet horse: +but, it was the best I had. + +I thought I would try the rifle, and I dismounted and put in a +cartridge. The gun was a Martini-Henry pattern, made in Mazar, and I +felt myself rather a dare-devil sort of fellow in venturing to fire +it off. I aimed at a crow and pulled the trigger: there was a violent +explosion. I did not hit the crow, but the gun kicked very much and +cut my lip and made my eyes water. I determined that this should not +occur again, so, therefore, I held the rifle very tight, shut my eyes, +drew my head away, and fired. But I did not hit the mark. I asked the +Armenian if he were sure that the gun was sighted right. He said he did +not know. + +I said, "You had better try it." + +He said he had a pain in his arm: so we rode on a little further. + +By-and-bye, the Syce (the Burma policeman) summoned up courage and said +he thought he could shoot. + +I said, "Very good. There's a crow over there: you may shoot it." + +He was a long time getting ready, for he felt it was a dangerous thing +to do, and he turned very white. Then he fired, but he did not hit. +Evidently, the gun was faulty. + +Then we thought we would come home. On the way back, we saw a man on a +young horse. He kept jumping him about the road, first one side then +the other. The Armenian turned on him in anger and told him he was a +woman. + +The young man seemed indignantly surprised, and stoutly affirmed that +he was _not_ a woman. + +The Armenian rode up to him, caught him by the coat and shouted, "You +_are_ a woman." + +He shouted back, "I am _not_ a woman." + +They looked very fierce, and I thought they were coming to blows. But +the young man snatched his coat away and went off at a gallop. The +Armenian followed him a little way, then came back looking satisfied. + +My horse went back very quietly, but I felt sure his feelings were hurt +at not being able to run away when he wanted to. He did not often want +to run: he much preferred walking, as a rule. + +That evening, the Armenian went out to dinner to the Page boy's, next +door, and a creature came in the evening to sing in the servants' +room. How I loathed him! He had a frightful voice. I told them to shut +all the windows, but it was no use; I could hear him. He delighted in +prolonging an upper note on the vowel e-e-e-e. Imagine it! He indulged +copiously in the trill, which he produced by shaking his head. Then he +took a run down the scale, slurring one note into the other. When I +first came to Mazar, he wanted to sing to me frequently; but I thanked +him and said that, not being fond of music, I would pay him a trifling +sum _not_ to sing to me. Then he wanted to play to me on the "Rhubarb." +Why the instrument--it is a sort of mandolin--should have the same name +as that particularly nasty vegetable, I don't know. It has a harsh and +penetrating sound and I begged to be excused. + +Among the natives, however, the "Rubab" is a very popular instrument: +it is played with the plectrum, a piece of ivory held between the +finger and thumb. There is another instrument resembling the Rubab, +which is played with a bow. A third, the "Seithar," resembles a banjo +with a four-foot arm; it has three strings and is played with the +fingers. The "Tom-toms" or drums are the same as in India. + +Every military camp is provided with a bronze gong on which the hours +are struck day and night, the time being taken from the noonday gun, +which is regulated by the Amir's repeater. In Turkestan I was for a +long time charmed by the sound of the gongs: it resembled so exactly +the distant church bells of England. + +[Sidenote: The Scenery of Mazar.] + +As a residential spot Mazar had its drawbacks. The utter absence of the +picturesque; the bare monotonous plain with scorching poisonous summer +and icy winter; the hopeless colony of those unhappy outcasts the +lepers; these surroundings, in spite of the novelty of the situation, +had of necessity a depressing effect on the health. There were, +however, certain counteracting elements, for besides the homelikeness +of the distant bells, there was the goodwill shown by the townsfolk. +These were mild and inoffensive people who exhibited considerable +kindliness and courtesy. Riding home one day from the Hospital I +perceived a small boy "who put his thumb unto his nose and spread his +fingers out." In astonishment I pulled up to look at him. He at once +added his other hand, thumb to finger. + +"Behold this youth!" I said to the Armenian severely, "he reviles the +stranger that is within his father's gates." + +"No, Sir," said the Armenian, "he give it you very great salaam." + +"My son, it behoves not the King's Interpreter to deceive with specious +words." + +"Sir, truly I speak: this is Mazari salaam." + +I perceived then that the boy's thumb was at the root of the nose +between the eyebrows, and that the hands were horizontal. As we +rode on I noted with considerable interest other salutations in the +market-place. The Mazari peasants salaamed as did the boy. By others, +we were greeted by the dignified bow and the "salaam aleicoum" of the +Afghan. We returned the bow, allowing a polite smile to irradiate our +countenance and answered "W'aleicoum salaam." + +[Sidenote: Prince Amin Ullah.] + +Ere reaching our own house we perceived Prince Amin Ullah, aged +three, accompanied by his tutor. Stopping his palanquin the Prince +responded to our bow by touching, in the military fashion, his +astrakhan hat. After politely enquiring each other's health--we made no +reference to the state of the weather, as is the custom in Occidental +cities--we courteously took leave of one another, saluting in the +same manner as when we met. The young Prince has the privilege of +possessing considerable personal beauty, and, added to that, he is +very precocious--added to that he shows--he exhibits, a discernment +and wisdom far beyond his years. Many are the wise sayings attributed +to this Royal Child (I have forgotten what they were, but they told +me he was very clever) so that he is indeed a true son of his august +Papa--Sire (I should say). + +Then we rode in at the porch of our house, and dismounting from our +wearied but sprightly steed, we ascended the steps and sought the +privacy of our own apartments. I think that winds it up all right. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE AMIR AS AN ART CRITIC. + + The "villain" cook. Mental effect of a cold in the head. Portrait + of the infant Prince: a way out of the difficulty. The Amir's + reflection in the window. The Page boy and the Portrait. The Amir + as an Art Critic. The tea tray. Salaams to the King's Portrait. The + Amir's toilet. The start on a shooting expedition. Page boys as + riders. The mud of Mazar. A make-shift candlestick: the Armenian's + comments. The sample case of cigars. The Amir's handwriting. A + sunset. + + +The next day I had an awful cold in my head, so that after I had seen +my patients and had visited the Prince I stayed in. I made a sketch +of the Armenian, in which he looked precisely like a Salvation Army +captain. I don't know why, for he certainly had not that look himself. +Then the Armenian went for a ride. He asked if I wished to go, but I +said no. I did not feel up to encountering the eccentricities of my +steed. + +I had taken back into service the cook whom I had discharged for +swindling, and presently he came in. He brought lunch, and I thought I +might as well eat it as not: it was something to do. I hoped he would +not speak to me, for I knew if he did I should pour all the fragments +of languages I had learnt on his head, and then he would say, "Bot +achcha, Sahib"--"very good, sir." Then I should have sprung up and +withered him with a look. + +He was wise, and did not speak; but he irritated me with his nervous +servility. One would think that I was violent--I am not. I never kicked +him, nor threatened to shoot him, or anything. Moreover, I even went so +far as to tell the Armenian to explain to him, for he could not speak +English, that I should _not_ tear him into small pieces and grind his +bones to powder, unless he tried to cheat me again. He pretended to +smile, but I do not think he believed me. + +The roast fowl was tough: but, no, I did not tell him. What was the +good? There is no satisfaction in saying: "In murgh bisyar sakht ast." +But if I had flung down my knife and fork with much noise on to my +plate, turned round on him suddenly--how he would have jumped--and +said, "Behold! Oh thing, born in iniquity; this fowl is as tough as +leather." There would have been something satisfying in that; but I did +not. He would not have understood, and would have said, "Bot achcha, +Sahib." So I breathed a sigh through my clenched teeth, and ate a +macaroon. + +[Sidenote: Effect of a Cold in the Head.] + +I thought I would have a cigarette after tiffin, and I reached to the +fireplace for a piece of charcoal: of course, I picked it up by the hot +end, that is just what anyone would do when he had a cold. + +Then the Armenian came back from his ride, and, because it was an +impossibility for me to get any more revolver cartridges, he had been +firing off my revolver. But that was not all; he must needs add insult +to injury. + +"This revolver is not good," he said. + +I asked, with deadly calm, "Perhaps you would be kind enough to explain +_why_ this revolver is not good?" + +"It does not make noise enough," he said. + +"If you expect a revolver to make as much noise as a home-made rifle +that nearly kicks its owner off into space, all I can say is, your +expectation exceeds your intellect." + +But I don't think he followed me in this line of delicate sarcasm, +because he merely said, "I shot at a crow." + +"_Did_ you?" I said; "I hope you apologised." + +Then that cook brought some wood for the fire; but he crept cautiously +to look through the doorway and see if I was quiet before he ventured +in. I saw him, the villain. I am not a wild beast. Am I a wild beast? + +He came in again, and he tried English this time. "Sahib, I want tea?" +he said, in a trembling voice. The maniac wished to inquire whether _I_ +wanted tea. I thought, "Shall I?--shall I chill his marrow, and make +his flesh creep?" but I didn't. I merely said "Yes." + +My cold disappeared after a day or two, and I made several sketches of +the infant Prince in my note-book. When the little tunic and busby were +finished, I borrowed them, and brought them home with me. I buttoned up +the coat and stuffed it with cotton wool, arranging the sleeves with +care, and placed the little fur busby in a suitable position. Then +I set to work to paint them. When I had finished, I painted in the +little man's face from my sketch-book. It was an odd-looking little +painting--a man's costume and a baby's face. + +I took it to the Durbar and showed it to His Highness. He seemed +pleased with it, and declared the eyes were exactly like his own. I +said they were:--in fact, I intended they should be when I was painting +them. I did another portrait of the little Prince some years afterwards +that was much more interesting; I must speak of that later. + +His Highness, the Amir, could not, of course, spare time to give me +a sitting every day, so that often a considerable interval elapsed +between the sittings. However, the portrait gradually progressed +towards completion. + +As a painting, technically speaking, it might have been better: but as +a likeness it was not at all bad. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Reflection in the Window.] + +One day after a sitting, when luncheon was brought, I happened to +notice His Highness moving his head from side to side. I wondered what +he was doing; then he turned to me with a smile, and said he saw his +reflection in the glass of the window, but was surprised to find that +it did not move as he moved. He could not understand it for a moment. +Then he saw the explanation. The portrait was standing on its easel in +the room, and it was the reflection of his effigy, not of himself, that +he saw. I thought this was a very good sign; it seemed to show that, at +any rate, I had caught the attitude and general look of the Amir. + +After lunch His Highness withdrew, and I put the easel and picture at +one end of the room and sat down at the far end with a cigar, to take a +comprehensive look at the thing. It happened to be standing in exactly +the place where the Amir usually sits. Presently there came running in +a little Page boy with a message from the Harem serai. He turned to +the picture at once, and said, "Sahib, Salaam aleicoum." Then he saw +what he had done, for everyone laughed. He seemed very much taken aback +and ran out of the room. + +[Sidenote: The Amir as an Art Critic.] + +His Highness often gave me the benefit of his criticisms, and although +he did not profess to be a painter, his remarks were so redolent +of common sense, that they were well worth listening to. A painter +staring at his picture, day after day as it grows under his hand, may +completely overlook faults that are obvious even to an untrained eye. +Hence, I always listened to the Amir's remarks with interest. He could +tell me when a thing struck him as in some way not true, though he +could not tell me exactly what was wrong, nor in what way to remedy +the defect. These I puzzled out for myself. As an example: he said one +day that the paint had become rubbed, showing the canvas through, and +he pointed to the spot--on the end of the nose. It was not the paint +rubbed off, but I had put a touch of high light on the spot indicated, +and the Amir's remark showed me that my "high light" was too white and +too strong, or it would never have caught his eye. I altered it. + +Another day, looking at the picture, he said it needed something, he +hardly knew what. Suddenly, he sent a Page off to another room and +the boy returned with a Russian tea-tray which had a picture on it--a +gorgeous sunset behind some mountains. + +"Bibin," said the Amir, "See! something like that is needed." + +I was nonplussed for a moment: the tea-tray was too awful for words. +Then I saw what His Highness meant. + +"Sahib! shuma rast megoyed," I said, in admiration. "Sir! you speak +truly. I will remedy the fault." + +In a few minutes I had put in a shadow behind the head, which threw +it up wonderfully. I had not noticed, till the Amir pointed it out, +that the head had rather the look of being cut out and stuck on the +canvas. His Highness saw there was a want of harmony somewhere, and his +tea-tray showed me where. + +It will be understood, therefore, that when the last sitting was +given and the last touch made, I felt a certain amount of--nervous +excitement, while I was waiting for His Highness's dictum. + +The portrait was placed in a good light. His Highness called for a +large mirror, which was placed by the side of it, and he sat for some +time comparing his reflection in the glass with the picture. + +Presently he said that the only fault he could find was that I had, +perhaps, given a little too much colour to the cheeks. He said he had +that colour when he was younger, but that now he was forty-six (this +was in 1890), and his face struck him as being somewhat paler. This did +not take long to remedy, and it was shown him again. + +"Darust! darust!" said he--"Right!" and the only fault now was that +the picture did not speak! He told me that Her Majesty, our Queen, had +sent him a photograph of himself, but that, in his opinion, it was +not good: that such a likeness as the one I had painted had never +before been seen in Afghanistan. This I thought to be quite likely, +and yet not be very great praise. Altogether, he was, without doubt, +pleased with the portrait. As regards my own opinion: the technique or +handling was very amateurish, not that it mattered very much, for no +one knew any more about "technique" than I did. It was like the Amir, +certainly; but I often wondered afterwards how I could have painted a +strong head so weakly. The only explanation I had was that the diffused +light--reflections from white walls and snow--were factors that I ought +to have considered more, and in some way or other guarded against. + +When the portrait was brought to my house to be varnished, there +happened to be a crowd of patients outside, and several people, +soldiers and townsfolk, waiting inside for treatment. The picture was +escorted by a guard of soldiers: the crowds outside murmured "Salaam +aleicoum!" as a lane was made for the procession to enter; those inside +sprang to their feet and salaamed also. + +A message came, ostensibly from the Sultana, that the portrait was to +be conveyed to the Harem for her to see. + +The Armenian, with a boldness that surprised me, refused to allow it +to leave the house unless a written order from "Amir Sahib" could be +produced--none arrived. Possibly, this may have been a test on the part +of the Amir to see what I should do: for he guards his personal dignity +with jealous care. + +[Sidenote: The Start on a Shooting Expedition.] + +When the last sitting was over we had lunch at the Palace, and I was +informed that, afterwards, His Highness intended to go out shooting. +Accordingly, when lunch (or breakfast) was over the Amir's shooting +costume was brought by the Chamberlain and Pages. The Amir's toilet is +generally a more or less public function, and I was not required to +withdraw. The coat was of olive-green cloth, lined and trimmed with +astrakhan, and ornamented like a Hussar's coat with gold embroidery and +shoulder knots. The boots were in the pattern of Russian boots, long +ones of soft leather that can be wrinkled down: they were made in Kabul. + +His Highness's horse was waiting outside, a steady strong-looking nag, +with a padded saddle and a gold-bedecked bridle. Two other led horses +were in readiness, each with cloth of gold thrown over the saddle. +There was a small guard of foot-soldiers and several mounted men. One +carried the Amir's rifle; another a lance and shield--why, I do not +know; another, the chillim or hubble-bubble, the vase of which was in a +leather case slung to the saddle. This was for the use of the suite, as +the Amir rarely, if ever, smokes the chillim, and only occasionally a +cigarette. There were several Page boys mounted: they were good riders, +keeping their seat chiefly by balance. Like most boys, they were rather +reckless, and were ready enough to exhibit their skill for the benefit +of onlookers. + +His Highness came from the Palace. The guard saluted, a stool was +placed, and His Highness mounted; the bystanders murmuring "Kairi +Allah!" just as he reached the saddle. + +It was a pretty sight seeing them all start, for the day was bright and +sunny: it had been pouring with rain all the day before. + +The Armenian and I went for a ride also, but we did not see His +Highness. The mud! In some of the narrow lanes, where the sun shone for +only a few minutes in the day, it was like floundering through a bog, +and you came every now and again to a seemingly bottomless hole--you +did not know there was one till you were in it. Out on the plains it +was all right; the sun had dried the surface hard. + +We took "the rifle" with us, but did not get a shot at anything. I +proposed shooting at a horse that was grazing, just outside the city, +on the scrubby grass that the rain had brought up, but the Armenian +seemed to think there was just an off chance that I might hit it, and +if so I should have to disemburse lucre for same. + +In the evening I was sitting comfortably on the ground in front of the +fire, leaning against an inverted chair. I found I was safer so: my +chairs were portable ones, and sometimes shut up when it was neither +necessary nor desirable. The one reliable one had never recovered after +Hakim Abdur Rashid sat on it. On a box at my elbow I had two nice +tallow candles, one in a brass candlestick and one in a bottle, and +I was peacefully smoking and trying to learn Persian. Quite suddenly +the Armenian pounced on one of my candles, the one in the bottle, and +hurried it out of sight. + +"Hullo!" I said, "what's up?" + +"Sir, nothing up, but somebody coming." + +"You need not take my light if they are." + +"Oh, sir!" he said, reproachfully, "you King's doctor, and people see +you have candle in bottle! Shame come for you!" + +"Where does the shame come in?" I asked. + +"Sir, you not know: men of Afghanistan very fool men, a little they +talk if they see." + +[Sidenote: The Sample Case of Cigars.] + +The arrival turned out to be a messenger from the Palace with a letter +and a parcel from His Highness. The parcel was a sample case of cigars, +and the letter, in the Amir's handwriting, directed me to smoke and +choose: I was to let His Highness know which were the best, and he +would order a supply of them. + +The Amir's writing is peculiar. He uses a steel pen, not the native +reed pen: like many other illustrious men, he cannot be considered a +good penman. + +The next day was dull and rainy, but we had a glorious sunset. The +sky, in its depth, was a perfect blue, which grew fainter and faded to +primrose as it neared the mountains half hid in the piled up clouds. +The summits, huge and rugged, had torn through the layers of cloud +and shone red in the sun: their bold and rigid outlines, casting deep +purple shadows, were cut off from the calm of the sky by the heavy +clouds piled up behind them. These great masses, though seemingly +almost as solid as rock, had softer outlines than the rugged peaks, and +they showed great billowy waves of red light and deep shadow. Below +the peaks the clouds hung in drawn-out layers, the lights and shadows +becoming lost in grey and brown: lower, all was lost in a depth of +deep purple blue, which mingled with the rich green brown of the +darkened and foreshortened treeless plain. Sharp against all this depth +of purple and green were the leafless branches and myriad branchlets of +the trees of Mazar, red gold in the sun. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE LEVEE ON NEW YEAR'S DAY. + + The Mahomedan New Year's Eve. Presents. The "Izzat" medal. Coinage + of Afghanistan: Rupees: Pice: the "Tilla." Levee on New Year's + Day. The guests: Maleks and Governors: The British Agent. Presents + to the Amir. The Levee as a picture. Lunch. Chess as played in + Afghanistan. The great rider among men: his fall. The Amir as a + Pathologist. The steam-engine pony: his paces: his wickedness. + Sight-seeing with the Princes. The Temple of Mazar. The booths at + the entrance to the Temple. The Park of Mazar. Native music. The + Afghan dance. The wrestling contests: Turkoman _v._ Mazari. Kabuli + wrestling. + + +March 21st is the Mahomedan New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve one of +the Chief Secretaries was announced. He entered, accompanied by some +servants carrying two trays with cloths over them. After the usual +salutations the Secretary gave me a letter. It was from His Highness +requesting my acceptance of the accompanying presents. + +[Sidenote: The "Izzat" Medal.] + +The cloths were lifted and I found that His Highness had conferred +upon me the gold Afghan Medal of Honour and had presented me with five +thousand rupees. + +The medal was for the work I had done among the sick during the past +year, and the rupees for the portrait. + +From the Sultana was a gold English lever hunting watch and chain, and +six or seven yards of stuff, the prevailing tint of which was Indian +red, but which was so woven with gold threads that it seemed red gold. +I heard that the medal was unique: it was the only one of the kind that +had been struck. + +I do not think I have said anything about the coinage of Afghanistan. +The ordinary medium of exchange is the rupee. It is a smaller coin +than the kaldar, or Indian rupee, being about the size of a shilling. +Nominally, it is worth twelve annas, though there is no such coin as an +anna in circulation. A half rupee is called a kran. The copper coins +in circulation are called pice. Five pice go to the anna. There are +sixty or more pice in a rupee, according to the exchange, which can +always be found out by reference to the money-changers in the bazaars. +Formerly the coins were struck by hand. Quite recently His Highness +has established a minting machine in Kabul. I think the new rupee is +scarcely as artistic as the old: it is Europeanized, and it is said to +be worth an anna less. Pice, too, are now being made in the minting +machine. The Amir is introducing the new rupee into circulation by +paying the soldiers of his army with that coin. + +There is no gold Afghan coin in circulation, though the Bokhara +"Tilla," worth about twelve shillings, is current. Many of the richer +Afghans hoard their wealth, and for this purpose they buy Bokhara +Tillas, or bar gold, from the alluvial deposits of the Oxus. + +[Sidenote: The Levee on New Year's Day.] + +On New Year's day, "Nau Roz," the Amir held a Levee in the Palace +Gardens. I went about ten o'clock. + +His Highness wore a white uniform, and over his shoulders was thrown +a dark green cloak, slightly embroidered with gold. He wore the otter +skin busby and diamond star that I painted in the portrait. He looked +very handsome. + +Every one was as gorgeous as he could make himself; some looked +uncommonly well; a few ridiculous. + +There was a great awning of crimson and white, supported on eleven +masts. Under it were seated, in rows--or rather kneeling, for they were +in the presence of the King--the Maliks and Governors of neighbouring +villages and towns, who had come to salaam His Highness. These were +almost all dressed in native costumes, with turbans. + +The Guard, who had new uniforms, were in line, and the people of the +Court were grouped about near His Highness, who was seated in an +arm-chair. + +I had a chair to the right of His Highness the Amir, and somewhat +behind him. The rest stood or sat on the ground. The Armenian stood +behind my chair. The day was cold and the sky grey. I was dressed +in European costume with an overcoat, on the left breast of which +the Armenian had with great pride fixed the medal. He wanted me to +wear the watch and chain outside as well. As there was no sun I wore +an astrakhan hat of the Royal shape which had been presented to me. +Bands with European and native instruments played alternately. Tea was +brought to everyone by the servants, and I had a cigar. Then came cakes +and sweets. A special tray was brought to His Highness, and he was kind +enough to send me some from it, otherwise after my first bow and his +enquiry after my health, I did not occupy much of his attention. + +Col. Attaullah Khan, the British Agent, who is a very tall fine man, a +Punjabi, came escorted by his guard, and attended by his native Doctor +and his Secretary, the highly educated Munshi Amin Ullah. + +He made his salaam, and was invited to sit on the Amir's left, on the +ground. The Secretary and Doctor were seated away under the awning. + +Then presents were brought and laid at His Highness's feet. He seemed +just to glance at them, and they were taken away. There were all kinds +of things, the cost depending upon the wealth of the giver: silk +handkerchiefs, brass work, lamps, vases, fruit, crockery; but what +interested me most were the products of the Government workshops in +Mazar--rifles, swords, saddles, boots, sun helmets, and two tables of +carved wood uncommonly well made, and looking as though they came from +Europe. + +As a picture, the whole scene was brilliant with colour; and the grey +sky, with the delicate pink and white of the blossoms covering the +trees and the faint green of the just budding leaves, made a very sweet +and harmonious background. + +Presently the Amir's portrait was brought out and exhibited. Afterwards +breakfast (or lunch) was brought. His Highness's table was placed in +front of him, and a little one was brought for me. The rest had theirs +on the ground, as usual. The chief cook waited upon me. After breakfast +a copper ewer and basin (aftabah and chillimchi) were taken to the +chief guests, and they washed their hands. + +For the others long narrow damp towels, each reaching from end to end +of a row of guests, were passed along, so that a dozen or more could +wipe their hands at the same moment. + +After another cigar I rose, made my bow, and retired, much to the +Armenian's disgust. I think I was the first to go. Many people asked +to look at my medal, and the Commander-in-Chief, who was some little +distance from me, gave a congratulatory smile and bow as he touched his +breast. + +I got home about half-past two; some sick people were brought, and +after a cup of tea I set to work again. + +[Sidenote: The Game of Chess.] + +In the evening I played chess. I had been playing with different +people, and had always been beaten. I determined, therefore, to play +the Armenian. He knew the moves, and we sat down to a game. We played +rapidly, and he grew very excited. He muttered in Pushtu, or shouted +in a mixture of Hindustani, Persian, and English. He swooped with his +Wazir or Queen, and cried "Kisht! check!" I took his Queen with a Pawn, +at which he was indignant: he said it was not fair, and he wanted his +Queen back. I began to doubt if he would ever make, so to speak, a good +player; he was too impulsive: he swooped and slaughtered right and +left. We had one game where in the end we had nothing left but a King +and a Pawn each: then he took my Pawn. I told him the game was drawn, +because I saw he would get across and have a Castle before I could stop +him; but he said--No, he had won. I appealed to the onlookers, and they +said politely, "Undoubtedly the game is drawn." However, I consented to +a compromise, and allowed it to be drawn in his favour. + +Chess as played in Afghanistan is slightly different from chess as +played in England. + +In the first move, the Pawn goes only one square. The Queen is called +the "Wazir," or Prime Minister, and stands on the King's _right_. The +Bishop is called the "Fil," or Elephant. The Knight is called "Asp," +or Horse, or sometimes the "Sowar," that is "Rider," or Knight. The +Castle is called the "Rookh," and is supposed to be a Redoubt or Fort. +Sometimes it is called the "Top," or Cannon. There is some slight +difference in the castling, though I forget exactly what, otherwise, +the pieces have the same moves as in England. + +My "fool-horse"--the fighter, with tooth and nail (that is to say, +hoof)--developed "cracked heels." This was unfortunate, for I knew +nothing about horse doctoring, and he got into the habit of stumbling +and coming down on his nose. Twice did I remain on under these +circumstances, and proudly I said to the Armenian, + +"Behold, now! I am as a great rider among men." + +"Yes, sir?" said the Armenian, "I think it you fall off." + +But, alas! Pride cometh, then cometh the fall. Then next time he came +down I went over his head. There was a sentence I had to learn in my +Persian lesson that day that seemed appropriate, it was:--"Ba zamin +uftad, Ustoghonash rez rez shud," which means, "He fell to the earth +and his bones were broken to pieces." Not that mine were, but they +might have been. I seemed, as it were, to have lost confidence in my +horse, and I said to the Armenian, "This must not occur again; see to +it." + +"Sir! what _I_ do?" he asked. + +"Sell him, or shoot him." + +But he said No; he would report the matter to Amir Sahib at the next +Durbar. + +[Sidenote: The Amir as a Pathologist.] + +Tuesday arrived and we went to the Durbar. After I had saluted +His Highness, and was seated, a case of epilepsy was brought. His +Highness described to me the symptoms the man was exhibiting, told +me the Persian name of the disease, and gave his own views as to +the pathology. He told me the old books said, that a man in this +condition was possessed by the Devil, "Shaitan;" but, that this was, +of course, absurd. He went on to say that he considered the disease +was due to an organism--probably, animal--having found its way into +the ventricles of the brain: the irritation caused by its presence +culminating in a nervous explosion; the outward signs of which were a +convulsive seizure, a thrusting forward of the tongue, spasm of the +jaws, a foaming at the mouth, and insensibility. He said, he wished to +administer a native medicine, but, at the same time, I was to give such +European drugs as I thought suitable for the case. + +I asked, then, if some wooden stethoscopes might be made for the +Hindustani assistants, as neither of them possessed one. I had been +giving them some instructions, and had been holding classes in the +evening for the compounders. I found there was not a great deal I could +teach the Priest compounder "Hafiz." He was very well up in his work, +and was an intelligent man, the only one I could really rely on in an +operation. + +Then the Armenian considered that the time had come to speak about the +horse, and he waxed eloquent. + +His Highness said, "Why ride a horse so dangerous; I have many horses." + +He told me he had a black horse, a remarkable animal, whose speed +was like that of a steam-engine. This he would send for. It had been +coveted by many of the Courtiers: one wanted it for his son, another +for himself; but His Highness would not give it to anyone. I had never +seen it. The horse was sent for. I pictured a lovely creature, like +an Arab, with a small head, slender limbs, and broad chest. Judge of +my surprise when I beheld a black shaggy pony, all mane and tail. I +thought within myself: "They are playing it low down upon the stranger +within their gates." + +But, at a sign from the Amir, the head-groom mounted and off the pony +started. He did not gallop, canter, trot, nor walk: he simply "skated" +over the ground at terrific speed. They said he could keep the pace up +for thirty miles without stopping, and could travel from Mazar to Kabul +in four days! + +Hence, if one found it necessary to move from one place to another +hurriedly, this horse seemed likely to be invaluable. + +His Highness said that as this horse was not beautiful I was to choose +two other horses, handsome and swift. The pony I was to keep at my +house, and the other two should be kept in his own stable, and when I +needed them I was to send for them. + +That black pony was uncanny. An evil spirit--several evil +spirits--possessed him. The first thing he did, when we got him home, +was to deliberately untie his halter, walk off to the "fool horse," +though he was only about half his size, and fight him. He went so +quietly and seemed so gentle--just at first: but he was a fiend. They +fought furiously, striking, kicking, and tearing at each other with +their teeth. If we had not succeeded in separating them the "fool +horse" would have been killed. + +[Sidenote: The "Steam-engine" Pony.] + +Shortly after that, and without any hurry, he slipped his head out of +his headstall and walked off to a horse belonging to the Armenian, a +young one he had lately bought to trade with in Kabul. The young one +was frightened, and the "Steam-engine," seeing it was an adversary not +worthy of his steel--or teeth--merely nipped him in the neck and walked +back again. + +The next day I rode him to the Hospital. The Armenian was riding a +grey--a cross between an Arab and a Kataghani, a swift animal--and +one of the compounders was on the "fool horse," who stumbled. When +we got through the bazaars I gave the pony his head, and off he +skated. I leant back and occupied myself in hanging on. He kept the +grey at a gallop all the way to the Hospital: about a quarter of an +hour afterwards the compounder arrived on the "fool horse." I saw my +patients, cut off a man's thumb at the wrist, then we skated back again. + +One afternoon, it was in April, as I was coming back from seeing a +patient, I met the two little Princes, Hafiz Ullah and Amin Ullah, +who were aged respectively about nine and three. They were in their +palanquins, and there was a guard of about thirty soldiers. As the sun +was hot, a large umbrella was held over each Prince. + +I pulled up my horse and saluted, and the elder of the two Princes +asked if I would not accompany them. The Armenian and I, therefore, +turned our horses and rode with them. I wondered where we were going. + +We marched through the streets and bazaars, the guard flourishing their +almond sticks to clear people out of the way, till we reached the gates +leading into the grounds around the Temple or Mosque of Mazar. + +Here the Armenian and I dismounted, and I walked by the side of the +elder Prince's palanquin: the Armenian came behind. The Prince's +Kaffir Page boys were there, his tutor, and other young men, officers +of his household. I had never been so near the Mosque before. They +say it is about two hundred years old. It is truly Oriental in style, +with cupola, pierced stone (lattice work) windows, and minarets. The +blue-stone--or porcelain--bricks of which it is built are of different +tints, the contrasting tints being arranged in patterns. In the +immediate grounds, or square, of the Temple, were a number of shops, or +booths, where they sold handkerchiefs, porcelain articles, and strings +of beads, or rosaries. In the front of each shop was an awning of rush +matting, supported on two poles. The sun shone brilliantly, and in the +distance the mountains glimmered shadowy blue in the heated air. The +crowds of people, and the shopkeepers, salaamed as the Princes went by. +We marched through and on into the Park of Mazar--the Chahar Bagh. The +park is about a mile in width each way. We went along the paths under +the trees till we reached a large open space, where I found there +was to be a wrestling contest. At one end of the space was a mound or +platform, about six feet above the level. On it were spread carpets; +and supported on poles was a brilliantly-coloured awning to keep off +the glare of the sun. + +[Sidenote: The Spectators at the Wrestling-match.] + +There were two chairs for the Princes and a chair was given to me. The +guard was arranged round, the Page boys stood in a line behind us, and +the others, including the Armenian and the tutor, were seated on the +ground. + +The tutor was a smart young fellow, very polished in manner, who used +to cheat at cards in the most amusing and barefaced way. I had met +him before. Around the open space were crowds of spectators, all in +national costume: most of them with white turbans, long loose coats +of various colours, and white, baggy pyjamas, tight at the ankle. The +front ranks were seated, cross-legged, on the ground; behind them were +rows standing. The ground sloped upwards for about three feet, so +that all could see. Forming a background were the trees, all covered +with green, for the summer comes rapidly in Turkestan; the roses were +blooming in April. + +First, the band played. The musicians stood in the centre, their +musical instruments being drums and pipes, or flageolets. The latter +were large, black instruments, bound with brass, and with a tone not +unlike that of the bagpipes. + +They played an Afghan tune, most quaint to my ear, and the drums beat +rhythmically, but with a rhythm quite different from anything I had +heard in Europe. + +Then there came forward about thirty Afghan soldiers, belonging to an +artillery regiment. They were to dance an Afghan dance. Their dress +was the usual costume of the Pathan soldier--the conical cap and small +turban, white vest hanging loose over the white pyjamas, and a short +jacket. The Princes, by the way, both wore military uniforms and belts, +with gem-bedecked buckles, and astrakhan hats of the Royal shape. The +tutor wore a plain grey tunic and an astrakhan hat of a different +shape. I sported a turban, for I was afraid of the sun, and the turban +is an excellent protection to the head. The Kaffir Pages had grey +tunics and trousers and soft grey felt hats. The Princes and their +suite therefore were European in dress. + +The thirty soldiers formed a ring round the musicians; the drums beat +a sort of slow march, and the dancers walked slowly round singing a +chant in falsetto--one-half sang a verse, the other half answered. +Presently the pipes began their shrill wailing, and the dancers moved +faster, with a step something like a mazurka. Quicker and quicker grew +the music, and quicker and quicker the dance: turbans and shoes were +tossed off without a pause. The circle widened and lessened at regular +intervals, and arms were waved and hands clapped simultaneously. The +dancers became excited, uttering at intervals a sharp cry. Still +continuing the mazurka step, every dancer at each momentary pause in +the music whirled round on his toes to the right, then to the left. +Some were, of course, more graceful than others. One in particular, I +noticed--a huge man with a short black beard, and long wavy black hair +parted on one side; he was a most enthusiastic and graceful dancer. It +was a curiously stirring sight. One could imagine fiery Afghans worked +up to a pitch of excitement almost approaching frenzy. In time the +dancers became exhausted, and dropped off one by one. + +[Sidenote: Wrestling: Turkoman v. Mazari.] + +Then came a dance by about a dozen boys, aged about thirteen or +fourteen; they wore their hair long, and were dressed as girls. I was +not interested. Their dancing was not to be compared with, though it +somewhat resembled, that of the European ballet. + +When the dances were over, tea was brought to us under the awning, and +then the wrestling commenced. This was excellent. + +First came Turkoman soldiers matched against Mazaris. They were +barefooted, and wore the small skull cap of the Turkoman, short cotton +breeches, and long loose coat unfastened. + +A pair advanced and took their stand a few paces apart, near the +Prince's platform. They watched each other a moment, then warily sidled +round. Suddenly one rushed forward and they closed, each seizing the +other by the collar and elbow. Rarely could a wrestler manage to get +both his arms under those of his opponent: when he did, the bout was +over in a moment. By collar and elbow each tried to twist the other off +his feet or trip him. It was necessary to throw the opponent, so that +he should be flat on his back on the ground. Often there was a long +writhing struggle when they both were down, till one could disengage. +Some of the bouts grew very exciting, but the Turkomans invariably +came off winners, they were so immensely strong, with such Herculean +muscles. The Mazaris showed plenty of pluck and endurance, but they +were no match for the Turkomans. Finally, seeing that the Mazaris were +out-matched, the elder Prince pitted the Turkomans one against the +other. The men were not very keen upon wrestling their comrades. + +There happened to be two Turkomans of enormous size; the biggest men +I ever saw. It would have been folly for anyone there to stand up to +either of them, and the Prince, after some persuasion, induced them to +have a bout together. + +They stood up--great giants--and walking deliberately up to one another +they grappled. There was no sudden movement. It was a sheer trial of +strength. At the end of the first round neither had any advantage. +After that they got warmed to their work, and each grew a little +jealous of the other. They commenced now in good earnest, and what +had gone before was play to what came after. The knotted muscles, the +clenched jaw, and the distended veins showed the enormous strain of +the mighty heaves. At last, with a supreme effort, one threw the other +backwards, and, like the fall of two great oaks, the giants came to the +ground together. + +[Sidenote: Kabuli Wrestling.] + +Then came the Kabulis, who wrestled stripped except for a cincture +round the waist. Theirs was a more complicated style than that of the +Turkomans: they seemed in excellent training. + +One Kabuli, a well-built fellow, threw man after man who came forward, +though each was a practised wrestler. He had wonderful powers of +endurance. The last man but one who came against him was a strong young +fellow. He heaved the champion off the ground, carried him a step or +two and tried to fling him down. He might as well have tried to fling +a tiger down. How it came about I could not tell, they were so locked +and writhing, but in a second or two the champion was on his feet and +the young man down. These men belonged to the artillery regiment that +had danced. + +During the wrestling, when the spectators became excited, and a popular +champion was in the ring, they shouted for success or groaned for +failure nearly as much as Englishmen would have done. + +Then came the distribution of prizes. To the successful wrestlers the +Prince gave Turkoman coats of brilliant colours--such as the Oriental +loves. + +While the sports were going on the Commander-in-Chief and some Officers +arrived. They saluted the Princes and bowed to me; but they would not +sit on the ground while I had a chair. In the presence of the Amir +they had, at first, been greatly offended at sitting lower than I, and +had made some remark on the subject after I had left: they received, +however, such a severe reprimand from His Highness that they never +repeated it. + +When the sun began to set the air became cool, and the Princes rose +and took their departure. I accompanied their Highnesses, leaving the +Commander-in-Chief and the Officers in the Park. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE YOUNG PRINCES. + + Infant Prince as the Sultana's Deputy. Reception by the Prince: + the pavilion: the procession: the guard: costume: presents. Visit + to Prince Hafiz Ullah: his house: conversation: presents. The + wrestling again. Her Majesty's photograph. Lunch with the Prince in + the Palace Gardens. The "Royal manner." The third day's wrestling. + The mother of Prince Hafiz Ullah. A drawing of the Prince. + Adventure with the fat General: his officiousness: the after effect + on certain patients: his bullying: the after effect on himself. + The power of the Amir's name. The Amir as a Consulting Surgeon. + The Fast of Ramazan: effect of the Fast. Overdose of tobacco: + wailing. The Evening Durbar: His Highness's remarks: danger if a + King fasts: "Marazan." The Durbar as a picture. The "Pig" incident + and the explanation. The surgical operation: attempted vendetta: + the result: the old lady's sympathy. Flowers in the Palace. The + Usbak's artistic design: the Amir's criticism. The Amir's diary. + The present of sugar. Official notice of return march to Kabul. The + "Cracker." End of Ramazan. Preparations for the Exodus. The guard + of Amazons. + + +On the following day, after I had finished my work, I heard that the +infant Prince, Mahomed Omer, was leaving the Harem Serai, where he had +been living since his recovery from the vaccination, to take possession +of a house that had been freshly prepared for him. I sent to enquire +if he would receive me that afternoon. This may seem a great deal +of ceremony when a baby is the principal personage, but as a matter +of fact it was really paying a ceremonial visit to the Sultana. She +being a Mussulman, of course did not give audience to anyone: her +son received for her. At the time of which I write the baby Prince +certainly took precedence of his brothers, the Princes Hafiz Ullah and +Amin Ullah, who were in Turkestan; but whether he now takes precedence +of his two eldest brothers, Habibullah and Nasrullah, I cannot say. + +[Sidenote: Reception by the Infant Prince.] + +I was informed that the Prince would receive me. I started accompanied +by the Armenian. The house was near the Harem Serai. + +We were first shown into an outer garden, containing a house +in which lived my small friend Mahomed Omer, son of the Deputy +Commander-in-Chief in Kabul. Mahomed Omer was the infant Prince's +"Commander-in-Chief." He was dressed in scarlet and gold, and +marshalling the Kaffir Page boys in military order, he fancied himself +quite a soldier. From this garden a screened doorway led into an inner +and larger garden, the Prince's. In this were two adjoining pavilions, +or summer-houses, one larger and the other smaller. They were open +and airy, without doors or window sashes, and were carpeted, and +hung with crimson and white. The larger pavilion had about a dozen +chairs arranged against the wall: there was no other furniture. It was +apparently a waiting-room, or perhaps a reception-room for visitors of +lower rank. As no one had arrived I sat there with the Armenian. + +Presently we heard a trumpet, and a few minutes after the hoarse voice +of an officer as he shouted some word of command. + +The Armenian said, + +"Shahzada, Sahib, meaiyad." "The Prince is coming." + +First entered the Kaffir Pages, marshalled by Mahomed Omer, then came +the Prince, carried in the arms of the old Hakim Abdul Wahid--the only +Hakim in the country, so the Amir used to say, who was really learned. +Then came three of the nurses: the young one I have spoken of and +two older ones. These were brought from the Harem Serai in a covered +palanquin: after them two or three officials in uniform, whose faces +I recognized, though in what capacity they served I did not know; and +lastly, the guard of a hundred soldiers. + +I came outside the larger pavilion to receive the Prince, and followed +him into the smaller one. In this was a couch covered with silk and +supported on silvered legs, modelled in the shape of conventional or +heraldic birds. There was a child's high chair of carved oak with a +tapestry seat in the room, and a small table with ornaments on it in +the corner. + +The Prince was placed in the chair, and he sat upright like a little +man nine months old. He wore a tunic of gold-embroidered silk, white +pyjamas and astrakhan hat, of the royal shape. In his hand he had a +gold rattle. + +A chair was placed for me, and the others stood or sat on the ground. +After the usual courteous enquiries and some conversation, in which, +of course, Hakim Abdul Wahid was the Prince's deputy, a large tray +of sweetmeats with loaves of sugar was placed at my feet. I do not +quite know the significance of this custom: I know it is symbolical, +and I think to symbolize the wish of the host that his guest's future +existence, in this world and the next, may be filled with sweet +emotions. By and bye, little Prince Amin Ullah arrived, accompanied +by his tutor, but with very little State, compared with that of his +brother. + +[Sidenote: Visit to Prince Hafiz Ullah.] + +After the inevitable tea, I took leave of their Highnesses and +departed. On the way home, I saw the tutor of Prince Hafiz Ullah at the +window of his Prince's house. He smiled and beckoned me to come in. +There was a sentry at the door, and the Armenian and I went in. The +house was not so good as that of the Baby Prince, nor was it as good as +mine. + +Prince Hafiz Ullah was seated on the ground on a leopard skin, and as +there were no chairs I also sat on the ground on a sort of mattress. +The Armenian went off to my house, which was quite near, for some +cigarettes, and I stayed with the Prince for about an hour and a-half, +till the heat of the afternoon was less. His Highness courteously +said that I was not a servant in Afghanistan, but his friend and his +brother. He asked if I would go again with him to the park to see the +wrestling, as the sports were not over. + +As this was my first visit to little Hafiz Ullah Khan, he asked me +to accept a present: a leather pocket-book, a pocket-knife, and a +walking-stick, the best he had. + +I have often been somewhat surprised at the inability of most Afghans +to distinguish a genuine article from an imitation. Merchants make a +harvest in the country, by taking advantage of this want of knowledge. + +At half-past four we started for the park. The wrestling and dancing +were a repetition of the exhibition of the day before. The Turkomans +still carried all before them. They were not all such hugely tall +men, though they were all excessively muscular. There were no Kabuli +wrestlers this day, but, as I happened to say I thought the Kabulis +were specially good wrestlers, the Prince gave orders for a display of +Kabuli wrestling for the morrow. + +We got home at half-past seven in the evening, and I sent some +photographs to the Prince--I had nothing else to give him--one of our +Queen, one of the Prince of Wales, and two or three more that I had. +He was pleased, as he is fond of pictures, and he was particularly +interested in the portraits of the Queen and Prince of Wales. + +The next day was Friday, the Sabbath, and the Prince sent me an +invitation to lunch with him in the Palace Gardens. His Highness, the +Amir, was away out on the plains shooting, and there was no garden +attached to the Prince's house. Two soldiers came to escort me--not +with fixed bayonets, for I was not a prisoner, at any rate, not +nominally, though perhaps actually; for the position was, with all its +interest, not very far removed from honourable confinement. + +The sun shone brilliantly, and we sat under the almond trees. The +Prince, in native costume, sat on a sort of divan with carpet and +cushions. I had a chair and table. The tutor and others were there, +and the guards were posted around under the trees. I smoked cigarettes +and talked. It was very pleasant, surrounded as we were by flowers and +grass, and there were so many trees that we seemed almost in the heart +of a wood. I actually saw the Prince laugh!--for the first time. He was +a dignified and polished little man, and has, the Amir says--with one +other son--the "Royal manner." + +At one o'clock lunch was brought. + +Afterwards the Prince asked if I would accompany him to the Chahar +Bagh, to see the sports again. I said I should enjoy doing so, and he +went away with his tutor to be attired in "purple and fine linen," or +in other words, in European military dress. They were some time gone, +and I wandered about under the trees by myself. + +When the Prince returned we started. Being the Sabbath there were a +greater number of spectators than on the previous occasions. So much +time was taken up in finding suitable Mazaris to oppose the muscular +Turkomans, that there was no opportunity for the Kabuli wrestlers +to come into the ring. Otherwise the dancing and wrestling were a +repetition of the former days. + +[Sidenote: The Mother of Prince Hafiz Ullah.] + +When we got home the Prince sent me some oranges, and a Russian knife, +fork, and spoon, in a case, and a Turkestan cap embroidered with +gold, worked by his mother. This lady, a wife of His Highness's, is +from Kaffristan. She is said to be one of the most beautiful women in +the country, and is called, on account of her perfect pink and white +complexion, "The Pomegranate Flower." + +I made a careful pencil drawing of the Prince one day. He is a +fair-haired little fellow, with good features and dark eyes. It was a +pretty picture, and I heard that His Highness was very pleased. The +Sultana, they said, was not so well pleased: the Prince is not her son. + +About this time, it was in April, I had some trouble with one of the +Generals, a fat man--not that I object to fat men unless they interfere +with me--with a voice like that of a full-grown bull. This fat man +attempted to bully me. + +I reached the Hospital that morning at ten a.m., having seen thirty or +forty patients at my own place first. General M---- A---- Khan, who was +visiting the Hospital, enquired why I did not come earlier. I politely +explained that I was seeing patients at my own house. He said I ought +to come to the Hospital first, and attend to the others afterwards. +I was surprised and somewhat annoyed, and looking him in the face, I +said-- + +"Chira?" "Why?" He let the matter drop. + +We then went into the different wards, or rooms, where the patients +were, and he said that such and such men had been in the Hospital for +so long, why did I not cure them and send them out. I said-- + +"Because their disease does not admit of cure," and added, through the +Interpreter, "Tell him he can take that, and that, and that man away, +if he likes." + +I had no intention of being cruel to the men; speaking in English it +did not strike me they would understand, though of course they did when +it was interpreted. They seemed to give up hope at once. One shut his +eyes and died the same day, another the next. I could, at first, hardly +believe the report when I heard it: then I cursed that fat man. + +When we had gone the round of the patients we came out into the garden. +There he stood, this man, surrounded by his staff, and he commenced to +take me to task. He said I was to give the patients _good_ medicine +and see that I cured them--one had Bright's disease, another advanced +Phthisis, and so on! and was continuing his tirade, when it struck me +quite suddenly--for I am a mild man--that I was being ill-treated. At +once I thirsted for his blood with a dreadful thirst--the effect of the +climate probably--and I desired greatly to assault him with fire arms +or with steel. Fortunately, I had neither at hand, or the situation +might have become complicated. The Persian I had learnt went back on +me, as it were, and I had to speak English. + +[Sidenote: The Power of the Amir's Name.] + +"Does this son of a pig, whose ancestors were pigs for many +generations; this iniquitous mass of vileness, with much body and +little brain, does he----;" but this was enough for the Armenian, he +guessed at the rest, and he turned on the General. + +In vituperation--for volume of sound and rapidity of words--I never met +the Armenian's equal. I have heard talk of the ladies of Billingsgate, +and I should like to put one in the ring with the Armenian. + +It grew alarming. I thought so, and so did the General. He backed and +looked exceedingly uncomfortable. He tried feebly to stem the torrent: +he might as well have tried to stop the Kabul river when swollen by the +melting snows. Then he essayed the playful, he smiled an apologetic +smile and offered me a rose: and still the Armenian foamed:--The +whole matter should come before Amir Sahib, he was the only master in +Afghanistan; if he had a complaint let him bring it then, and so on. +Many times the General tried to speak, to explain, to remonstrate, but +straight ahead went the Armenian, never pausing one moment. At last the +General thought he had better go, and he went. + +He had not escaped yet: a letter from the Armenian followed him. In +it he was solemnly warned never to attempt that sort of thing again +(he never did), that a European will not bear it, and that this +particular European would proceed at once, on the slightest attempt at +a repetition of the offence, to "very much kick and blow." + +At the next Durbar the General happened to be standing not very far +from my chair, and the Armenian said to him-- + +"The English doctor wishes to speak to Amir Sahib about that little +affair at the Hospital." + +The General said, "For God sake don't let him. I am not his master; I +am his slave, his dog, his anything!" + +So the matter ended. + +While the Amir was out shooting on the plains, one of the Page boys +was thrown from his horse and the inner end of his collar-bone was +dislocated upwards. His Highness on seeing the displacement said there +was no need to send for the English doctor. + +"Bandages," he said, "are useless. Leave it alone." He was quite right. + +On April the 22nd, began the Mahomedan fast, "Ramazan." They fast for a +month, neither eating, drinking, nor smoking during the day. Directly +the twilight commences, however, that is when they can just no longer +distinguish a white from a black thread, they commence, and go on +pretty much all night. + +Fortunately, the year had been very cool; cloudy, windy, and rainy, so +that there was much less sickness than usual in the month. Generally +both during and after Ramazan there is a great prevalence of fever +and bowel complaints. The first thing an Afghan does, when he breaks +his fast in the evening, is to light the chillim and fill his lungs +with tobacco smoke. It is a tremendously big dose, and often produces +serious consequences, such as giddiness, vomiting, and insensibility. +During the fast they brought a man to me one evening on a charpoy. He +was a great big fellow, and they said he was insensible from smoking. +He was dead. The dose of tobacco he had taken had been too much for +his heart. As soon as I said he was dead, the brother and the other +soldiers who had brought him were greatly upset. They wailed and wept +aloud. + +[Sidenote: The Evening Durbar.] + +The first Durbar I went to after His Highness's return from his +shooting expedition on the plains was during the month of Ramazan. The +Durbar was, of necessity, held in the evening, at seven o'clock, and, +the weather being fine, it was held outside the Palace, in the gardens. + +For some reason or other His Highness, I could tell, was pleased +with me. For instance, in addressing me, he used a familiar form of +expression, such as one uses to a friend. He said, it was quite a long +time since he had seen me. He enquired if the Hindustani assistants +were working well, and congratulated himself that the year was cool and +healthy compared with the last. He said he himself did not fast during +Ramazan: that there were duties a King owed to his people, for when a +man fasts he has not that control over himself and his temper that a +King, with life and death in his hands, should have. He said, "Ramazan" +should be called "Marazan."--"Maraz" meaning "disease." + +Then the Armenian brought forward two or three people on whom I had +had to operate for "stone," and exhibited them with much pride. His +Highness was pleased, and gave presents to the patients. One, I +remember, received a horse and a hundred rupees. + +The Durbar was one of the most striking and picturesque sights I have +seen. The background was formed by the deep shadows of the trees: +under a brilliantly coloured awning, lit up by a multitude of lamps, +sat some two hundred officers, in every kind of uniform, resplendent +with gold embroidery; and at intervals, around the awning and Palace, +stood an Afghan soldier in native costume, holding a blazing torch in +one hand and an oil flask in the other, and the gleam from the torches +on the billowy masses of leaf gave those soft touches of light in the +background which prevent it being heavy. + +We had dinner somewhat early, as the men had been fasting all day. When +we got home the Armenian gave an explanation as to why the Amir was so +particularly charming. It was this:--During the shooting expedition, +a great deal of wild pig had been killed, and the chief Cook sent a +messenger to enquire whether I would have roast pork for dinner. I was +highly indignant, thinking, that as the pig is unclean, an insult was +intended. I ordered the messenger to be thrashed--he was the bearer +of evil tidings--and threatened direful things if such a message were +repeated. The Sultana then sent for the Armenian and enquired if I +would not like a young pig or two, and whether it were not a fact that +Christians ate pig. + +The Armenian said that Christians were indeed allowed by their +religion to do so; but that neither Christian Priests nor Christian +Doctors ever suffered anything unclean to pass their lips!! + +[Sidenote: The Attempted Vendetta: the Result.] + +The same evening a man was brought on a charpoy suffering great pain +from a "strangulated hernia." To save his life it was necessary to +operate that night. He was moved to the Hospital, where all the +instruments were, and I did the operation by the light of two or three +tallow candles. The next morning the brother of the patient was lying +in wait for me at the Hospital with several large knives, seeking to +slay me. He said I had killed his brother! + +"On the contrary," I explained, "I have saved his life." + +Then the Armenian came forward in all his strength. + +"Harem Zada!" he shouted, "thou base-born scoundrel, thy _Father_ could +not speak in the Sahib's presence!" and he laid his stick across the +man's shoulders with such vigour and energy that presently he broke +it. He then flung the pieces at him and told him to "get"--"Birau" in +Persian. He "got" accordingly. + +Coming back from the Hospital we met an old lady walking. She was well +dressed but wore no veil. I knew her very well to speak to, but who she +was I didn't quite know. I had heard that she was nurse to the Amir +when he was a child. She seemed equally at home in the Harem and in the +Durbar. The Armenian related the incident at the Hospital, and she was +suitably indignant and sympathetic. Perhaps she did not treat me with +that profound respect one would think was the due of a distinguished +Foreigner, for she called me "Buchcha," "Youngster"!!! I overlooked +it; for the opportunity of speaking to a lady was rare, and I enjoyed +it in direct proportion to its rarity. + +The next Durbar evening during Ramazan was cold and showery. His +Highness sat at the window of the Palace. I was invited inside. The +scent was sweet from great clusters of roses arranged in vases. After +dinner (we had two kinds of ice pudding, among other things) an Usbak +was ushered in, bringing a design he had drawn on paper for a wall +decoration--flowers and leaves treated conventionally. + +His Highness examined the design and said it was not bad and it was not +good. This just about expressed my own opinion. The drawing was good +but the colours were gaudy and clashed with one another. His Highness +said he had some work of that kind done by a Kabuli which he would show +me, and he sent for it. + +It was an illuminated Manuscript book, and the cover inside and out was +painted with flowers and birds treated decoratively. It was beautiful. +The drawing was excellent; the colouring was quite harmonious, and the +balance of each design was, to my eye, perfect. I said I had never +seen anything of the kind better. The book itself, I was told, was His +Highness's diary. + +During the evening some presents were laid at His Highness's feet. +Among them were two huge loaves of white sugar, about 20 lbs. each. +These he directed to be given to me. Knowing something about the +meaning of the custom, I was very pleased. + +Before we left, His Highness said that shortly after the termination of +Ramazan we should leave Mazar for Kabul. + +His Highness had promised me leave of absence for some months after his +arrival in Kabul, and when I got home that night I grew enthusiastic +in my description to the Armenian of the wonders and sights of London. +After talking some time, I said I had seen a man seize the back of a +chair with his teeth, hold it out straight, and put another on the top +of it. The Armenian was not to be outdone. He said he had seen a man +take a charpoy--a bedstead--balance it on one leg on the tip of his +tongue, and then dance! He also described to me a curious European +sweetmeat that he had met with in his travels. + +"I saw him in Lahore," he said. "Like this you catch him, tear him up, +and he is call 'Bang'!" + +I concluded that he wished to describe the ordinary Christmas cracker. + +[Sidenote: End of Ramazan.] + +On the evening of May 20th the fast of Ramazan was over, and a certain +number of guns were fired. The next day was a Festival. It was +intensely hot, and His Highness held a Reception in the Palace Gardens. +Wishing to lay a present before him, for those I ordered from London +had not arrived, I painted a portrait of myself, which His Highness +was pleased to accept. He sent me some apricots from his own plate by +Malek, the favourite Page boy. + +In the course of the morning the infant Prince, Mahomed Omer, was +brought to the Reception. His Page boys, of whom there were a dozen +or more, were dressed in _Scotch_ dress with kilts and white solar +helmets. Everyone stood as the little Prince was carried up to the +Amir. This caught my attention at the time, for it was not usual for +all to stand when the other two little Princes entered. + +When I left I went on to the gardens of the Harem Serai to pay a +complimentary visit to the Sultana. Here a tray full of sweetmeats and +sugar was laid at my feet, and the Armenian took care it should be +conveyed to my house and promptly devoured. + +A day or two after the termination of the Fast, I saw my neighbour +opposite, the Mirza Abdur Rashid, superintending the packing of some of +His Highness's valuables--diamonds, shawls, and furs, for transport to +Kabul. Accordingly, I gave orders at the Hospital to pack up certain of +the drugs and instruments; those that I needed. Some were left for the +use of the Hindustani who was to remain behind and attend to the sick +of the regiments which were to garrison Mazar. + +The Armenian then set to work to pack all my household belongings, +including the carpets; and he obtained from His Highness the necessary +orders for pack-horses, both for my baggage and the Hospital stores. + +On the 24th of May I heard cannon firing; on that day the troops +marched out of Mazar to camp on the plains, on the first stage to +Kabul. I endeavoured to ride to the Hospital to attend the sick, but +every road was so crowded with loaded camels, pack-horses, and mules, +that there was no way of getting there, and I had to return. The same +day the Amir sent me a beautiful little bay horse to share with the +"Steam-engine" pony the labour of carrying me to Kabul. + +[Sidenote: The Guard of Amazons.] + +A fortnight after the troops had marched out on to the plains, the +Sultana with the other ladies of the Harem left Mazar. They started +soon after daybreak. Their guard consisted not only of a body of +the Amir's soldiers, but of a regiment of mounted Amazons, some two +hundred, the female slaves and servants of the Harem. These rode on +men's saddles, were veiled, and wore on the head, over the veil, solar +helmets, or felt hats. Each was armed with a sabre and a carbine. A +syce, or groom, was told off to look after each three horses. + +Two days afterwards His Highness and the Court, including myself, +started on the journey. We saw little or nothing of the Harem and +guard, for they kept two days' march ahead of the main body during the +whole journey. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE RETURN JOURNEY TO KABUL. + + Loading up: the start. The first camp. Tropical heat: the + whirlwind. The Amir's khirgar. Scanty rations. Midnight marching. + The numbers on the march. Dangers in the pitchy darkness. Fever. + Stopped on the road. The hut: impure water: sleep by the road + side. The scream. Daybreak. The second camp. Lost on the plains. + Naibabad: the rain. The march to Tash Kurghan. A sketch of + the Khulm Pass. Sight seeing from the house tops. The Durbar. + Punishment of the unjust townsfolk. The Amir's health. The eclipse + of the sun. On the march again: the dust: jammed in the valleys. + Ghuzniguk. An Afghan "Good Samaritan." A poisonous sting: the + Amir's remedy. A block on the road: dangers of by-paths in mountain + and valley. The tiger valley. A drink of milk. The dust. Haibuk. + Adventure with the elephant: the somnolent Afghan. The aqueduct. + Discomforts of a camp in an orchard. + + +It was June 13th when we started. The Armenian and I were up before +daybreak superintending the loading up of the medical stores and my +own baggage. We hoped to get well on the march before the heat of the +day commenced, but the men, from want of practice, were so slow and +clumsy in loading the pack-horses, that our start was delayed till nine +o'clock. It was then getting very hot. + +[Sidenote: Tropical Heat: the Whirlwind.] + +The first march was short, and soon after midday we reached the camping +ground on the plains, some few miles out of Mazar. I had thought my +first ride over these plains when I came to Mazar was a hot one; that +was in May--this was in June! + +I dismounted and stood in the sun while some of the servants commenced +unloading the horses, and others attempted to put up my tent. They +were Asiatics, in their native climate: I was a Londoner, and I raised +my sun helmet every minute or two, hoping to catch a little breeze on +my head, but there was not the slightest breath. After standing some +time, I began to wonder, in an abstract way, which would give out +first--the heart or the nervous system--that is to say, whether it +would be a faint or a sun-stroke. The Armenian, seeing my distress, +brought me the portable iron chair that the fat Hakim had ruined, but +I found one might as well seek rest on the bars of the kitchen grate +when a dinner is in process of preparation. I therefore stood up +again--suddenly. + +"When, oh, when, will they get my tent up?" I asked of my secret soul. +Receiving no answer, I begged the Armenian to hurry the men, calling +his attention to the fact that I was a European, "very soft man likes +flower, and heat is hurt it." At last the tent was up, and thankfully I +staggered into its welcome shade. + +"Great Scott!" I gasped, "carry me out." For the tent, put up on the +red-hot plain at midday, felt like a baker's oven on Good Friday eve. I +have never been in a baker's oven on Good Friday eve, but I know what +it is like. + +They did not carry me out, but the Armenian brought me a charpoy, also +burning hot. I lay quite still on it, simmered gently, and waited for +death. + +At last, it must have been after several years, I fancy, a wind came: +it was a scorching one; there was no "healing in its breath," and +I dried up still more. Then a whirlwind and a pillar of dust came +sweeping across the camp, tearing out the tent-pegs and overturning +the tents in its course. This roused me, and I crawled to the door +of the tent to see if the Amir's wigwam had escaped. His Highness +was not in a tent, but in a khirgar that had been prepared some days +before. It was interlaced with shrubs; and water had been brought, with +considerable trouble, in a trench or stream from Mazar. Men outside the +khirgar were constantly throwing up the water with wooden shovels on to +the leafy covering. The khirgar had escaped the whirlwind. + +The Armenian went off to try and get me something to drink or eat, +for we had had no breakfast. All that the chief of the Commissariat +Department could give him was a small piece of bread. He begged us +not to inform His Highness, and promised that everything should be in +readiness the next day. After a search, the Armenian discovered that +my rascally cook had concealed some mutton in a dirty cloth: this he +brought me, with some brown-looking snow water, and a little whiskey +from the medical stores. I ate, drank, and was thankful. + +At four in the afternoon a piece of ice arrived--the ice is saved from +the winter in ice pits--and half an hour afterwards the Amir sent me +some ice pudding, which I devoured rapidly before it all became water. +At five came dinner, but then I was at one mind with the Armenian: he +said, "My wish is not I eat: very much drink I take it." + +At seven in the evening the troops marched off again, for the Amir had +decided to travel at midnight to escape the heat. There were a great +many of us: the Court, the Harem, the army, and the baggage of us all. +For some time before, notice had been given to the towns and villages +on the route to lay in stores of grain and firewood, and to gather in +their flocks from the mountains. There were of us about eight thousand +men, ten thousand horses, three thousand camels, and three or four +elephants. + +[Sidenote: Midnight Marching: Stopped on the Road.] + +When the troops had gone my men commenced loading up the pack-horses +again. They took three hours over it, and many of the packs fastened up +in the dark slipped and fell after we started: this necessitated a halt +each time to reload. I was not in a cheerful state, either of mind or +body, for the heat had been too much for me. I had fever rather badly, +and was aching in every bone. + +It was pitch dark; I could not see my horse's head nor my own hand +held up. Before we got out of the camp on to the road I heard a +pack-horse that had broken loose tearing about like a mad thing. We +could tell where he was by the clattering of his chain. Once, in the +darkness, he rushed close by me. I was convinced he would charge into +some one, probably me, because no one could set my leg when it was +broken. However, we got on to the road at last: we could tell it by the +different ring of the horses' hoofs. + +The baggage slipped and a pack tumbled off so frequently, that at last +I had not patience to wait with the baggage men while they loaded up +again, and the Armenian and I rode on accompanied by a soldier. I had +operated on this man some time before; he therefore politely came two +days' journey with me. + +We had not ridden very far when suddenly out of the darkness came the +challenge in Pushtu, + +"Su-ke?" "Who goes there?" + +It was a sentry with orders to allow no one to pass till the Amir had +gone by! + +"When is he going?" I enquired. + +"Khuda medanad!" "God knows!" was the answer. + +This was cheerful; and I said a great deal in English. There we sat in +the dark: we couldn't go on, for the man would not let us. The annoying +part was that his General, who had a tent somewhere near, was that very +man who tried to bully me in the Hospital. I said to the Armenian, + +"Tell him to report to the fat scoundrel who I am." The man then +shouted to someone whom we could not see to take the report. After some +minutes, word was brought back that the General was asleep! + +"Wake the devil, then!" I shouted, for I was burning and aching with +fever, and we had been waiting already half an hour. They did not dare +to, they said. The sentry communed within himself, and presently said +that, as I had attended him in a severe illness and had given him good +medicine and made him well, he would therefore risk punishment for +my sake and let me pass. He hesitated about letting the Armenian and +soldier go by too, but finally yielded, on its being explained to him +how impossible it was for me to travel alone. I never heard that he was +punished. + +We rode on again, and on for four hours, and I had to hang on to the +pommel of the saddle. At last, after trying to moisten parched lips +with a dried-up tongue, I said to the Armenian:-- + +"Look here! You will have to make some different arrangements from +this. I can't stand it. It is all very well for you fellows: you are as +hard as nails and are used to it. I am not." + +"Sir, I very sorry. What _I_ do." + +"I don't know. You must do something; or else I must appeal to the +Amir." + +[Sidenote: The Hut: Impure Water.] + +I was miserable, and, like a child, struck at the nearest. The Armenian +asked if I would lie down and sleep for an hour, for, as far as he +could judge, we had come only about half-way. A little further on we +saw something darker than the sky, and riding up we made out that it +was a hut, a little way off the road. We could hear a trickle of water, +and by feeling around found a ditch or irrigation channel, or something +of the sort--we couldn't see what--near the hut. With feverish haste I +dismounted, scooped up three or four cupfuls and gulped it down. "Here +go the microbes," I thought. I drank knowingly; who would not? burning +with fever, in a tropical heat: but that drink nearly cost me my life. +However, the "microbes" lay low for a few days. The Armenian then went +off to the hut and hammered at the door. After some time he roused the +inmates, and we heard them moving and speaking. Presently the door +opened, and a Turkoman, with a lamp in his hand, appeared. + +The Armenian told him to light a fire at once and make some tea, as +there was a Sirdar of the Court outside with fever. Very soon the tea +was brought, and I drank several cupfuls of the hot liquid. Then I took +off my spurs and helmet, and lying on the ground by the stream, put my +revolver wrapped in a cloak under my head, went off into a heavy sleep. + +By-and-bye I heard a cock crow, and dimly saw that the moon had risen. +Later on, I was dreamily conscious of a trampling, and trampling, and +an incessant neighing. I remember thinking how wearisome it was, that +incessant neighing. + +Suddenly there was a terrific scream, and I was broad awake in a +moment. I found, in the dim light of dawn, that several other people +had stopped where we had, and were sleeping. Two of their horses had +got loose from their tether ropes, and were reared upright striking at +one another. + +The Armenian and I were close under them, and he was still sound asleep. + +I woke him, and we sprang up. A little way off was the soldier holding +our horses. We mounted, while the others tried to separate the +screaming and fighting stallions by shouting and throwing sticks and +stones at them. + +It was four o'clock, and we heard the larks singing overhead. Along the +road an incessant stream of baggage-horses was passing, trampling and +neighing. We had come a great deal more than half-way, for we did not +have far to go before we reached the camp. After half an hour or so my +tent and baggage turned up. + +It was Gur-i-Mar where we camped: we had travelled slowly in the +darkness. The Amir, riding on horseback, arrived with his guard soon +after dawn, but it was hours before the stream of pack-horses and +camels and elephants had come in. + +I had breakfast as soon as the tent was up: cold mutton, biscuit, and +tea, and then lay on the ground with a pillow, and went to sleep again. +The fever had disappeared. Towards midday it grew frightfully hot, but +I did not suffer so much, for my tent was put up in the early morning +over cool ground. + +In the afternoon the hot winds blew again, and we had a violent dust +storm. We did not have the difficulty in procuring food that we had had +the day before, and I received also a fair supply of ice. + +While the hot winds blew, the rim of the glass I drank out of, though +containing iced water, was quite hot to the lips. I slept a good deal +during the day. At one in the morning I was called, and I dressed by +the light of a candle. When I got outside I found the men were loading +up. We started about three a.m. His Highness, I found, had gone on. It +was excessively dark, and the Armenian and I got off the road and lost +our way on the plains. We rode on trusting to our horses, but they were +as much at fault as we. We wandered about, down in hollows and up on +ridges, for the plain here was undulating, like downs. We were in the +neighbourhood of the Abadu Pass--the valley of death. + +It seemed to me we were getting too far to the left, so we branched +to the right. Towards dawn it became very windy and dusty. At four +o'clock it became lighter and lighter, and the larks began to sing, +and after some trouble we found our way back to the road. To my great +relief the sky was cloudy, and the morning comparatively cool. I had +tucked a biscuit in the top of my boot, and I munched it with great +satisfaction: the Armenian nearly went to sleep on horseback. We camped +at Naibabad. Soon after the tents were up it began to rain: it was +delicious to hear the water come pattering down. + +[Sidenote: The Amir Lost on the Plains.] + +I found we were not the only ones who had lost their way. At dawn the +Amir himself, with his guard, was found wandering off towards Russia. + +That day my demoniacal black pony untied his ropes with his fore foot +and teeth, and walked off. He was not found till late in the afternoon, +when he was brought in looking a miserable wreck. + +The fourth day was windy and comparatively cool. We started at five +a.m. His Highness rode in a palanquin at the head of the army, and I +rode level some distance to the right. The mountains lay to the right +of us, the south, for we were nearing Tash Kurghan: to the north was +the plain, and the dust was frightful. We arrived at Tash Kurghan at +eight. We went very short stages, for when I had come to Mazar with Jan +Mahomed Khan, we did the journey from Tash Kurghan to Mazar in the day. + +I sat in the tent of one of the Chamberlains, and the Page boys came +and chatted and drank tea with me. They none of them seemed any the +worse for the journey. At eleven o'clock I went to my own tent, which +was erected on a mound outside the town, near the tent of the British +Agent. A good many sick people were brought: some with fever and other +illnesses, another with snake bite. The snake had bitten two men, +the first one died, but the other recovered. There were a good many +surgical cases, too, chiefly from horse kicks: broken legs, internal +injuries, and crushed fingers were the commonest. I turned in at eight +p.m. + +We stayed the whole of the next day at Tash Kurghan. I was awakened +at six in the morning by the bugles, and after breakfast, finding I +had a good view of the Khulm Pass, I made a careful sketch. One or two +people called upon me, and then, after dressing suitably, I mounted +the little bay horse the Amir had sent me, and rode off to salaam His +Highness. + +[Sidenote: The Durbar: The Amir's Health.] + +The town seemed very lively and full, compared with what it did when +I first came through with Jan Mahomed. Gay-coated Courtiers and Page +boys were riding about, and soldiers were marching here and there. The +townspeople sat on their walls and stood on their housetops to see the +sights. + +His Highness was occupying a large house in the town. He was very +gracious when I made my bow, but did not look at all well. + +While I was there, the chief townsmen brought presents to His Highness. +There was a good deal of talking, to which I did not pay much +attention, till I noticed that His Highness became angry. Presently, +the men who had brought presents were taken outside and thrashed +severely. I was somewhat astonished, and possibly looked so, for His +Highness turned to me and explained why he had ordered the men to +be thrashed. A report had reached him, which he found on enquiry to +be true, that these men had extorted gifts from those poorer than +themselves, and had laid them before him as their own. + +After lunch I asked His Highness if he were feeling quite well. He said +no: the sudden alteration in his habits, and the heat of the journey, +had upset him. He seemed pleased that I had asked. + +I left the Durbar soon after lunch to see a man who had been seriously +injured on the march. He had a broken leg: a frightful smash it was: +compound and comminuted. While I was on the way there, at three p.m., I +noticed an extraordinary darkness or twilight coming over everything. +The horses and other animals seemed frightened, and made curious +noises. I glanced up and found we had a total eclipse of the sun. This +was on June 17th, 1890. Everyone was very alarmed, imagining that the +eclipse betokened some serious calamity, either to the King or the +Country. + +I was up at four the next morning, for the Armenian wanted my breakfast +over, so that the tent could be packed as soon as possible. I had some +cold meat and bread, which my cook had wrapped in a piece of paper +overnight--this kept it from becoming disagreeably dry. Plates, knives, +and forks were packed, and, in lieu thereof, I used my pocket-knife and +fingers. The baggage was loaded up while I breakfasted: my tent being +left till last. + +His Highness started at five, and we an hour afterwards. I had no +adventures this day worth recounting. We were among the mountains +again: winding-paths, ravines and bridges being the predominant +features. There were so many thousands on the march together that +divers discomforts arose. First, the dust was choking, making the eyes +and throat smart. Then "blocks" occurred, and we got jammed in some of +the passes. Under these circumstances the horses at once begin kicking +and fighting, and you have to look out for your shins. I had to stop by +the wayside frequently to bandage up some unfortunate who had become +damaged. I carried bandages and one or two splints with me. + +We got into a series of valleys, and in one, which was regularly +cup-shaped, with precipitous mountains around it, we were jammed for +about an hour. It was quite an experience sitting in the dust and heat +among the kicking horses. However, there is an end to most things if +you wait long enough, and we got out of the valley eventually. At ten +a.m. we arrived at the valley of Ghuzniguk, where Ishak fought against +the Amir's soldiers. His Highness himself, I heard, was not present at +the battle: his illness prevented him leaving Kabul. Here we camped. + +[Sidenote: An Afghan "Good Samaritan."] + +When I rode into the town I saw the tent of my neighbour, the Mirza +Abdur Rashid, already erected, and as my baggage had not yet arrived +I dismounted and entered it. It was empty, and I lay on the carpet to +rest. A soldier, whom I did not recognize, brought me a pillow, some +iced water, and a piece of bread. I thanked him, and when I had eaten +and drank I lay down again: he stood and fanned me, whereat I was +thankful, till finally I fell asleep. I woke by-and-bye and found the +kindly Afghan had departed. I was sitting cross-legged, leaning against +the pillow, with a look of pensive melancholy on, when the Mirza and +some others entered. After shaking hands we sat down again, and the +Mirza said, + +"Doctor Sahib bisyar manda shud." "The Doctor Sahib is very tired." + +I could not admit this before the others, and I broke out into Persian: +"Ne manda na shudam--gurisna shudam." "Nay, I am not tired, I am +hungry." + +In those days I so rarely would attempt to talk Persian that they +laughed; and I had used the colloquial Afghan-Persian _gurisna_ instead +of the correct _gursina_. A tray of cold meat cut up into cubes, and +some bread, was brought, and we helped ourselves with our fingers. + +In the afternoon the Armenian sent word that my tent was up, and I +went off there and slept again for a couple of hours. After that the +Armenian suggested my using his tent one day and my own the next, so +that a tent could be sent on beforehand and made ready by the time I +arrived. Dinner came, as usual, from His Highness's cook, and I turned +in at eight. The Armenian and the servants slept on the ground outside +the tent. + +[Sidenote: The Poisonous Sting.] + +The next morning, June 19th, I turned out at three, and had breakfast +at four o'clock: it was dawn. Soon after, I was sent for to see a man +who had been stung in the night by something or other. What it was +I couldn't quite make out, for the Armenian's knowledge of English +names was limited. He described a creature with many legs attached to +a central body. I suggested a "crab." He said he thought that might +be it; on consideration I thought it hardly likely: and centipede and +poisonous spider occurred to me. Whatever it were, the patient was in a +state of "collapse." Perspiration stood on his face, he had a weak slow +pulse, headache, and burning pains in the limbs. I was about to give +medicine and port wine when His Highness came riding by on a trotting +camel, followed by his guard on horseback. Seeing a group around a man +on the ground, and me in the middle of it, he stopped to enquire what +was the matter. They carried the man to him and explained. The Amir +asked a few questions about the symptoms: whether the man's eyeballs +ached, and whether he sweated. When he heard that the skin was acting +he turned to me and said:-- + +"Inshallah, jour meshowad." "If God will, he will become well." + +He told me he had a native medicine, an excellent remedy for poisonous +stings: this he was about to administer: if it were not effectual he +would wish me to give European medicine. He gave an order in Persian +to one of the attendants, who presently brought him a little inlaid +box. His Highness unbuttoned his coat and took a small key which was +hanging by a chain round his neck. He opened the box and took out a +little egg-shaped casket of gold, and from that a stone. He directed a +little of the stone to be scraped off, mixed with water, and laid on +the wound. This stone, I was informed, was from the gall bladder of an +antelope. Then he rode on, and by-and-bye I followed. The man was to +stop at Ghuzniguk that day and be brought on in the evening. I left two +or three doses of medicine and some wine, in case they were needed. + +That day's march was pleasant: being among fields of clover and corn, +it was refreshing to the eye, and there was very little dust. We camped +at eight a.m. There was a cool breeze blowing all day, and I lay in my +tent reading Shakespeare and drinking iced-water. The night was cool, +and to me it felt almost cold. At midnight, I was called up to see +the man who had been stung: they had brought him on. He was certainly +better, but had retention, and I passed an instrument. The men looking +after him had thought they would be on the safe side, and they gave +him all the medicine and wine I had left, in addition to applying His +Highness's remedy. + +I went to bed again for two or three hours, and then got up and had +breakfast. We started at five. Hitherto, I had been riding the black +pony, "Steam-engine," but this day, as I heard the road was good, and +through valleys, I rode the young bay horse His Highness had given me. +I found the road was not all valley. + +[Sidenote: Dangers of By-paths.] + +We reached a ravine where the road branched into two. One branch ran to +the left of the ravine, the other wound up the face of the mountain to +the right. When the Armenian and I arrived at the division, we found +there was a block on the left road, and, therefore, took the one on the +right. We had got some distance up when a block occurred here also. +The Armenian, who was leading, at once took a little by-path which ran +along the edge, a little below the main road, and I followed. I did not +like it. Looking directly down I could see the bottom of the ravine, +and on the other side, down below, I could see the other road crowded +with cavalry and baggage-horses, indiscriminately mixed. Imagine +yourself riding along the sill of your bedroom window on a young +untried horse, and you will get an idea of what I am trying to explain. +The path was barely three feet wide. The situation in itself was +unpleasant, and I did not know how my horse would behave in mountain +climbing. Some young horses are frightened, and instead of keeping +their attention fixed on what is before them, they look about--mine +did, and neighed when he saw the horses below--slip, become frightened, +plunge and slip more: then--various complications arise. + +[Illustration] + +Suddenly, I saw the Armenian pause a second--he was riding a steady +old mountain pony--glance up to the road above and put his horse +straight up the slope. There was a scramble, a scatter of sparks, +as the hoofs struck the rock, and he was up on the road. I saw why, +when he was gone, and my turn came. The path ended: rounding off into +nothing. There was no room to turn back, nor to dismount; I could not +stay where I was, and I put him at rocky slope. The horse looked up: a +little touch of the spur, and I grasped his mane with both hands: he +reared straight up, gave a spring from his hind legs, and in a moment +was on the slope. I lived a long time in the next few seconds, for it +flashed into me that, if we ever got up, the crush on the road above +would leave no room for us, and we must inevitably slip back. But, +no! he scrambled like a cat, and darting into a gap in the stream of +baggage-horses, we were safe on the path. I hoped I didn't look very +sickly: I felt so. Presently, we were able to escape from the stream of +traffic by riding along a narrow ridge, then we descended a horribly +steep slope. This, however, was earthy and stony, not bare rock, and it +afforded a firmer foothold: the bay went down sideways, like a crab. +In the place where we scrambled up, the rock was rough and somewhat +irregular. If it had been smooth, this probably would never have been +written. + +Then we got on to a wide road in a valley; presently there was another +block, and the Armenian turned off the road to the right. I shouted +angrily, + +"Look here! I am not going along any more of your infernal paths. +I would rather sit in a block for an hour: we are not in such a +tremendous hurry." + +He called back, "Sir! he is all right here." + +The ground was broken-up by huge cracks, seven or eight yards wide! +A man rode out from the crush and looked, then turned his horse back +and re-entered the crowded road. Away across the broken-up plain we +could see a road running along the foot of a mountain. It was not very +crowded, and, after all, we were not on a mountain with only bare rock +under foot, so we went for it. Scrambling down the cracks or miniature +ravines, some fourteen or fifteen feet deep, we waded, or rather rode, +through pools of water, and scrambled up the other side. I don't know +how many we climbed into and out of--but a good many. The Armenian's +horse, though a good mountain-climber, was afraid of water, and he +refused and shied, but had to go. When he was plunging the Armenian's +turban tumbled off into a pool, but he fished it out and clapped it on +his head again, wet, and cursed his horse in Persian. + +At last we got on to the road at the foot of the mountain, and went +some distance; but it became excessively stony and rough. + +The Armenian said, "He is become worse, you go further." + +We, therefore, branched off to the left from the road, and found +ourselves in a marshy valley. In the mountains, on the left, I saw the +openings of several caves, and there were waterfalls tumbling down the +rocks. This valley was infested with tigers, but there were too many +people about, and too much noise for that to be a danger. + +[Sidenote: A Cheap Drink.] + +Then we got among cornfields again. Where all the other roads led to I +don't know, but we found a great many people riding along here, though +we were not badly crowded. I came alongside of the Page boy who used +to live next door to me in Mazar, but we lost him again in the crowd. +We went on and on through villages, where trees and vegetables were +growing--a refreshing sight after a life in Mazar. Further on, the +roads apparently converged, for the lanes became more and more crowded +and more and more dusty, till I was compelled to tie a handkerchief +over my nose and mouth. In one valley seeing a few cows and goats +feeding near some huts, we branched off to try and get a drink: the +peasants brought some milk in a wooden vessel which the Armenian poured +into my cup and handed to me. He preferred drinking whey, of which the +peasants had a plentiful supply, for it is a popular drink, but advised +me not to drink any as it is apt to disagree. We had as much milk and +whey as we wanted for two pice, that is a little more than a farthing. + +Finally, we neared the suburbs of the town of Haibuk. The crush became +greater and the dust awful. Everyone's hair, beard, eyebrows, and +eyelashes were white. Those who had started as youths in the morning +looked grey-haired men, and were hardly recognizable. + +The people of the town turned out, and regardless of the dust and the +heat of the sun--they were used to it, I suppose--sat on their garden +walls to look at us. + +I had another scare: it was in the town. As we were going along we +saw an elephant in front of us. Horses are generally frightened at +elephants, but mine went quietly enough, so long as the elephant was +going away from him, and he could see him; but just before we reached +the river we passed him. The river is not very wide, perhaps fifteen +feet, but it has very steep rocky banks. There was a narrow bridge +across, and the Armenian being ahead of me, leading the way, got +across at once. Before I reached the bank, a man sitting between the +packs of a baggage-horse, got on the bridge and went slowly. My horse +having the elephant behind him plunged furiously, and as the elephant +advanced, kept shying round, sidling nearer and nearer to the edge of +the bank. I could not get on to the bridge, because the fool on his +pack-horse blocked it. The Armenian and others, seeing the danger I was +in, shouted at the man; he did not hurry: I doubt if he understood. +When we had got to the very edge of the bank--only just in time, the +bridge was clear, and my horse darted across. The bridge was a narrow +affair, about four feet wide, made of trunks of trees and cross-bars, +with earth levelled on the top. I could not take my horse on till it +was clear, for I knew he would charge the pack-horse, and the _best_ +I could hope for then would be a leg broken against one of the mule +trunks. I am a mild man, as I said before, but if I had happened to +have had a hunting crop in my hand, I would have woke up that somnolent +Afghan. The whole business did not occupy a minute, not half a minute; +but when a horse is frightened, I need scarcely say he does not look +where he is going. + +Riding through the town we came to an embankment covered with grass, +an aqueduct, along the top of which ran a stream of very clear water. +I dismounted, and sat under the shade of the trees by the stream and +washed the dust off my head and hands. It was delightfully cool and +breezy, and there was an excellent view of the fort, a part of the +town, the mountains, and the river down below. + +[Sidenote: Camp in an Orchard.] + +The Armenian went on with the servants to find the place where the +"Quartermaster" had given orders for my tent to be pitched. As I sat +alone by the stream several people, whom I knew, went by and saluted. +After about an hour, one of the servants came back to conduct me to +the tent. We descended the embankment, and rode down a lane leading to +the river. My tent was in an orchard on the other side. The river was +rather wide but shallow, and we forded it on our horses. We got into +the orchard by scrambling through a gap in the wall. + +I found there were other tents besides mine in the orchard, and some +horses were endeavouring to graze. The Armenian ordered the horses out +and the other tents to be moved further away. + +My tent was put up on a mound about six feet high, and I went in and +sat on the carpet. It was stifling after the breezy hill. The trees +and high walls of the orchard kept off the breeze without sheltering +my tent from the sun. There was no view, except of dusty leaves and +brown earth--the grass was withered. I was tired, thirsty, and hungry; +there was nothing to drink or eat, and I had no tobacco. I growled at +everybody who came within reach; and the ants crawled down my neck and +up my sleeve, and black grasshoppers jumped in my face and walked up +my back. As soon as the cook arrived, which was some time afterwards, +he hurried off to the bazaar. He came back in about half an hour with +two teapots full of tea: I gulped down ten or eleven cupfuls, and then +made an enjoyable meal off some cold mutton that the cook fished out of +the baggage; after that I unearthed a cigar from one of the trunks, and +felt more at peace with the world; for the crawling creatures did not +sting, though they were disagreeable. + +These are the ordinary everyday incidents of a march. As a rule +one does not find the opportunity to write them down, and they are +forgotten the next day. I, however, happened to write a letter home +that evening and I have just copied it. + +There was no meat to be obtained in the bazaar, and I gave the Armenian +four shillings to buy a sheep; for although my meals came from His +Highness's kitchen, those of the servants and the Armenian did not. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE ARRIVAL IN KABUL. + + The Durbar in Haibuk. "Rustom's throne." The ancient caves. The + wounded Governor: Kabul dentistry. The Amir and the sketches: + His Highness' joke. Another Durbar: the Amir's prescription. The + erring Hakim. Courtesy of His Highness. "Microbes." Illness. + Elephant riding. A grateful peasant. Dangerous passes. The Durbar + at Shush-Burjah: the hot river. Accidents on the "Tooth-Breaker." + Akrab-Abad. The quarrel of the cooks: the result. The camp of the + camels. A pet dog. Pushed over the edge. Evil results of "temper." + Kindness of Amir. A cheap banquet. Coal. Arrival of Englishmen. + Durbar at Kalai Kasi. The Amir again as a physician. Approach to + Kabul. Reception by the Princes. The "High garden." The Pavilion. + Malek the Page. Arrival of the Amir: greeting of the Princes. The + Reception. Arrival at the Workshops. Hospitality. + + +We remained in Haibuk for nearly a fortnight, the army being camped +on the mountain. I sat all day in the stifling tent drinking iced +water and reading Shakespeare. At intervals during the day, sick and +injured people were brought and I attended to them. But those wretched +"microbes" that I had swallowed in my fever on the plains began to work +their wicked will on me, and I became ill. + +[Sidenote: Durbar in Haibuk.] + +Four days after we arrived His Highness held a Durbar. After I had seen +my patients I mounted the bay and rode through the town to where His +Highness was sitting. This was in a rather large garden attached to a +house. There were some big trees and a good many flowers in the garden. +Among the latter, I remember noticing the "Fleur de Lys," or French +lily. A pond or tank, supplied by an irrigation channel, was in the +garden, and near it sat His Highness on a couch covered with silk and +cloth of gold. The couch was shaded by a large red and white awning. +The Courtiers and Pages stood near, and all around were cornfields. I +had taken with me a catalogue of revolvers from a London firm (Colt's) +that His Highness had asked me, with the help of the Armenian, to +translate. When he had examined the translation he spoke of the city of +Haibuk, and explained how he intended to fortify it, and how the water +supply would be ensured. He told me there was a remarkable ancient +monument near Haibuk, and some ancient caves of considerable interest. +He advised my riding out to see them, as they were not very far from +the town. Lunch was brought, and afterwards His Highness gave me a +plateful of nectarines as big as peaches. + +I rode out the next day with the Armenian and some others, to see the +ancient monument. + +[Sidenote: Rustom's Throne.] + +I found that a small rocky hill, or spur, at the foot of the mountains, +had been rounded at the apex into a cupola: the rock all around it +being cut away as a sort of trench, or moat, some twenty feet deep +and eight or nine feet across. On the top of the rounded cupola was, +apparently, a tiny temple, flat-topped, with a doorway on one side +flanked by pillars, which, to the best of my recollection, were Greek +in style. We got across the trench, or moat, and were able to examine +the structure on the top. Apparently, it was cut out of the rock. The +doorway was cut inwards for about two feet, and ended in flat rock. +Writing from recollection--it was in 1890 I saw it--I should say the +"temple" was about seven feet high and five or six feet square at the +base. The rounded cupola was, perhaps, thirty feet across. This they +told me was called "Rustom's Throne." + +We then went to see the caves, which were near. They opened on the face +of the mountain. The largest--used then as a storehouse for grain--had +an entrance level with the ground, and a larger opening some twenty +feet higher up. It was, therefore, perfectly light inside. The roof +was domed and ornamented in the middle with a huge sunflower, treated +decoratively. The same style of decoration was repeated on the walls. +The other caves were smaller and dark. + +I made sketches of the caves, and of Rustom's Throne. + +The next morning His Highness sent for me to see the Governor of +Haibuk, who had been wounded some time before by a bullet through +the roof of his mouth and upper jaw. After the removal of pieces of +necrosed bone, I suggested that a gold plate should be fitted into the +roof of the mouth. His Highness said there was a man in Kabul who had +been taught by an English dentist, Mr. O'Meara, how to take the model +of the mouth in wax: he could make a suitable plate, and, if necessary, +fix on artificial teeth. I was about to retire then, but His Highness +invited me to stay and drink tea, and a chair was placed for me near +him. He said he should much like to see my sketch-book, as he had heard +I had made a drawing of Rustom's Throne. The Armenian at once galloped +off to my tent to fetch it. His Highness was much amused at some of +the sketches, particularly of one of the Armenian where he lay on the +ground in front of the fire--I had drawn it one evening in Mazar. He +said he looked as though he were--to put it mildly--suffering from +alcoholic intoxication. + +As the Armenian was a Christian, and therefore not forbidden to drink +alcohol, this mild joke amused everybody except the Armenian, and the +more ashamed and angry he looked, the more they laughed. Of the other +sketches His Highness recognized whom they were meant for: but those +of Rustom's Throne, the caves, and the sketch of the Khulm Pass, His +Highness admired so exceedingly, that I had to cut them out of the book +at once and give them to him. That is the reason I have to describe +Rustom's Throne from memory. + +His Highness then showed me a block of very beautiful clear ice, which +he said had been obtained from a cavern near Haibuk. He asked me to +take the block away and test its purity. + +There was another Durbar on July 1st, and by this time the "microbes" +had got firm hold of me. I went to the Durbar. His Highness had heard +that I was ill, and I told him I had not with me the medicine I wished +to take. His Highness asked, Would I take native medicine if he +prescribed it? I said I should be most grateful to His Highness if he +would honour me so far. His Highness gave some directions to a Hakim, +who presently brought a small jar. The Amir told me it contained a +medicine he was himself taking. With a little silver spoon he took some +dark-looking confection out of the jar, made a bolus of it, and gave +it to me. It tasted hot and very nice. There was no more in the pot, +and he sent the Hakim away to make some fresh. It was then that my mind +became troubled within me, for I knew the Hakim loved me not. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Courtesy.] + +Presently the jar was brought back, and as they were about to give +it me, His Highness asked for it. He scooped a little out with the +spoon, and was raising it to his lips, when the Hakim stopped him and +whispered in his ear. The Amir turned and looked at him, and the Hakim +hurried away with a very red face. By-and-bye he returned with the jar. +Again the Amir took it, and, looking at me, he raised a spoonful to +his lips and swallowed it. He then gave the jar into the hands of the +Armenian, who immediately brought it to me. + +One need not live in the East to understand the courtesy and kindness +of the Amir's action; but to appreciate fully the honour he did me, one +must be conversant with Oriental customs. To taste a medicine before +handing it to the patient is the duty of an Oriental physician when +he is attending the King. I was a servant--but also a stranger and a +guest--and the Amir treated me as though I had been a Prince. + +I cannot say whether the medicine would have cured me or not, for in +two days' time we had to be on the march again: which was bad for me. + +Then came a time, the details of which I do not care to recall too +vividly to my mind, for the "microbes" were just as venomous and wicked +as if they had been Hindustani Interpreters at the Afghan Court, and +that is saying much. + +Instead of being in bed, I had to jog along on horseback half the day. +Instead of a sick man's diet, I got a little cold meat and bread when +and how I could; sometimes after a fast of ten or eleven hours. Under +these circumstances, of what use could the Amir's or anyone else's +medicine be? + +The first day's march was very beautiful: by the banks of a river which +ran through cultivated valleys and ravines: and here and there were +cascades. At the end of the march I was faint, and the Armenian rushed +off to the medical stores for some brandy. He then sent a report in +to the Amir, and the next day His Highness kindly sent me his Shikari +elephant. Riding the elephant was much easier work than horse riding: I +could take a supply of suitable food, and I picked up again. We started +at four in the morning, before the others: for an elephant goes slowly, +and cavalry and baggage-horses shy, and then on the mountains, or in a +crowd, accidents happen. + +I was rocked along through gorges and valleys and villages. In a +village, if a wall were in the way, the elephant kicked it over with +his foot, and walked across the garden or orchard, as the case might +be. We started at two the next morning, for the road was hilly. The +cavalry horses were still tethered in line, and, as we passed them, +they struggled and pulled against the foot-ropes to escape the awful +creature. It was moonlight, and the deep shadows and gleaming rocks +and peaks were the reality of Dore's fantastic ideas. When we camped, +patients were brought to me from the villages as well as from the army: +one peasant who had brought a sick child presented me with a lamb. + +The day after--Sunday--we had to make a long detour to avoid a gorge +that was too narrow for the elephant to get through. + +On Monday morning I turned out at half-past four. It felt bitterly +cold, and I put on an ulster. We waited awhile, but no elephant turned +up. Some said he was ill with fever; others said the Sultana had sent +for him. They therefore saddled the black pony and I mounted. + +[Sidenote: Dangerous Passes.] + +We had such awful mountain passes to traverse that the camels and +pack-horses were compelled to go another and much longer road. One path +I remember on the side of a mountain: it was about five feet wide: in +one place it had crumbled away, and was hardly two feet wide, with a +precipice going sheer down. The path went steeply up and steeply down, +and was covered with little loose stones. It was no good trying to +ride it, for on account of the loose pebbles, a horse could not climb +it with a man on his back. I got off, put the bridle over my arm, and, +scotching my feet on firmer pieces of rock, managed to get up, the +horse scrambling after me. Though I was ill and weak, I could not help +a burst of laughter at the Armenian as he crawled up on all fours. + +On Tuesday, at ten a.m., we reached Kamard or Shush-Burjah, and my tent +was put up in an orchard. I lay under a walnut-tree all day and saw +patients. We stayed here three days, and His Highness held a Durbar. I +went, and His Highness told me about the source of a river there: how +it came from a tunnel at the foot of the mountain, and the water was +hot; and how it rendered the valley warm in the winter. I had lunch +with His Highness, and then went to attend to a man with a broken thigh. + +On the Friday, we started again and crossed that awful mountain, the +"Tooth-breaker," Dandan Shikan. I found that the road had been greatly +improved since I was last there. As it was, however, there were a great +many accidents. We went on to Saighan, and they brought one old fellow +of seventy to me, the uncle of the Chief Secretary, or Dabier-ul-Mulk. +His horse had slipped sideways on Dandan Shikan, and he had broken +his right arm just below the shoulder and his right thigh just above +the knee. I put him up in splints, and he was carried the rest of the +journey in a sort of cradle slung on a camel; another injured man being +on the other side. The old man quite recovered. + +We camped one day at Akrab-abad, and though it was the middle of July, +the night was excessively cold. The winter there is bitter, hence the +name--Akrab meaning a scorpion. It is about ten thousand feet above the +sea. + +We reached the western extremity of the Bamian Valley, and His +Highness's chief cook had a row with mine. Between the two I received +some beef-tea that was sour. The Hakim Abdur Rashid, having been +sent by His Highness to enquire how I was, the Armenian, with much +vigour and energy, detailed the iniquities of the cooks. The matter +was reported to His Highness: he sent for the cooks and informed +them that if I did not recover he would blow them to pieces from the +cannon's mouth. My cook bolted before we reached Kabul. I suppose his +"prognosis" of the case was unsatisfactory. I don't know where he went +to, and I did not see him again till I was better. + +[Sidenote: The Camp of the Camels.] + +We rode through the Bamian Valley and passed the colossal Figures, +the Caves, the ancient Cities, and the modern fortified Villages. It +was very beautiful, and I really fancied I was better. There were +cornfields, beanfields, grass, trees, and river. + +The soldiers camped at the end of the valley, beyond Zohak-i-Marhan, +where it is narrow. There were some camels camped here also, and +their weird moans and bubbling cries echoing back from the rocks were +horrible to hear. They sounded like the hopeless cries of the damned: +at least, I thought so--I was evidently morbid. + +Here a soldier of the Amir's bodyguard quarrelled with a comrade and +killed him. I don't know if he were hanged. + +I saw a little brown spaniel leading a camel along by a rope. I +really do not know whether a dog is "unclean" or not, but the Afghans +occasionally, though rarely, make pets of them. They more often make +pets of partridges--a speckled bird, with a curious rippling cry--and +train them to fight. I have often seen a bird trotting along after his +master: it looks very odd. + +We went through the ravine where the water dashes down and enters a +tunnel in the rock. Further on, a camel in the crush was pushed over +the edge and fell with his load down the ravine. Its young one sprang +after it. The Amir passing some time afterwards with his guard, halted +to look at the place. The horse of one of the guard was frightened, +and backed away from the precipice: the man, incensed, cut it violently +with the cruel doubled-lashed Afghan whip; the horse gave a bound +forward, and he and his rider disappeared over the edge. + +From here the road led over high mountains, and it was very cold and +rainy. I had to have occasional doses of brandy from the medical stores +in order to keep going, and at one place His Highness, when he arrived, +was kind enough to stop at my tent to enquire how I was. The next day, +he sent his palanquin to me, and I was borne along on the shoulders of +four sturdy Afghans. I was not a heavy burden, unfortunately, and they +hurried along up hill and down dale, over rocks and through defiles at +a pace that was to me, in my feebleness, terrifying. + +We camped at Gardandiwal. This was the occasion I referred to some way +back, on which I gave a banquet to a dozen men--the relays of palanquin +bearers--which cost me rather less than sixpence a head. I ought to say +that the men refused at first, lest the fact might reach His Highness's +ears and displease him. + +Here His Highness sent me some specimens to test for coal. I am not a +geologist, but, as far as I could judge, from my rough tests, there +was, in the specimens he sent me, some coal and a good deal of stone. + +After this I became very ill, and His Highness sent several times +to enquire how I was. One day he sent for the Armenian and gave him +directions as to the diet I should have. He hoped I should be better +on the third day from then, as he wished me to ride into Kabul with +him. He said that brandy was not good for me, as it tended to produce +congestion of the liver. + +The next day we arrived at Kalai Kasi, within a few miles of Kabul, +and Mr. Pyne and the two other English engineers rode out from Kabul +to welcome His Highness. Afterwards they came to my tent. I was very +pleased to see them. They were the first English I had seen since +Captain Griesbach left Mazar, more than a year before. They were very +jolly, but their vigorous energy was, to a poor debilitated mortal, +rather overpowering. I remember Pyne enquired why I sat on the ground: +I explained that I had no chair, it was broken. He also asked why I did +not have my hair cut: I told him there was no barber, and that we had +been on the march a month and a half. After dinner they rode back with +a guard to Kabul. + +[Sidenote: Kindness of the Amir.] + +Early the next morning His Highness held a Durbar, and at five o'clock +I girded up my loins, mounted a horse, and rode to His Highness's +quarters. Outside the khirgar, or wigwam, where His Highness slept, +there was erected a large red and white awning. Under this, in the +shade, were several chairs and two or three portable tables covered +with fruit and flowers. Several people, Officers and Courtiers, were +sitting there, and I joined them. Soon, we heard that His Highness had +risen, and I was sent for into the khirgar. His Highness was sitting on +the couch, and on a little table by him were some biscuits and fruit, +and a cup of tea. He enquired very kindly after my health, suggesting +various remedies, and gave me advice as regards diet. He would not +hear of my riding on horseback into Kabul, but said I must be carried +in the palanquin. He said many kind things, and finally gave me +"Rukhsat," or permission to depart, for I was feeble. I returned to the +tent till we were ready to start. + +The lanes, cornfields, fruit trees, and general freshness and greenness +of the suburbs of Kabul reminded me of England, and were most grateful +to the eye after the dusty barrenness of Mazar. + +Presently we turned off from the Kabul road; and some way off I saw a +hill with crowds of people on it. There were rows of spectators on each +side of the road leading to it. Evidently the grand reception was not +to be in the town. I had hoped to get away somewhere and rest. + +I became conscious that I was not shaven, and that my collar was an old +one and frayed. I had one, among my much-tattered linen--the Afghan +washermen dash your linen on a stone to wash it, and starch it with +flour--I had one, carefully saved for this very event, but, alas! it +was in a portmanteau! + +The Armenian said, "Sir, you not care it. Highness know you ill. Other +men, who is!" + +There was no help for it, and we reached the top of the hill. Here, +under a large awning, was a circle of Orientals, in their robes and +turbans, seated on the ground. They were the Maleks and Chiefs from the +Kabul province. At one side of the circle seated on chairs were His +Highness's two eldest sons, the Princes Habibullah and Nasrullah. I got +out of the palanquin and walked feebly into the middle of the circle +and bowed to the Princes. + +They enquired politely after my health, and Prince Habibullah, turning +to the Armenian, said in Persian, "He looks very ill, what is the +matter?" + +[Sidenote: The "High Garden."] + +Then he gave orders for me to be taken to the "Baghi Buland," or "High +Garden," on a hill close by. Accordingly I was carried there. This was +where the reception of His Highness was to take place. + +[Sidenote: The Reception.] + +There was a temporary pavilion erected, gaily adorned with hangings of +crimson and white, and with large bouquets of flowers. It was furnished +with carpets, couches, tables, and chairs. There was a part raised +some three steps, which commanded a view from the window of a little +artificial waterfall, a fountain, trees, and the lovely Baghi Shah +Valley. This valley lies outside Kabul, just north of the Chahar Bagh +Valley, and separated from it by the Asmai Mountains. + +A few people were collected in the Pavilion, and the Armenian brought +a chair for me. I knew no one, and felt rather out of it. Presently +Malek, the Amir's favourite Page, entered, and everyone stood to +receive him. He took no notice of anyone, but rushed up to me and +enquired how I was. At once the manner of those in the Pavilion +altered. When a European in Kabul has become of interest to the Amir, +every one bows the knee--metaphorically speaking--and he has a good +time. But once let His Highness's interest wane, and, as it struck me +then, the said European would be likely to have a very middling time. + +A crowd began to collect on the Baghi Buland Hill, some entering the +Pavilion. + +By-and-bye there was a rattle of kettledrums, a confused murmur of +many voices--but no cheering as in England--and the Amir approached, +riding on horseback. There was a great deal of bustle, and suddenly +the two Princes appeared just outside the Pavilion. The Amir, having +reached the top of the hill, dismounted: the crowd opened, and the two +Princes advancing, knelt and kissed His Highness's feet. He raised each +one and kissed him on the forehead. The Amir then entered the Pavilion; +walking with a stick. I took off my solar helmet and bowed with the +rest, and His Highness went up the steps to the raised part of the +hall. The Armenian whispered-- + +"Follow Highness." + +The Amir took his seat upon a couch near a large window: in front of +him was a small table with some lovely roses on it. + +The Courtiers, the more important Chiefs and I, were standing near. His +Highness caught sight of me almost directly, and most kindly ordered a +chair to be placed in a particular spot near the couch, to the right, +and a little behind where he sat. + +Then a salute of several guns was fired: the vibration of the air +making the Pavilion shake, we adjourned temporarily to another room. + +On our return Mr. Pyne and the two other Engineers arrived. Pyne looked +very smart in a European frock-coat, with a flower in his button-hole: +the two other Englishmen were neatly dressed in corduroy riding-suits +and long boots. + +The Amir shook hands with Mr. Pyne, spoke to him for a few moments, and +then chairs were placed for them near mine. + +About midday I began to feel dreadfully tired, and as some people had +already taken their departure, I turned round and asked Pyne if he +cared to go then. + +He said that the Prince had given orders that we were to wait till the +roads were clear, and I waited a little longer. Presently, as I began +to feel giddy, I said to the Armenian-- + +"I am going." + +He said: "Shahzada Sahib said, a little you stop till----" + +"Can't help it," I said. + +I stood up, stepped to the Amir's couch and bowed. + +"Rukhsat?" said His Highness. "Are you going?" + +"Bali, Sahib," I said. "Yes, sir." + +His Highness kindly said, "Bisyar-khob. Ba aman-i-Khuda." "Very well. +Good-bye." + +I bowed and retired. + +Outside the Pavilion I got into the palanquin and was carried to Pyne's +room at the workshops. + +I found him there: he had left soon after I had, and, galloping into +Kabul by another road, had arrived before me. + +He said I looked ill at the Durbar, and he made me drink a tumblerful +of sparkling hock at once. I stayed with him a fortnight, till my house +was ready. He was exceedingly hospitable, and with well meant, but +somewhat mistaken kindness, forced upon me whisky, beer, hock, and all +sorts of unsuitable food. He tried to brighten me up by taking me about +the workshops and showing me what progress had been made since I had +left Kabul, and in the evening he told me yarns and stories without +number. Once or twice it was almost too much, and I became giddy and +faint. He was very kind, but I was thankful when I got to my house and +could lie down. + +With proper diet and medicine I began to improve, but it was months +before I quite recovered. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +LIFE IN KABUL. + + The Id festival: salaam to the Amir: the educating of Afghans. + Amir's visit to the Workshops: under the mulberry tree: the Amir's + speech. Products of the Workshops. Royal Lunch at Endekki: the + Invitation: the Brougham: the Palace: Lunch: the Drawing-room: + the Piano. Evening illumination of gardens: fireworks: dinner. + The unreliable Interpreter. A night at the Palace. Commencement + of intrigue. Gifts to the Amir: the presentation. The rebuke to + Prince Nasrullah. The barking dog. Noah's Ark: the nodding images. + Illness again: the Amir's advice: the effect thereof. An afternoon + call: conversation. Illness of the Amir: the visit: His Highness's + question: the Amir's good breeding. An earthquake as an experience. + Report on Kabul brandy: Mr. Pyne's opinion: the Interpreter again: + the Amir's perplexity. The Hindu's objection. The mysterious + midnight noise: the solution of the mystery. Mumps. The wedding of + Prince Nasrullah: invitation from the Sultana: the Fete: a band of + pipers. The Prince and his bride. Overwork at the Hospital. One of + the troubles of a Ruler. Scenery near Bala Hissar. The Amir duck + shooting. The sick chief: his imprudence: his amusements. The will + of the clan. + + +[Sidenote: The "Id" Salaam.] + +Four days after our arrival in Kabul, namely on July 28th, the +Mahomedan Festival of Id commenced, and His Highness held a Durbar +in the "Salaam Khana." I went, accompanied by the Armenian. I should +have been better in bed. We waited in the large hall, I talking to +one of the Chief Secretaries. Presently we heard the rattle of drums, +indicating that the Amir had arrived. He did not, however, come in, +and I was wondering where he was, when a Page came and spoke to the +Armenian, and he and I and the Secretary were conducted upstairs to the +Guest House that I have already described. His Highness, seated in an +arm-chair, was almost alone in the room. After I had made my bow an +arm-chair was placed for me opposite the Amir, so that he could speak +to me conveniently. His Highness had been talking some little while +when Mr. Pyne arrived; he continued talking to us both for some time. +He referred to the work we both of us had done: said that it was a +means of educating his people; referred to my having become ill in his +service, and promised me some months' leave of absence that winter, in +order that I might recover my health in my own country. + +Presently, lunch was served, and he ordered for me broth thickened with +rice--"Shola." + +Three days after this, the Amir visited the workshops. I did not join +the party until the Amir had finished inspecting the machinery, but +went to see two or three people who were sick. When I returned to the +shops I found His Highness had finished inspecting. He was seated in +the grounds under the shade of a huge mulberry tree. A table was placed +in front of him on which were fruit and sweetmeats. + +There were seated at the table, on the Amir's right, the two eldest +Princes. Opposite His Highness were Sirdar Usuf Khan, the Amir's uncle; +Mr. Pyne; and the Dabier-ul-mulk, or Chief Secretary. I bowed to His +Highness, and he ordered a chair to be placed for me on his left. +We ate some sweets and fruit, and His Highness expressed his great +satisfaction at the progress that had been made in the workshops. His +saying of "My money, your work, and God's help will produce what I +need" has become proverbial. + +There were stationary engine, steam-hammer, steam-saws, cartridge +plant, a minting machine, and a blast smelting furnace. + +Big guns, machine guns, rifles, swords, leather work, soap, candles, +and coin, were made by the busy hands of hundreds of men, Afghans and +Hindustanis, under the direction of Mr. Pyne and his assistants. Since +then more machinery has been added to the shops, but they have been so +recently described in the public press that I need not go into further +detail. + +When His Highness had finished speaking he shook hands with Mr. Pyne, +and acknowledging the salutations of the others, he departed. + +I heard that a soldier was detected slipping a cartridge into his rifle +just as His Highness entered the shops, but that he was seized before +he could do any mischief, even if he desired. + +Four days after the Royal visit to the workshops His Highness became +the guest of the two eldest Princes at the Palace of Endekki. This is +about six miles out of Kabul, in the Chahardeh Valley. + +[Sidenote: Lunch at Endekki.] + +About two o'clock in the afternoon came a letter inviting the +Englishmen, Mr. Pyne, myself, and one of the two Engineers, to meet His +Highness there. A small brougham was sent for us. The roads about Kabul +are good, and His Highness and the Princes have several carriages. + +The Palace of Endekki is at the top of a small hill. In the distance +it has rather the appearance of a Greek temple with pillars around +it. After climbing the hill one mounts a flight of stone steps to a +terrace, from the centre of which rises the main body of the Palace. A +few more steps, and one enters a lobby which leads into the long hall. +This has a row of pillars in the centre supporting the roof, and is +lit on each side by three large windows. It was furnished somewhat +elaborately in the European style; resembling very much, though it was +smaller than, the Salaam Khana, or great Durbar Hall in Kabul. + +Lunch was brought soon after our arrival, and we three English sat at a +table by ourselves, being waited upon by the chief Hindustani cook. + +After lunch His Highness invited us into a small room opening into +the long hall at the opposite end from the lobby. This was a very +pretty little room: one side of it was bowed or rounded, and had three +large windows in it overlooking the valley. The room was furnished +like an English drawing-room, even to the Collard and Collard piano. +His Highness asked if either of us could play, and Mr. Pyne sat down +and played some hymns. It seemed very strange to hear "Abide with Me" +in Afghanistan, among Mussulmans. Shortly after this Mr. Pyne felt +rather faint and ill. There was no whisky nor brandy to be had, and +the Amir suggested champagne, but Mr. Pyne thought he would rather go +back to the shops. He therefore made his adieux to the Amir and the +Princes; and the Armenian was sent with him. To interpret for me was a +Hindustani--a man with more polish of manner than the Armenian. + +In the evening we accompanied His Highness and the Princes into the +Palace gardens, and arm-chairs were placed for us on the terrace. As +soon as it was dark the gardens and the grounds around the foot of the +hill were lit up with innumerable little coloured lamps. Rockets were +let off from the valley, and we leant back in our chairs and admired. + +[Sidenote: The Unreliable Interpreter.] + +Later on we had dinner out in the gardens. Afterwards the engineer, +Mr. Myddleton, asked me if we could not leave, as he wanted to get to +his work early in the morning. I accordingly told the Hindustani to +enquire. He answered that he was sure His Highness wished us to stay +the night at Endekki. We were exceedingly doubtful about this: there +seemed no reason why we should stay; but the Hindustani was so certain +about it that finally we yielded, especially as the Hindustani hinted +that probably His Highness would be offended if we asked. The real fact +was, as we suspected, that the man wanted to stay himself. + +A comfortable little room was given us in a block of buildings +attached to the Palace and built on the side of the hill. Charpoys and +cigarettes were provided, and waiters attended upon us. + +We left directly after breakfast the next morning, the brougham taking +us back. Pyne had quite recovered, and was at work in the shops. He +took the Engineer to task somewhat for remaining at the Palace all +night. I explained how we had been misled by the Interpreter. + +This man presently began to pay court to me. He came frequently to see +me: was very deferential and polite: wished to teach me Persian; and he +dropped occasional innuendoes and slighting remarks about the Armenian. +He was always hanging about the Palace whenever I went there, and with +a smile edged in a word of correction whenever the Armenian translated. +It annoyed me. I did not want his corrections. I quite understood the +Armenian, and knew enough Persian to tell whether he were giving me +the meaning of the Amir's words honestly or not. When, on the other +hand, the Hindustani translated my words to His Highness, he spoke such +flowery Persian and worked in so much Arabic that I could not follow +him. I foresaw trouble, for he was one of those who say the thing which +is not. + +About this time a box containing presents, that I had written home for +from Turkestan, arrived, and I sent to enquire when I might have the +honour of laying them before His Highness. A day was appointed; and +after I had amputated a man's leg, which happened to be arranged for +the same day, I went to the Erg Palace. His Highness received me most +graciously. He was sitting in the Octagonal Hall that contained the +pictures of the Houses of Parliament. The portrait that I had painted +of His Highness was also hanging there. It had been sent to India to be +framed and glazed. The Amir had had plate glass put over it, ordering +a looking glass to be bought large enough and the silver to be scraped +off the back. + +Prince Habibullah, one or two Secretaries, and several Page boys were +in the room with His Highness when I arrived. I sat on a couch in a +convenient position, and presently Prince Nasrullah entered. I stood up +and bowed as he went by. I do not know whether the Prince recognized +me: he did not return my bow. He went to His Highness and salaamed. +His Highness said something to the Prince that I did not hear, and the +Prince was kind enough to return at once to where I was sitting and +enquire if I were well. I thanked His Highness the Prince for his kind +enquiries, but I did not rise. + +[Sidenote: The Noah's Ark.] + +Then the presents were examined. They were not of any consequence, +but were such as I could give. It had struck me that a writing-cabinet +and paper stamped with the Royal name, might be a convenience to the +Amir. I had sent for one, therefore, and had directed the cabinet to +be decorated with an original design in metal by an artist friend. +There were various other things, all of which His Highness examined. +For the little Prince, Mahomed Omer, were several mechanical toys. The +Page boys gathered in a cluster behind the Amir, as he was examining +these. Among them was a mechanical dog that jumped and barked, and the +boys were much interested, and there was a good deal of laughter, when +one of the Page boys snatched his hand away as the Amir made the dog +jump at him. Then came a Noah's ark, with some well modelled animals, +all of which His Highness stood up on the table. A model steam-engine +excited a good deal of interest, as did the little tin men, who walked +rapidly along, dragging their little tin carts. A toy sword and rifle +the Amir decided to put by till the Prince was older. For the Sultana, +there were various novelties in the way of brooches and fans; but these +were not examined at that time. Some nodding china images amused the +Amir very much. Altogether, His Highness must have been three hours +examining everything, for I went to the Palace at one and got back home +at five. + +The excitement of the various Durbars and dinners did me no good, and +during the month of August--the bad month in Kabul--I was confined to +my bed. Just at that time, His Highness sent a carpenter to me for +instructions, so that a framework might be made for the canvas of a +full-length portrait. I am sorry to say the portrait was never painted. + +Mr. Pyne called two or three times to ask me to go for a ride with +him. That being an impossibility, he sat down and told me some amusing +stories. + +One day, the Armenian was sent for to the Durbar, and when he returned, +he told me that His Highness had been enquiring as to my diet. I was +not to have any more beef-tea, and no brandy or whisky: I had not drank +them in Mazar, why should I drink them in Kabul. I was to have rice and +sago only. + +Sago boiled in water for breakfast and rice boiled in water for dinner +is abominably nasty, especially if you can vary the diet only by +putting salt in one day and leaving it out the next. I never knew what +real unadulterated hunger was till then. I dreamed of Roast-beef and +Yorkshire pudding, of Duck and green peas, but being powerless in bed, +I had to put up with the rice and sago and--became better. I have hated +them ever since, which--in the abstract--seems ungrateful. + +One day they brought a man into my bedroom, who looked even more of a +scarecrow than I did. I looked at him, asked a question or two, and +said feebly to Hafiz, the compounder, + +"Recipe, pulveris ipecacuanhae grana viginti, statim sumendus"--"boiled +rice and sago--bed." He got well before I did: he was used to the diet. +A little girl of eleven, who had had fever for six months, was brought +by His Highness's orders: all she needed was quinine. + +Shere Ali Khan, my friend of Mazar, called to see me one day while +the Armenian was out, and we had a long and amusing conversation in +Persian, supplemented occasionally by signs. We quite understood one +another. We discussed anatomy, climate, diamonds, marriage; and I +remember we compared the customs of European ladies with those of +Oriental ladies. Shere Ali defended polygamy. We had an earthquake in +the evening--not that it had anything to do with the conversation. At +different times many people called. Some of them were ill and wished to +be prescribed for. + +[Sidenote: Illness of Amir.] + +In the beginning of September, I heard that His Highness was ill with +gout, and I wrote to ask if I should come and see him. The answer came +that I was to visit him the next day. Accordingly, I gathered myself +together, mounted my horse, and rode slowly to the Erg Palace. The +Armenian had brought me a walking-stick, so that I could get across the +Palace gardens. I found His Highness was in one of the upper rooms. +Getting upstairs was rather breathless work, and I had to take my time +over it. + +In the lobby outside the room were several Military Officers and +Secretaries seated on the ground. Through the open door I saw His +Highness lying on a couch. I bowed, and he called me in. The room +was very small, and a chair was put for me near the head of the bed. +Tea was brought for me in a glass mug set in silver. His Highness +then described to me his symptoms. He had gouty inflammation of the +right foot and knee; pains in most of his joints, and sciatica: he +was feverish and shivering. I told him what treatment I should adopt +if I had charge of the case. His Highness said that the Hakims, who +were attending him, had bled him, and had leeched the inflamed joints. +I said I hoped the treatment would not make him worse afterwards. +By-and-bye I took my leave. + +I went the next day to see His Highness, and he expressed himself as +feeling much better. The pain was nearly gone. He told me that he had +procured an oil from the colchicum plant, and this had been gently +rubbed into the inflamed joints. + +Two Page boys were in the room. One was "massaging" His Highness's +painful leg, and the other waving away flies with a fan. His Highness +spoke very kindly to me, and suddenly asked if I intended to marry when +I went to England on leave. I was rather taken aback when he asked, +whereat the Page boys smiled; but, summoning up courage, I said yes. +His Highness promised me a very substantial wedding present. Later on, +after we had had tea, I heard the hubble-bubble going round in the next +room, and mechanically pulling out a cigar I began cutting the tip off. +Suddenly it struck me I was in the King's bedroom. I felt somewhat +ashamed, for I had not been invited to smoke. However, His Highness had +seen me take the cigar out; and I rather lamely asked if he minded the +smell of smoke. He said, "Not in the least," and, seeing my confusion, +he at once put me at my ease by calling for a cigarette, which he lit +and smoked. + +The next morning early my house was found to be on fire: fortunately it +was discovered in time, and the neighbours were _not_ fined for setting +it alight. + +[Sidenote: The Earthquake.] + +That night I was awakened suddenly by an awful earthquake. The +heaving of the floor, the creaking of the beams, and the rattling of +the windows increased and increased. I sprang out of bed and tried to +light a candle. I could not find the matchbox; then I found it, opened +it, took a match hurriedly, and broke it: took another and tried to +strike the wrong end, then another, and I began to think whether I +hadn't better make a bolt for it at once. At last I got a light and the +candle caught: it was half-past one. I stood a moment or two with the +candle in my hand, and presently I fancied the rocking and creaking +was becoming less: then it occurred to me that, after all, the house +had stood so many earthquakes, that may be it would stand another, and +I waited a little longer: it really did become less, and finally died +away. The shocks lasted several minutes. Afterwards I walked round with +my candle to look for cracks. There was only one of any consequence; +but that I could put my hand into. However, I did not think it mattered +very much, for the beams went the other way, and if the worst came, +only the end of the room would fall out: so I went to bed again. + +After this I got to work again at the Hospital. I attended regularly +at a certain hour in the morning; the patients daily increased so in +number, to nearly two hundred a day, that at the end of the week I +became feverish with a Hospital throat. This was very annoying, for +I had to stop away for a couple of days. I was afraid His Highness +would begin to think he had made a bad bargain in engaging a Doctor +who was generally ill, or fancied himself so. However, I was soon +better, and on the following Sunday went to the Palace to lay a report +before the Amir. His Highness had asked me to test the purity of the +spirit, "Brandy, Whisky, and Old Tom," that was being made in the Kabul +Distillery. + +I found His Highness downstairs in one of the small rooms of the Erg +Palace that open from the Octagonal hall. He was lying on a fur-covered +couch heaped with pillows. He looked better than he had done, though he +still had some gouty pains in the right knee. + +The room was small, but very pretty. There were mirrors let into the +wall, which made the room seem larger. + +Outside the large wide window opening into the gardens was erected a +crimson and white awning. Here were grouped the officials who had to +see His Highness on business. I sat inside, near the Amir's couch, +and the air was sweet with scent from the clusters of roses which +filled the vases in the room. A few Page boys were there. His Highness +described to me the trouble he had had in getting down stairs with +his gouty knee; and he gave me further details as to the treatment he +was undergoing for the gout: how that he had been bled and leeched +frequently, and that when the pain in his foot was very severe it had +been necessary to plunge the foot into iced water! + +Tea was brought in: His Highness said that green tea was not good for +me in my state of health; he therefore ordered black tea to be brought, +and he made me a present of several pounds. + +I then gave my report as to the Spirit. It was made from the +fermentation of raisins, and distilled in a proper still; but the +so-called Brandy, Whisky, and "Old Tom" were simply the raw spirit +coloured and flavoured with native drugs: none of it was fit for human +consumption, and those who drank it became ill. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Perplexity.] + +Presently, Mr. Pyne was announced. He also gave an opinion concerning +the spirit: he said it was not good, but at the same time admitted that +it would sell in Peshawur. The Hindustani interpreted for him: I do not +know what he said, I could not follow the Persian, but His Highness +seemed perplexed. He said that since the opinion of two of his European +servants disagreed he would send the spirit to Calcutta to be tested. + +The maker of the spirit was a Hindu, who, I understood, had been +imported into the country by the Hindustani Interpreter. + +I remember that one of the objections the Hindu and the Hindustani +made to my report was that I had said "Gin" instead of "Old Tom." They +said the spirit was not gin (they were quite right), but that it was +"Old Tom"! I let the matter pass: it seemed too absurd to argue on the +point. Meanwhile the making of Spirit was to be continued, but that of +"Brandy, Whisky, and Old Tom" to be stopped till further information on +the subject was obtained. + +A few nights after the Durbar I was awakened about midnight by an +extraordinary and mysterious noise that seemed to come "whiffling by." +It was followed in a few seconds by a shorter and sharper noise which +literally made the earth shake. I had never felt an earthquake like +that before, and I wondered what was coming next. Dogs were barking, +horses neighing, and men shouting. The noise woke up everybody. We +listened and listened, but there was no repetition, and I went to +sleep again. The next morning we heard the solution of the mystery. +The rocket and firework factory in Kabul had blown up. It was not very +far from the workshops, and Pyne told me he thought he should have +been thrown out of bed. I enquired as to the loss of life, and heard +that some people had been killed, but no one seemed very interested in +that line of enquiry. Nor did I ever hear the cause of the explosion +accounted for. Doubtless it was "Kismet." + +We had an epidemic of "mumps" in Kabul at the time, I remember, and +the Hindustani Hospital assistant, the gentlemanly Dipsomaniac, had it +rather badly. + +In the beginning of October I received an invitation from Her Highness +the Sultana to attend the Reception after the wedding of Prince +Nasrullah. + +[Sidenote: Wedding of Prince Nasrullah.] + +It was quite a fete, and was held in the Baburshah gardens, about a +mile and a half out of the town, on the banks of the Kabul river. + +The Invitation said seven a.m., but I started about half-past nine. The +day was bright and sunny, like an August day in England. + +I rode, accompanied by the Armenian; and the servants walked in front +and by the side of the horses after the manner of the country. I put +on all my finery, including the medal His Highness had given me. The +garden was gay with many-coloured tents and awnings, and crowded with +Orientals in gala costume. The green of the grass and trees; the hazy +red and blue of the mountains; the gleam and ripple of the river: all +these, with the gay colours, made a beautiful picture. + +The Prince had not arrived, and I went to a large tent where the +Commander-in-Chief, the Officers, and Chief Secretaries were, and sat +and chatted with them till the Prince arrived. + +Presently His Highness sent for me. I found him seated under a large +awning surrounded by Courtiers, who were standing. There were many +others seated cross-legged on the ground in a semicircle in front of +him. I stopped outside the circle and bowed with my hat off. A chair +was placed exactly in the middle of the circle, opposite to the Prince, +and he beckoned me to sit there. I offered my congratulations; the +Prince kindly enquired after my health; and complimentary speeches were +exchanged. + +Shortly afterwards the Commander-in-Chief, the Officers, and +Secretaries came to salaam His Highness, and I bowed and retired. + +I was then conducted to a tent on the bank, which was made ready for +me, and tea and cigarettes were brought by order of the Sultana, whose +guest I was. + +Directly I had arrived at the garden I had sent in my salaams to the +Sultana. She, with the bride and the attendants of the Harem were in a +small walled garden apart. His Highness the Amir was not present. He +was still suffering somewhat from the gouty attack. + +By-and-bye Mr. Pyne and the Engineers arrived, and they came to my +tent. At noon the Sultana gave orders for lunch to be served to us. +It was cooked in the native fashion, and consisted of pilau and the +various other native dishes. + +After lunch Mr. Pyne and the Engineers went to pay their respects to +the Prince and then started for home again; but the Sultana sent a +request for them to stay longer. + +The Armenian enquired if we should like some music, and he sent for a +band of pipers. They marched with their bagpipes up and down in front +of the tent playing Scotch and Afghan tunes. There were several other +bands about the garden--brass bands and native string bands--playing +military and native music. There were dancing boys, conjurers, and +nautch girls. + +The chief men lunched in tents and the crowds of people had a picnic on +the grass; pilau and bread being provided for them. + +About two the Sultana sent a huge tray of sweetmeats with which we +regaled ourselves. At half-past two the fete was over and we came away. +The roads were lined with troops, for the Sultana, the ladies, and the +Princes had not yet left. + +For a few days before and after the wedding volleys of musketry were +fired at intervals, and bands were playing nearly all day. + +I heard a story at the time about the Prince and his Bride which is +interesting. When the Prince was very small he was very fond of a +particular girl in the Harem--a gentlewoman--and he said that when he +was old enough he would make her his wife. The girl was considerably +older than he was, and it is said that in the course of years the +Prince's views changed. His Highness the Amir, however, decided that +since he was a Prince, and had passed his word, he should certainly +keep it. In due time the word was kept. This was the wedding. + +[Sidenote: Troubles of a Ruler.] + +At the Hospital the work was getting rather overwhelming. I was +not strong yet, but if I appeared at the Hospital at all, I had to +see everyone. At the hundred and twentieth or thirtieth patient the +backache came on horribly. If I did not go the patients crowded round +the door of the Hospital and said, "When is the Doctor coming; ask +him to come for God's sake." What could I do? I was obliged to go. If +I had been strong I should have enjoyed it, but the overwork delayed +my recovery, and I became much depressed. I thought of resigning and +coming away, but I knew His Highness was not yet well, and in addition +he had just then the annoyance of finding evidence of intrigue and +swindling among some of the higher Officials: heavy fines were imposed, +and there were extensive alterations in the higher appointments. I +did not want to add to his annoyances by resigning; but to my last +day I shall never forget the weary drag of that and the immediately +succeeding time. + +On Friday, the Sabbath, I went for a ride with the Armenian. We rode +east from Kabul past the Bala Hissar, where Cavagnari was, and round +the huge marsh or lake that lies in the middle of the Kabul Valley. All +around were the mountains, and between them and the lake were fields +of clover, stubble where corn had been, gardens, trees, and fortified +country houses. The lake is in some parts very deep and in others +shallow. Here the rushes grow thick, making a cover for huge numbers of +wild duck that flock to Kabul in the autumn and winter. A great deal +of the land about the marsh belongs to His Highness' sister. We passed +her country house--a fort. We saw also the tomb where the Amir's father +is buried. At the extreme east of the lake, near the village of Bini +Hissar, the road took us a little up the foot of the mountain. I pulled +up a few minutes to admire the view. + +In the foreground, on the margin of the lake, was one tree coloured +golden-yellow by the autumn: near it were others still green. Beyond +were brown rushes and the lake. Further, on the opposite bank, the +trees, massed together, were tinted all shades of green, brown, and +yellow. Then rose up the hazy purple mountains, range beyond range, dim +and shadowy in the distance, and above, the blue of the sky flecked +here and there by little white clouds. + +I was charmed--but I could not rouse any enthusiasm in the Armenian. +Like most Orientals he looked upon an afternoon ride as an unnecessary +and laborious nuisance; still he would not consent to my going alone. + +In the autumn and winter the Amir and the Princes ride duck shooting +through the shallow parts of the marsh. + +One day, some two or three years after the time of which I am writing, +I was riding in this direction with Mr. Collins, the geologist, when, +just as we rounded the corner of the Peshawur Road, which leads off +directly opposite the Bala Hissar, we heard the rattle of kettledrums. +We pulled up, knowing that the Amir must be at hand. Presently, there +came in sight right opposite the Bala Hissar the Amir's mounted guard +of Barakzais. Then came the drummers, who rode just in front of His +Highness. We dismounted as the Amir approached. He was seated in his +palanquin, and the bearers scuffled along rapidly, leaning on the pole. +His Highness carries a walking-stick when he rides in the palanquin, +and if the pace is not speedy enough, the nearest bearer receives a +reminder in the shape of a prod in the back. His Highness, when he saw +us, halted the cavalcade and enquired if we were well. He told us he +had been duck shooting on the Bala Hissar marsh. + +It was a pretty sight. The young Page boys in their gold-embroidered +uniforms scampered about on their horses. The guard rode steadily, and +the servants, with their turbans and many-coloured garments--one with +the chillim, another with a charcoal brazier, a third with a samovar +for tea, a fourth with the Amir's chair, and so on--these followed in +great numbers. Altogether, with the background of the Bala Hissar, it +made a striking sight. + +[Sidenote: The Sick Chief.] + +At the end of October, the Chief, whose brother was at the Court of the +Amir as hostage, came to Kabul to salaam His Highness. The brother, +whom I knew in Turkestan, called one morning upon me to say that the +Chief, who had wished to come and see me, was ill with fever; would I +visit and prescribe for him. Accordingly, I accompanied my friend to +the house the Chief had taken in Kabul. A large following of dependants +and servants had arrived with him. They treated me with great respect, +and I was shown in an upper-room, where the Chief lay ill with fever. +He was a broad-shouldered stout man, about five feet seven inches in +height, and I should say about thirty-five years old. He was not alone: +the room was nearly full of people; I think an Afghan hates nothing +more than his own company: he is bored in no time. + +The province belonging to the Chief has a very hot climate. It lies in +the south-east. In Kabul, at this time, though the sun was still hot, +there was a cutting wind blowing, and the Chief and his people did not +wrap themselves up as they should have done. + +Tea, cigars, and sweets were brought, and after examining the Chief's +condition, I sat and talked to him and his brother for some time. +He was an intelligent man. One of his favourite amusements was +photography; he dabbled, too, in chemistry, and showed me a scar in his +hand, where he had been injured by an explosion when he was learning +something about the science. Afterwards, I examined some of his +retinue; eight of them were ill with the fever. + +This Chief was beloved, or admired--or whatever the corresponding +sentiment is in an Afghan's bosom--by his Clansmen. But in the eyes +of His Highness he was as a poppy grown very tall. It was necessary +that something be done lest he should overtop all other flowers. He +had, I heard, been receiving a subsidy of a lac of rupees a year from +the Afghan Government. This was altered: and while he was in Kabul, a +new "Governor" was sent to take command in his province. This was not +pleasing to the Clansmen: they did not love--or whatever the sentiment +is--the Governor as they did the Chief, for he was a stranger. They, +therefore, slew him. Another was sent; him they also slew, and the +Chief was by-and-bye allowed to return to his Province, though without +the subsidy. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE AMIR'S ILLNESS. + + Sent for to the Palace. The Amir's health: the Liniment. Questions + in chemistry. Early breakfast at the Palace. A courtier as a + waiter. Called to Prince Aziz Ullah: his illness. Illness of the + Deputy Commander-in-Chief. Illness of the Amir's cousin. A visit + to Prince Mahomed Omer. The Queen's brougham: her reverend uncle. + The reception. Lunch. The present. The Jelalabad official and his + promise. Dinner with Mr. Pyne. Death of Prince Aziz Ullah. The + Chief ill again. The weather. The silence at the Palace. December + 2nd: the Call. The town at night. Illness of the Amir. His request: + his bodily condition: former treatment. The Amir's prayer. Medical + treatment. The next morning. Bulletins. Called to the Sultana. The + Harem. The Sultana's illness: her condition. A poisonous dose. + Improvement of Amir: and of Sultana. The innocent plot: betrayal. + A present. Musicians. Amir and Sultana as patients. Annoyances by + an interpreter. A shock. The Sultana's letter: the answer. News + from Malek, the Page. Comments. The Amir's rebuke. In the Harem: + the Armenian's comments. Quarters in the Prince's quadrangle. The + Amir's relapse. + + +In the early part of November I was sent for to the Erg Palace. When +I arrived, His Highness was sitting on a couch or divan covered with +a cloth of dull crimson velvet and gold. He was dressed in a robe of +green velvet and gold with a white turban. The couch was in the small +room that opens on one side into the Octagonal hall, and on the other +into the gardens. His Highness said that he still had some pain in the +knee and foot, and he would be glad if I would send him a liniment that +would take away the pain and enable him to ride. + +[Sidenote: Questions in Chemistry.] + +Afterwards he asked my opinion with regard to the action of certain +acids of native production, and we tried some experiments upon copper +and brass. His Highness wanted an acid that could be procured cheaply, +for the purpose of cleaning copper cartridge cases. + +The next day I went to the Palace again, taking with me a liniment. +Presently Malek, the favourite Page, came out, and seeing me waiting +in the gardens among the Secretaries, came up and asked if he should +take the medicine in and say I had arrived. He soon came out again, and +I was called in with the Armenian. We sat in one of the small rooms +or alcoves, waiting. His Highness was not visible when I went in. He +was in the room he had occupied the day before, but it was curtained +off from the Octagonal hall. Two or three of the Page boys came up +and asked when I was going to London. I began to think my "leave +of absence" had been mentioned by the Amir. Just then His Highness +appeared; he was fully dressed, and walked with the aid of a stick. +We all rose and bowed. A table and chair were placed for him in the +room where we were. He spoke to me about his health, and asked me the +properties of the liniment, saying it had a pleasant smell. + +Presently the "early breakfast" was brought for the Amir on a silver +tray. It consisted of tea, which he drank out of a glass mug set in +silver, hot milk, and some cakes and macaroons. A table and tea were +brought for me, and I sat opposite to him. The others sat on the ground +and tea was carried round to them by the servants. His Highness did +not eat anything, and he told one of the Courtiers, Naim Khan, to +bring the tray to me. I do not know if Naim liked being a waiter for +once in a way, but he obeyed at once. However, he was a good fellow, +about twenty-six, and was always a friend of mine, so I do not think +he minded very much. He was very smart, with a pale blue--almost +grey--brocaded silk postin and a beaver busby. The Amir asked me to +visit the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Perwana Khan, who was ill. + +[Sidenote: Prince Aziz Ullah.] + +I returned to the Hospital, but in the afternoon was sent for again +by His Highness. He asked me to examine and prescribe for his infant +son, Prince Aziz Ullah, who, the Hakims informed him, was suffering +from disease of the ear. I went off to the Harem Serai at once, and +presently the child was brought out into the waiting-room. He was +carried in the arms of an old man. The child was about two years old, +and was the son of one of the minor ladies of the Harem. He was a +pretty little fellow, with large dark eyes and a fair skin. I looked at +him as he was being brought out, and saw a dusky livid appearance about +the lips; and that the nostrils worked at each breath. + +"A bad ear!" I thought. "If that is not lungs, I am an Afghan!" + +I put my ear on his back, and the bubbling and crackling of the air as +it was sucked through the inflamed bronchial tubes was loud enough for +even a Hakim to hear. I asked how long he had been like that. Twenty +days! He was suffering from broncho-pneumonia following measles. The +ear was a trivial matter. + +Perwana Khan was suffering, the Hakim said, from colic. I found he had +a stone in the kidney. + +The same day I received a letter from Prince Habibullah asking me to +attend Sirdar Ressul Khan, the Amir's cousin, son of Sirdar Usuf, who +is the son of Amir Dost Mahomed. Sirdar Ressul had a crippled arm: he +had injured it some time before while out duck shooting. + +I was told that the liniment relieved the Amir's pain at once; but I do +not know--it may have been merely Oriental politeness that led them to +say so. I did not see His Highness for some days, as he was the guest +of the Dabier-ul-Mulk. + +[Sidenote: Visit to Prince Mahomed Omer.] + +A day or two afterwards, as I had not seen the little Prince, Mahomed +Omer, since my illness, I wrote to the Sultana for permission to visit +him. + +He was living with the Sultana, at a place about ten miles out of +Kabul: the country house of one of the Chief Secretaries, Mir Ahmad +Shah, having been placed at Her Highness' service. + +The Sultana was kind enough to send her brougham and pair for me. The +roads were very good, and I felt very important riding rapidly along in +the Queen's carriage. + +We reached the Prince's quarters. He had a separate establishment from +the Sultana, and I was conducted to a crimson and blue tent. Tea, +cigars, and sweets were brought while my salaams were carried to the +Prince and word was taken to the Sultana that I had arrived. After +staying there about an hour, we got into the carriage again and drove +about half a mile further on to the Port, where the Sultana was living. +Here I was received in a large many-coloured silk tent by the Sultana's +uncle (on her father's side). This gentleman is a Seyid and Priest, +and is addressed by the title of "Pir" or Reverend. + +My chair was placed at the end of the tent, by the side of that of +the Reverend gentleman, on a cloth of gold. The others, including the +Armenian, sat on the ground along the sides of the tent, some distance +from us. I perceived that the Sultana did things in style. Many polite +speeches were made, and kind messages brought from Her Highness. Trays +of sweetmeats then appeared, native ones--and delicious. I went for +them vigorously, for since my illness I had an intense craving for +sweets, butter, and all fattening things. Cigars and tea followed, and, +after an interval, fruit. There were apples, pears, grapes, quinces, +melons, and other fruit. Then came lunch, an elaborate one, in the +native style, and uncommonly good I thought it. More cigars, fruit, and +conversation followed. + +I did not see the little Prince after all, because the weather was +considered too cold to bring him out. + +I then asked permission to retire, but before I went Her Highness +presented me with a beautiful little Kataghani horse, which, I was +informed, she had chosen herself. + +We entered the carriage again and drove back to Kabul, arriving home at +five p.m. + +I then went to the Harem Serai to see little Prince Aziz Ullah, but the +chance of his recovery was small. + +Then I saw an old gentleman, named Saif Ullah Khan, one of the high +officials of Jelalabad, who was on a visit to Kabul. He had fever. He +was a very gentlemanly old man, and asked if he could do anything for +me in Jelalabad. I said he could send me some honey if he wished; for a +delicious honey is obtained from a village near Jelalabad. He promised; +but did not send it. + +I dined with Mr. Pyne soon after this, and an excellent dinner he gave +me. He had brought a large stock of tinned provisions from India during +his last trip. Pastry, asparagus, green peas, cheese, cocoa, and Swiss +milk were novelties to me. He was lucky enough to get away every cold +season, and generally journeyed to England for more machinery. + +It had been thought that little Prince Aziz Ullah was becoming somewhat +better, but in spite of colour in the cheeks he had the greyness about +the nostrils that is so ominous of evil in a child, and I sent word to +his mother that his life was in great danger. He died the next morning; +five days after my first visit. + +The Chief with fever became well, but he would not take advice and +wrap himself up. Either from that, or some other cause, he developed +acute intestinal catarrh; and the Amir sent word to me to visit him. He +became well eventually, and went back to his province. + +Just at this time--the end of November--the weather was most +disagreeable. There were heavy clouds and constant rain. This is bad +enough in England, but in Kabul it is abominable. The rain made havoc +with the roads and houses. Very few of the roads were in any sense +"macadamized," and one splashed and slipped along through quagmires and +pools. The houses, especially of the poorer people, slightly built of +mud with wooden supports, were, some of them, literally washed down. + +I went about my daily work in Kabul, seeing patients, performing +surgical operations where necessary; and in the evenings I smoked and +read my old books over and over again, little knowing that the Amir +had had a severe return of gout and was lying dangerously ill at the +Palace. News leaks out in time, chiefly by means of the Page boys, but +it is little outsiders know at first of what is going on in the Palace. + +[Sidenote: The Call at Night.] + +On December 2nd, at nine p.m., just as I had turned in, there came a +hammering at the gates. Presently one of the soldiers of the guard came +hurrying to my room and said, in Persian, + +"Rise! Amir Sahib calls you." + +I pulled on my boots, threw on a postin, and in a very few seconds +was in the porch. Quick as I had been, I found my horse saddled and +bridled. I rode rapidly along the dark deserted streets, slippery +with wet, the puddles glistening in the light of an occasional lamp: +a soldier was in front and a soldier behind me. Then I heard the +clatter and splash of other horses, and looking back saw the Armenian +advancing rapidly, accompanied by the soldier who had called him. This +was somewhat of a relief to me, for I did not know the soldiers, and +the Armenian was always a protection. I guessed now that the Amir was +ill, and that the time had arrived when he wished to undergo European +medical treatment. Presently we arrived at the Erg Palace, and, leaving +our horses at the gate, were at once admitted by the sentry. We hurried +across the gardens to the Amir's Pavilion. Entering at once we passed +through the Octagonal Hall, and in the small room opposite the entry I +saw the Amir lying back on the pillows of his couch. He was rolling +his head from side to side and groaning in great pain. Malek, the Page, +was kneeling on the couch rubbing His Highness's knee. The two eldest +sons, the Princes Habibullah and Nasrullah, were in the room with the +Amir, as were Perwana Khan, Jan Mahomed Khan, the Dabier-ul-Mulk, Mir +Ahmad Shah--in fact, most of the principal officers of the Kingdom +who were in Kabul at the time. These were kneeling around the room. +Everyone had a look of strained and anxious attention. + +It was obvious that the Amir was very ill, and I said in English to the +Armenian, + +"Enquire if His Highness wishes to place himself under my medical care." + +His Highness, turning his head and looking at me, said, "Bali! I wish +it." + +I laid down my turban, removed the spurs from my boots, and set to work +to examine His Highness's condition. + +[Sidenote: Illness of the Amir.] + +He had acute gouty inflammation of the right shoulder, elbow, wrist, +and knee, and shooting neuralgic pains in the left calf. There was +coarse crepitation of the left axillary base, with cough; some +enlargement of the heart; extreme vesical irritability, and faucial +congestion; and albuminuria to the extent roughly of a fifth. His +temperature was 102 degrees Fahr.: the pulse weak; and I was informed +that he had had no sleep for several nights. + +I sat down a minute to consider what I would do. The condition was +serious: for the Amir had been ill, on and off, to my knowledge, since +September the 9th, and possibly longer. The medical treatment to which +he had been subjected by the Hakims for his complaint was, to my mind, +unscientific, and even dangerous. He had been bled, I was informed, +nearly to faintness, and leeched freely several times: he had been +purged violently and often: and his gouty foot had been plunged into +iced water. What else was done I do not know; but this was enough. + +A lantern being procured, I went at once to the Hospital, which is +at the edge of the Palace gardens, and obtained such medicines as I +needed. I was accompanied by the Hindustani Priest-doctor, who was +accused of murdering his Superior Officer in India, and who, as I have +mentioned, was not under my orders. We returned to the Palace, and the +medicines were placed in charge of a trusted Page. + +I weighed and measured the medicines in suitable doses, and when they +were dissolved I handed the glass to His Highness. It did not enter +my head to taste a dose of the medicine in front of His Highness, nor +did he ever require me to do so. His Highness took the glass, and, +murmuring, + +"In the name of God--the merciful and compassionate," he drank the +contents. + +I fomented the inflamed joints with hot water, applying suitable +medicines, and finally bandaged them gently in cotton-wool and tissue. +I then requested as many as I could ask, to withdraw, in the hope that +His Highness might sleep; and I went into an adjoining room. I did not +give His Highness any opiate or other sleeping draught, wishing rather +to trust to the effect of the medicines I had given him. I ought to say +that His Highness, with a courtesy that never leaves him, gave orders +for meals and suitable accommodation for sleeping to be prepared for +me in the adjoining room or alcove. In half-an-hour His Highness slept. +The Princes left very quietly about two hours afterwards. + +I need not say that, though a couch, covered with silk and gold +embroidery, had been prepared for me, I did not lie down. I had supper, +which was brought silently by the chief cook: and then, at intervals +during the night, stole in to look at the Royal patient. Exhausted +by suffering and want of rest, and relieved by the action of the +medicines, he slept soundly for three or four hours. + +In the early morning His Highness woke: he expressed himself as nearly +free from pain, and was most grateful to me. I administered the +medicines, again applied the fomentations and regulated His Highness's +diet. + +Everyone made much of me, from Prince to Page boy. Daily I was required +to send a written report of the Amir's condition to Her Highness, the +Sultana, and to Prince Habibullah. + +[Sidenote: Illness of the Sultana.] + +The next day, I was called to the Harem Serai, for the Sultana was very +ill. The Amir directed me to attend Her Highness. + +I, therefore, left the Amir's Pavilion and, by His Highness's order, +was accompanied by the Priest-doctor, to the Harem Serai. The great +gates were opened by an old white-bearded man, and we were admitted +into a covered portico. The old man left us a moment, and on returning, +he ushered us into a large paved quadrangle surrounded by high white +buildings. No one was to be seen. We crossed the silent quadrangle, +and passing up some steps entered a building on the north side. + +An open door led from the lobby at the top of the steps into a long +corridor, curtained and carpeted, but otherwise empty. At the end was a +door, to enter which we ascended three steps. We now found ourselves in +a large room at right angles to the corridor, and lighted by a window +at the end. Towards the other end of the room a thin crimson silk +curtain was stretched entirely across. The room was furnished very like +an English drawing-room. A carpet was on the floor, curtains by the +windows, pictures on the wall, and several tables by the side of the +wall, on which were vases, candelabra, and china ornaments. In nearly +the centre of the room there was standing on the floor a large and very +ornamental glass candelabrum, about six feet high. There were three or +four little Page boys in the room, about nine or ten years of age. + +As we entered, a voice from behind the curtain pronounced the usual +Persian salutation of welcome. It was the Sultana speaking. She had +a deep, musical voice. I bowed and advanced. A chair was placed for +me near the curtain, and tea and cigarettes were brought. After I had +tasted the tea, Her Highness requested me to smoke. Accordingly, I lit +a cigarette, and I heard from behind the curtain the bubble of the +chillim. The Sultana then commenced describing her symptoms, but the +Hindustani Priest-doctor had an imperfect knowledge of English, and +he asked that an Interpreter might be sent for. A messenger was at +once sent for the Armenian, who presently entered saying, with a bow, +"Salaam, Aleikoum." He took his stand near me. + +The Sultana raised the curtain sufficiently to pass her hand +underneath, and I examined the pulse. It was rapid (133), and weak. I +perceived that she was lying on a couch--and that the hand was white, +and was that of a young woman. I described the use of the clinical +thermometer, and handed it to her. When she returned it to me the +indicator marked a temperature of 105 degrees Fahr. + +She complained of cough, and with some little difficulty I managed, by +asking her to stand, to listen to the sounds of the chest through the +curtain, using a straight wooden stethoscope. Not knowing the height of +Her Highness, I nearly struck her in the face in endeavouring to find +the position of the chest, and she cried out: however, she laughed when +she heard of my difficulty. + +She had bronchial catarrh: there were no morbid cardiac sounds; and she +had Malarial fever. I enquired as to the history of the illness, and +the habits of the patient, and heard that she was accustomed to inhale +tobacco-smoke from the chillim pretty much all day; and that in order +to procure sleep she was accustomed to take sixty grains of chloral +nightly! + +I advised the cessation of smoking for a time, and the Sultana laughed. + +After about an hour, I asked permission to retire. I prescribed quinine +and a cough mixture; but in the evening, to my horror, I was called +upon to weigh out the usual dose of chloral, tie down the cork of the +bottle, and seal it with my own seal. Sleep! of course I did not +sleep. If a lie had been told me about the dose, the Sultana would be +found dead in the morning. + +Meanwhile the Amir was distinctly better that day, though of course +he was still very ill. The temperature was normal: the vesical +irritability had disappeared: there was no difficulty in swallowing; +and the pain in the joints was less. + +The next morning the Sultana was somewhat better. The relief to my mind +cannot be described: I will not attempt it. In my visit to the Sultana +that day I again urged upon her the advisability, if she wished to get +rid of her cough, of ceasing to smoke,--at any rate for a time. She +would not listen. + +[Sidenote: The Innocent Plot.] + +I explained to the Amir my difficulty with Her Highness, and he +arranged a plan in which she could be beguiled into smoking less. I +weighed out a little less chloral that evening. + +I visited the Amir every two or three hours during the day, examining +his condition. He still had some pain, though vastly less than he had +had, and the cough was better. + +At two in the morning I was sent for by the Sultana. She detailed to +me the whole of the innocent plot that had been arranged to draw her +from the chillim, and laughed at me for thinking she could be so easily +beguiled. + +I concluded there were certain in the Amir's court who brought minute +details of what occurred there to the Harem Serai. + +The Sultana did not seem angry, for she ordered to be brought for me a +present of Cashmere shawls, embroidery, and furs. + +The Amir that day had some burning pain in the hand and foot, but it +yielded to treatment, and he was quite bright in the evening, laughing +heartily several times. Musicians and dancing girls were sent for and +many of the chief Officials visited the Palace. His Highness did not +sleep well that night. + +The next day--the fifth of my attendance--the Amir felt better, there +was very little pain, and the cough was less. He could not sleep, +however; and in the afternoon there was a return of pain in the knee. + +Meanwhile I was nearly worn out with want of sleep and anxiety. The +Amir was a good patient, considering that he was an Oriental King. He +would take what medicine and food I advised, but I could not regulate +such matters as the number of visitors he should receive, nor even such +a thing as the admission of musicians. + +The Sultana, on the other hand, was anything but a good patient. She +would not do as I advised, and she wished me to give her just what +medicines she thought best. + +Added to all this, I was greatly embarrassed and annoyed by the +Hindustani Interpreter, whom I did not trust. He was always at the +Court; and he constantly interrupted the Armenian before the Amir, and +corrected him when there was no need. I told him to "Chup!"--"shut +up"--once or twice, but it was not enough, and the fifth night I called +him into my room, and in a low voice told him--I admit, harshly--that I +did not need either his corrections or interference: that the Armenian +was my Interpreter; and that he could hold his tongue till he was +called upon to speak. + +That night His Highness was restless, and in the morning (Sunday) to +my amazement he said he would take no more European medicine! I was +aghast! He was much better. What had displeased him? But I was worn +out, and I went to my room and lay on the bed in my clothes--I had +never taken them off--and went sound asleep. + +By-and-bye I was aroused; the Sultana had sent for me as soon as she +had awakened from the sleeping-draught. + +The Armenian told her that His Highness had ceased taking European +medicine. She was astonished and alarmed, and at once wrote a letter +to the Amir. She asked him what it all meant--she read the letter to +me--asked whether he were a King or a boy. At one time he said the +English Doctor was all that was wise and learned, and the next he +ceased taking his medicine: was he going back to the Hakims who had +killed his father and his father's father! Why was this? + +The answer from the Amir arrived: the Sultana read it to me. + +[Sidenote: The Sultana's Letter: the Answer.] + +His Highness said he was a King and no boy; but he added that there +was quarrelling between two Interpreters and he feared there would +be a mistranslation and that he should suffer. For this reason he +considered it better that he should cease taking European medicine for +the present. He was not angry with the English Doctor: on the contrary, +he realized the benefit he had received from his treatment, and would +resume his medicine when the suitable time arrived. + +That night Malek, the Page, came to me. He said that the Hindustani +had crept to the Amir in the morning, and had whispered this story: He +had implored me to give _good_ medicine to the Amir: and that at once +I had wished to kick and strike him; that I was giving His Highness +alcohol in all his medicines, and it was this that lulled the pain, +though it would afterwards make him worse: that he had heard me say I +had only this one medicine that could affect His Highness! + +I could not find it in my heart to blame the Amir. Wearied out +with months of suffering, he lacked the keen judgment that is his +characteristic. Nevertheless, in a matter of such vast importance, the +fact, that _any_ condition could place one at the mercy of an obscure +intriguing Hindustani, gave such a shock to my confidence that I never +entirely recovered it while I was in the service of the Amir. Once in +a lifetime was enough for such an experience as I had been through; +for had the illness of either Amir or Sultana terminated fatally, +while they were under my care, _my_ fate would have been sufficiently +appalling. + +I was to visit His Highness daily, although he was under the care of +the Hakims. His manner to me was never so kind as now. I examined his +condition as before, and he described to me the treatment the Hakims +were subjecting him to. + +They had no specific medicine, but administered drugs that produced +frequent and copious alvine evacuations. I said one day--in my +anxiety--that I feared they were, in His Highness's feeble condition, +overdoing this line of treatment. His Highness rebuked me and said, + +"When I am under the care of Hakims, I do as Hakims say; when under +your care, as you say." + +I continued attending the Sultana. She was much better and was very +kind. She read poetry to me, and commenced teaching me to talk Persian. +One day she said in Persian, + +"Say this ----" and she repeated some sentence. + +In my weariness, for it was in the middle of the night, I mechanically +repeated after her, "Say this ----" and I gave the sentence. At once +the Page boys and the girls behind the curtains burst out laughing. + +As we came away I said to the Armenian, "Why were you so sulky +to-night?" + +He had sat very glum in the Harem Serai. He said-- + +"Sir, you European, and, perhaps, no harm come for you--but for _me_, +Amir Sahib blow me from gun if Her Highness laugh while I there." + +I was considerably taken aback. + +Meanwhile, I was working down the chloral: I had got fifteen grains +less; but I couldn't stop the chillim. + +There was no longer any necessity for me to live in His Highness's +Pavilion, and he gave orders for quarters to be prepared for me in the +Prince's quadrangle near by, so that I could be on the spot in case of +necessity. + +The room was curtained and carpeted, and wood for the fire provided. +My servants came to wait upon me. An arm-chair of His Highness's was +sent, a table, and candelabra. My friend, Shere Ali, came to see me +frequently; and the Page boys at all hours. I visited the Amir twice a +day. Sometimes, he invited me to sit on the very couch he was lying on, +and he told me many interesting stories of his adventures in Russia. + +For a few days His Highness continued about the same. The albumen had +nearly cleared away (sp. gr. 1012), though crystals of lithic acid were +deposited, and occasional tube casts could be seen. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Relapse.] + +A day or two afterwards, His Highness had a return of pain, and when +I went to see him he said that he felt weaker, and admitted that the +Hakims had overdone the form of treatment I spoke of. + +The next day he was worse: the pains were more severe; he had not +slept, and he told me he had had shivering and fever in the night. + +The day after, the albumenuria returned, to the extent, roughly, of a +twelfth in the morning, and later in the day a fifth (sp. gr. 1016). +The left ankle commenced swelling at five p.m., the pulse was 100 and +weak; Tr. 97.2. + +Out of doors it was very cold. The snow had commenced, and it was +freezing hard. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +ROYAL PATIENTS. + + Cogitations concerning the Hindustani Interpreter: colloid and + crystalloid: the Armenian's comments. Cogitations concerning the + position: the engineers' comments. The Amir as a host: the Sultana + as hostess. The Amir's photograph. The Sultana's name. Sirdar, the + girl-boy. The sleeping draught. The tea cup and the thermometer. + The release from a dangerous position. The Christmas dinner: + the guests: the festive board: the menu: the wine: music. The + Amir's fainting attack: the remedy: effect on the physician: the + substituted remedy: further effect on the physician; the Amir's + prescription. The Amir's alarming nervous symptoms. Hospital cases. + Duties of the Princes Habibullah and Nasrullah. + + +[Sidenote: Concerning the Hindustani.] + +I thought of the Hindustani, and gnashed upon him: for the Hakims had +done much evil already, and I thought they would surely complete their +work. + +"He has allowed his petty spite to place the life of the Amir in +danger," thought I; "to say nothing of my life and that of the two +Europeans here." + +Mr. Pyne had fortunately been able at this time to obtain leave, and +had departed for India with an order for more machinery. + +The idea occurred to me in a colloidal form that perhaps I ought to +destroy this Hindustani gnat. I say "colloidal," for I doubt if the +idea would ever have crystallized into action. When one has been long +trained in the art of saving life, killing does not come readily. I +fancy, however, I must have expressed the idea aloud, for the Armenian +said:-- + +"Sir, you not kill it. You big man, he very small man. Your wish, you +can shoot Commander-in-Chief or Dabier-ul-Mulk; you not kill two pice +Hindustani--dog's son. Other small man catch it and kill it for you." + +The employment of assassins, however, did not appeal to my imagination +as a suitable line of action, and I determined to await the course of +events. + +For some little time afterwards, if I heard much commotion or bustle +outside, I said to myself, + +"The hour has come. The Amir has joined his fathers; now for the last +fight." + +Then, again, I thought this over. What was the good of fighting. +Granted that my revolver gave me six lives--why should I take six +lives? It would not save my own. And, query again: Was my life worth +six others? I rode to the workshops and discussed the matter with the +engineers, Stewart and Myddleton. They were good fellows; but they did +not agree with me. They said they should make a fight for it; that they +were worth a good deal more than six Afghans. Anyway, they did not +mean to sit down and wait for their throats to be cut like a couple of +bullocks. + +This _did_ rather appeal to my imagination. There was the fierce +excitement and delight of battling for one's life, in place of the +sickening emotion of waiting to be murdered. I determined, therefore, +to waive the point as to whether my life were worth six others, and +discuss it afterwards if we escaped, which, by the way, I did not think +very likely. I did not so much mind the idea of a bullet through the +brain or heart--it would be a momentary emotion; but a bayonet stab--it +does not kill at once; and a cut throat I always had a horror of: I +have seen so many. + +Every night a dinner in European style was brought me, and one day +His Highness asked me if I liked fruit. Forthwith, two large trays +were brought every night: one of fresh fruit--sweet lemons, grapes, +pomegranates, and apples; and one of dried fruits and nuts, far more +than any one person could eat; and my servants had the benefit. + +[Sidenote: The Sultana as a Hostess.] + +I continued attending the Sultana. She showed me her crowns: they were +heavy, of beaten gold, worked in intricate designs, and lined with +velvet. One had ostrich plumes on it, another had common artificial +flowers tucked in round the top. I suggested that flowers were +unsuitable on a crown, and Her Highness tore them out. She showed me +her hats and bonnets, handing them to me under the curtain. Most of +them were English, of an old-fashioned shape. I said they were scarcely +fit for a Queen, but she said that the Amir liked to see her wear them. +One was a fur cap--seal, I think--trimmed with a sable tail. It was +very pretty, but artificial flowers had been added. I said that flowers +grew in the summer and fur was worn in the winter, perhaps it would +look better without the flowers. Her Highness removed them at once. She +showed me a photograph album: it contained a few photographs: among +them was a copy of a painting of Queen Catherine of Russia. It was a +very beautiful face, and the Sultana spoke in admiration of the Queen. + +Her Highness asked me to choose a photograph and she would give it me. +I had noticed hanging on the wall of the room a photograph, framed in +wood, of His Highness the Amir. I said that as I had none of my Royal +Master I should like that one, if Her Highness could spare it. At once +it was taken down by one of the Page boys and handed to me. + +The Sultana asked me if I knew the names of the Princes, the sons of +the Amir. When I had repeated them she asked me if I knew her own name. +I had imagined it was not correct for anyone, not of the family, to +know a lady's name. I therefore told Her Highness that, before me, she +was spoken of as "the Illustrious Lady." She, however, told me at once +that her name was Halima, so that my prevarication was unnecessary. + +She showed me a star and a sword His Highness the Amir had given her. +The Amir was away fighting, and a rebellion arose in Kabul; the young +Sultana at once issued from the Harem, veiled, took command of the +troops in Kabul, and quelled the rebellion. + +The messenger Her Highness sent when she called me was apparently a +lad of fifteen or sixteen, called Sirdar. I was informed that it was +not a boy but a girl. She was dressed in trousers, tunic, and turban, +and considered herself, as indeed did other people, a man. It seemed +a little odd to me at first when she came to my room in the middle of +the night to call me to attend the Sultana, and coolly sat on the couch +while I dressed. I gave her a pair of braces. She had to be on duty +night and day, and was worn-looking from insufficient sleep, and she +threatened to box my ears if I did not increase the dose of chloral I +was giving the Sultana: I had worked it down to forty grains. + +I told her I was afraid to increase the dose, as the medicine was +a deadly poison, and that its prolonged use in large doses was +productive of considerable harm. + +The Sultana, not knowing the danger of the medicine, had learnt the +habit from the Hindustani medical attendant, who was my predecessor. +This man had managed, when he had acquired considerable wealth, +to escape from the country. The Amir told me he was an utter +scoundrel:--which is possible. + +The Sultana usually sent for me as soon as she woke, about one or +two o'clock in the early morning, for the chloral apparently did not +procure her more than four or five hours' sleep. + +[Sidenote: The Tea-cup and the Thermometer.] + +One night, after having as usual handed her the clinical thermometer, +I found, to my horror, that the indicator marked a temperature of over +106 degrees Fahr.! + +I at once asked Her Highness to allow me to examine the pulse. She +passed her hand under the curtain. It was cool, and the pulse was +steady--seventy beats a minute. There could be no fever with that +pulse. I looked at the Armenian, and he pointed silently to the tea cup +by my side. I heard some smothered laughter behind the curtain, and the +truth flashed upon me. The thermometer had been dipped for a moment in +the hot tea--hence 106 degrees Fahr. + +Concerning the sleeping draught, Her Highness the Sultana never +spoke to me, but Sirdar, her messenger, urged upon me frequently the +necessity of increasing the dose, saying that Her Highness could not +sleep, and was becoming angry with me. I refused to increase the dose +of chloral, and endeavoured to substitute other soporifics. + +The result was, that after about a fortnight Her Highness refused +European medical treatment. So far from worrying me, this was an +absolute relief to my mind; for the position was not without its +dangers. + +A week after this came Christmas day. I gave instructions to the Chief +Cook, and then invited Messrs. Stewart and Myddleton to dine with me in +my rooms at the Palace. + +It was a clear sunny day; bitterly cold, with a hard frost. My guests +arrived on horseback about six p.m., their servants bringing knives, +forks, and plates, cigars, and a bottle of whisky. I hadn't such a +thing as whisky, but I produced with great pride a quart bottle of +champagne that I had found in the medical stores, and which I had the +Amir's permission to use. + +We sat down to dinner. My brass candelabra, each with three candles, +lit up the festive board: a wood fire blazing on the hearth threw a +warm glow over the room: the white walls cast back the light; and the +cosy room, with crimson curtains drawn over door and windows, made us +almost forget Afghanistan, and we lost, if only for a time, the feeling +of insecurity in which we were living. + +We had soup, tinned salmon, partridges, roast mutton, anchovy toast, +plum pudding all blazing, and fruit. Then came the champagne. With +subdued but proud excitement we cut the wire and waited for the cork to +pop--it did not pop. We eased it a little with our thumb, and waited. +We patted the bottle gently; then shook it--and still waited. The +Armenian, standing by, smiled. + +"You might bring a corkscrew," I said, carelessly; "the cork is +evidently hard." + +He produced a corkscrew with suspicious readiness, and I proceeded +to carefully insert it. Oh, yes, the cork came out easily enough. It +was not the fault of the cork. But the champagne!--Did you ever taste +champagne that hadn't any fizz in it? It is beastly. + +"What's wrong with it?" I asked the Armenian, when he had tasted it. + +"No-thing, Sir!" he said. "He in Hospital 'leven years, all his +strength gone away." + +We "passed" the champagne; whisky was good enough for us. + +I told the Armenian that it was only blue-blooded Dukes like himself +who could drink flat champagne. + +"Sir, he is not flat; very good sherbet he is; I like him." + +But after he had been to England he wouldn't drink champagne that had +been eleven years in the Hospital. + +After dinner Myddleton sang with great taste, and in a sweet tenor +voice, some old English ballads--"The Thorn," "The Anchor's Weighed," +and a Christmas carol; Stewart occasionally putting in a seconds. I +enjoyed it immensely: it was such a treat to hear music again. I did +not sing myself, for some of my servants were Afghans and they were in +the room: I should have lowered myself in their eyes if I had sung; my +guests, however, were indifferent to the opinion of the Afghans. + +About midnight they departed, and rode back, escorted by a couple of +soldiers, to their rooms at the workshops. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Fainting Attack.] + +Two days after this His Highness had a fainting attack; at least he +described it as such to me. He said he had been so ill that it had +been necessary to give him wine to restore his senses. He desired me +to examine the wine and ascertain if it were a suitable stimulant for +him. A bottle was handed to me and I poured some out into a wine-glass. +It was a clear amber-coloured liquid--may be Chablis, I thought. I was +about to drink it, when His Highness said, + +"Khubar dar!"--"Take care, it is strong;" and he suggested my adding +some sherbet. + +"Chablis and sherbet!" I thought; "No, I am not a Mahomedan," and I +smiled and tossed it off. + +Sword of Damocles! It was liquid fire! I swallowed and swallowed and +blinked and gasped. + +As expressing a rapid succession of complicated emotions my face must +have been a study, for the Amir leant back on his pillows and roared +with laughter. As soon as I could get my breath I coughed out that it +was a very bad wine and not at all suitable for His Highness. It was +Vodki, I believe, or a Russian spirit of some sort--neat. + +I went on to say that for the complaint His Highness was suffering +from, every kind of wine was more or less harmful; but that, if +faintness rendered it necessary, the best he could drink would be good +old whisky. I knew that Pyne had brought a supply to Kabul, and when he +went away on leave, he had let Stewart and Myddleton have the residue. +I therefore rode off to the shops to beg a bottle. When I returned to +the Palace, I placed it before His Highness, and explained how it +should be taken:--One ounce of whisky to two of water, or, in extreme +cases, in equal quantities. His Highness desired me to show him how +to take it. It was the first and only "medicine" the Amir asked me to +taste before him. I poured out an ounce, added two ounces of water, and +drank it. Then I sat down. + +[Sidenote: Effect on the Physician.] + +Presently, I began to feel a little giddy; not that I was +uncomfortable--on the contrary; and it struck me what a good thing +it would be to tell the Amir an amusing story that I had suddenly +thought of. I remembered, however, in time that he did not understand +English, and thought that probably the point would be lost, or at any +rate blunted, if it had to first penetrate an Interpreter's head. And +then it occurred to me that Vodki, or whatever the Russian abomination +was, followed by a whisky peg, was not a good thing for a Physician +to drink, fasting. I said to His Highness, that being unaccustomed to +Shrab (alcohol), the doses I had taken were beginning, I was afraid, to +affect my wits: would he allow me to withdraw. + +"Be not disturbed," His Highness said. "I can cure you." + +He ordered a cup of strong tea, with a lemon squeezed in it, and +directed me to drink it at once. It certainly did clear my head in a +wonderful way. By-and-bye, I got away to my room and went to sleep in +the arm-chair. + +The Amir approved of the whisky, and requested me to write at once to +Mr. Pyne to order three casks. In due time they arrived. + +A day or two afterwards the Amir had an alarming head symptom. He +described his feelings when I went to see him. There was a sort of aura +passing from the feet to the head, buzzing in the ears, headache, and a +feeling of great heaviness in the head. I was afraid the symptoms might +be the forerunners of an apoplectic, or some nervous seizure. Happily, +however, the head symptoms gradually subsided, and two days afterwards +the pain had returned to the limbs. + +Meanwhile, I had got to work again at the Hospital. The severer cases +had accumulated considerably, and I had several surgical operations to +do. One was a Stone operation on a small boy, which interested Prince +Habibullah very much. The boy got well very quickly, and I took him, +with a Workshop accident case that had recovered, to the Durbar that +the Prince was holding in the Salaam Khana. + +During the Amir's illness, Prince Habibullah had relieved His Highness +of a great deal of Governmental work. Sitting for hours nearly every +day, he held Durbars and gave decisions in cases of dispute. He was the +Chief Civil Magistrate of the town. Minor cases were decided by the +"Kotwal," or Chief of the Military Police of Kabul. + +In addition to these Civil Magistracies there is an Ecclesiastical +Court, presided over by the Chief Priest, the "Khan-i-Mullah Khan," for +the Priests are those who are learned in the Mahomedan law. There is +always, however, the final right of appeal to the Sovereign: though I +have heard the Amir himself apply to the Khan-i-Mullah for instruction +on certain points of law. + +[Sidenote: Duties of the Princes.] + +The duty of Prince Nasrullah was to superintend the management of +the Government offices, and the work of the numerous scribes and +secretaries--the Mirzas. Both Princes worked hard, and one met them in +all weathers, in the blazing sun, in the hissing icy winds, the heavy +snow fall, or the pouring rain, riding on their way from their houses +in the city to the Durbar Hall, or the Mirza's offices, in the Erg +Palace. With their regular and daily attendance upon their duties, they +shamed many of the high officials of the Kingdom, and were a living and +daily lesson to the ordinary Afghan, whose motto is ever, "To-morrow, +or after to-morrow." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +A KABUL WINTER. + + Hindustani intrigue: information from the British Agent: offer of + assistance: measures for protection: further intrigue. The "Royal + manner." The two factions: Habibullah: Mahomed Omer. The question + of succession. Return to the City House and English Society: divers + discomforts: the cold of Kabul. The naked beggar boy. The old Kabul + bridge. The question of "bleeding." Disbanding of a Shiah regiment. + Amir's advice to his sons. The oncoming spring: improvements in + Amir's health. The Hindustani again: Sabbath: the Amir's decision. + The Afghan noble as workshop superintendent. New Year sports. The + grand stand: the crowd: refreshments. Horse-racing: collisions. + Tent pegging and its dangers. Lemon slicing. The greater skill + of gentlemen. Displays of horsemanship. Amir's absence from the + sports: the result. The Nau Roz levee. Salaam to the Sultana. + Amir in the Salaam Khana: reception of the Maleks and merchants: + presents. The Princes standing before the Amir. Reception of the + English engineers: the "White-beard:" his age: the Amir's surprise. + + +[Sidenote: Hindustani Intrigue.] + +The interesting Hindustani whom I have designated the "Gnat," and who, +by the way, was giving lessons in English to Prince Habibullah, began +to spread reports in the bazaars concerning my personal character. As, +however, I had done nothing to reproach myself with, I did not bother +my head about the matter, until one day the Secretary of the British +Agent, that highly-educated Mahomedan I have spoken of, called upon me +and told me the nature of the rumours. Then I was more than a little +annoyed. It was so abominable. Only the vile mind of this creature +could have conceived the indignity of charging me--not openly, but by +a whispered word here and there--with impurity. What could I do? To +attempt to defend myself against a charge that was not formulated, that +only lived, like the typhus poison, in filthy corners--invisible--was +to accuse myself. + +The Agent's Secretary very kindly enquired whether there were anything +he could do that could in any way give the lie to the rumours. + +So far as I could see, the utmost that could be done was to refuse +absolutely to allow the man to interpret or translate for me on any +occasion whatsoever. I said as much to the Agent's Secretary, and he +advised me to write at once to the Amir and inform him of my decision. + +I therefore wrote to His Highness, saying I did not trust the +man--though of course I had nothing very definite to accuse him of; and +I ended my letter by saying that rather than have this man interpret +for me before His Highness, I would ask His Highness' permission to +leave his service. + +Lest the Amir might think I had been instigated to write this letter by +the Armenian, I asked the Agent's Secretary to translate it for me. His +Highness did not answer my letter in writing, but whenever I was called +before him the Hindustani was not there. + +Events in after years, however, showed me that the Amir _did_ look upon +the matter as a quarrel between two Interpreters, an effort on the part +of each of them to trip the other up. He never knew the discomfort and +mental distress that I was compelled to suffer. + +The Hindustani then made another move. How he worked it I do not know, +but some weeks afterwards I received a letter from Her Highness the +Sultana in which she desired me to again attend her. I was, however, +to bring the Hindustani to interpret. I at once wrote to Her Highness +and refused; sending also a letter to the Amir acquainting him with the +facts of the case. His Highness answered that I might be accompanied by +another Interpreter if I wished. I informed the Sultana of the Amir's +decision, but, as might be expected, she being a woman, I was not sent +for--much to my relief. + +For some weeks His Highness appeared about the same. He was better +for a day or two, then worse again. I visited him frequently, though +I did not prescribe for him. He sent, however, to Bombay for certain +medicines I thought suitable for his case. + +One day, while I was there, little Prince Mahomed Omer came to salaam +his father, and the Amir was much amused at the authoritative way the +Prince--he was not yet two--ordered about the little boys by whom he +was surrounded. He frightened one of them so much that the child began +to cry. The Amir laughed, and gave the Prince an orange. + +"The youngster has the manner of a King," said the Amir. + +One can only guess what the future may bring forth. The past has shown +us that when the great Amir, Dost Mahomed, departed from this world +he deputed a younger son, Shere Ali, to succeed him, and this because +he was, on both mother and father's side, of Royal descent. The elder +sons, not so happy, were passed over. The successes and reverses of +Shere Ali, in his contests with his brothers, is an old story. + +So far as I know, Amir Abdurrahman has never openly said whom he would +wish to succeed him. I think, however, there are many indications +leading one to infer that if His Highness continue to reign for another +ten years, Prince Mahomed Omer will be looked upon as the heir. + +[Sidenote: The Two Factions.] + +There are in Kabul at the present time two distinct and opposing +factions: that of the Sultana for her son's sake, and that of Prince +Habibullah. + +Much as I desired to avoid being drawn into intrigue or any appearance +of being attached to either party--for the matter was of no possible +interest to me--I know I was looked upon as belonging to the Sultana's +party, chiefly, I believe, because of my dislike to the Hindustani +"Gnat," who belonged to the opposing faction. Nevertheless, Prince +Habibullah was always most courteous and kind. + +The Sultana had a very powerful following. She is the "favourite" +wife, and is most liberal and generous to those with whom she comes in +contact. She is of the same blood as the Amir, and is not unlike him in +decision and strength of character. + +Habibullah is a man of ability, kindly and genial, but his mother was +the handmaiden to one of the Queens (daughter of the Mir of Badakshan), +who, having no children, said, "Go in unto my maid, that I may have +children by her." Habibullah cannot sit in the presence of this Queen +without permission: a fact which weighs with Afghan people. + +I do not know what line the Indian Government would take; but the +probabilities are that when the eventful moment arrives the matter +will be decided before ever the British could reach Kabul. Judging by +the past, I imagine the principals of one party or other would, before +many days were over, be in jail, or otherwise _hors de combat_. + +Should the Amir live till the little Prince attain adult age and the +Prince fulfil the promise of his childhood, I imagine he would hold +the throne alone. He is of the type of his father. Habibullah, with +the moral support of an English Resident ostensibly keeping in the +background, would, I take it, rule wisely. A Resident, I think, would +not need a large escort, for a man of tact would be the friend, not the +rival, of the King; and the Afghans are now accustomed to the presence +of Feringhis in their midst. However, I am talking of things that do +not concern me. + +At the end of January I asked permission to move from my quarters +in the Palace and return to my house in the city. I saw more of the +English engineers, Stewart and Myddleton, at this time, and it was +infinitely refreshing to live again in an atmosphere of wholesome +English ideas, rather than breathe the air of an Oriental Court reeking +with intrigue. + +[Sidenote: Divers Discomforts.] + +Though I had my house to myself, and was not liable to be intruded upon +at all hours of the day by the Page boys and Chamberlains, there were, +nevertheless, I found, certain bodily discomforts and inconveniences to +undergo, arising chiefly from the intense cold. Owing to the numerous +doors and windows in the house, there was not a room that we could keep +the bitter wind out of. I had been called to the Palace in the early +winter, and had only a small stock of wood in my house. This was soon +gone, and now wood was scarce and hard to get, for the Royal workshops +had the first claim. The only way, therefore, to keep warm was to sit +crouched on the floor close up to the charcoal sandali, and draw the +quilt up to one's chin, wearing, at the same time, postin, overcoat, +and hat. After several hours this becomes monotonous. In order to hold +a book and read, or at meal times to use one's knife and fork, it was +necessary to protect the hands with thick woollen gloves. One day, in +February, the weather struck me as being warmer than usual, and I found +the temperature in my sitting-room had gone up to 20 degrees Fahr. This +was not so bad, and my thermometer would register it; but when it was +really cold, I was not able to find what the temperature was, for the +mercury shrank into the bulb. + +At dinner time it is exceedingly inconvenient to find you can neither +break nor cut your bread: and to be obliged to break up your drinking +water with a hammer is irritating. There is, I have heard, a large +trade in frozen meat between England and New Zealand, and in this +country I have eaten the erstwhile frozen sheep with great enjoyment. +In Kabul it was not so. The joint came smoking from the fire, brought +in over a pan of charcoal, but the centre, near the bone, was icy and +raw: this was not nice. Frozen pickles are useless: and the same may +be said of frozen ink: my letters, therefore, were written in pencil. +Why the damson jam should not have advanced beyond the glutinous stage +of freezing, I do not know, but it never froze solid. This worried +me at the time: there seemed something unnatural about it. I dislike +being hurried, and to be obliged to drink my morning cup of cocoa at +once to prevent it freezing, almost made me regret my rooms at the +Palace--Pages, atmosphere of intrigue and all: but I overcame this +weakness. + +Going to bed was a function; and I dressed carefully for the purpose. +Over the woollens came a tennis coat and a sheepskin waistcoat; there +were two pairs of wool socks, a dressing-gown, a pair of gloves, and a +hat. The cotton wool mattress was laid on the earth-beaten floor: it +was warmer than a charpoy--but harder. A buffalo rug, a fox-skin rug, +and a quilt finished the arrangements. One of the soldiers of the guard +had to come and put my candle out when the performance was over. + +I do not know how many people died of cold, but there were a good many +among the poorest. Going to the Hospital I used often to see a beggar +boy of about fourteen lying naked on the snow monotonously droning, + +"Az barai Khuda, yak ticca nan bidde!"--"For the sake of God, one piece +of bread give me!" + +I was told he had gone about naked all his life. I missed him one day, +and thought he must be frozen to death; but, no, I saw him again a year +or two afterwards. Though he lay on the snow, he always chose a place +sheltered from the wind, and where the sun was shining brightly. + +There was an unusually heavy snowfall that winter, and the Amir gave +orders to remove the old brick bridge over the Kabul river. The bridge +was very solidly built, and was said to be two hundred years old. It +was situated below the mountain gorge, and just outside the workshops. +His Highness considered that when the snows were melting, the great +volume of water checked at the bridge piers would overflow the +workshops and swamp part of the town. Future events proved the accuracy +of the Amir's prognostication. + +In the workshops the engineers had the greatest trouble to keep the +steam up. Dry wood could not be got, and with wet wood the fires could +not be kept going. The pipes carrying the water supply to the boiler +were constantly freezing solid, and at last work with steam machinery +came to a standstill. + +My visits to the Amir continued. His manner was exceedingly kind. He +described his symptoms daily, and frequently spoke of again placing +himself under my care. He promised me leave of absence, and said many +other things that were very pleasant to hear. + +[Sidenote: The Question of "Bleeding."] + +The Hakims, however, bled him again and again, and his recovery was +exceedingly tedious. I explained to His Highness how harmful bleeding +was in Gout, and advised him not to be bled again: His Highness was +displeased with me. Some days afterwards, however, he informed me that +the Indian, English, and Russian newspapers, in commenting upon his +case, had expressed views in regard to bleeding in harmony with mine. +He has been bled many times since then. + +Towards the end of February the cold began to break. I did not see +any skating during the winter, so that as Kabul is the capital of the +country, I doubt if this is a sport among the Afghans. Not realizing +that cold in that country is so intense, I had left my skates in +England, otherwise I would have astonished the natives. I have no doubt +about that, although I cannot skate. + +On the 1st of March the Amir disbanded a regiment of Shiah Mahomedans: +he himself is a Sunni. This created a good deal of sensation in Kabul +at the time, for there is one part of the town, Chindawal, devoted to +Shiahs, though the majority of Afghans are Sunnis. + +Two days afterwards I heard there was some trouble at the Palace. I do +not know all the details, for, as I said, news from the Palace filters +out slowly and imperfectly. The Amir was depressed, I take it, by his +long and tedious illness, for he called his sons to him and told them +that he had only some ten years to live; and that in all probability +neither Habibullah nor any other of his sons would succeed him. +Ishak, on the one hand, and Ayoub on the other, were candidates for +the Throne, and it behoved the Princes, his sons, to be amicable one +towards the other: a bundle of branches bound together was strong, but +taken separately they could be easily broken. + +The sun began to grow powerful, and the snow melted rapidly. Fires and +the sandali became unnecessary; one had only to sit in the sun if one +felt the cold. + +On March the 10th it was comparatively warm. As it was my birthday, I +went in the afternoon to the Palace to visit the Amir. His Highness was +at dinner. He sent me some grapes, and I sat in one of the side rooms, +or alcoves, and waited. After dinner I talked to His Highness. He told +me he was better, and could walk a little. He was not so thin as he had +been. After talking to me for some time, he ordered a beautiful little +Kataghani horse, brown with black points, to be brought from the +stables, and asked me to accept it. + +[Sidenote: Sabbath: the Amir's Decision.] + +Shortly after this, the interesting Hindustani Interpreter--the +Gnat--endeavoured to prejudice the two English engineers, Stewart and +Myddleton, in His Highness's eyes. He reported to Sirdar Usuf Khan, +the Amir's uncle, who, nominally, superintended the workshops, that +the Englishmen, though Christians, did no work on Friday. He being the +only Interpreter they had, they rode to my house one evening to inform +me. I directed the Armenian to write to His Highness and explain that +the Engineers had given up _their_ Sabbath to His Highness's service; +had His Highness any objection to their keeping the Mahomedan Sabbath +instead of their own. + +The Amir answered that he had not the slightest objection; and he wrote +to the Sirdar that it was folly to expect the men to work every day +in the week. The Sirdar was a courtly old gentleman, but in the Shops +there were constant frictions. He no more understood the nature of an +English workman than he understood Physiology or any other Science. I +think Sir Salter--then Mr.--Pyne was also somewhat of a puzzle to him. +Pyne has strong characteristics and decided views, and the Sirdar Sahib +had not the former, though he assumed the latter, and on a subject in +which he was but ill informed. + +When the thaw commenced, the Engineers endeavoured to make up for time +lost during the frost by frequently working all night. There was a +certain amount of work to be got through by the Mahomedan New Year's +Day, in order that a good show of arms and ammunition could be laid +before the Amir. + +The last day of the old year was a Friday, and the holidays began then. +At the foot of the Asmai mountains horse-racing and sports were held. +Crowds of spectators lined the road, and the Grand Stand was the grey, +old, rocky mountain: he had put on his holiday garb; all the lower +half was crowded with gaily-dressed Afghans, sitting or standing in +thousands in the blazing sun. + +For the Princes and richer men tents were erected on any sufficiently +level rock, and the servants, lighting a wood fire near, served them +with tea, and cakes, and sweetmeats. For the poorer people there were +itinerant cake merchants, sweetmeat vendors, and the Sakabi, with his +water-skin and wooden cup; and for those who could afford it, there +was iced sherbet--lemon, orange, or rose, in tumblers. There were toy +sellers, too, with paper flags, whistles, and cheap walking-sticks from +India; these were bought by the crowds who thronged the streets on +their way to the mountain. + +The horse-racing, over a course some five hundred yards in length, more +or less, according to the fancy of the riders, and on a hard road, was, +compared with what we call horse-racing, somewhat of a caricature. +There were no prizes and no starters: anybody could gallop up and down +the road who wished. As many did wish, and as there was no sort of +order and much reckless riding, collisions were frequent. Sometimes, +a horse and rider would be sent spinning. I do not know if there were +many breakages, I did not go and see: I concluded they would fetch +me if they wanted me. One considerable smash occurred just opposite +where I was, and the friends came and gathered up the fragments that +remained. They threw water in the face of the riding fragment, and he +presently recovered: the ridden fragment limped painfully away. + +[Sidenote: Tent-pegging: Lemon Slicing.] + +There was "tent-pegging," or something in a sense equivalent. There was +no tent-peg, but a boy's cap was put on the ground, and the soldiers +charged at it with lances. The owner of the cap was not distressed +mentally: his cap was fairly safe. The riders were very skilful in +scoring the ground near, but only one or two touched the cap, and then +a murmur went up from the spectators. The way the small Afghan boys +gathered near to see the sport was rather horrifying: I fully expected +to see one skewered: however, it was not so written in the book of Fate. + +There was also "lemon-slicing." A lemon was stuck on the end of a rod, +which was planted upright in the ground. The soldiers dashed up one +after another, flourishing their sabres, and looking very fierce and +terrible; but they did not often hurt the lemon. + +Occasionally, some man of position would join in. These were, as a +rule, more skilful with both lance and sword than the soldiers were: +possibly, they devoted more time to practice. My Turkestan friend, +the Mirza Abdur Rashid, rode in: he was not at all unskilful with the +lance. I saw, though not on this occasion, the Sirdar Abdul Kudus Khan, +son of the Amir's cousin, and Naim Khan, the Courtier, tent-pegging +and shooting at a mark while going full gallop: they were exceedingly +skilful. + +My small friend, Mahomed Omer, son of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, +rode in on a little white Arab. He was about thirteen, but he must have +practised considerably, for he picked up the cap on his lance the first +try. + +The small boy who accompanied Prince Nasrullah on his visit to England +this year, was the younger brother of Mahomed Omer. He had grown so, +that I did not recognize him on the platform at Victoria, when the +Prince arrived, until he came up and spoke to me. + +There were displays of horsemanship: standing on the saddle and +holding on to the reins, with the horse at full gallop; picking up a +handkerchief from the ground while at a gallop, and so on: however, +there was nothing but what I had seen done in England, and with greater +skill. I had imagined that the Afghans were born riders, skilful +swordsmen, and deadly shots; but whatever the hillmen, as a class, may +be, the soldiers certainly are not remarkable. + +The Princes were at the "tomasha," but His Highness the Amir was, +of course, unable to honour the sports by his presence. I was told, +indeed, that he now very rarely does so; and the result has been that +the sports have fallen off considerably. + +[Sidenote: New Year Congratulations.] + +The next day was "Nau Roz," or the New Year's Day. I was informed that +His Highness would be able to receive me at three p.m. In the morning, +therefore, I rode to the Babur Badshah Gardens to salaam the Sultana, +who was staying in the Bungalow there. On the way I met Mahomed Omer +and complimented him on his skill with the lance. He is a bright +little fellow, and he seemed greatly pleased at being complimented. He +was gorgeous in scarlet and gold, and was at the head of a troop of +cavalry, in his exalted post of "Commander-in-Chief" to Prince Mahomed +Omer. + +At the gardens we had tea and cigarettes in a tent while our +congratulations were taken in to the Sultana. I did not, of course, see +Her Highness, and she sent the New Year greetings by her messenger, +"Sirdar"--the girl-boy. + +By the time we had returned to Kabul it was three o'clock, and I rode +on to the Palace. + +When I arrived His Highness was being conveyed in a palanquin to the +Salaam Khana, where there were arranged for his inspection, rifles, +sabres, cartridges, sword-sticks, rupees, and other productions of the +workshops. + +His Highness was kind enough to stop and enquire how I was. He +evidently remembered--as I did--that at the last big reception of this +kind _I_ had been the invalid, for he asked if I had had any return of +the illness. I was happy to tell him I was well, and that my greatest +wish was that he might soon be the same. While His Highness was +speaking. Col. Attaullah Khan, the British Agent, came and stood near +me; by the side of such a splendid man I felt a stripling, for I am but +a meagre six feet with my boots on. + +When the inspection of arms was over, His Highness, followed by the +Princes and the Courtiers, entered the Salaam Khana and took his seat +on the couch in one of the end rooms. He kindly allowed me to be +seated, though everyone else stood, and taking some cigars from a box +he sent them to me by a Page boy, and invited me to smoke. + +Presently, the Maleks, and Merchants, and others, who wished to make +New Year's offerings, were admitted. They stood just inside the +doorway, and round the lower end of the room. The Court attendants took +the presents and laid them on the ground in front of the Amir. + +There were rolls of silks and satins; lamps, musical-boxes, Russian +boots, vases, Japanese cabinets, sugar, sweets, inexpensive +writing-cases, pocket-knives, flowers, and in the midst of the medley I +noticed a pair of trouser stretchers. + +His Highness did not seem very much interested in the presents, though +Prince Habibullah occasionally took up an article and examined it. + +When the offering of presents was completed, chairs were brought for +the Princes and they sat down. Why I should have been allowed to sit +while the Princes stood, I do not know, unless it were, as I sometimes +thought, that the Amir wished to guard the Princes from the danger of +acquiring a too exalted notion of their own personal importance. + +Prince Habibullah was always courteous, and struck me as having much +more _savoir vivre_ than Prince Nasrullah. + +[Sidenote: "White-beard;" His Age.] + +At five p.m. Messrs. Stewart and Myddleton were received by His +Highness. Chairs were placed for them and tea was brought. After the +usual polite salutations His Highness asked Stewart how old he was. The +question, no doubt, was suggested to the Amir's mind by the fact that +Stewart's hair and beard were silvery white. Afghans, when their hair +turns grey, almost invariably, unless they are Priests, dye it black +or red. His Highness's hair and beard were very grey when he was ill, +but were blue-black afterwards, and I could not help connecting this +remarkable fact with the many bottles of hair-dye I saw in the stores. + +His Highness was surprised to hear that Stewart was only forty-eight. +He laughed when he heard it, and said he thought he must be a hundred. + +After we had drunk tea permission was given us to withdraw, and we rode +home. During the reception the Armenian had translated. Waiting outside +and expecting to be sent for, was the Hindustani, but though Prince +Habibullah asked where he was, no one answered. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +A KABUL SPRING. + + Spring clothing: a grateful Afghan. Poison bowls. The dreadful + book. A haunted house: the skeleton in the garden. Increase of + patients. Called to the Palace: Amir's costume: flowers: Amir's + generous proposal. Troubles of a Ruler: Secretary in disgrace. + Amir's plans for the future. Geologists in the service: their + difficulties. Occidental _v._ Oriental. Mercantile commissions. The + Armenian's leave. Delay. The locusts. Prince Mahomed Omer and his + Lala. The Palace gardens. A military Durbar. Amir's thoughtfulness. + A portrait. Amir's opinion of his people: education of his + soldiers. The arrest: murder of the prisoner: the Amir's decision. + Other portraits. Ramazan. Rising of the river. The Id Festival. + The Physician's plans: the Amir's comment. Prince Habibullah's + portrait: the Shaghassi's criticism. Prince Nasrullah's portrait: + his remark. + + +The holidays lasted a week. The sports were continued at Asmai, and in +the evening fireworks were let off in the town. + +Whatever the weather may be, postins and winter clothing are never left +off till Nau Roz, and never continued afterwards. The weather, however, +in Afghanistan behaves more according to rule and is less eccentric +than in England. I became clothed in a tunic of camel's hair and a +leather belt. Around the brow the awe-inspiring turban was wreathed in +many folds--heavy but picturesque and protecting. The camel-hair cloth +was given me by a grateful Afghan because I cut off his little son's +toe. He also gave me two ancient China bowls. These were intelligent +articles, for if at any time food should be put into them containing +poison they would at once break themselves into a thousand pieces--at +least, so I was informed; I did not, however, put the bowls to the +inconvenience of exhibiting their power of discernment, for it seemed +better to keep them as they were than to take them home in a thousand +pieces. + +At this time I found that the Engineers had got a book, and I borrowed +it, having had nothing new to read for many months. The book was that +ancient and gruesome collection of stories called "The Night Side of +Nature." The narratives in it were similar to those that the _Review +of Reviews_ laid before Seekers after Truth, under the title of "Real +Ghost Stories." + +[Sidenote: A Haunted House.] + +It was a dreadful book. Read it alone in the haunted wing of a house, +and in a town full of the memory of murders and midnight assassins; +where in the dead silence of the night unaccountable noises force +themselves upon the startled ear; and see how you like it. + +I knew my house was haunted, because I had been told so. + +One evening, absorbed in reading, I became conscious that the windows +rattled, a door slammed, and suddenly, right over my head, there was a +sound as of a heavy body rolling rapidly along; and a horrible shriek +split the air. The awe-inspiring volume slipped from the nerveless +fingers (anatomically this is not accurate), and palpitating with a +wordless horror, I sat powerless. For a long minute all was still: then +the sound as of stealthy footsteps struck on the straining ear--on the +tympanic membrane as a matter of fact. The door moved slowly on its +creaking hinge, and-- + +"Kist!" "who is it!" rang in my ears. + +It was my own voice, hoarse and unrecognizable, uttering the cry. I +clutched the ready revolver and cocked it. + +"Sahib! dead man, all is buried in garden. His bones me see." + +It was my Indian cook who brought the information. This, then, was the +cause of the unnatural manifestations. Doubtless, the house had been +the scene of a horrible murder, and the criminals had hastily hidden +the ghastly proof of their deed in the garden; but murder will out, and +the unrestful spirit of the victim was wandering around. + +Now I had studied Forensic Medicine and had read Gaboriau. It behoved +me, therefore, to work out this crime, track the murderers, and bring +them to justice. + +"Ustughonha biya inja,"--"Bring hither the bones," I said. + +I know the human bones, every ridge, furrow, and knob, from the fifth +Metatarsal to the Sphenoid. Many a night in the years gone by had I sat +poring over a bone, while the stars twinkled in the heavens--at least, +I expect they did; not that it matters. + +The servant returned, and with horror and disgust depicted on his +swarthy face laid a small bone on the table in front of me. + +"But where are the others? Bring the skull, man--the head." + +"Sahib, other me not see." + +With an eagle glance I pierced him, and he shrunk back. + +"Drivelling idiot, son of uncleanness, scoundrel, whose heart is +blacker than his face--this is not a man's bone. Bring me human bones." + +"Sahib, other me not got." + +"Get some, then, and at once;" and he fled from the room. + +Was I to be trifled with in this way; to be made small and of no +account? I was prepared to unravel the mystery, and was I to be turned +aside by a servant--an Indian servant--a black Indian servant? + +But I cooled down afterwards, and by-and-bye, when he came in to +enquire if I wanted anything, I said, No! he could go to bed. + +In April, the weather was beautiful, sunny and bright, without being +too hot. The number of patients coming to the Hospital increased as +travelling became easier. I saw about a hundred and thirty cases daily. +Some came great distances--from Turkestan, Kandahar, Herat, and the +borders of Kaffristan. + +[Sidenote: Called to the Palace.] + +On the 5th of April, His Highness sent word that he wished to see me. +When I arrived at the Palace I found His Highness alone, but for one +Secretary and the Page boys. He looked much better and stronger than he +had done for a long time. He was attired in native costume, in a bright +coloured silk robe, a small white turban wound round a gold-embroidered +cap, and loose white Oriental pyjamas. + +I stopped some distance from the couch and bowed: His Highness beckoned +me to a chair near him and enquired if I were well. Then he continued +reading a letter the Secretary had just written, and cigarettes were +brought me. It seemed a pity to smoke, for the air of the Palace was +sweet with the scent of freshly-cut flowers, hyacinths, wallflowers, +and narcissi. + +Suddenly, His Highness looked up and asked me when I should like to +start for England: he said the weather would soon be hot and unsuitable +for travelling in India; and before long, storms at sea were to be +feared. + +I replied that I was awaiting His Highness's orders. He asked me how +long leave I should like; and when I said I left that entirely to him, +he enquired whether six months would be sufficient. + +His Highness said also, that he would let me know before my return +in what part of the country he was to be found, whether in Herat, +Kandahar, Turkestan, or Kabul, so that I could join him. He desired me +to draw the plans of a house such as I should like to live in, and he +would build it for me. + +If my wife, after I were married, wished to return with me, he +should be pleased; and should she after some months find the climate +uncongenial, his permission would be granted her to return to +England. Should she, however, prefer to remain in England, leave of +absence would be granted me every two years. His Highness also told +me many interesting things: among them the reason why Afghanistan is +poverty-stricken and powerless, and he sketched methods in which the +resources of the country might be developed if only his people had +sense enough to follow out his directions; but, as he said, there were +so few he could trust. + +This very man before him, the Secretary, could not be trusted even to +write a letter correctly; and yet, he said, this man and his brother +were secretaries to Amir Shere Ali; and more, they had the keeping of +the King's Signet. Why, therefore, with such men in power, should not +the country have become weak, poverty-stricken, and on the verge of +ruin! + +[Sidenote: Geologists in the Service.] + +One of his designs, he told me, was to again employ an English +geologist, and when the presence of valuable minerals was made known, +to open up roads and start mining operations. + +His Highness's words were words of wisdom: but looking back, as I do, +with a knowledge of the past, I am greatly in doubt as to whether +the nature of the Oriental will allow to any European geologist in +the Amir's service anything like a fair chance of success in his +endeavours. From the outset his good faith is doubted. I heard from +Captain Griesbach, C.I.E., how hampered he had been on every hand; how +impossible it was made for him to do any useful work; for the whisper +had been spread--even I heard it--that he carried a note-book, and if +he found a mineral of value it was not the Amir to whom the fact was +reported, but the British Government. Disgusted that his efforts should +be so curtailed and his powers made useless, the Captain left the +service. + +The next geologist who entered the service was Mr. Arthur Collins, +F.G.S., who was recommended to the Amir's Agent by the Home Office. +His experiences were very similar to those of Captain Griesbach. He +was followed about rigorously by a guard, and from whatever place he +took a specimen, from the same place an official in his ignorance +took what he considered to be a similar specimen: this was to act as +a check on the geologist! After a few months Mr. Collins, new to the +country, photographed some interesting geological formations that he +saw. At once it was reported that the new geologist was a political +agent spying out the nakedness of the land. He was recalled to Kabul +and kept, as Captain Griesbach had been, for months doing nothing, +till, in disgust, he also resigned. Whether any other able man will in +the future consider it other than waste of time to work against such +obstacles--petty, intangible, but real--I know not. The game seems +hardly worth the candle: unless, indeed, one thinks fit to descend and +meet the Oriental on his own ground: to employ bribery; or, having +learnt the language, to indulge in intrigue and trip his enemies one +by one:--not a difficult matter--for that any educated Englishman of +ordinary intelligence is a match for an Afghan or Hindustani I have +not a doubt, granted that he cares to employ his brain in such unclean +work. Pitch, however, is proverbially defiling, and the triumph is lost +if one comes out of a game besmeared. + +His Highness desired me to inform him as soon as I had finished the +arrangements I wished to make at the Hospital to enable the Hindustani +assistants to carry on the work during my absence; then I was to start +on my journey home. He said many kind things to me; among others, +that he considered me a man worthy of trust. He added that there were +certain orders he should commission me to execute in London. + +These, I found, were to be the sending out of materials--silks, +satins, and cloth; and jewellery of various kinds. My education, +however, having been medical, I was not in any sense a business man, +and it occurred to me that this was a suitable opportunity for acceding +to the Armenian's request, and taking him to London with me: he could +attend to these matters better than I. + +[Sidenote: The Locusts.] + +A few days afterwards, therefore, I wrote to His Highness, and asked +permission for the Armenian to accompany me to England. His Highness +granted my request, and, when the time arrived, generously gave the +Armenian two thousand rupees to pay his expenses. + +We did not, however, start on the journey so soon as I had expected, +for His Highness desired me to paint his portrait again. Accordingly, +a few days afterwards I went to the Palace, but I found on examination +that His Highness had not recovered strength sufficiently to enable him +to undergo the fatigue of sitting for a portrait. This seemed likely +to put a stop to my home going for an indefinite time; until a thought +struck me--why should not I paint a portrait from the photograph that +the Sultana had given me. I said nothing to His Highness, but set to +work. + +While I was working at this portrait I saw some extraordinary clouds +come quivering along just above the tree tops. They seemed almost as +though they were made up of myriads of little birds. I learnt what +they were soon enough. The locusts had come. The year before I had +seen in Turkestan swarms of little black birds, the only birds, they +told me, that feed on locusts. The Amir had made an order that all +who killed these birds were to be fined. As, however, they had a habit +of devouring mulberries as well as locusts, many of them were killed. +Curiously enough the locusts did not settle in Kabul, though on the +outskirts of the town one occasionally saw a tree leafless. They came +from the direction of Peshawur, and at Jelalabad and other places on +the way they had worked havoc. + +Towards the end of April the portrait was finished, and I went to the +Palace to lay it before the Amir. + +Entering the Palace gardens I met little Prince Mahomed Omer riding out +on horseback surrounded by his guard, with his Lala or Tutor walking by +his side. He looked very dignified and proud as he sat his horse alone. +The Lala whispered to him, and he answered my bow by touching his cap: +he was a year and eight months old. When I reached the Palace His +Highness sent a Page to conduct me to one of the gardens where he said +he should be sitting very shortly. + +We went through a passage under the wall of the fort, across the moat, +and round to the gardens on the west side of the Palace. There were +several tents erected, but the Amir's, which was a gorgeous one, lined +with crimson and white, with glass doors, was pitched on a circular +piece of ground, surrounded by a narrow artificial stream, edged with +Pampas grass. The circular stream was fed by a perfectly straight +stream, edged thickly with Pampas grass, and the water flowed away by a +similar stream on the right. All around were flower-beds and trees, and +in the distance, to the west, the Paghman Mountains, capped with snow. +Behind was the Palace. In front of the Amir's tent a large awning was +stretched. + +Here on the carpets the Chief Officers of the army were seated chatting +together. Crossing the stream by a little bridge, I joined them, and +a chair was brought. For the Amir, was an arm-chair covered with blue +velvet and old gold coloured satin, and in front of it a tiger skin +footrug. Out in the garden two or three hundred soldiers were drawn up: +it was a military Durbar. + +Presently the Officers jumped up and joined the soldiers, and I found +the Amir was approaching. He came in a palanquin with a guard of +soldiers, and in front marched the Page boys, each armed with a small +rifle. His Highness was dressed in a grey military uniform embroidered +with gold, and a grey astrakhan hat with a diamond star. He looked very +handsome, but rather pale. + +[Sidenote: Amir's Thoughtfulness.] + +When His Highness drew near I stood up and took off my turban:--this +is not a difficult matter, one seizes the top of the conical cap round +which the turban is tightly wound. The Armenian who was with me said, +"Salaam aleikoum," and when His Highness looked up I bowed. He asked me +how I was, and then descending from the palanquin he walked slowly to +the chair. I was very glad to see him walking again. It was a cloudy +and windy day, and presently His Highness turned to me and desired me +to cover my head lest I took cold. + +Then the portrait I had just painted was brought forward for His +Highness to see. He was pleased with it, and surprised that I should +have painted it without a sitting. He told me it required certain +alterations, chiefly in the colouring, and he gave directions for the +portrait I had painted in Turkestan to be taken down from the Palace +and brought to my house to correct this one by; + +"For," said he, "that is an exact likeness." + +I was at the Durbar about three hours, and His Highness told me many +things; among others was this:--There were out in the garden several +companies of soldiers drawn up before him, young men and lads, perhaps, +300. Of these there were about twenty of whom he wished to make +officers. He said: + +"These men are gentlemen; their fathers and their grandfathers were +gentlemen and men of position, but such is the ignorance of the people +I govern that not one of them can read or write: they know nothing. +What work can they do? None. They can quarrel and fight; it is all they +are fit for." + +He told me that he had given orders for them to be taught, so that they +would be able, at least, to write and read a letter. + +He had a regiment of boy soldiers--the "Mahomedan Regiment," these also +he had directed to be taught reading and writing. + +One incident occurred which may be interesting: + +A soldier of the guard, a man whom I had attended in Mazar, a handsome +fellow who seemed to be always laughing, came up to His Highness to +report an arrest he had made. He said that while he was on guard over +His Highness's tent an intruder approached and he challenged him. No +answer being returned he tried to persuade him to go away, saying:-- + +"Sahib, this is Amir Sahib's tent; the tent of the great King; come not +here I pray you." + +But the intruder, treating him with silent contempt, advanced. Once +more he tried persuasion. Humbly taking off his turban he implored:-- + +"Sahib! Barai-i-Khuda! For God's sake, approach no nearer; it is Amir +Sahib's tent." + +[Sidenote: The Arrest.] + +This last request being no more effective than the other, he determined +to act boldly and arrest the intruder be he whom he might. Throwing +down his rifle he pounced upon him, overpowered him, and then proceeded +to make him fast. Driving four tent pegs into the ground he fastened +his legs to two of the pegs and his head to the other two--in the +manner that unruly horses are fixed in Afghanistan. + +He felt he had done his duty, and taking up his rifle he continued his +march in front of the tent. But, wai, wai! that he should have to tell +it, when his back was turned, up came two of the gardeners and murdered +the prisoner as he lay. + +"Ah?" said the Amir, with a gleam in his eye; "bring hither the body." + +The soldier withdrew, and presently returned bearing the body of the +victim. It was a little mouse. + +The Amir looked at the soldier a moment and then burst into a hearty +laugh. Everyone joined in--except the gardeners. They were called +up--forty of them--and after being reprimanded for allowing mice in the +garden, were ordered each of them to pay a fine of a certain number of +mice every year. + +The next day when the Turkestan portrait arrived I set to work to +correct the new one by it; and when that was finished I copied the +first, since His Highness approved of it, on another canvas. + +At the beginning of May, when both were completed, I took them to +the Palace. Hearing, however, that His Highness was not sitting, I +was coming away, when he sent for me back again. He was much pleased +with the paintings, and taking a cigarette out of his case he fitted +it in a holder and gave it me to smoke. He also said he should be +greatly pleased if I would paint a portrait of the two eldest Princes +before I left. I said that nothing would give me greater pleasure: but +afterwards, on thinking it over, my remark struck me as being somewhat +beyond the truth. + +It was the month of Ramazan, the yearly Mahomedan fast. The Prince +could not sit fasting: Religion would not allow him to eat in the day +time; and my capabilities would not allow me to paint in the night, +and we were at a standstill. Instead of sitting for his portrait, +therefore, the Prince took unto himself another wife, and invited me to +the wedding. I have described the Reception after the wedding, in an +early part of the narrative. + +On May 9th the Fast of Ramazan ended, and on the 10th was the festival +of Id. It was a bright sunny day, which, after the most unusual storms +of hail and rain we had been having, was delightful. The hailstones of +the day before were as big as the end of one's finger--I brought some +in to examine. + +In the night, the river, which, owing to the melting snows and the +rain had been rapidly rising, became so swollen as to be a source of +no little danger to a part of the town. Fortunately the bridge had +been almost cleared away, but as it was a regiment of soldiers were +sent out to strengthen the embankment of the river. There was no moon, +and they worked away all night by torchlight; otherwise, as the river +roared along with great force and at a tremendous speed, the Chindawal +division of the town would have been flooded and the houses washed away. + +Id being a festival everyone was dressed in his smartest, and the +servants all had clean white turbans and white clothes. According to +the custom of the country I gave presents and a feast to my servants +and guard, and went to the Durbar to salute the Amir. I told His +Highness that when I was in England I would take pains to perfect +myself in the Persian language: that I found difficulty in doing so in +Kabul, as I had neither dictionary nor grammar. His Highness laughed: +he said-- + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Comment.] + +"I think not. You will take unto yourself a wife, you will visit your +friends, but you will not learn Persian." + +He was quite right. + +Two days after this Prince Habibullah gave me the first sitting for +his portrait. He sat in the Salaam Khana, and when I arrived I found +him in the upstairs room, the Guest-house, which has large windows all +round. As the light came in every direction, painting there was an +impossibility. + +I could not get any shadow under the brow or chin to give an effect +of relief, and I asked His Highness if he would sit in another room. +As the Prince had studied the art of photography he understood the +difficulty, and we moved at once to one of the lower rooms. Here, by +shutting the shutters of one window, and hanging a curtain over the +lower part of another, we managed to get a very fair light. + +There were several of the Prince's suite in the room, and when I put in +the preliminary charcoal sketch the Prince's Shaghassi said:-- + +"Al-lah! What a colour he is making the Prince. The Sirdar Sahib is not +black!!" + +If I had known that I should find photographs of these portraits of +the Princes in possession of the _Graphic_ when I arrived in London, +and that woodcuts of them would be in many of the illustrated London +papers, I should probably have postponed my holiday for a time and +put more work into the paintings. As it was, Prince Habibullah's was +painted from four sittings and Prince Nasrullah's from three. That of +the elder Prince was the better likeness. Prince Nasrullah's portrait, +on being carried from my house to the Palace after I had painted His +Highness's name on it, met with an accident and was badly scratched. +It was sent back to me, therefore, to repair. When I had it again, it +struck me that one part was not quite correct in drawing, and I worked +at it somewhat without the sitter. When it was dry I sent it in again. +The Prince approved of the alteration, and he desired to send it back +to me yet again, for he said:-- + +[Sidenote: Nasrullah's Comment.] + +"Behold! it is handsomer than it was; and if I send it a third time +may be it will become still more beautiful." + +By the time the pictures were finished Mr. Pyne had returned to Kabul +from India, bringing with him an English tailor. The day Mr. Pyne +arrived I joined the English party at the Workshops, and we had dinner +together. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +ON LEAVE. + + The last Durbar: the Amir's remark: a wedding present. Adieux. + The journey down. An awful day: "difficult hot:" the walk. Played + out. The stream and the wall. Triumph: exhaustion. The work of + the locusts. Unwelcome guests: a rejected plan. The breeding + establishment: a study in colour. A want of tact. An illegal march. + Simla. The despatch. Dinners and dances. The study of character: + an education. The Armenian in London. The "hub" of the universe: + return to India. + + +On the last day in May I went to the Durbar, for I thought that surely +now I had finished all there was to do before I started. His Highness +received me most kindly. + +I said that in my life I had filled other appointments, but that His +Highness's kindness to me had exceeded all that I had met with before. +He said:-- + +"Why should I not treat you kindly? You are a 'Friend of my Heart.' I +say this not to give you pleasure, but because I mean it." + +I replied that I felt the honour he did me deeply, for I was his +servant and he a King. He said:-- + +"I have seen many men: high and low; rich and poor; men of noble +descent, and men of obscure birth; but I call no man a friend of my +heart till I have watched his deeds. I judge a man by his deeds, and +not by his words, and again I address you as a Friend of my Heart." + +His Highness desired me to take eight months' leave; my pay was to +continue during my absence, and, in addition, he gave me as a wedding +present an order upon his Agent with the Government in India for a +considerable sum of money. + +The Armenian, who was to accompany me, received written instructions +relating to the commissions the Amir wished executed in London. During +his absence his salary would be paid to his wife in Kabul. + +[Sidenote: Adieux.] + +The next day my packing was done. Firmans for pack-horses, tents, and +guard procured, and I took a formal leave of His Highness the Amir. + +I visited Prince Habibullah, who received me most kindly, and after he +had conversed with me for about an hour I took leave of him. I then +rode out to Aliabad, a few miles out of Kabul, where Her Highness the +Sultana was staying, and sent in my salaams to her and the little +Prince Mahomed Omer. Her Highness sent a large tray of sweetmeats, and +presented me with some very beautiful embroidered cashmere. + +On June 4th, after a good-bye to Mr. Pyne and the other Englishmen, I +started on my journey home. I will not trace the journey in detail: it +was excessively hot, and I will merely mention one or two incidents +that occurred. + +One day the march was particularly trying. We were at Borikab. I +had breakfast at dawn--three small poached-eggs and some tea. The +baggage and tents were sent off, and when the sun rose we started +gaily. Gaily--_I_--poor fool! little did I know--but you shall hear. +We trotted and trotted, and shuffled and climbed by mountain and +gorge, over pebble and rock, until at midday we reached Jigdilik. We +descended, and sat in the valley in the cool shade of the big trees +and had lunch. Mine was a hard-boiled egg from my holster, a piece +of native bread, and some tea. I thought the march was over, and lay +basking in the shade. Was ever mortal so deluded! + +"Sir, please you get up and start; a long way we go to-day,"--thus the +Armenian after an hour. + +"Start!! man alive, we started hours ago: you are not going any further +to-day, surely." + +"Sir, we must make haste. Between Dacca and Lalpur, this month is very +difficult hot: and slowly by slowly it makes hotter. Better this, we +get through it soon: you European." + +Immortal Pluto! not the Turkestan plains over again! + +"Come along, then," said I, jumping up, "let us start at once," and we +started. + +Along the narrow rocky ravine we rode--just after midday in June--and +the sun shot down at us. It dried our blood, and the glare burnt into +our brain, at any rate, into mine; I don't know about the cast-iron +Afghans. + +Up the long winding gorge we climbed, and at the summit the breeze +struck us. We caught a few long breaths of coolness, then plunged into +another long winding descent with precipitous rocks on either side. On +and on we trudged, hour after hour, still at last my bodily powers +gave out. This, by the way, was the road that Brydon went over. + +[Sidenote: Played Out.] + +Ride further I could not, for I had not recovered my strength since +last year's illness. Nine stone five pounds is not adequate for a man +of my height: it does not leave enough available muscle. Nevertheless, +no one, who is not a Salamander--an amphibious animal, allied to the +newts, and capable of living in fire--can comfortably rest on burning +rocks. There was no shade of any sort, not a tree, nothing, but glaring +rocks and stones. I got off my horse therefore, and walked. I was +conscious at the time that the Afghan guard thought the sun had made +me mad, and as they eyed me suspiciously, I tried to assume a fierce +aspect, and stalked along down hill at the rate of five miles an hour. +The change of motion rested the muscles, and the guard on horseback +came shuffling along hastily behind me. Then came a climb, and I got on +again refreshed and perspiring, but more internally weary, as I found +after riding twenty minutes. Over the rest of the march I will draw the +veil of forgetfulness. It was too terrible for words. + +In the evening, we reached Gundamuk. I perceived that my tent was +being put up in a garden, and between me and that garden were a stream +and a wall. I had dismounted, my horse had been led away, and I was +standing on my own legs. I had but little faith in them, for they +seemed inclined to fail me in my hour of need. There was the wall, +staring me in the face, to say nothing of the stream. True, the stream +was but a foot wide, and the wall had a gap in it, nevertheless, they +were difficulties to be overcome. There were two courses open to me: +one was to sit on the ground where I was, and wait until someone could +come and help me across: another was to take time by the forelock and +get across myself somehow or other. Everyone was busy with the baggage +and tents, and no one seemed to perceive my dilemma: therefore, being +resolute by nature, I determined upon the latter course, and stood for +a time considering how I would accomplish it. + +Staggering boldly to the stream, I allowed myself to fall forwards till +I caught the wall with both hands; clinging on and clenching my teeth I +gave a vigorous heave to one leg, and in a moment was astride the gap: +nerving myself for another violent effort I swung the other leg over. + +I had conquered, and, moreover, without experiencing the loss of +dignity that a fall in the stream would have occasioned. Exhilarated +by my success, I reeled into the tent and sank on the carpet. "Sank," +perhaps, hardly gives the correct impression, for as soon as the legs +were bent at the knee I sat down with disagreeable suddenness. I +then proceeded to drink large quantities of liquid--tea, water, and +sherbet--and when my charpoy was brought into the tent I climbed on +to it and lay down, hoping to lose my senses in forgetfulness. It was +without avail, and I rolled from side to side seeking rest and finding +none. + +In the course of three hours the unwilling fowl was caught, killed, and +cooked, and I made a tough, moist meal. But now I could rest, and no +longer in vain did I court the Goddess of sleep. + +[Sidenote: Unwelcome Guests.] + +Further on in our march we found the locusts had been at work. Around +Jelalabad the country in spite of the heat had the appearance of +winter: the trees were bare. In the Palace gardens the oranges hung +nearly ripe, but every leaf had gone. When we arrived there we had +afternoon tea in the Guest-house at the Palace, and afterwards rode on +some few miles beyond Jelalabad, where we camped. + +I had dinner in the open and then went into my tent to lie down: but +I came out again--quickly. The locusts had invaded it and had crawled +up inside the tent and over the charpoy, so that all was green--a +beautiful green shot with pink: but it gave me no pleasure, the colour +seemed out of place. Moreover, I could not lie down without crunching +my unwelcome guests; and no host, I take it, cares to lie upon the +mangled remains of guests, be they never so unwelcome. + +We had noticed that day as we travelled along that a careful peasant +had dug a shallow pond at the foot of a beautiful mulberry tree. The +locusts had perforce spared that tree: they might have tumbled off and +they cannot swim; but they had spitefully nipped off every leaf that +spread beyond the water. A shallow pond, therefore, was dug some little +distance away in the hard-baked earth for my charpoy to stand in, and +since we could not get the locusts out of the tent, we determined to +take the tent away from the locusts. On further consideration, however, +it seemed likely, and indeed the Armenian insisted very strongly on the +point, that if I lay all night with my bed in a pond I should wake +up in the morning with fever or rheumatism, or something disagreeable +which would be likely to hinder our journey. + +We left the pond, therefore, and moved away to a bare open space +with never a blade of grass nor a leaf anywhere near. Here my tent +was pitched, and with a feeling of restful security I sat upon my +charpoy and enjoyed the cool of the evening. A tickling sensation at +the back of the neck caused me to raise my hand, and I brushed away +a great locust. Ach! the beasts were all over me: they seemed to be +evolved spontaneously out of nothing. They were not so, however, for +on the mountains outside Kabul we saw myriads of the young locusts +about the size of black ants hopping about in the warm sand. This was +one of their breeding establishments where the eggs are hatched. The +life-history of the locust may be looked upon as an interesting study +in colour, for when he is a babe he is black, as a youth he is pink, +and in adult age green. Two and a-half inches is his length, but he +looks longer: he is all legs and wings. As a creature that crawls I +object to him. + +I called for assistance, and the tent was cleared: but they have no +tact, these Locusts, and they came in again and again like so many +Afghan Page boys, welcome or not. I spent an active and shuddering +evening brushing them off my neck, shoulders, and wrists. At last in +despair I covered my head over with a sheet and went to sleep, dreaming +I was being crawled over by scorpions and centipedes. + +When we got to the "difficult hot" place (_sakht_, hard, difficult, +severe) between Lalpur and Dacca, the sky was cloudy, and a strong +wind blew. The dust was awful, but safer than the sun. + +[Sidenote: The Despatch.] + +We went through the Khyber on a closed day, which, I found afterwards, +is illegal. The chief of the Khyber Pathans had been a friend of the +Armenian's father, and he ordered out the guard of the Pass for us, +so that we could travel on instead of waiting two or three days. At +Jumrood, the end of the Pass, we were stopped by the order of the +British Frontier Officer, and I heard that, if I had been in the +service of the Government, I should have been liable to imprisonment in +the fort for travelling on the wrong day. However, we were allowed to +proceed. + +In Peshawur I got rid of my horses: tipped my Afghan guard, and took +the train to Simla to deliver a Despatch to His Excellency the Viceroy +that His Highness the Amir had entrusted me with. + +The despatch contained nothing political, but simply concerned me +personally. The Foreign Secretary kindly gave me a translation of it. +This is how it runs:-- + + (Copy.) "FOREIGN OFFICE, INDIA. + +"Translation of a letter from His Highness the Amir of Afghanistan and +its Dependencies to the address of His Excellency the Viceroy, dated +the 24th of Showal, 1308 H., corresponding to the 2nd of June, 1891. + +"After compliments. + +"I have the honour to inform your Excellency that Dr. John Gray has +asked me for some months' leave in view to proceed to England and +celebrate his marriage, and, after settling his own domestic affairs, +to return to me. + +"I have, therefore, given him eight months' leave, and it has been +settled with him that he should come back to Kabul at the appointed +time. + +"This has been written only for your Excellency's information, so that +your Excellency may be aware of the circumstance and the manner of +leave of Dr. Gray. Of course, he will do everything which he thinks +necessary for his domestic affairs during the period of his leave, and, +having satisfied himself, he will, at the approach of the appointed +period, start to come to Kabul in a happy and hopeful state of mind." + +It will be unnecessary to give details of the gay time we had in Simla. +Colonel Wali Ahmad Khan, the Amir's Agent with the Government of India, +had received orders from the Amir to invite me to the bungalow that the +Government had placed at his disposal. I stayed with him, therefore, +taking the Armenian and my Indian cook. I had my formal interview +with the Viceroy, dined with His Excellency: went to several dances +at the Viceregal Lodge: was introduced to Lord Roberts, Lord William +Beresford, the Quartermaster-General, and other gentlemen: went to +numerous dinners, and, after a fortnight's gaiety, departed for Bombay, +where, accompanied by the Armenian, I took ship for London. + +In India I had been struck by the remarkable whiteness of an +Englishman's skin: in London I thought I knew every second man I met. +However, I soon came to the conclusion that it must be the type I was +familiar with, not the individual. + +The next thing that appealed to me, after I had got over the +strangeness of seeing "Sahibs" drive cabs, heave baggage about, and +take "tips," was the quaint irregularity of an Englishman's features: +I do not remember noticing that English ladies appeared in the same +light: on the contrary,--and the Armenian agreed with me. + +[Sidenote: The Armenian in London.] + +I think the study of character and the endeavouring to form conclusions +as to the course of action that will probably be taken up by any +given individual under different circumstances, is one of the most +fascinating of studies. Here was a case at hand, under my own eye, as +it were. + +I had studied the Armenian for a couple of years or so and had come to +conclusions. I knew what he would do, and I would watch the development +of his character under the altered circumstances of life in England. I +would observe the enlargement of his mind as I gradually fed it with +greater and greater wonders. + +In India I had thought I would spare him as much as possible on the +journey, lest he became bewildered by the traffic and the bustle of the +railway, but, somehow, it did not seem to be necessary. + +He bought a satchel, slung it over his shoulder, asked for the +money--which he kept--took my ticket; paid the hotel bills; looked +after my baggage; chose the best seat in the railway carriage for me; +bullied other people's servants if they tried to take the seat for +their masters,--I heard one man, a Civil Service official, say, "I +fancy the Amir in all his glory must be coming down in this train"--and +altogether he behaved as if he knew all about it. However, I thought, +when we get to the sea and the great floating Hotel, the P. & O. boat, +the education will begin. He will be astonished. Perhaps he was, but +I did not see it. He took everything as a matter of course; apparently +he knew it all before; doubtless in some other cycle of existence. He +wasn't even sea-sick. + +London, with its thousands, its grandeur, its turmoil of business, this +will take him aback: the wonder of it must needs appal him. + +Appal! He hadn't been in London a fortnight before he could tell me +what 'bus to take and what the fare was. He knew all about the "Inner +and Outer Circles," which is more than I do; and before long could give +an opinion on the relative merits of a considerable number of the music +halls and theatres in the Metropolis. + +It was I who was bewildered, not he. What manner of man is this, I +thought, will nothing astonish him? + +I got orders from the Government for him to visit the Mint, +Woolwich Arsenal, and other places, and he compared them to similar +establishments in Afghanistan, to the disparagement of the English +ones! I took him to Whiteley's, saying, in a casual way, "This is an +English shop." He took it quietly, but before he left he had accepted +an invitation to a banquet at the Metropole that the employees at that +establishment were giving. Moreover, at the dinner he got up and made a +fluent speech! + +At my wedding he created a great sensation. He appeared before us on +that occasion in Afghan costume, and attracted, next to the bride, +by far the greatest amount of attention: _I_ was a necessary, but +unnoticeable appendage: a sort of after thought; and all the little +girls fell in love with him. After the ceremony he came into the Vestry +and signed his name, in Persian, in the Register as witness. He said it +was Persian, but it was hard to tell. He explained the peculiarity of +his writing by stating that a warrior is not a clerk. + +[Sidenote: Return to India.] + +It came though--the wonder and the awe: and I look back with pride upon +that day. + +I took him to the Crystal Palace and showed him the display of +fireworks at Brock's benefit. + +"Is this anything?" I asked, feebly and almost in despair. He admitted +it: "Yes!" he said,--this was really fine: even his father had never +seen anything like it. + +It was _my_ education that was being completed, my mind that was +developing, and as I sat and looked at the Oriental, I felt that +perhaps this great London was, after all, _not_ the "hub of the +Universe." I was bewildered. What was the "hub!" Was it Kabul? + +When my leave drew to a close, I bade adieu to my little wife, and +sailed for Bombay. It was as well for the Armenian that we went, for, +somehow, he seemed almost a wreck when we got on board. I said as much +to him, and he accounted for his condition by saying that the climate +of England was too strong for him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE WELCOME TO KABUL. + + Pathan rifle thieves. Dacca. The midnight alarm: the melee: the + accident: rescued. "Bally rascals:" attempted explanation. The + next morning. What it was all about. The terror of the Amir's + name. Running postmen. Kabul post. Arrival. Armenian's opinion of + London. Changes in the English "staff." Visitors: letters. Lady + doctor's application. Salaam to the Amir. His Highness's welcome: + his conversation. The military Durbar. Presents. The new British + Agent. Visit to the Sultana. Salaam to Prince Habibullah. His + conversation. Another visit to the Amir: his appreciation of scenic + effect. His answer to the lady doctor's application. + + +At Peshawur I found a very kind letter from His Highness waiting for +me, with an order for as many horses as I needed. The guard were to +meet me at Lundi Kotal Serai. + +I will not trace the journey in detail, though one incident that +occurred may be worth relating, showing as it does what miracles may +be worked by the magic of the Amir's name. I had some English firearms +with me--a couple of rifles and a shot gun--packed in cases, which I +wished to present to the Amir, and when we reached Dacca the Armenian +was considerably disturbed in his mind concerning the safety of these +weapons. The neighbouring Pathans, he said, were exceedingly clever +thieves, and they had a curious passion for English rifles. + +In the evening he told me several interesting stories, laughable in +their cleverness, of the way in which these Pathans managed to obtain +from Peshawur weapons of English manufacture. + +[Sidenote: The Midnight Alarm.] + +The tents had been put up facing the river on the edge of the high +bank, in order to catch as much breeze as possible. The Armenian's tent +was just at a corner where a nullah or dry water-course cut the bank; +mine was next. The nullah was perhaps twelve feet deep, and the bank of +the river some twenty feet above the surface of the water. + +I turned in about ten o'clock and slept soundly till about midnight, +when I was awakened suddenly by the sound of a scuffle. Instantly it +occurred to me, "the Shenwarris are after my guns." + +I threw a cloak round me and stepped out of the tent. It was very dark, +but there appeared to be a free fight going on. I could dimly make +out a body of men struggling, could hear the thuds of blows and the +Armenian's voluminous voice roaring in manifest rage. There were no +reports of firearms, but it occurred to me as an advisable precaution +to be possessed of a revolver before entering the _melee_. Mine, a +heavy one, had been carried by the Armenian the day before, and since +he was not using it I concluded it must be in his tent. Hastily, +therefore, so as not to be out of the fun, I made for his tent. +Remembering the high bank and the rapid river below, I groped round the +back of the tent, stumbling over the ropes, until--down I went. I had +forgotten all about the nullah. Instinctively throwing out a hand, I +caught a tent-peg. It cracked dangerously at the sudden jerk, and for +a moment I was hanging over the edge at arm's length on this rickety +concern; then I found my feet resting on a ledge. I was very annoyed +at being so entirely shelved, and was considering how I could get out +of the position with dignity and honour, when I heard the sound of some +one running and the Armenian's voice calling, + +"Sir! Sir! Where are you?" + +I answered, as it were, from the bowels of the earth, and when he had +localized my whereabouts he hauled me up. I had to leave my dignity +behind. He said-- + +"Sir, please, you go back, you not trouble; _I_ manage these bally +rascal: these dogs' sons. A little I afraid you get hurt." + +Of course, I was not going back to my tent until I knew what the row +was all about. + +A light was brought. The Colonel commanding the station, and a crowd +of people, all more or less excited, were to be seen. They pulled +out a charpoy from one of the tents for me to sit on, and tea was +brought--why, I don't know. When we had drank tea everyone began to +explain at once. The Colonel in Persian; the soldiers in Pushtu; and +the Armenian in involved English. The Colonel and the soldiers spoke +very fast and loudly, constantly interrupting one another, and I caught +only a word here and there. What the Armenian wished to express I could +not imagine. A man was then brought forward with his arms bound behind +his back. + +The Colonel and the Armenian seemed much disturbed that I had fallen +down the nullah, but what the explanation of the bound man was I could +not make out: only this, that he was _not_ a thief after my rifles. I +went to bed again. + +[Sidenote: The Next Morning.] + +In the morning, after breakfast, when every one had cooled down, I +heard the explanation. The Colonel, it seems, had stationed the guard. +All went quietly for a time until the Armenian, before he turned in, +made a round of the sentries. He found one point improperly guarded, +and ordered one of the soldiers to move his position. The man refused +with a Pushtu oath: and high words followed. In this the soldier was +no match for the Armenian, and being exasperated at receiving harder +words than he could return, he endeavoured to stab his bayonet into the +latter. + +Such a line of action not meeting the Armenian's views as to the +eternal fitness of things, he closed with the soldier. His "education" +in England had not been without effect, and scorning to use a knife, +like a native, he proceeded to punch the soldier's head. The magnetic +effect of a "fight" caused other people to run up, and the thuds and +scuffle of the _melee_ aroused me. + +After the explanation, the unfortunate man, with his hands bound, was +brought forward, and the Colonel begged me to pronounce sentence upon +him. He said he would carry out any punishment I chose to impose; +whether of fine, imprisonment, or death. He offered me his revolver, +that I might have the supreme delight of killing the man myself; or, +if that did not meet my views, he would himself shoot him at once. +All this excessive politeness arose from the fact that I expressed +to the Colonel my sense of dissatisfaction that a distinguished +foreigner could not travel through his district without being exposed +to annoyances of this kind. I asked whether he thought Amir Sahib +would be satisfied with his administrative power. At the mention of +His Highness's name, the Colonel became greatly disturbed in his mind, +and desired me to look upon himself as my dog. I said that I was not +in need of a dog just then, and that these words did not please me. As +for judging the man, I was not a magistrate in the country, how could I +take upon myself to judge him. With a damp forehead and a dry tongue he +begged me, as a friend to the poor, not to report the matter. + +I began gradually to be appeased, to soften the severe aspect of the +countenance, and unbend the knitted brow, for, as I have frequently +remarked, I am a mild man. The Colonel perceiving his advantage ordered +tea to be brought instantly, and waited upon me with both hands. +"Slowly by slowly" the threatened storm blew off, and the Colonel, +with joy in his heart, accompanied us miles on the journey, telling +many yarns and amusing stories, whereat we laughed. We are now great +friends--he and I: for had I not stood by him in an hour of trouble, +when his heart melted within him, and his interiors were as water! + +Riding along we met one of the "running postmen": a tall, gaunt hillman +without an ounce of superfluous fat on him. These men run for a certain +number of miles with the sealed leather post satchel, and then pass it +on to the next. There are rough sheds by the wayside where each remains +till his turn comes. They carry a long bamboo lance tipped and shod +with steel, and with a small bell fixed just below the blade. The post +for India leaves Kabul on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and that from India +arrives on Sundays and Thursdays. + +At the stage before Kabul I had received a letter from His Highness +directing me to take possession of the house I formerly occupied in +the town: to rest for a day; and on the following day to come on to +Endekki, when he would receive me. + +[Sidenote: The Arrival.] + +We arrived at Kabul on a Sunday morning, in March, 1892. It was a +proud day for the Armenian as he rode through the bazaar with his +solar helmet on one side--no miserable native turban for him now. +His hand was on his hip and his elbow pointed outwards: his uplifted +head desired to strike the stars. With a lofty pity, not unmingled +with contempt, he gazed around at the admiring faces of the salaaming +Kabulis. Was he not a traveller of renown: one who had crossed the +great river and penetrated to the very heart of the Feringhi country! + +Mr. Walter, the tailor, rode out to meet us; he said to the Armenian: + +"Well, did you like London?" + +"Sir, what _d'you_ think! But London is very good place for rich man, +very bad place for poor man. Kabul is good for poor man." + +"What did you do in London?" asked Mr. Walter. + +"O, Sir! A little I walk this way and that, and upon ladies I pinch +eyes." + +By this I fancy he must have meant he winked. It was a revelation to +me, and I looked at him severely. What other remarkable development +might I not detect! + +I heard from Mr. Walter that the two engineers, Messrs. Stewart and +Myddleton, had departed, and their places were taken by two Scotchmen. +Mr. Pyne had gone to England on leave and had not yet returned. He was +to bring out several other Englishmen. + +The Armenian had the house swept out, the carpets down, and everything +straight in a very short time. Several people called in the afternoon. +Some of the Armenian's relatives: the Compounder; and some Afghans whom +I knew. I found half-a-dozen letters waiting for me, one from my wife, +whereat I rejoiced, and one from a lady missionary in India who wished +to enter the Amir's service as medical attendant upon the Harem. + +I had met another lady in Peshawur who also wished to enter the Amir's +service. She was attached to the Afghan Mission in that town, and spoke +Persian, Pushtu, and Hindustani, and had had some medical training. +She told me she was intending to travel to Kabul, in disguise, with +the Koffla, the travelling merchants. She was young, and I endeavoured +to point out some of the dangers she would be exposed to from Afghan +ruffians, and did my best to dissuade her from such a rash undertaking. +It seemed to me the conception was an utterly mad one, but that if she +desired greatly to enter the service the best thing would be to write +and apply to His Highness. However, she did not write that I know of. + +The other lady missionary who wrote was much older, and in due time I +had her letter translated and laid before His Highness. How the Amir +received the application I will relate presently. + +The day after our arrival I rode to the Endekki Palace to salaam the +Amir. In the great hall I met many of the Court whom I knew, and +chatted with them. As soon as His Highness rose I was called to the +inner room. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Welcome.] + +I found His Highness seated on a couch of crimson and gold. He was +dressed in a black morning suit, with an ordinary English shirt and +collar: he looked very European, and his hands, on which were some +beautiful rings, struck me as being singularly white. He had picked up +wonderfully since June, when I saw him last, was nothing like so thin, +and looked exceedingly well. The room had the appearance of a lady's +boudoir, with flowers, vases, embroideries, piano, and so on. + +I bowed as I entered the room, and His Highness smiled and beckoned me +forwards. He held my hand some minutes while he made kindly enquiries +as to my health; and he asked was my wife well and the other members of +my family. + +He said he was exceedingly pleased to see me again, and he thanked God +that I had returned safely. He then allowed me to be seated. + +He enquired the date of my wedding, and on hearing that my married life +had lasted only for three months and a-half, he said: "How sorrowful +your wife must be, how sorrowful she must be." Presently he said-- + +"I will grant you leave of absence again soon; you shall go to your +home when the winter comes." + +He promised, with great kindness, that every preparation should be +made for the reception of Mrs. Gray in Kabul, and desired her to be +accompanied by two English maidservants, whose salaries he would charge +himself with. When she felt a longing to return to England she should +go: if, however, she did not care to accompany me back to Kabul, he +would from time to time give me leave of absence at short intervals. As +regards transmitting pay, he said he would order any proportion of my +salary that I wished, to be paid either in London or to my bankers in +Bombay. + +He told me that both coal and iron had been found in the country, and +he said that it was his intention soon to visit England himself. He +referred to the death of Prince Albert Victor, and spoke highly of him, +and I remember he told me an anecdote in the life of the Prince. He +spoke some little time on other matters, and then tea and cigarettes +were brought. There had been no one in the room with His Highness +during the interview, except myself, the Armenian, and one of the +Page boys. After being with His Highness four or five hours, I asked +permission to withdraw, and then visited Malek, the Page, who was ill. +He seemed very pleased to see me. + +The next day, Tuesday, was a military Durbar, and I visited His +Highness again, taking with me the rifles I had brought, as I wished to +present them to him. His Highness received me kindly, and accepted the +present I laid before him. I had also brought for Prince Habibullah a +plumed helmet, such as an officer in India would wear. The Prince was +at the Durbar, and His Highness, after examining the helmet, kindly +allowed me to present it to the Prince. + +There were a great many of the Afghan military officers present: +they were seated along the side of the room, and among them was the +new British Agent, the Sirdar Mahomed Afzal Khan. The former agent, +Colonel Attaullah Khan, having been long a resident at the Amir's +Court, had withdrawn. Lunch was served, and at five o'clock I came away. + +The next day the fast of Ramazan commenced, and I got to work at the +Hospital. + +A few days afterwards I rode out to the country house where Her +Highness, the Sultana, was living, and sent in my salaams with a +present of silks and so on that I had brought for her and the little +Prince Mahomed Omer. A kind message was received in reply, and after +the usual tea, cigarettes, and sweets, I rode back to Kabul. + +[Sidenote: Salaam to the Prince.] + +A day or two afterwards, I paid a formal visit to Prince Habibullah. He +was living in the bungalow of the Babur Gardens. + +It was a pretty garden with fountains, flowers and trees, situated +on the slope of the mountains outside Kabul, in a sort of natural +concavity in the hills. + +The Prince received me most kindly, and talked for some time, asking +me many questions about London. He desired me also to paint another +portrait of himself; which, by the way, I never had the opportunity of +doing. + +One afternoon in the next week I again visited His Highness, the Amir, +taking with me the letter of the lady missionary who desired to enter +the Amir's service. + +While I was waiting in the great hall, smoking cigarettes, my old +friend, General Nassir Khan, came and chatted with me, saying how +pleased he was to see me back again. Another friend also came and +spoke to me, the Brigadier Hadji Gul Khan. I do not know if he was as +pleased to see me as the General, for he had been living in my house +while I was in London, and had to turn out when I came back; however, +he expressed himself as delighted. + +It was late in the afternoon when I arrived at the Palace, and when +I was called in to the Amir the dusk of the evening had fallen. As +soon as I entered the room, His Highness called my attention to a +most picturesque evening effect that could be seen from his window. +A brilliant gleam of light appeared between the clouds in the sky, +the mountains could be seen shadowy but distinct; the middle ground +was in deep shadow, and in the foreground were the Palace gardens and +fountains lit by the light from the Palace. + +His Highness read the translation of the lady missionary's letter, and +said, that at present the country was too unsettled in condition for +it to be a suitable field for the efforts of an English lady doctor. +When, however, Mrs. Gray accompanied me to Kabul, the lady might travel +with her. His Highness spoke some time, and told me that in future, +when I wished to see him, there was no need for me to write and make +an appointment: he would receive me at any time, day or night. I got +home at nine o'clock in the evening and wrote to the lady missionary, +telling her as nearly as I could His Highness's words. Mrs. Gray never +went to Kabul, nor I believe did the lady missionary. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE CHOLERA. + + Ramazan. The outbreak of Cholera. Precautions. Notices in the + bazaars. Rapid spread. European medicine. The overwhelming dread. + Processions to the Mosque. Oriental fatalism. Exodus of the Court. + The shadow of death. Cases. Removal of the Court to the mountains. + Closure of the Workshops. The Armenian as an Inspector. The + Prince's chamberlain. Death of the Dabier-ul-Mulk. The mortality. + An incident. Afghan appreciation of British motives. Arrival of + an Englishman with thoroughbred horses. Dying out of the Cholera. + Visit to Paghman. The soldiers in chains: their iniquities. Anger + of the Amir: his decision: the choice. An earthquake: the Amir + as a scientist. Illness of the "Keeper of the Carpets." Arrival + of Mr. Pyne and other Englishmen. Another visit to the Amir. His + Highness's description of a Royal illness: the cure: the comment, + and the other patient. Dinner from the Palace: the sealed dishes. + + +[Sidenote: A Fatal Ramazan.] + +Four days after this was Good Friday, April 15th, and three cases of +cholera occurred in the town. It was "Ramazan," when good Mahomedans +fast all day and eat enormously at night. Knowing as I did something +of the careless nature of Asiatics: of the awful condition, sanitarily +speaking, of the town of Kabul: of the insufficiency and impurity of +the water supply: it seemed to me that the disease _must_ spread with +deadly rapidity. + +The conjecture was only too correct. + +The Europeans in Kabul readily understanding the serious condition of +affairs, were easily induced to take suitable precautions, such as the +avoidance of fruit and uncooked vegetables; the drinking of water only +after it had been boiled and filtered; and the careful abstention from +any kind of excess in either eating or drinking. + +For the natives, I ordered to be posted about in the bazaars, notices +in Persian advising similar precautions; and described a simple filter +in which after water had been boiled it could be run through sand and +charcoal; for sand and charcoal were both of them to be easily obtained +in the town. I sent an inspector--my Burma policeman--with a band of +soldiers to examine if the city scavengers did their duty, and to order +the removal from the town of all filth that they could get access to. I +brought forth all the barrels of disinfectant powder that the Hospital +contained, but which was of necessity pitiably insufficient, and +ordered its free use in all suspicious places. + +At first, cases among the soldiers were reported to me, and I attempted +isolation: but soon this was utterly impossible, for the men fell +in numbers that increased alarmingly day by day. In the town the +disease, as is usual with cholera, was most erratic in its onslaughts. +I endeavoured to institute the reporting of cases to me as soon as +they arose, but it was a useless attempt, and scores died before I +even heard of them. Two days after the commencement, namely, on April +17th, it was reported, that between six a.m. and six p.m. there were a +hundred and eighty-five corpses carried out of Kabul for burial. The +number of deaths was, I heard, reported daily to His Highness, though +to me this was of less importance than the daily number of fresh cases. +The sick soon ceased calling for Hakims, and their friends came in +increasing crowds to my house for European medicines. + +I gave them pills containing opium and acetate of lead, to be taken at +certain intervals, to the number of three. No food nor drink was to +be taken; but to allay the intense thirst the patient might suck ice. +For the severe abdominal pain mustard poultices, and for the agonizing +cramps in the limbs massage, were to be employed. This was the general +treatment, varied of course for special cases and complications. + +[Sidenote: The Dread.] + +Day by day the great shadow deepened over the city. A sickening dread +was in the heart of each; for who might not be the next victim? Men +gathered together and cheered themselves with forced gaiety, and bhang, +or sat with terror-stricken faces waiting for death. Wailing was in +every house, and one could not ride ten yards without meeting parties +of mourners carrying out fresh victims to the graveyard. + +"The cholera is in the air," they said. + +The Amir ordered processions to march to the Mosques with banners and +music and pray for deliverance. Can one believe it! but such was the +paralysing effect of "Kismet," or of terror, in the town, that the men +were driven to the Mosques with sticks by the soldiers ere they would +move. + +With the fatalism of their nature it was not to be hoped that they +would take the precautions to avoid infection--ordinary and simple +though they were--that I had pointed out. + +The bodies of the dead were washed in the Kabul river, from which most +of the drinking water of the town was obtained! They were carried +through the gorge by the river-side and buried near the road at the +foot of the Asmai Mountain. + +If a man were thirsty he drank whatever water was at hand: out of an +irrigation ditch fouled with wayside filth, from a polluted well, +or the Kabul river. So far from avoiding fruit and vegetables the +townspeople ate of them largely. + +When men dropped down in the Durbar, and the Palace attendants were +seized, the Amir and the Court moved from Endekki to Rish Khor, in the +direction of the Paghman Hills. + +As I was needed among the sick, His Highness did not withdraw me from +the town. I was living between Chandawal and the gardens around Timur's +Tomb, and soon the cholera spread its wings over us. The houses near me +were made desolate, and one of my servants lay dying in the garden. + +This man was an Afghan hillman, a good fellow, cheery, and really, it +seemed to me, honest. No one told me when he was first taken, for he +said-- + +"Why should the Doctor Sahib be troubled for such as I, he has enough +work with others." + +The next day when the pains and the cramps came on, one of the servants +reported the matter to me. I went to the man at once, but it was too +late; he was collapsed, with sunken eyes, his nose was peaky and blue, +the skin of his body cold and his hands shrivelled. I looked at the +other servants and asked why I was not told of this before. + +None of them answered. The man seemed grateful that I had seen him, but +he died in the night. + +I visited a good many at their houses. It would have been absurd to +wait for an order from the Amir at a time such as this; sometimes I +took the Armenian to translate, at other times I went alone, for I +knew enough Persian to get along with. My guard--often a single or a +couple of soldiers--waited outside the house while I went in. A guard +was really superfluous, for no one was likely to hurt me: on the +contrary, I was welcomed with every sign of gratitude. + +As regards the form of treatment I had adopted, I found it successful +in a great many cases, though the proportion of those who recovered, +compared with the number of deaths in the town, was doubtless +excessively small. Hundreds, however, took the medicine whom I never +saw. Some would carry out the instructions I gave them to the letter, +others would take the medicine but consult their friends as to the +instructions. These cases did not do so well, and I ceased attending +where I was not obeyed. + +[Sidenote: Exodus of the Court.] + +On the 21st of April, the cholera spread to Rish Khor, and there was +an exodus of the Court to the Paghman Mountains. Here the water was +good, tumbling down in many little cascades from the hills. One day I +was seized with vomiting and was ill, and the Amir hearing of it sent +to enquire how I was. Happily by the time the messenger arrived I was +better. Soon the road between Paghman and the infected city was closed, +and sentries were posted to cut off all communication. + +In the Arm Foundry the native workmen dropped down at the benches, and +work was stopped for want of men to do it. + +I was called to see one of the storekeepers of the foundry, Gholam +Nuksh Ban, who was seized. I had hopes for him, and the second day he +was better. After that he ceased following the instructions I gave, +and took the advice of Hakims and friends. I found him drinking curds +and whey, and large quantities of water: I left him therefore. Vomiting +returned with excessive violence and he died. Before he died, however, +he gave into my hands a magazine rifle that I had bought for the Amir +in London, but which had been detained at the Frontier and afterwards +sent on. + +The Armenian went the round of the bazaars to inspect the food sold. He +was not a skilled inspector, but he could at least distinguish rancid +butter, sour milk, putrid meat, or decomposing vegetables, when he saw +them. + +At this time the Hazaras broke out in rebellion, and the locusts +invaded Kabul again. The latter, wise creatures, did not stay; they +passed on. + +I received an order to attend one of the Chamberlains of Prince +Habibullah, and I went to his house. To see a stranger in the grip of +cholera is bad; but to see a man you know, is a horror that catches +you in the throat. There were the shrunken features and ashy-grey face +of a dreadful ghost of the man I knew. I tried hard to save this man's +life. Visiting him time after time, I made his men do as I said. The +look in the eyes of a man when he greets you, feeling the dread phantom +loosening its hold and his life coming back to him, is a thing to +remember. + +The Dabier-ul-Mulk, Chief Secretary to the Amir, and the man, I +suppose, most trusted by His Highness, was seized. I was sorry I +received no order to attend him. He died. + +Of the four Englishmen who were in Kabul at the onset of the disease +none were ill--with the exception of my own slight attack. + +At the end of six weeks the cholera lessened in severity in the town +and spread more in the surrounding villages. It returned, however, +again and again, and the mortality was excessive. By the beginning of +June I was informed that eleven thousand deaths had been reported to +His Highness in Kabul and its neighbourhood. + +Among other stories I heard at the time was one of a man falling and +dying just outside the town, near the execution ground. The body was +not seen till the following morning, when a man riding by saw the +pariah dogs that prowl in that neighbourhood snarling and worrying over +something. + +[Sidenote: "British Motives!"] + +Another story, less hideous and perhaps more interesting was this: A +man coming up to a group standing in the street said-- + +"A relative of mine is ill with this disease." + +Said one of the group-- + +"Why go you not at once to the English Doctor, he is giving medicine." + +"Nay," answered the man, "the British Government sent him here to +poison as many as he can." + +"Khair," said a third, "not so. To my wife, ill with this disease, he +gave a medicine: she is now well." + +"Beshak," said a fourth. "Undoubtedly; but the Sirkar-i-Engrez send him +that by curing us he may gain our friendship. Thus they hope to draw +away the people and the country from Amir Sahib, that they may come +themselves and rule us." + +Meanwhile another Englishman, Mr. Clemence, had arrived. He brought +with him from England two or three thoroughbred stallions and some +hackneys, for the improvement of the Amir's stud. He had, however, been +directed to make a detour and avoid Kabul, and had been conducted to +Faizabad, where he took up his quarters. Shortly afterwards he rode +into Kabul to visit the other Englishmen: a woeful time to arrive in a +strange town. + +About the middle of June we had violent thunder storms and heavy rain, +a most unusual occurrence at that time of the year, and the weather +became cool, much cooler than it was in April. + +The cholera now appeared to be dying out, and men began to draw their +breath again and to recover from the oppressive dread. I wrote to His +Highness and enquired his health. He replied that he was well, and +invited me to visit him at Paghman. + +It is a beautiful ride of about fifteen miles. First there is the +Chahardeh Valley, with cornfields, hedges, and gardens; then the +incline at the foot of the mountains; the Paghman Valley, and a last +steep climb to the Royal residence. + +It was very cool at Paghman; there were trees, flowers, and waterfalls, +but the corn instead of being ripe was green. Almost directly we +arrived at the Palace I was shown into the room where His Highness was +sitting, and he greeted me most kindly. He referred to the cholera, and +reminded me that I had told him at my last interview how very little +sickness there was, so that Doctors and Hakims had very little to do. + +Tea and cigarettes were brought, and His Highness directed the Pages +to offer me the cakes and biscuits that were brought for his own +breakfast. + +By-and-bye there were some soldiers brought in, in chains. His Highness +called my attention to them, and told me the story of their offences. + +[Sidenote: Anger of the Amir.] + +It was quite a long story. They had formed a conspiracy against their +Captain, whom they had accused of oppression and other evils. His +Highness dilated at some length upon their iniquities, and finally +said-- + +"What can one do with such men?" + +They threw themselves on the ground, crying-- + +"Tobah! tobah!"--"Alas! alas!" + +The Amir said-- + +"Nay! the time is past for 'tobah.' You have admitted before the Priest +that the accusation you made against your officer was false." + +One began to say that he was "Amir Sahib's servant." + +"What word is this?" thundered the Amir, "my servant!! This General +is my servant, this man and this (the Treasury Officer and the Deputy +Commander-in-Chief), these are my servants. You? You are the dog of my +servants!" + +"What shall I do to you?" he said, as they stood quaking. Then he added, + +"You shall be taken from here to a room apart, there shall you sit and +debate among yourselves what your punishment shall be, and to-morrow +you shall again be brought before me." + +Then they were hurried away. + +What the choice of each one was I do not know, but I had occasion to +learn the choice of some of them. A few days afterwards on visiting the +Sherpur Hospital I saw four or five of the men. They each greeted me +with a wan smile and held up the left arm--the hand had been severed at +the wrist joint. + +His Highness then continued talking to me concerning the causes of +cholera, and he ordered a specimen of Paghman drinking water to be +brought. While I was examining it, the windows commenced rattling, and +I thought vaguely that the wind must have risen very suddenly. Hearing +a bustle I looked up and saw the Pages hurrying together and the Amir +standing. I jumped up at once. A moment or two afterwards His Highness +sat down again, motioning me to do the same. He said-- + +"Did you not recognize the cause of that noise?" + +"No, Sir," I answered, "I thought it was the wind." + +He laughed and said-- + +"It was an earthquake! Another time you must be quicker and get out of +the house." He said that the motion of the earth in an earthquake, at +any given spot, was in a vertical, not a horizontal direction. Were +it in a horizontal direction, he said, the very mountains would fall. +Being in a vertical direction the pressure on the beams of a house, +owing to the weight of the roof, becomes excessive, and they are likely +to give way. For this reason it is advisable to get out into the open +when an earthquake commences. + +Soon after this His Highness wrote a few words on a slip of paper, +and calling the Armenian to him he handed him the paper. When the +Armenian returned to me he whispered that the Amir had increased my pay +considerably. I commenced to thank His Highness, but he smiled, and +silenced me by raising his hand. + +About four o'clock, dinner was brought. For me a European one was +provided, the only peculiarity of which was that the soup followed the +fish. + +After dinner, His Highness asked me if I was returning to Kabul that +night, or whether I would remain at Paghman till the morning. As I had +six horses with me I decided to return. His Highness asked me before I +left to visit the "Ferrash-bashi," or "Keeper of the Carpets," who was +ill. This was the gentleman I met first in Turkestan, who struck me as +being "not such a villain as he looked." + +Accordingly, I called upon him at his house in Paghman, which was some +distance down the hill. + +I found he had had a stroke, and was paralyzed on one side. I gave him +advice, and said I would ride over in a day or two to see him again. +Night came on as we were riding home, and we had to do the last two or +three miles at a walk. + +[Sidenote: Arrival of English.] + +At this time Mr. Pyne was on his way back to Kabul after the +termination of his leave; and two days after my visit to Paghman he +arrived in the town, bringing with him Mr. Arthur Collins, who had +entered the service as geologist. Being well mounted they had ridden +the last two stages in a day, arriving in Kabul in the evening. Coming +so quickly they were ahead of their baggage, and had had nothing to eat +since the early morning. A dinner was soon provided, and I sent them +plates, knives, and forks; and blankets for the night. + +Several other Englishmen had entered the service, who arrived the +next day with the baggage. There were two more assistant engineers; +a mining assistant to Mr. Collins; a gardener, and a lapidary. The +last did not stay long, as it was found that the native lapidaries +could do ordinary work; and extraordinary work, such as the Amir hoped +for, was, I understood, only possible with special machinery. About a +month afterwards two other Englishmen arrived, a tanner and a currier +from Yorkshire: so that at this time there were no less than fourteen +Englishmen in Kabul. + +The day after the arrival of the Englishmen I rode over to Paghman +again to see the Ferrash-bashi. Mr. Walter, the tailor, who wished to +try a coat on the little Prince Mahomed Omer, accompanied me. I found +my patient no worse, and after lunching off some delicious Paghman +cherries I went on to the Palace to salaam His Highness. + +After salutations, tea, and cigarettes, His Highness told me the story +of a severe illness he suffered from when he was a youth. He was a +General in his father's army, and was so ill that he had to be carried +to the wars on a charpoy. He was hoisted on to men's shoulders, or on +to a house top, or hill, to see the battles. The Hakims told him that +the illness he suffered from was due to the presence of a large worm or +snake in his stomach. Medicine after medicine was used without avail: +and large quantities of iced water were drunk with the intention of +chilling the creature and driving it out. This being unsuccessful an +idea struck the Amir: he abstained from food for many hours, and then +ordered to be prepared a very delicious and savoury dinner, and he sat +with this in front of him hoping to tempt the worm. It was successful, +and feeling the creature crawling up his throat he waited; then seizing +the head he drew it forth. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Comment.] + +"Thus did I succeed in getting rid of the vile creature," said the +Amir, and, suiting the action to the word, he appeared to be drawing a +rope from his mouth, hand over hand. + +In a serious and profoundly interesting account of a Royal illness and +cure, it was exceedingly improper for me to be affected by the humorous +side of the narrative; but, try as I would to prevent it, a shadow of a +smile appeared. His Highness noticing it looked very straight at me and +said-- + +"I tell you this for your own guidance. I have here a man suffering +from the same disease. Him I desire you to examine. Administer such +medicines as you deem suitable, giving also due weight to the narrative +I have related of my own sufferings and cure, that thus his recovery +may be ensured." + +I found that the patient was suffering from a disease that was, +perhaps, less interesting than that His Highness suffered from: he +had cancer of the stomach. I am sorry to say I was of necessity less +successful in treating him than His Highness had been in treating +himself. + +After some further talk with His Highness, I retired and rode back to +the Ferrash-bashi's. It seems that the last time I had gone to see His +Highness, he had ordered tents and dinner to be brought for me to the +patient's house: they arrived about half-an-hour after we had left. +This time, therefore, we stayed. The tents were put up on the grass in +the cherry orchard: a couch, covered with yellow and purple silk, was +brought from the Palace and dinner arrived. The dishes had been taken +before His Highness for approval: the tray was then covered with a +white cloth and sealed before him. I was informed of the arrival of +dinner: the seal was broken in my presence; and the dishes made hot at +a fire on the grass outside my tent. I dined: then after more cherries +and a smoke, I retired to my gorgeous couch, well-pleased with myself +and everybody else. + +The next morning, after breakfast, we rode back to Kabul. I was going +down the long slope from the Paghman Hills at a smart trot, when I +heard a sudden exclamation, and, looking back, saw the Armenian and his +horse go headlong: he was riding the brute of mine that stumbled. I +shouted to a soldier to catch my bridle, and sprang off to see what the +damage was, for the horse had rolled over the Armenian's leg. He was +crushed and bruised a good deal, and the skin scraped off his leg, but +there were no breakages. He had, however, a bump on his head big enough +for all practical purposes. We sat for a little by the wayside till he +had recovered, then he got on another horse, and we went the rest of +the way at a walk. + +After dinner, I luxuriated in a long chair opposite the window. The +view was the sky and an apple-tree laden with fruit: beyond were vines, +apricot, and almond trees; in the distance over the tree-tops was the +purple and shadowy summit of a mountain. The doves were coo-cooing, and +the sparrows chirping. Later, the moon came out and the hoophoe cried +"Hood-hood." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +ANOTHER WINTER. + + A political Durbar: tact of the Amir: a friendly soldier. The + banquet. Return of the Cholera. Essay on "Precautionary measures:" + its fate. Health of the English in Kabul. Serious illness of + the gardener: lying rumours. Report to the Amir: His Highness's + kindness. Visit to Prince Nasrullah: a "worm-eaten" tooth: the + consultation: the operation: the present: effect of example. Erring + Englishmen: the Amir's remedy. Amir as a chess-player: the unhappy + Courtier. The far-sighted Armenian: winter quarters. End of the + Cholera. Invasion of Small-Pox and Erysipelas. To Paghman: Portrait + of Prince Mahomed Omer: present from the Sultana. The sketch of + the Prince: his amusement: resemblance to the Amir: his costume: + arrangement of the group. Present of a slave boy: embarrassment. + A lesson in courtesy to the Page boys. Native dinners. Visit of + Mr. Pyne: the sandali. Completion of the portrait. Kept waiting + at the door: the "Gnat." The Amir's remark. Sultana's gift to + the Paghmanis: Afghan mode of slaughtering: cogitations. Ride + to Kabul: the mud. Money bothers: the Afghan Agent: the "Gnat." + Sent for to the Palace: a Landscape Commission: postponement of + leave: disappointment: the Amir's remedy: gratification and pride. + Christmas dinner at the shops. The "Health of Her Majesty." + + +[Sidenote: Political Durbar.] + +A week after this, July 4th, was the Festival of Id, and in the morning +I rode with the Armenian to Paghman to salaam His Highness. The other +Englishmen followed later in the day. We arrived about eleven a.m. +The review of troops and prayers were finished, and His Highness had +just taken his seat in the Durbar Hall. I was admitted at once into +the presence, and bowing said, through the Armenian, that I wished His +Highness all happiness. A chair was then ordered to be placed for me +in a bay window: it was not so near His Highness as usual, and I was +wondering why, when the Armenian whispered-- + +"It is a Durbar of Chiefs and Maleks." + +Presently the hall began to fill, but His Highness allowed no one to +be placed between himself and me, and even ordered a vase of flowers +on the table in front of him to be moved so that he could see me +distinctly. + +The visitors were Army Officers and Chiefs from all parts of the +country; Turkomans, Hazaras, and Afghans. I rather wished myself out of +it, fearing that my visit had been inopportune. + +At the end of the room in an arm-chair by an open window sat His +Highness. Outside were the guard and a crowd of some hundreds of +people. In a chair on the Amir's left, and at some little distance, +sat Prince Habibullah: he was attired in a scarlet uniform with plumed +helmet. Everyone else sat on the ground. On His Highness's right were +Prince Nasrullah, Sirdar Usuf, the Amir's uncle, and the British Agent: +then came the principal military officers; and all round the room the +Chiefs and Maleks. + +Seeing the British Agent I was relieved, feeling sure that, after all, +my visit was not an intrusion. I could not but admire His Highness's +tact in the way in which, having allowed me to be present unofficially +in a State Durbar, he considered the European feeling of dignity in +allowing me a chair with no one between himself and me; and considered +also the jealous pride of the Afghans in placing me in the window, and, +as it were, outside the circle. + +His Highness addressed his audience for some little time, chiefly in +Pushtu but partly in Persian. It did not concern me, and I paid no +attention. Glancing out of the window where I was sitting I saw one of +His Highness's guard stationed there with fixed bayonet. As he caught +my eye he salaamed and smiled. I could not think at first who he was: +then I remembered I had attended him in Turkestan for double pneumonia +when he was very dangerously ill. He had recovered, and I saw no more +of him till this day: he had grown so plump that at first I did not +recognize him. + +[Sidenote: The Banquet.] + +When the talking was over sweetmeats were brought, and His Highness +sent me a plateful from his table. Outside were bands of music: at one +time a native band with flageolets and drums was playing, then would +follow a brass band, afterwards the bagpipes playing Scotch tunes. In +the Hall at the lower end were dancing boys, singers, and musicians. +These continued their performances during lunch, which was brought in +at three o'clock. For me there was a slight innovation. His Highness +ordered a dinner-napkin to be placed on the little table in front of +me. The waiter did not quite understand the management of it, for he +insisted upon one edge of it being put on the table under the plate and +the other on my knees: finally, however, I was allowed to have it my +own way, chiefly by the Armenian's instrumentality: learning all about +these things was part of his education in England. + +After dinner came fruit--cherries and mulberries, and finally +cigarettes and tea. Then I asked permission to withdraw and came away. + +In August the cholera, which had returned to Kabul, began again to +attain serious proportions. I had drawn up with some care a Paper on +the precautions to be adopted to prevent a return of the disease. I was +perforce compelled to allow the Hindustani Interpreter--the Gnat--to +take possession of it for the purpose of translation. I need scarcely +say that I never saw or heard anything of the paper afterwards. The +Armenian at this time was very busily employed in translating for some +others of the Englishmen, for the supply of Interpreters was lamentably +small. In the Hospitals I, of course, could manage without one, but for +conversations with His Highness or for the translation of writings my +knowledge of the language was inadequate. + +Though none of the English were seized with cholera, the climate of +Kabul affected the health of most of them deleteriously. Some had +fever severely: others bowel complaints; and the gardener, Mr. Wild, +a Yorkshireman, who had been working very hard in the sun, laying out +gardens and digging, went down with heat apoplexy. He was dangerously +ill, and I attended him; but some interesting and engaging scoundrel +spread the report that he was shirking his work and lying intoxicated +in his room. As he received an order to leave the service I wrote to +His Highness detailing the facts of the case. His Highness at once +desired Wild to be brought to Paghman, as soon as his condition would +allow. When he was taken there His Highness most kindly kept him in +the cool air of the mountains until he recovered. After this Wild, by +my advice, wore a turban in the sun instead of a solar topee. A pith +topee would have been a sufficient protection, but there was none to be +got in the bazaars, and sending money to Peshawur for anything was a +procedure of doubtful success. + +[Sidenote: Illness of Prince Nasrullah.] + +One day a soldier on horseback arrived at my house to call me to visit +Prince Nasrullah who, he said, was ill. His Highness at this time was +living in a bungalow set in a beautiful garden on the slope near the +Paghman Mountains. I started off immediately. After a nine or ten +miles' ride we reached Prince Nasrullah's bungalow, and at once I was +shown into the room where the Prince was sitting. It appeared to be +full of people--Officers, Hakims, Pages, and Chamberlains. + +After the usual salutations a chair was placed for me, and tea and +cigarettes brought. The Prince held a polite conversation with me for +some little while, and I began to wonder if I had not misunderstood the +messenger, when he said His Highness was ill. Presently, however, the +Prince explained that he was suffering great pain. I enquired where +the pain seized him. He said that a worm had partly eaten one of his +teeth, and this caused him pain. I thought it quite likely that this +would be painful, and asked, might I examine the tooth. An arm-chair +was placed in a convenient position facing the window, and His Highness +seated himself, politely opening his mouth to allow me every facility +in examining the worm-eaten tooth. + +After a careful examination I gave my opinion that the tooth should be +removed. The Prince at once consented to the operation, and a soldier +was sent galloping off to the Kabul Hospital for the case of tooth +instruments. The Prince conversed with me cheerfully for a time while +I smoked. By-and-bye he seemed to become thoughtful, and presently he +said he was a little doubtful about the advisability of removing the +tooth: perhaps the application of a suitable medicine might relieve the +pain and check the disease. I explained that the immediate pain might +indeed be removed by a medicine, but that it would probably return, +and that the disease had made such progress that the tooth would, if +left, be a source of constant annoyance. His Highness was silent for a +time, but presently he expressed his doubts as to the possibility of +extracting the tooth; so far as he could judge there was nothing but a +shell left: was it not exceedingly likely that the shell would crush +up and leave him in a worse plight than he at present was? I said that +a calamity of that nature was of course possible, as he, in his wisdom +had foreseen, but that my hopes and prayers were that it might not +occur. By-and-bye the messenger arrived with the tooth-case. The Prince +again weighed the matter carefully, and he desired the two chief Hakims +in the room to consult and give their opinion. I do not know what they +said but they looked unutterably wise. + +After a considerable amount of discussion, in which I took no part, +the Prince suddenly decided that the operation should be performed. He +seated himself in the chair: a Page at my request held His Highness's +astrakhan hat: another held the chillimchi or spittoon: and a third a +silver cup containing water. + +I suggested that His Highness should seize the arms of the chair and +hold them tight; then he opened his mouth. An attendant handed me the +forceps, which had been warmed: I fitted them round the neck of the +offending member and pushed them well home: a twist of the wrist and +the tooth was out. His Highness made no remark during the operation, +but at the critical moment he patted his feet on the ground. He was, I +believe, exceedingly gratified that the operation was successful, for +not only did he present me with a suit of clothes, which unfortunately +were much too small for me, but he politely said that the operation had +not hurt him. + +[Sidenote: Effect of Example.] + +Glancing up as soon as it was over, I saw that the soldiers of the +bodyguard had formed themselves in double line from the window down the +garden, and were forming an interested row of spectators. Immediately +afterwards several of them begged me to perform a similar operation +upon them. I glanced at the Prince for permission, which he kindly +granted: then, seating the men on the ground one after another, I +removed such teeth as they desired. One reservation alone I made: when +a tooth had not the slightest appearance of disease--not a speck--I +refused to extract it, at any rate that day. The unfortunates who could +not have their teeth out seemed quite hurt: why should I draw other +men's teeth and not theirs? I promised, therefore, to do them this +favour as soon as they could prove to my satisfaction that their teeth +were "worm-eaten." + +One day, a fortnight or so after this, I went with Mr. Pyne, Mr. +Collins, and some others of the English, to Paghman to hold a +discussion before the Amir concerning two of the Englishmen who had +allowed their disgust of Oriental life to influence their conduct, +and being _ennuie_, had for some time indulged unduly in alcoholic +stimulant. His Highness treated the whole matter as a joke. One of the +workmen being unnecessary was allowed to resign. The other was to stay. +As the latter was exceedingly well acquainted with the manufacture of +war material His Highness decided that if he would work two days in the +week he might employ the other five as best pleased him. This decision +had a beneficial effect upon the man, and he worked well; previously +his excesses had had a very serious effect upon his nervous system. + +During the conversation that followed the discussion Mr. Collins +happened to mention the game of chess. His Highness said he should +much like to see the game as played by the English. Mr. Collins at +once challenged me. It was years since I had played regularly, and the +last game I had had was in Turkestan, when my opponent, after beating +me ignominiously, had finally given me a game out of courtesy: I never +was any good at chess. I said I would play Mr. Collins if His Highness +would give me the benefit of his advice. + +The Amir said certainly he would do so. Accordingly the chessmen were +brought. A table was placed in front of His Highness, Mr. Collins sat +one side and I the other, and the game began. + +I soon found I was no match for Mr. Collins, and I relied almost +entirely upon the Amir. I wish I could remember the details of the +game, but I simply made, mechanically, the moves that the Amir +directed. We won the game. Mr. Collins said His Highness played a bold +game with his Castles, and that he would take a good second class among +the chess players of London. + +After that Collins played one of the Courtiers and beat him. This old +man was reckoned to be one of the best players next to His Highness, +and the Amir made such unmerciful fun of him for losing, that the old +man wanted to go out and hang himself. However, he was not allowed to +do so, for His Highness challenged him to a game and beat him. Mr. Pyne +and the others not interested in chess had departed. For us who stayed, +dinner was served, and we left the Palace at two in the morning. + +[Sidenote: Foresight of Armenian.] + +Meanwhile the Armenian had been for some little while preparing winter +quarters for me in the west wing of my house, which faced south and was +protected from the winds. + +I had told him that there was no need to make these elaborate +preparations, as I was going away on leave for the winter. He answered-- + +"Per-haps! Per-haps not! I make him ready." + +As the Autumn was drawing to a close I began to wonder whether +leave would indeed be granted to me for the winter according to His +Highness's words. I wrote, therefore, to enquire. His Highness answered +that in view of the fact that the cholera, though doubtless dying out, +was still lurking in the town, he should wish me to remain in the +country till the following spring. + +I was glad of my Winter Quarters. + +Work at the Hospitals went on as usual until November, when I was sent +for to Paghman to paint the portrait of Prince Mahomed Omer. + +Cholera had died out, but small-pox invaded Kabul, and in its train +came erysipelas. + +In Paghman I was located in a khirgar--the Turkoman wigwam I have +described. It was also my studio, the light being obtained by moving a +flap of canvas from the top. + +Before I commenced the portrait Her Highness the Sultana sent me a +present of sweets and cashmere embroidery, and when all my preparations +were complete the little Prince, accompanied by his tutor and Page +boys, came for the first sitting. He asked me to make a sketch of him +on paper before I began the painting. I did so, and handed it to him. +It seemed to amuse him highly, for he threw back his head and laughed +heartily. Whether the act was a childlike mimicry of his father or +not I cannot say, but it reminded me most strongly of the Amir. After +that when he came for a sitting he was always merry and bright, and I +managed to get a really expressive likeness of him. He was dressed in a +gold-embroidered military tunic, hussar fashion, trousers, high boots, +and a fur busby. On the breast was an emerald surrounded by pearls. The +belt was profusely adorned with diamonds, as was his watch chain; and +on the busby was a large emerald. His sword hilt and scabbard were of +gold. He was seated in a tall chair, made especially for him; over the +knees, as the weather was cold, was a beautiful fur rug. On one side of +the chair stood his "Commander-in-Chief," Mahomed Omer, son of Perwana +Khan, and on the other a Page boy--a slave taken in war, who had a +singularly pretty face. This boy, however, had not the intelligent +expression of the Prince, nor had his eyes the brilliancy of his +master's. It was simply a pretty, weary, mournful face, and therefore +in the picture it did not take from the beauty of the Prince's face. +The "Commander-in-Chief," though intelligent looking, was plain, so +that in looking at the picture the eye was caught immediately by the +Prince's face. + +[Illustration: + +_Prince Mahomed Omer and his Commander-in-Chief_ + +_from a photograph by Arthur Collins, F.G.T._] + +One day the Prince presented me with a slave boy, telling me to choose +which of his Pages I preferred. It was rather an embarrassing offer, +for one cannot refuse a gift from a member of the Royal Family, nor in +fact from any Afghan, without offending the giver. Of what use was a +small slave boy to me? True, I could sell him, or give him away, but my +principles were not in accordance with that line of action. I therefore +told His Highness that I was busy just then with the painting, but that +I would consider the matter and let him know in the course of a day or +two which boy I preferred. His Highness forgot all about it, as I hoped +he would. + +[Sidenote: A Lesson in Courtesy.] + +Another time he heard one of the Page boys speak of me as "the +Feringhi." It was remarkable to see the Prince's look of indignation +and anger, it so exactly resembled the Amir's. He called the boy up and +spoke very severely to him, ordering him in the future to address me as +"Doctor Sahib." As a punishment he made him bow to all the other boys +and call them "Sahib." The Prince was a little over three years of age +at this time. + +As there were three portraits instead of one to paint I was some time +at Paghman, and became skilled in the art of eating pilau and kourma +with my fingers, and eschewing forks and knives, for the Sultana +had insisted upon my being the guest of the Prince. I brought with +me, beside my guard, the Priest Compounder, who knew some English, +and only one servant, an Afghan. Accommodation for servants was +limited in Paghman, and though one could allow an Afghan servant to +sleep on the ground in one's tent, one could not have a Hindustani +in the same position. In the evenings, after dinner, the Prince's +"Commander-in-Chief," little Mahomed Omer, came in. He sat on the +ground and chattered away, eating grapes while I smoked and aired my +Persian. + +While the painting was in progress Mr. Pyne visited Paghman to hold an +interview with the Amir; he came and stayed with me. It was snowing +when he arrived, and I found he had fever. As he sat shivering, +unable to get warm, I recommended the "sandali," which he had never +yet tried. The charcoal was brought all glowing in the brazier; the +wooden framework and the quilt were arranged, and we sat on the carpet +amidst the large pillows, drawing the quilt over our knees. There is +no need to be shaking with fever in order to appreciate a sandali: +nevertheless, when one _is_ in that unfortunate position a sandali +seems one of the wisest inventions of man. Mr. Pyne thought so at the +time. I would not, however, say that a sandali is to be recommended +when more sanitary means of becoming warm are to be procured. A dose or +two of quinine and Mr. Pyne was soon all right. + +We went for a ride the next morning up the mountain: the snow was not +thick and the sun shone brightly. We reached a gorge sheltered from +the wind, where we could feel the heat of the sun, and got off and +smoked a cigar. I did not get much painting done while Pyne was my +guest, for the spirit moved him to talk much. + +In the dusk of the evening the Priests came and intoned their prayers +near my wigwam. "Allah hu, Allah-il-Allah, Ressul Allah!" + +When the portrait was finished I sent it to Her Highness, the Sultana, +for approval. She was delighted with it, but suggested that I had +perhaps made the cheeks too pink: accordingly, I altered it. She wished +me to show it to His Highness, the Amir. + +[Sidenote: Waiting at the Door.] + +The next day I took it to the Palace. The only available Interpreter +being the "Gnat," this gentleman took the opportunity to prevent--as +I afterwards found--the report of my arrival from being taken to the +Amir, and I was kept waiting some hours, till at last I got up and +was leaving the Palace when I saw His Highness descending the stairs. +I waited, therefore, until he approached, and then bowed. He seemed +surprised to see me and asked how I was. I showed him the picture which +my servant was carrying. He was very pleased with it, and said it was +faultless: he added--and this pleased the Sultana exceedingly--that the +portrait of the little Prince was exactly like that I had painted of +himself, except that it was smaller. + +The Priest Compounder, who was with me, mentioned that I had been +waiting some hours at the Palace. His Highness seemed both surprised +and annoyed. He told me that no report had been made to him of my +arrival, and that there was no reason for my having been kept waiting. + +His Highness's words concerning the painting were, of course, reported +at once to the Sultana, and she sent word to me that she would be +pleased if I remained at Paghman a day or two longer: the Amir, +herself, and the Prince would then be departing for Kabul, and she +desired me to accompany the Prince. I was myself to take charge of the +picture on the journey, and when she summoned me I was to formally +deliver it at the Harem Serai. Accordingly, I waited. + +On the morning of our departure six or seven bullocks were slaughtered, +by order of the Sultana, and presented to the Paghmanis. The manner +of slaughtering was peculiar. The butcher seized the nostril and one +horn of the victim, twisted the head sideways over the neck and threw +the animal down. Putting his knee on the horn to extend the neck, he +drew his short knife and cut the throat: the inevitable "Allah akbar" +being shouted at the same time by the crowd. It was a striking but +disagreeable sight to see the blood hiss on to the snow: it was so +unpleasantly suggestive of what might happen to oneself under certain +circumstances. The hopeless position of the creatures as they stood +"waiting to be murdered," rather shook my nerves. However, it taught me +one thing--that my health was more affected by the climate than I liked +to think: for on my arrival in Kabul, finding there were two delicate +eye operations waiting for me to perform, I felt I must postpone them +for a day or two. + +As the whole Court was moving to Kabul the traffic was enormous. We +had first snow, then sleet, then rain, and the road became a quagmire: +mud--we on horseback were plastered from head to foot. The Royal family +drove in carriages, and those of the Courtiers who possessed them, in +buggies and tongas. There were several blocks on the road, but when we +got through them we galloped. The picture was put in a palanquin of the +Sultana's under the charge of my Afghan servant. The man was greatly +amused at a beggar woman by the wayside addressing him as "Bibi Sahib," +and asking alms. + +For some little time I had been rather worried about money matters, +for although acting upon the Amir's suggestion, I had in August sent +a firman for six months' pay to my bankers in Bombay, with orders to +collect from the native Agent in that town; up to now, December, none +of it had been paid. I wished, therefore, to see His Highness and +inform him. + +[Sidenote: The "Gnat."] + +The Armenian being engaged in interpreting for the other Europeans, +I had no one to make an appointment for me with His Highness except +the Hindustani Gnat. A day or two after our arrival in Kabul this man +called at my house, informing me that His Highness would see me that +evening. Knowing that the truth was to him as naught, I doubted the +accuracy of this information. I was correct in my supposition: he had +made no appointment. However, it was quite as well I did not see His +Highness, for a day or two afterwards I received a letter from my +bankers saying that at last the Agent had disgorged: they were able, +therefore, to transmit the money to London. I sent no more firmans to +the Agent. + +Just before Christmas I was sent for by His Highness. I managed to +obtain possession of the Armenian, and taking him with me I went to +the Erg Palace. It was on a Friday, and there was no one at the Palace +except the Amir's uncle, Sirdar Usuf, and the ordinary attendants. His +Highness was seated at the sandali. He was not dressed in European +costume, but was wearing a silken robe and a small white turban. I was +afraid His Highness was unwell and had sent for me on that account. +Happily it was not so. After tea had been drank he told me that in the +Palace when prayer-time came many people prayed, and that there were +hanging on the walls pictures representing people--the English Houses +of Parliament, and also the portrait of himself that I had painted in +Turkestan. In the Mahomedan religion, he explained, it is not allowed +to pray in any room where there is a pictorial representation of a man. +He said that he wished, therefore, to hang these pictures in another +room, and he desired me to paint three large pictures of scenery to +take their place: the pictures were to be painted on leather, so that +they might last as long as the Palace itself! + +He desired me, for the second time, to paint a full-length portrait of +himself, and expressed his intention of sending to me four of the most +accomplished artists that the country could produce in order that I +might give them instruction in portrait-painting. Also, he informed me +that my leave of absence would be granted before "Nau Roz," March 21st. + +It occurred to me at the time that with all these commissions on hand, +Nau Roz and after Nau Roz would see me still in Kabul. + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Turban.] + +I do not know what emotion my face expressed, but as I sat holding +my turban on my knee, His Highness suddenly desired me to bring +him the turban that he might examine it. It was a good "Lungi," of +fawn-coloured Cashmere, embroidered on both sides, which had been given +me by a patient, one of the Court Pages. His Highness said he was +wearing a better kind that he had lately sent for from Cashmere, and +he directed a Page to bring it. It certainly was better than mine; a +white Cashmere delicately embroidered with silk. It was wound in the +Amir's careless fashion round a Turkestan cap of bright colours. I was +admiring it when, to my surprise, His Highness directed me to put it on. + +After a moment's hesitation at being covered in his presence I did so, +and His Highness desired me to keep it. + +Gratification and pride were now the dominant sensations; +disappointment vanished into the haze of the past. No longer was "leave +of absence" remembered. What was "Nau Roz" or "after Nau Roz?" Was +I not wearing the King's turban! The congratulations that everyone +offered when I withdrew from the Presence were received with a lofty +dignity suitable to the situation. + +I had only a strip or so of canvas, and I painted a head on leather +to show His Highness how difficult it was, for me at any rate, to +get anything like an effect on that material, and I pointed out the +fact that a skin of leather large enough for a landscape was almost +impossible to obtain. A message, therefore, was sent to Bombay for +canvas and paints. + +On Christmas Day, Mr. Pyne and the other English called upon Mr. +Collins and myself, who were living in the town, and after a ride in +the afternoon, we all dined together in the Workshops, drinking the +health of the Queen, standing. A congratulatory message also was sent +to Her Majesty from the Kabul Colony, to be telegraphed from Peshawur. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +ADIEU TO KABUL. + + Afghan artists: their "style." Presentation of the little Prince's + portrait. His quarters at the Palace: presents. The Prince as a + host. After dark, a walk in the Kabul Bazaars. Before the Amir: the + shock: the result, landscapes. A fresh commission. The "Gnat's" + interpreting. The Amir's answer. Cogitation: decision. Art pupils + before the Amir. His Highness's criticism. The Amir's kindly + remark:--an interpretation thereof. The miner's dog: other dogs: + shattered nerves and surgical operations. The worries of Kabul + life. To Paghman: the glens: the spy, and his reception. Sketches. + Before the Amir. A fresh commission. Completion. Adieux. + + +[Sidenote: Afghan Artists.] + +Two days after Christmas the most skilled of the artists arrived at my +house to learn portrait-painting. They could all draw, and one of them +showed talent of no mean order. The first thing, I found, was to teach +them to draw a head life-size: formerly, they would do one the size +of the thumb nail. The next, to teach them to draw heads in different +positions, and not in the one conventional position to which they were +accustomed; after that to show them how to put in their shadows crisply +and with decision, having due regard to the relative value of each. For +models I called up my Afghan servants and the soldiers of the guard. +I have brought away with me many of the drawings of these artists, +so that I have an interesting series of "types" of men born and bred +in Afghanistan. The most skilful of the artists gave an almost +Holbeinesque look to his drawings. They were perhaps somewhat hard, +though he began to acquire, before I left, a freer style of drawing. + +How they would have turned out as colourists I do not know, for we +never got on to painting. + +At the beginning of January I received an order from the Sultana to +present formally to the little Prince Mahomed Omer the portrait I had +painted of him in Paghman. + +Accompanied by the Armenian, I went to the Erg Palace. The little +Prince's quarters were in a part of the Palace to which I had never +before been admitted. It was a recent addition, built at the extreme +west, behind the enclosure of the Amir's Pavilion, and high up +overlooking the moat. I had noticed the building in progress when I +was attending the Amir, and had wondered whom the apartments were +intended for. We were conducted up a flight of winding stone steps, +along corridors and through ante-rooms, till we reached the Prince's +quarters. There were both "winter" and "summer" rooms, and the little +Prince himself conducted me in a dignified manner to the different +apartments, and showed them to me with great pride. + +The winter rooms, where he was at that time located, were warmly +curtained and carpeted, and on the hearth, at either end, a great wood +fire was blazing. The summer room, more elaborately decorated, opened +on to a stone platform or balcony, some twenty feet above the moat, +and from here was a splendid view across the Shahbagh Valley to the +Baghi-Buland, where the Amir was building himself another Palace. In +the distance was the Paghman offshoot of the Hindu Kush range. + +Sweets, tea, and cigarettes were brought, some Cashmere embroidery was +given me, and a large tray of sweetmeats for the servants to carry +away. The Sultana also desired me to accept a present of a thousand +rupees as soon as it was collected from the "tax-payers." I, however, +left the country before it was collected, but I have heard since that +the Amir was so annoyed at the delay that he fined Her Highness an +equal sum in consequence. + +[Sidenote: The Little Prince as a Host.] + +The little Prince was very smart in a crimson velvet coat, with emerald +and diamond ornaments, white cloth trousers, patent-leather boots, and +a fur busby. + +The accommodation in the Palace for the little man was more elaborate +than that provided for any of his elder brothers, and he was deputed at +this early age to receive visitors on behalf of the Sultana. + +He received Mr. Collins and myself in these rooms some time afterwards, +when we paid a ceremonial visit to Her Highness, and after ordering +tea and cigarettes to be brought, he proceeded to entertain us in +the way that struck him as most suitable--he sent for his toys. They +were mechanical ones from London and Paris. There was a musical cat +that played the violin, another that sprang from a basket, and so +on. He gave a demonstration of their working, watching our faces at +the time to see if we were amused. We were duly amused. He seemed +highly delighted, for he suddenly ordered us to laugh once more. We +promptly obeyed. He asked us then if we would like some sweets: on +our assenting, called for pen and paper and wrote an order upon his +storekeeper for a tray full. + +The writing, however, was understandable only by those who had heard +the order given. When the sweets were brought he warned us not to eat +them too fast lest we should be ill. He seemed not disinclined to join +us, but his tutor hinted to him in a whisper that he had eaten enough +already. + +He spoke in Persian, and I asked if he understood Pushtu. The tutor +said that he did not at present speak that language, but that he was +learning. The Prince, eager to show his knowledge, said that, on the +contrary, he could speak Pushtu, and he gave us an example. He had +apparently picked up the words from some of his attendants, for it was +not language such as a Prince should use. When we asked permission +to withdraw, the Prince shook hands with us, politely saying, +"Khush-amaded," "Welcome," and we bowed ourselves out. + +In January the frost making the ground so hard and slippery that it +was dangerous to ride on horseback, Mr. Collins and I went for long +afternoon walks. One day, having made rather a longer round than usual, +we arrived at the suburbs of the town just as night fell. It was a part +of the town I had never been in before; however, there was a moon, +and we had a soldier with us. The streets of Kabul, as I have already +said, are not straight and neatly paved and lighted. They are most +eccentric in their general arrangement, and are lit by an occasional--a +very occasional--oil lamp, a saucer of earthenware with a wick thrown +in, which gives but a dim smoky light. There were a great many people +about, but few took any notice of us or we of anyone. Occasionally +some one would say, "The English Doctor," or "English," and though I +wore native costume with turban and cloak, Collins was dressed as a +European, with fur cap and coat. A few years ago a walk in the dusk in +Kabul would certainly have been fatal to two Europeans, but now--we had +no weapons and needed none. There seemed really less danger than there +would have been in walking through some of the back streets of London. + +At the end of February when my three landscapes were finished, I took +them, with some drawings that my pupils had finished, to show to the +Amir. + +His Highness was occupying a suite of rooms in the Erg Palace that at +one time was Prince Habibullah's Harem Serai. We were shown into a +large, well-furnished room with a wood fire burning on the hearth. A +small scent-fountain was playing on the table, and the room was crowded +with flowers, some cut and some growing in pots. The Amir being fond of +flowers, his Palace is supplied during the winter from Jelalabad, where +the climate is always hot. + +[Sidenote: A Shock.] + +There were not many people in the room--some half-dozen of the chief +officials of the country and several Page boys. The Amir himself did +not look well. He was dark under the eyes and thinner, and he looked as +though he had been bled. + +I asked if he were not well, and he said he had been troubled with gout. + +This gave me a shock, and when I found that he had again called the +Hakims to attend him, I at once determined to leave his service at +the first opportunity. I had a very vivid recollection of my former +experiences under similar circumstances, and had not the slightest +desire to have them repeated. + +His Highness was very kind and courteous, and he was pleased with the +landscapes. He desired me however, to paint two more, one of them to be +a view of Paghman, including the Palace and the Harem Serai. + +I was surprised at this and far from pleased, for the snow lay thick +at Paghman, and sketching there would be an impossibility for weeks to +come. I said to His Highness that there were as yet no leaves on the +trees, but he said-- + +"Khair ast!" "That is nothing--you can paint leaves on the trees in the +picture!" + +I showed him the work of the art students, and he was greatly pleased +with their progress. + +As the Armenian was ill with fever I had been compelled to take the +Hindustani Gnat to translate, and I said to him: + +"Seeing that His Highness has been ill and has not desired me to treat +him, he probably does not wish me to return to this country when my +leave expires. Enquire if this is so." + +The Interpreter said in Persian to His Highness: "The Doctor asks +whether it is Amir Sahib's wish that he bring Mrs. Gray with him to +this country when he returns?" + +I had not asked this. His Highness answered: + +"Most certainly; I said so before," and addressing me he said: + +"I look upon you as one of my household; I wish you and your wife to +live here permanently: going to England for a time and again returning." + +He then repeated his promise of defraying the expenses of the journey +and that of the two English maid-servants who were to be brought; +he indicated the position where a house was to be built for us, near +his own Palace, and talked for some time as to the arrangement of the +house; and he said as regards the veil over the face, that it was, for +a European lady, entirely optional. + +[Sidenote: Cogitation: Decision.] + +It was very kind of His Highness to make these promises, but of what +use were they to me? I had returned to the country after my first leave +because I had promised to do so: I had imagined, and, indeed, had been +given to understand, that having tested my good faith, the Amir would, +if he were taken ill, not keep me as a sort of _dernier ressort_, +but call me to attend him before he was maltreated by the Hakims. +Apparently this was not his intention. Such being the case, his service +appeared to me to be no longer desirable, at any rate for a married +man. The risks were too great. + +I set to work and painted one landscape, and when that was finished and +I was waiting for the weather to allow me to go to Paghman, I painted +for my wife a portrait of myself in costume, for I guessed I should +never paint another portrait of myself in Kabul. + +About the middle of March I had again an interview with His Highness: +I wished to show him the progress of my art pupils, and to exhibit the +fresh landscape. He was then occupying the "Bostan Serai," a new Palace +or bungalow which was just completed. It was situated outside the South +Gate of the Erg Palace. + +I had set the artists to draw a portrait of the Armenian (to ensure at +the interview the presence of an Interpreter whom I could trust), and +of the sergeant of my guard. They and the pupils accompanied me to the +Palace, the Hindustani Gnat attaching himself to our train. + +After passing through a courtyard where there were soldiers and Page +boys, we entered the garden of the Palace. I sat on a seat there while +His Highness was informed of my arrival. + +Some military Officers and Secretaries came through whom I knew and +shook hands with. Presently came the two little Princes, Hafiz Ullah +and Amin Ullah, pretty boys, with fair hair and white skins. They +stopped and spoke to me, and the elder, Prince Hafiz Ullah, showed +me some photographs of himself that were taken by an itinerant Hindu +photographer who had recently come to Kabul: they were very badly done. +The Princes then shook hands and went in to salaam His Highness. They +were accompanied by their tutor and several Page boys. + +In a few minutes I was called. His Highness was seated in an easy-chair +in the porch overlooking the garden. Everyone was standing. The porch +was three or four steps higher than the terrace where I stood. After +the usual salutations I showed the landscape. His Highness was very +interested in it, and I then exhibited the portrait of myself. This he +said was faultless. He added, laughingly, + +"You have painted the fur the same colour as the moustache, and the +turban the same colour as the eyes." + +By his direction it was then fixed up on the wall in front of him. + +When the drawings of the pupils were brought forward the Armenian and +the sergeant had to stand in position in order to be compared with the +drawings. Some of them His Highness praised, some he found fault with, +but he expressed himself as being very pleased with the progress the +artists had made, and stated his intention of giving each of them a +present. Before I came away I said to the Interpreter:-- + +"If His Highness will accept the portrait I have painted of myself I +shall be honoured, but, if not, will he kindly allow me to send it to +my wife in London?" + +[Sidenote: Amir's Kindly Remark.] + +His Highness said:-- + +"I would rather see your face here for many years to come than have the +best portrait that ever was painted." + +I was gratified by the kindness of the remark: but it occurred to me +that His Highness had received information concerning my intention of +leaving his service. + +At this time the English miner returned from Jigdilik, where he had +been superintending the Spinel Rubies mines. As there was no room in +the Workshops I offered him quarters in my house. He lived in the wing +that Mr. Collins occupied. + +A day or two afterwards he bought a half-bred bulldog of a man in the +bazaar, and he tied it up in my garden. Every evening he went off to +the Workshops to play cards with the other men, and the dog lifted +up his voice and howled continuously. Looking at the affair from +my own personal standpoint, the dog was undoubtedly an abominable +nuisance, but from the miner's point of view, probably this was not +so. I considered in my own mind whether it would purely be selfish if +I told him to take his dog with him, or otherwise dispose of it: I +felt sorely tempted to do so, but I refrained. I did casually remark +that the dog mourned greatly when he was away; the hint did not have +the desired effect, for the miner shouted cheerily, "Did he?" and he +laughed a stentorian laugh. It was an experience to go through, when he +and the Armenian shouted jokes at one another in my small winter room. +However, he was my guest at the time; but I confess I looked upon it as +a special mercy that he was fond of cards and the society of the other +English workmen at the shops. + +But the dog! I remember it. He began with a short yelp, which he +prolonged into a whining howl. Then he began another howl, and ended up +with two or three sharp yelps: there were many changes and variations +all painfully distinct in the silence of the night. One evening it was +almost too much for me, and I nearly gave way: I was about to send a +note to the shops, thus:-- + +"DEAR MINER,--What is the price of your dog? I want to buy it, +so that I can, without evil motives being assigned to me, poison it. My +nervous system is becoming slowly shattered. Don't apologise.--Yours, +very truly,----" + +But then, from the miner's point of view this would, doubtless, be a +very selfish and heartless letter, and I decided not to send it. + +Distinctly there were dogs enough in the neighbourhood. The Armenian +had a dog, and he would bring it sometimes in the morning and tie it up +all day. This also mourned: I do not like dogs. It struck me afterwards +that perhaps I was thought to enjoy their music. If the muscles of the +face, in an unguarded moment, twitched spasmodically at a more than +usually penetrating howl, I endeavoured to change it into a pleasant +smile. To a medical observer I should imagine one's appearance at these +moments would be interesting. + +The day I was nearly forgetting the duties of hospitality in sending a +note to the miner, I had had an operation to perform, the removal of an +eye: the day before to take a tumour from the forehead: also to put up +the broken wing of a heron in splints. Prince Habibullah had shot the +bird, and finding it was not killed, he sent it to me to be surgically +attended to. In the morning I had to visit and prescribe for a sick +tiger: this patient, by the way, broke loose from the attendants, but +was too ill to do any harm. + +I was not yet able to start for Paghman on account of the rain and +the violent storms of thunder and lightning. It was bad enough in +Kabul with the road like quagmires, but up in the hills it would be +infinitely worse. It was rumoured that I was to start for home directly +the Paghman picture was finished; it was also rumoured that I was not +to start till the end of the summer. + +[Sidenote: Shattered Nerves.] + +Mr. Collins had for some time been considerably disturbed in his mind, +in that he had not been for several months sent on any geologising +expedition. He was "severely let alone," and was heartily sick of Kabul +life in consequence. The reason of this I have mentioned in an earlier +part of the narrative, where I have drawn a parallel between his and +Captain Griesbach's experiences. The difficulty in Kabul is to avoid +worrying one's self into misery. It is galling to think that a spy can +whisper what he likes behind one's back, and one can do nothing: for +being never accused one has nothing to answer; knowing, nevertheless, +that some mischief is working. As for rumours, one can believe as +little or as much as one pleases, for a report is just as likely to be +false as true: there is, however, generally some substratum of fact +upon which the structure is built. + +At the beginning of April, I received the order to proceed to Paghman. + +His Highness gave me a firman, ordering the Governor of Paghman to +provide a house; food at the price His Highness pays, and anything else +I wanted. Pack-horses were procured, and I sent off the servants with +camp-bedstead, table, chair, kitchen utensils, and so on, including +tea, sugar, and candles, and corn for the horses, for in Paghman, at +this time of the year, there was little to be got from the villagers +except meat and bread. + +The next day, after breakfast, I rode to Paghman, accompanied by Mr. +Collins and a guard. The snow was still on the mountains, but had +disappeared in the valley of Paghman. We were quartered in the house +of Sirdar Usuf Khan, the Amir's uncle. It was, of course, empty, +except for the furniture I had sent over. We spent the rest of the day +wandering about the hills and glens, seeking a suitable spot from which +to make my drawings. Mr. Collins brought a gun and shot a few birds, +among them was a kestrel. I noticed the wild tulips were in bloom; they +had six pale pink petals, each with a darker median streak. + +After walking and climbing a good many miles we found the best view of +the Palace and Harem Serai was to be obtained from a hilly offshoot +of the mountains bounding the north side of the valley: from the +Pir-i-Buland peak. + +[Sidenote: The Spy of the Gnat.] + +When we got back to the house, one of my Afghan servants told me +that an _employe_ of the Hindustani Gnat was hanging about in the +neighbourhood, and that while we were away he had attempted to enter +the house. After we had had dinner, Mr. Collins and I walked in the +garden, and I caught sight of the man spoken of. I knew his face at +once as a spy. Apparently he had "squared" the guard, for he was +creeping in at the entrance. What his object was I never knew, unless +it were to peep about and carry a report to his master of what he saw. +Mr. Collins and I suddenly stepped in his path and asked him what he +wanted. He seemed rather taken aback and said he wanted nothing. + +I told him that, as we could not have the supreme happiness of being of +service to him, we would not detain him longer; nor would we trouble +him to call again lest he should be put to the inconvenience, not to +say danger, of being shot at. He did not appear again. + +In a couple of days I had finished my sketches, and we rode back to +Kabul. I then set to work to paint my picture. Meanwhile, the Hospital +work had to go on as usual, and operations to be performed, so that it +was the beginning of May before the picture was finished. + +I then took it to the Bostan Serai Palace, which His Highness was still +occupying, to show him. He was very pleased, and went over all the +details of the picture with interest. The usual tea and cigarettes were +brought, and His Highness sent me a plate of sweetmeats from his table. +He talked for some time afterwards on natural history and philology, +and said he was intending to build another Palace at Paghman. I showed +him some vesical calculi I had removed by operation, and then asked +when he would wish me to start for England. From the expression of His +Highness's face, I saw I had made a mistake in asking. However, the +expression was only momentary, and His Highness said I should start at +the beginning of the next month. One thing, however, he had overlooked; +the pictures--he liked them exceedingly, and would hang them in the +Palace he was then using--but for the Erg Palace, for which they were +painted, they were the wrong shape; these were longer from side to +side; they should have been longer from above downwards. This was +indeed the fact, as I saw directly he called my attention to it, and I +determined, therefore, to paint three more before I left. But, tobah! +tobah! I was very sick of it all. I set to work again and called in the +art students to see how the deed was done. + +To find what you really can do, work with the "spur" well in. I painted +better than I had ever done--though, may be, that is not saying very +much. + +As soon as one picture was finished I began another, working all day +and every day. The Hospitals I left in the hands of the Hindustani +assistants and the Hakims; but I was sorry for the patients. One or two +cases, however, I attended to;--a Page boy, whom His Highness sent, +and whose finger it was necessary to amputate: and one of the keepers +of His Highness's menagerie, who had been badly mauled by a tiger: a +lithotomy operation that had to be performed, and a few others. + +While I was at work I received a letter from His Highness, directing +me to inform him as soon as I was ready to start, in order that the +firmans for pack-horses, tent, and guard might be made out. + +[Sidenote: Adieux.] + +Towards the end of May the pictures were finished. I had at this time +the pleasure of congratulating Prince Nasrullah on the birth of a son; +and after the pictures were presented, His Highness's thanks received, +and my adieux made, I started on my long-deferred but greatly-desired +journey home. Mr. Collins, at the same time, sent in his resignation +and accompanied me. Just as I put my foot in the stirrup two patients +arrived:--the Page boy from the Palace, whose finger I had amputated, +and a girl from the Harem Serai, sent by the Sultana. However, I was +not very long in attending to them, and at last we were really off. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE ARGUMENT. + + Afghan court life from an English standpoint. The rise and fall + of the Afghan Courtier. Untrustworthiness: the inevitable result. + Intrigue: a similar result. Question of "cause" or "consequence." + Possibility of raising the moral plane: reasons in favour of. The + Amir's obvious opinion. His Highness's great work. Certain evils. + Former condition of the middle classes: present condition: opening + of the eyes: comparison with similar class in India. Progress + in Afghanistan. Civilizing effect of the Amir: his influence. + Dost Mahomed's rule: his character: comparison with Abdurrahman. + Altered condition of country. The Amir's civilizing measures: + drastic measures. Peaceful measures: education: the teaching of + handicrafts: of art: the spreading of knowledge: prizes for good or + original work. Personal fascination of the Amir. + + +Though I have endeavoured, by detailing my own experiences in the +country, to give an idea of the present condition of Afghanistan +and the character of the ruler, one must not forget that we English +in the service were on an entirely different footing, as regards +the Amir, from any of the natives of the country. As outsiders we +noted, sometimes with amused, sometimes with painful, interest, many +occurrences which, however, concerned us only in the abstract and not +in any personal way. + +[Sidenote: Rise and Fall of the Official.] + +For instance, I have shown that the Amir has raised men of the lowest +rank, even slaves, to positions nearly the highest in the kingdom. +Similarly, men of the highest rank are degraded in a day to nearly the +lowest. A high official is one day riding through the streets dressed +in velvet and gold, with a great retinue of servants around him: a +day or two afterwards, in a shabby coat, he is creeping from door to +door to beg a little bread, and I wondered if this state of things +were the _consequence_, or is it the _cause_, of an Afghan's utter +untrustworthiness, when he is put into a position of responsibility. + +As an example:--A man is made Governor of a Province on a very +moderate salary, and presently the Amir sees him in gorgeous attire, +and surrounded by crowds of servants and horses. We, foreigners even, +could see that the pay did not run to it--it was impossible; how much +more clearly, therefore, could the Amir see it, and yet the custom was +invariable. After a few years the man is recalled to Kabul to make +out a statement of accounts as regards the revenue and taxes of the +province. He cannot do it. Forthwith his ill-gotten wealth is put in +the Treasury, his finery, and the shawls and diamonds of his wives, in +the Government stores, and he finds himself, as he deserved, a beggar +or in jail. The sufferers--the men who have been squeezed--are the +peasants and traders. When "gentlemen" behave in this way it is not to +be wondered at that the Amir makes a slave a gentleman. + +On the other hand, there are cases, perhaps, as numerous where a man +owes his fall not to any rascality of his own, but to the combination +and intrigue of his enemies. This, I suppose, must necessarily be under +a despotic Government, where one man has supreme power. Be he ever so +wise and just a man he cannot know everything, and there being only +one man to work upon, a clever scoundrel, who has the _entree_ to the +Durbar, and who studies that one man's disposition and moods, can oust +a better man than himself, if he works long enough. Sometimes a man +compounds with his enemies: each party knows something incriminating +about the other, and both keep silent from mutual fear. This state of +things has existed not in the reign of the present Amir only, but for +generations. + +As a spectator I have watched the play many a time; it is interesting, +as I said, though apt to be depressing. Sometimes it is simply a +comedy; but more often the ending is tragic. + +Are these rapid rises and falls to be looked upon as the _consequence_ +or are they the _cause_ of the moral condition of the Afghan? The +question is an important one, if we are looking forward to a civilized +Afghanistan. + +Does an Afghan in power, knowing the certainty of a fall, deserved or +undeserved, say to himself, + +"I have authority now, but sooner or later somebody will undermine me +in the Amir's regard. I had better make the most of my power while it +lasts: get all I can out of other people, and enjoy myself. The evil +day may be long deferred." + +Looking at it in this way, it is possible to imagine that the condition +of things is the cause of his behaviour. + +On the other hand, is the moral nature of the Afghan utterly hopeless? +I do not mean does he lie, steal, murder, and betray, for we know he +has done that for ages; but I mean, is the nation incapable of being +raised to a higher moral condition? + +[Sidenote: The Amir's Great Work.] + +Their frank open-hearted manner and sense of hospitality; their love +of liberty and of home; their faithfulness (sometimes) to a friend in +adversity,--I have seen this in spite of widespread treachery; the +graceful gratitude for a favour conferred: all these seem to show that +the moving spirit of the race was once on a far higher moral plane than +it is now, and one would think, therefore, that they _are_ capable of +being raised to a condition vastly superior to their present state. + +That the Amir thinks so is clear, for he has commenced to raise them by +a system of education. + +To say that Abdurrahman did not come to the throne by chance is to +utter a platitude. There was a work to be done that doubtless he only +could do. It was essential that the power of the "Barons," the great +chiefs with rival interests, should be broken and their constant feuds +ended; that the country should be united under one head; that there +should be respect for authority, and thus a possibility established +of drawing the people from the slough of ignorance in which they are +wallowing. The Amir has done and is doing, in this country over which +he has acquired nearly absolute control, a grand civilizing work. + +Still, one cannot be blind to the fact that the usual evils of +a Despotic Government exist:--the instability of every official +appointment: the great evil of the "place-seeker" to which I have +referred: the oppression of the poor; and the grinding down of +the peasants and traders. These are enough to sap the life of any +government, for there can be no strength where there is no mutual trust. + +It is impossible for the Amir, though like Napoleon he employs a +complicated system of espionage, it is impossible for him to know +all the evil that exists. In the preceding reigns the oppression of +the middle and lower classes (the backbone of every country) was far +greater than it is now, but the people had the continual excitement of +constantly-recurring intertribal wars, when every Afghan is a soldier, +to draw their attention away from their own miserable condition. Now, +they have time to think, and though their condition is far better than +it was, they are beginning to see how bad it is--to make comparisons. + +That Afghanistan has during the last ten years made considerable +strides toward civilization, there can, I think, be no doubt in the +minds of those who have had the opportunity of collecting sufficient +facts upon which to base an opinion. And that this progress has been +entirely due to the remarkable Prince who is now occupying the throne +of Afghanistan--Amir Abdurrahman--requires but little proof. + +We have only to compare the condition of the country and the "bent" +of the people at the present time with their condition a few years +ago, to bring out, in a very clear light, the civilizing effect of a +far-seeing, strong man's personality. + +[Sidenote: Personal Influence of the Amir.] + +Amir Abdurrahman is absolute autocrat of Afghanistan. His is now the +only influence that has any lasting effect upon the people. There is no +Press to guide public opinion. The influence and power of the Priests +has been enormously curtailed. The Chief Priest--the Khani Mullah Khan +himself--though treated with respect by His Highness, the Amir, has +scarcely more power, nor does he receive a greater share of attention +than one of the Civil magistrates. The opinion of the Amir, delivered +in open Durbar, is the keynote from which all tunes are played. It +is caught up by the Chamberlains, the Court Officials, and Pages; it +reaches the bazaars, and soon the people join in the chorus. It is woe +to the man who utters a discordant note: people look at him askance and +draw out of his neighbourhood. Attention is directed to him, and unless +he alters his note he is--dismissed from the choir. + +The Amir is, as I have said, the Chief of the powerful Durani tribe. +This tribe has been from time immemorial more tolerant and more +civilized than any other of the tribes of Afghanistan: and from it +the native rulers of the country have been invariably drawn. When we +consider the Amir's marvellous personal influence, we can but see it is +a happy thing that his leaning is towards civilization and justice. + +That it is so can be shown. + +What was the condition of Afghanistan no further back than the time of +his grandfather, Amir Dost Mahomed, the great Amir--"Amir-i-Kabir"--as +the Afghans called him? + +Dost Mahomed was Amir of the Kabul Province; his brother Ramdil +occupied Kandahar: and Herat was held independently by Shah Mahomed, +brother of Shah Shujah. This was in 1835. These chiefs were constantly +intriguing with Persia and Russia; and their conflicting interests and +personal jealousies brought the country into a condition so unsettled +as to be little better than Anarchy. War, and in its train, robbery +and murder were so constantly carried on, that it was most unsafe for +Afghans, and quite impossible for foreigners, to travel from one city +to another. So suddenly did fighting break out, that when travelling, +one found one's self in danger of falling into the thick of it. +Caravans--such as ventured to start--made long and wearisome detours +to avoid battlefields. The more savage of the Afghan tribes delighted +in nothing more than the chances thus offered of unpunished highway +robbery and murder. + +About the year 1850 Dost Mahomed succeeded in annexing Turkestan, and +in 1854 he managed to evict Ramdil from Kandahar. Meanwhile, in Herat, +Shah Kamran succeeded his father, Mahmud; and at his death came his +minister, Yar Mahomed. The Persians at once advanced and took Herat: +Herat being the key of India--this necessitated British interference. +Sultan Jan, brother of Dost Mahomed, was put in possession. He died +in 1862, and there were many claimants for the Chieftainship, each of +whom appealed to Persia. Dost Mahomed therefore advanced with an army, +besieged, and took Herat. This was his last act, for he died in his +camp a few days after. + +While Dost Mahomed was on the throne it was allowable in Kabul to +revile and curse the British openly, and although as a successful +Warrior, with bluff, hearty manners, and a free accessibility to his +people, he was a popular Monarch, nevertheless, there was not a single +act he did which in any way increased the material prosperity of his +people. To use the words of a skilled and indefatigable observer +of facts, Dr. Bellew, of whom one still hears much in Kabul--"Dost +Mahomed, during his long reign, did nothing to improve the condition +or advance the domestic welfare of his people, nor did he introduce a +single measure of general benefit to his country. He kept it a close +borough of Islam, stationary in the ignorance of the Middle Ages, and +pervaded with the religious bigotry of that period, and, to the close +of his life he defended that policy as the only one whereby to maintain +the independence of the country. His great merit is that he had the +sense to perceive his own interest in the British alliance, and he +reaped the fruits of his good judgment in the ultimate consolidation of +his kingdom. But he was a barbarian, nevertheless." + +[Sidenote: Abdurrahman and Dost Mahomed.] + +Attention has been drawn to a certain resemblance existing between Amir +Abdurrahman and Dost Mahomed. + +The Hon. G. N. Curzon, speaking at the Society of Arts, remarked that +the Amir seemed to possess some of the strongest characteristics of his +grandfather, Dost Mahomed. Without doubt this is so; and one may add +that to the strong character of Dost Mahomed, Abdurrahman unites a high +degree of education and considerable stores of information--scientific, +artistic, and general--acquired from books, from conversation, and +from observation during his travels. To the simple manners and free +hospitality of Dost Mahomed, he adds a dignity and kindly courtesy of +manner most remarkable in a man of his strong passions, and in one who +is constantly surrounded with adulation and flattery. He is readily +accessible to his people: and even when suffering from the pangs of +gout will listen patiently to the petitions of the poorest of his +subjects, and give rapid though just judgments in the cases brought +before him. + +From my narrative may have been gathered some idea of the steps +that the Amir has taken to civilize his people and advance +them in prosperity. Highway robbery and murder are no longer +common in the country; nor is murder or theft in the town. +Englishmen--Feringhis--have been, for the last six or seven years, +travelling constantly between Kabul and Peshawur, and never has there +been the slightest attempt to injure or annoy them. Indeed, for myself +I may say that at every halting-place when the villagers brought +their sick for me to attend to, I went among them freely, unarmed and +unguarded. + +That the Amir should have used drastic measures to bring the diseased +state of the country into a condition nearer approaching health, was +without doubt a necessity; mild measures would have been misunderstood +and completely disregarded. The savage tribes who haunted certain parts +of the highway and gave rise to such by-words as "the valley of death," +were either killed by the Amir's troops, captured and executed, or +dispersed. + +On the other hand, should a Kabuli wish to start business for himself, +he has but to apply to the Amir, who will, for a certain number of +years, lend him a sum sufficient for his purposes, and this without +interest. + +I have related in my narrative how that the Amir was educating, not +merely the Court Pages and the boy soldiers of his Mahomedan regiment, +but many others, the sons of gentlemen, whom he was intending for +officers in his army. + +[Sidenote: The Teaching of Handicrafts.] + +The educational influence on the Afghans of the Amir's Kabul workshops +must be, and is, immense. The natives work in great numbers in the +shops, being taught by the English engineers who have from time +to time been in the service of His Highness, and by the Hindustani +_mistris_, who have been introduced from Lahore and Bengal. + +Not only is war material produced in the workshops, but various +handicrafts are practised there. One body of men is doing leather +work--copying English and Russian boots of various kinds; making +saddles, bridles, belts, and cartridge pouches, portmanteaux, and mule +trunks. There are workers in wood--from those who manage the steam saws +to those who produce beautiful carved work for cabinets and chairs. +There are workers in brass, making vases, candelabra, lamps, and many +other things both useful and ornamental. There is another department +where they produce tin ware--pots, pans, and cans. The most artistic +are perhaps the workers in silver. They make for the Amir or Sultana +very beautiful things: cups, beakers, beautifully embossed tea-pots, +dagger and sword handles, and scabbards. Their work is, however, rarely +original. The Amir shows them a drawing or gives them a good English +model to copy from. + +Everything European is now fashionable in Kabul, and European clothing +has become more universally worn by the Kabulis than it used to be +even at the time I entered the service of the Amir. His Highness, +therefore, finding that his tailors, though they soon learnt the shape +of European garments, had not mastered the difficulties of "fit," sent +for an English tailor to teach them. Classes were held on the subject +in the workshops and demonstrations given, with the result that such of +the Kabuli tailors who attended greatly improved in their system of +"cutting," and obtained much better prices in the bazaars. + +I have already related how that the Amir desired me to start an Art +class, and with what success the artists learnt to draw. + +It would be tedious and almost impossible for me to enumerate all the +different kinds of work carried on in the shops; but I think I have +said enough to show that the effects of the workshops, apart from the +output, must be immense. There are some thousand or fifteen hundred men +at work in them; these scatter to their homes at night and carry the +wonderful stories of all they see and do to their friends. In fact, the +most popular song of the day is one depicting the life of a lad in the +shops. It is supposed to be sung by the mother; but it ends somewhat +significantly by the workman being caught in the machinery and killed. + +One must remember that this educational system of civilizing is being +carried on among a race of men who have been known hitherto simply +as fighters and robbers, semi-savages, and who, unlike so many of +the races of India, have shown but little if any sign that they were +capable of being converted into useful producers. + +When I say, finally, that the Amir offers prizes, and of considerable +value, for the best or most original work produced either in the shops +or elsewhere, it will be easily understood how much he has at heart the +desire to advance his people in knowledge and civilization. + +[Sidenote: Personal Fascination of the Amir.] + +For a man of ordinary intelligence, such as myself, to attempt to +analyze the Amir's character would be both presumptuous and futile. +His intellect, though perhaps more subtile than profound; and his +wide knowledge, though more superficial than real, raise him high +above those by whom he is surrounded, and by contrast he shines as a +brilliant light among the dull flames of his Courtiers. European in +appearance, hearty in manner, with a robe of educated civilization, His +Highness is Afghan--an Afghan of the Afghans, and perhaps the finest +specimen of his race--but yet an Oriental. + +We English in his service, dazzled by the glamour of his strong +personality and charmed by the kindly courtesy of his manner, grew to +feel an attachment strong and personal to His Highness; but there were +those among us of the more observant who felt, as the years passed, +that we were but as "Pawns" on the chess-board of this Prince, to be +swept off with an unshrinking hand when a move in the game might need +it. + +Nevertheless, though life at an Oriental Court offers so little that +is congenial to the tastes of an educated Englishman; where, indeed, +each man strives to harm his neighbour; where truth is not, nor +honour; where Vice and Villainy walk at noonday unveiled, such is the +fascination of the Man that, had one none to consider but one's self, +the temptation, for his sake, to re-enter the life would be almost +irresistible. + + +THE END. + + +SIMMONS & BOTTEN, LIMITED, PRINTERS, LONDON. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's Note + + +The following apparent errors have been corrected: + +p. x "Usbaks," changed to "Usbaks." + +p. x "Painda" changed to "Painda" + +p. xii "khirgar," changed to "khirgar." + +p. xiv "ea cup" changed to "tea cup" + +p. 88 "costume, First" changed to "costume. First" + +p. 90 "au assassin" changed to "an assassin" + +p. 103 (header) "Naib" changed to "Naib" + +p. 168 "the service" changed to "the service." + +p. 171 (note) "smothered" changed to "smothered." + +p. 189 (header) "The Amir's" changed to "The Amir's" + +p. 193 "Painda" changed to "Painda" + +p. 256 "Samarcand" changed to "Samarcand" + +p. 293 "The Amir" changed to "The Amir" + +p. 311 "muscular," changed to "muscular." + +p. 335 "were Ishak" changed to "where Ishak" + +p. 362 "His Highness" changed to "His Highness" + +p. 394 "advised,:" changed to "advised," + +p. 427 "new ta" changed to "new to" + +p. 436 "many thing;" changed to "many things;" + +p. 450 "mind.'" changed to "mind." + +p. 451 "my baggage" changed to "my baggage;" + +p. 493 "I send" changed to "I sent" + +p. 495 ""Nau Roz" changed to ""Nau Roz"" + +p. 506 "<sc>Dear Miner</sc>" changed to ""<sc>Dear Miner</sc>" + + +The following possible errors have been left as printed: + +p. 258 ignominous + +p. 316 For God sake + +p. 339 I put him at rocky slope. + +p. 399 the physician; + +p. 494 been drank + + +The following are used inconsistently in the text: + +Babur and Babur + +backbone and back-bone + +Badshah and Badshah + +Bali and Bali + +bathroom and bath-room + +beeftea and beef-tea + +bodyguard and body-guard + +By-and-bye and By and bye + +countermove and counter-move + +darust and darust + +Dost and Dost + +Ghuzniguk and Ghuzni guk + +goldsmith and gold-smith + +Id and Id + +kaimaghchai and kaimagh-chai + +Khyber and Kyber + +Kudus and Kudus + +Kurghan, Kurghan and Kurghan + +Lala and Lala + +lungi and lungi + +maidservants and maid-servants + +Mahmud and Mahmud + +Maliks and Maleks + +matchbox and match-box + +Mazar-i-Sherif and Mazar-i-Sherif + +Mazaris and Mazaris + +Mir and Mir + +mirza and mirza + +Nau Roz, Nau Roz and Nau Roz + +nowadays and now-a-days + +Ramazan and Ramazan + +Ressul and Ressul + +Seyid and Seyid + +Shere Derwaza and Sher Durwaza + +Sherpur and Sherpur + +sunstroke and sun-stroke + +Suffed Koh and Suffed Koh + +Sunni and Sunni + +sweatmeat and sweetmeat + +Takh-ta-Pul and Takh-ta-Pul + +teapots and tea-pots + +watercourse and water-course + +Wazir and Wazir + +Zohak-i-Marhan and Zohak-i-Marhan + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's At the Court of the Amir, by John Alfred Gray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE COURT OF THE AMIR *** + +***** This file should be named 44395.txt or 44395.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/3/9/44395/ + +Produced by Henry Flower and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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