juliet sutherland, and the online distributed proofreading team afghanistan and the anglo-russian dispute by theo. f. rodenbough bvt. brigadier general, u.s.a an account of russia's advance toward india, based upon the reports and experiences of russian, german, and british officers and travellers; with a description of afghanistan and of the military resources of the powers concerned [illustration: afghanistan: england versus russia] [illustration: the ruler of afghanistan, abdurrahman khan, ameer of kabul] * * * * * with three maps and other illustrations * * * * * contents. i. through the gates of asia ii. on the threshold of india iii. the british forces and routes iv. the russian forces and approaches v. review of the military situation list of authorities index list of illustrations. _maps_. afghanistan and the surrounding territories (drawn for this work and corrected by the latest military surveys--end of vol.) the asiatic territories absorbed by russia during the past two centuries, with the dates of the various annexations the russian lines of advance from their base of supplies _cuts_. abdurrahman khan, ameer of kabul (frontispiece) mahaz khan (a tajik), khan of pest bolak jehandad (lohanir), from ghazni wullie mohammed, a dahzungi hazara pozai khan, a shinwarri (musician) khan baz, a khumbhur khel afreedi tooro baz, a kookie khel afreedi zool kuddar, an adam khel afreedi mousa, a kizilbash, born in peshawur the city of kandahar, afghanistan castle of zohak, first march from bamian, irak road to kabul an afghan post-chaise; going to the front gate of the bazaar at kabul major-general, sir f. s. roberts, v.c., k.c.b. khelat-i-ghilzi, between kandahar and ghazni elephant with artillery; on the road to ali musjid detail of elephant saddle noah's valley, kunar river watch tower in the khaiber pass fort of ali musjid, from the heights above lala cheena, in the khaiber pass fort of dakka, on the kabul river the ishbola tepe, khaiber pass entrance to the bolan pass, from dadur entrance to the khojak pass, from pishin, on the road to kandahar the order of march in central asia gorge in the tirband-i-turkestan, through which the murghab flows jelalabad, from piper's hill [illustration: map showing the advances of russia towards india 1734-1884.] afghanistan and the anglo-russian dispute i. through the gates of asia. in universal history there is no more interesting subject for the consideration of the political student than the record of russian progress through central asia. in one sense this advance is a practical reestablishment or extension of the influence of the aryan race in countries long dominated by peoples of turki or mongolian origin; in another sense it has resulted in a transition from the barbarism or rude forms of asiatic life to the enlightenment and higher moral development of a european age. in a religious sense it embodies a crusade against oriental fanaticism; and it is a curious feature of the anglo-russian dispute, that upon a question of temporal gain, the greatest christian nation finds itself allied with the followers of buddha and mahomet against russia under the banner of the cross. the descendants of the great peter have opened up in central asia a new region which, if as yet it has not been "made to blossom as the rose," has nevertheless profited by the introduction of law, order, and a certain amount of industrial prosperity. russia commenced her relations with central asia as early as the sixteenth century. not only through embassies sent, but by military expeditions; these, however, at that time were private ventures by roving cossacks and other inhabitants of southern russia. authorized government expeditions commenced with peter the great, who in 1716-17 sent two exploring parties into the central asian deserts--bekovitch to khiva, and likhareff to the black irtish. these expeditions were undertaken in search of gold, supposed to exist in those regions, but failed in their object; the detachment under bekovitch being entirely destroyed after reaching khiva. peter next turned his attention to the country bordering upon the southern shores of the caspian sea; taking advantage of persian embarrassments, with the consent of the shah and of the sultan he acquired, in 1722-3, the provinces of gilan, mazanderan, and asterabad; but the great expense of maintaining a large garrison so remote from russia, and the unhealthiness of the locality, induced the russian government, in 1732, to restore the districts to persia. in the same year abul-khair, the khan of the little kirghiz horde, voluntarily submitted to russia. twenty years later a small strip of the kingdom of djungaria, on the irtish, was absorbed, and toward the commencement of the reign of catharine ii, russian authority was asserted and maintained over the broad tract from the altai to the caspian. this occupation was limited to a line of outposts along the ural, the irtish, and in the intervening district. during catharine's reign the frontier nomads became reduced in numbers, by the departure from the steppe between the ural and volga of the calmucks, who fled into djungaria, and were nearly destroyed on the road, by the kirghiz. the connection between russia and central asia at this time assumed another character, that of complete tranquillity, in consequence of the development of trade through orenburg and to some extent through troitsk and petropaulovsk. the lines along the ural and irtish gradually acquired strength; the robber-raids into european russia and western siberia almost entirely ceasing. the allegiance of the kirghiz of the little and central hordes was expressed in the fact that their khans were always selected under russian influence and from time to time appeared at st. petersburg to render homage. with the central asian khanates there was no connection except that of trade, but as regarded the turcomans, who, it is said, had frequently asked for russian protection, intercourse was discouraged, as they could not be trusted "within the lines," being simply bandits. the emperor paul imagined that the steppes offered a good road to southern asia, and desiring to expel the english from india, in the year 1800 he despatched a large number of don cossacks, under orloff, through the districts of the little horde. at the time a treaty was concluded with napoleon, then first consul, by virtue of which a combined russo-french army was to disembark at asterabad and march from thence into india by way of khorassan and afghanistan. the death of the emperor of russia put an end to this plan. during the reign of alexander i, central asia was suffered to rest, and even the chinese made raids into russian territory without interruption. in the third decade of the present century, however, several advanced military settlements of cossacks were founded. "thus," says m. veniukoff, "was inaugurated the policy which afterward guided us in the steppe, the foundation of advanced settlements and towns (at first forts, afterwards _stanitsas_ [footnote: cossack settlements.]) until the most advanced of them touches some natural barrier." about 1840, it was discovered that the system of military colonization was more effectual in preserving order in the orenburg district than by flying detachments sent, as occasion required, from southern russia; and in 1845-6 the orenburg and ural (or targai and irgiz) forts were established. in 1846 the great kirghiz horde acknowledged its subjection to russia on the farther side of the balkash, while at the same time a fort was constructed on the lower yaxartes. in 1847 the encroachments of russia in central asia had brought her upon the borders of the important khanates of khiva and khokand, and, like some huge boa-constrictor, she prepared to swallow them. in 1852 the inevitable military expedition was followed by the customary permanent post. another row of forts was planted on the lower yaxartes, and in 1854 far to the eastward, in the midst of the great horde, was built fort vernoye--the foundation of a new line, more or less contiguous to natural boundaries (mountains and rivers), but not a close line. between perovsky and vernoye there were upwards of four hundred and fifty miles of desert open to the incursions of brigands, and between the aral and caspian seas there was a gap, two hundred miles in width, favorable for raids into the orenburg steppe from the side of khiva. finally, under the pretext of closing this gap, a general convergent movement of the siberian and orenburg forces commenced, culminating under general tchernayeff in the capture of aulieata and chemkent in 1864, and of tashkent in 1865. here, m. veniukoff says: "the government intended to halt in its conquests, and, limiting itself to forming a closed line on the south of the kirghiz steppes, left it to the sedentary inhabitants of tashkent to form a separate khanate from the khokand so hostile to us." and this historian tells us that the tashkendees declined the honor of becoming the czar's policemen in this way, evidently foreseeing the end, and, to cut the matter short, chose the russian general, tchernayeff, as their khan. the few central asian rulers whose necks had so far escaped the muscovite heel, made an ineffectual resistance, and in 1866 hodjeni and jizakh were duly "annexed," thus separating bokhara and khokand. here we may glance at the method by which russia took firmer root on the shores of the caspian, and established a commercial link with the khivan region. in 1869 a military post and seaport was planted at krasnovodsk, on that point of the east shore of the caspian, which presents the greatest facilities for shipping, and as a base of operations against the turcomans, who were at that time very troublesome. several military expeditions set out from this point, and every year detachments of troops were despatched to keep the roads open toward khiva, the kepet dagh, or the banks of the attrek. within five years (1870-'75) the nomads living within the routes named had become "good turcomans," carried the czar's mails to khiva, and furnished the krasnovodsk-khivan caravans with camels and drivers. but the colonization scheme on the lower caspian had once more brought the russians to the persian boundary. in 1869 the shah had been rather officiously assured that russia would not think of going below the line of the attrek; yet, as colonel veniukoff shows, she now regrets having committed herself, and urges "geographical ignorance" of the locality when the assurance was given, and the fact that part of her restless subjects, on the attrek, pass eight months of the year in russian territory and four in "so-called" persia; it is therefore not difficult to imagine the probable change on the map of that quarter. the march continued toward khiva, and after the usual iron-hand-in-velvet-glove introduction, general kaufmann in 1873 pounced upon that important khanate, and thus added another to the jewels of the empire. nominally, khiva is independent, but nevertheless collects and pays to russia a considerable contribution annually. in 1868 russia seized samarcand, and established over the khanate of bokhara a similar supervision to that in khiva. as the distinguished russian already quoted remarks: "the programme of the political existence of bokhara as a separate sovereignty was accorded to her by us in the shape of two treaties, in 1868 and 1873, which defined her subordinate relation to russia. but no one looks at these acts as the treaties of an equal with an equal. they are instructions in a polite form, or programmes given by the civilized conqueror to the conquered barbarians, and the execution of which is guaranteed by the immediate presence of a military force." the district of khokand, whose ruler, khudoyar khan, submitted himself to russia in 1867, was for a number of years nominally independent, but becoming disturbed by domestic dissensions, was ultimately annexed under the name of the fergana province. to this point we have followed colonel veniukoff's account of the russian advance. it will doubtless interest the reader to continue the narrative from an english view, exceptionally accurate and dispassionate in its nature. in a lecture before the royal united service institution in london, may 16, 1884, lieut.-general sir edward hamley, of the british army, discussed the central asian question before an audience comprising such indian experts as sir henry rawlinson, lord napier of magdala, and mr. charles marvin, and many distinguished officers, including lord chelmsford, sir f. haines, and colonel malleson. among other things, general hamley said: "probably england has never been quite free, during the present century, from some degree of anxiety caused by the steady, gradual approaches of russia through central asia toward india. it was seen that where her foot was planted it never went back. it was seen that with forces comparatively small she never failed to effect any conquest she was bent on, and that the conquest, once effected, was final. this security in possession was owing in great measure to the fact that the governments she displaced were bad governments, and that she substituted one far better in itself and of a simplicity which was well adapted to the people with whom she was dealing. she aimed mainly at three things--the establishment of order and of confidence and the obtaining of some return for her own heavy expenses. from the establishment of order and of confidence sprang a prosperity which enabled her to obtain a certain revenue, though entirely inadequate to her expenditure. thus we beheld her pressing solidly on, and we knew not where she might stop. pretexts, such as it was difficult to find a flaw in, were never wanting on which to ground a fresh absorption of territory. and seeing behind this advance a vast country--almost a continent--which was not merely a great asiatic power, but a great european state, under autocratic, irresponsible rule, with interests touching ours at many points, it is not to be wondered at that we watched with anxiety her progress as she bore steadily down toward our indian frontier." general hamley says that england became particularly suspicious of russia in 1867 when she absorbed turkestan, and this feeling was intensified in 1878, while the treaty of berlin was still pending. general kaufmann assembled a small army of about 12,000 men and thirty-two guns on the frontier of bokhara, and although upon the signing of the treaty all threatening movements ceased, yet the british commander then operating in afghanistan knew that kaufmann had proposed to march in the direction of kabul, and menace the british frontier. it has ever been the practice of russia, in her schemes of aggrandizement, to combine her diplomatic with her military machinery; but, unlike other nations, the ambassador has generally been subordinate to the general. at the time that general kaufmann sheathed his sword under the influence of the treaty of berlin, in 1878, there remained another representative of russia--general stolietoff--who had been quietly negotiating with the ameer of afghanistan, shere ali, the terms of a "russian treaty," whose characteristics have already been described. hearing of this, the english ambassador at st. petersburg questioned the russian minister, who answered him "that no mission had been, nor was intended to be, sent to kabul, either by the imperial government or by general kaufmann." this denial was given on july 3d, the day after stolietoff and his mission had started from samarcand. after the envoy's arrival at kabul, another remonstrance met with the reply that the mission was "of a professional nature and one of simple courtesy," and was not, therefore, inconsistent with the pacific assurances already given. the real nature of this mission became known from papers found by general roberts at kabul in 1879. these showed that shere ali had been invited to form a close alliance with the russian government. general kaufmann had advised shere ali to try and stir up disaffection among the queen's indian subjects, promising to aid him, eventually, with troops. finding that this scheme was impracticable at the moment, russia dropped the ameer, who fled from the scene of his misfortunes, and died soon after. for the moment england breathed more freely. there were still great natural obstacles between the empires of russia and of india. not only the friendly state of afghanistan, but on its northwestern border the neutral territory of merv, hitherto an independent province, and inhabited by warlike tribes of turcomans difficult to reach through their deserts and likely to harass a russian advance to herat to an embarrassing extent. it was seen that the possession of this territory would at once free russia from much difficulty in case of an advance and give her the means of threatening herat as well as kabul from her base in turkestan, and even to some extent to carry forward that base beyond the oxus. on the part of russia, the success of general skobeleff in capturing the fortified position of geok tepe, january 24, 1880, marked the beginning of negotiations with the turcomans for the acquisition of merv. for a long while these were unsuccessful, but early in 1884 it was cabled to london, that "the queen of the world" had accepted the white czar as her future liege lord. the immediate cause of this event was the effect produced upon the minds of the turcoman deputation to moscow by the spectacle of the czar's coronation. the impression created by the gorgeous ceremonial was heightened by the presence of so many asiatic chiefs and kinglets at the ancient and historic capital of russia. the tales they brought back were well calculated to influence the minds of a wild and primitive people; and when the khan of khiva proffered his services for the settlement of their relations with russia, that section of the tekke tribe in favor of peace accepted them. the chiefs tendered their formal submission to the czar, and promised to allow russian merchants to reside among them, and pledged themselves to maintain the security of the routes from the oxus to the tejend; also accepting the responsibilities of russian subjects by rendering tribute either in money or by military service. to all intents and purposes it is equivalent to the establishment of a russian garrison in merv. the thorough way in which russia seeks to bind her asiatic subjects is shown in the fact that in 1884, at the request of the khan of khiva, a russian tutor was selected to instruct his children. soon after it was reported that the russians had established themselves at sarakhs on the direct road to herat and just over the persian boundary of afghanistan. these later movements again aroused the distrust of england, and a joint commission of russian and english officials was appointed early in the year 1885. while the english members of the commission under sir peter lumsden were awaiting the convenience of their foreign colleagues, the presence of russian troops was reported on the disputed territory in the vicinity of herat. this action alarmed the afghans, and a collision seemed imminent. the english government considered m. de giers' explanation of this encroachment unsatisfactory. pending an adjustment of the new complication both nations prepared for the worst. here we will leave the subject of the russian advance through the gates of asia and pass to the consideration of the present neutral ground of afghanistan. [illustration: outline map showing russian-caucasian and trans-caspian territory, and new odessa-herat route.] ii. on the threshold of india. from the amu daria and the turcoman steppes to the deserts of beloochistan, from persian khorassan to the valley of the indus, stretches the country of the afghans. men of renown and events of world-wide interest have been connected with its history. its records tell of the murder of cavagnari in recent times; of the tragedy of elphinstone's command (1838-42); of shah nadir, the butcher of delhi (1738-39); of baber khan, the founder of mongolian rule in india (1520); of timur, the assailer of the world (1398); of genghiz khan, the annihilator of the civilization of ancient asia (1218-24); of the great ruler, sultan mahmoud (a. d. 1000); and yet earlier, of alexander, "the divinely favored macedonian." afghan history dies away, in the hymns of the indian vedas, eighteen hundred years before the birth of christ. the territory of afghanistan--which is destined to be the arena of a great international duel--covers an area of 12,000 square miles, or a tract measuring from north to south 688 miles, and from east to west 736 miles. it is a mountainous country; a high plateau, 6,000 feet above the sea, overlooked by lofty mountain ranges which open out and sink toward the west and south. on the north it is bordered by the western ranges of the himalayas, which reach to the amu daria; by the wall-like range of the hindu kush, some of whose peaks are 19,000 feet high; and by several smaller ridges. between the kabul and kuram rivers rises the snow-capped sufeid koh, the principal peak of which, to the south of jelalabad, attains an altitude of 15,000 feet. to the south of this, in southern afghanistan, the suleiman range, of an average height of 9,000 feet, falls rapidly toward the valley of the indus. between the hindu kush and the suleiman ranges there are several lesser ones stretching toward the southwest, including the auran mountains (7,000 feet). of the principal rivers noted here (the helmund, har-i-rud, kabul, kuram, and the gomal) the helmund alone is navigable. the helmund terminates in the swamps of seistan, as also do the kash, farrah, and herat rivers, running parallel to the helmund across the kandahar-herat roads, at 80, 150, and 200 miles, respectively, to the west of it. these rivers are without bridges, but (with the exception of the helmund--provided with ferry at girishk) are fordable, save in the months of april and may. the country is otherwise open and easily traversable, but only on the main routes can water be readily obtained, and forage is scarce in the winter. the turnuk valley, running northeast from kandahar, is followed by the great route to ghazni and kabul skirting the guikok range--separated from the hazaristan to its west by the parallel valley of the argandab. the latter valley is also followed by a route which enters it from mooktur, the source of the turnuk. this debouches upon the herat road about ten miles west of kandahar, and there is no communication west of it between herat and kabul, save by impracticable mountain routes across the hazaristan. three routes from kandahar to herat separate at girishk on the helmund, cross the kash at different points, and meet at sabzawar (280 miles from kandahar) on the herat; both of the southernmost passing by the town of farrah, which is 230 miles from kandahar. from girishk also a road follows the helmund to seistan and lash jowain, where it joins the herat road at farrah on the river of that name, or at sabzawar on the herat. the southernmost of the routes to farrah also branches from kash down the river named kash, joining the seistan route at lash. the general aspect of afghanistan is that of a series of elevated flat-bottomed valleys, in the vicinity of the streams, somewhat under cultivation. the scenery is often wild and beautiful, and some of the defiles to the north of the hindu kush are said to be of appalling grandeur, while the soft, still loveliness of the sheltered glens on the southern slope of that range strongly impresses the traveller who visits them. some of the ranges in the north and northeast are well timbered with pine and oak. the eastern half of afghanistan is generally cold and rugged, but sustains innumerable flocks and herds, and abounds in mineral wealth, especially lead and sulphur. in the more sheltered valleys considerable fruit is grown, but only grain enough for the actual consumption of the inhabitants. water and fodder abound, but fuel is deficient; a serious matter, as the cold in the winter is extreme. the western part of afghanistan is a more fertile region, interspersed, it is true, with lofty ranges, but comprising many pleasant valleys and pastures. the population is approximately estimated at eight millions. afghanistan is a genuine society of different nations, although the greater part are of persian descent. the strongholds of the german self-protecting federations are here produced on a large scale. thus the duranis, tajiks, yusafzais, ghilzais, eimaks, hazaris, kaffirs, hindus, jats, arabs, kizilbashis, uzbeks, biluchis, are near neighbors; of these about 3,000,000 may be real afghans who profess the suni faith and speak indo-persian puchtu. there are over four hundred inferior tribes known. the duranis are numerically strongest and live in the vicinity of kandahar. next in importance are the ghilzais, estimated at 30,000 fighting men living in the triangle--kabul, jelalabad, khelat-i-ghilzai; until 1747 they furnished the rulers of afghanistan. to the south of the ghilzais live the puchtu-speaking races who chiefly defend only their own territory; the mountainous eastern border is inhabited by the momunds, afridis, arakzais, zymukts, waziris, who have never been subdued. their sense of independence, however, does not prevent them from selling their friendship for ready money to the highest bidder. on the watershed of the helmund and indus dwell the independent pathans and biluchis. the persian-speaking kizilbashis in kabul, comprise 3,000,000 of shiahs, who are not afghans, many of whose 30,000 fighting men are in the ameer's regular army. the tajiks--about 10,000 men--are chiefly in the kabul and ghazni districts. the hazaris and eimaks are in the central section of afghanistan, known as the hazaristan, extending east and west from the koushan pass over the hindu-kush range to marchat on the turcoman frontier, and north and south from sirpool in turkestan to girishk, between kandahar and herat; they are the descendants of the military settlers left by the tartar hordes that swept central asia under genghiz khan, and still maintain a quasi-independence; they cordially detest the afghan government, but pay an annual tribute in money to its support. finally there is a million of foreign nationalities, including turks, persians, indians, armenians, and kaffirs; the last-named are hindus, and violent antagonists of the mohammedans living around them. [illustration: mahaz khan (a tajik), khan of pest bolak. jehandad (lohanir), from ghazni.] thus it is seen that modern afghanistan comprises three great districts--herat in the west, kabul in the east, and kandahar in the centre, with the seat of government at the cities of the same names respectively. within each district are, as already described, a large number of tribes occupying sub-districts, closely connected like the cells of a honey-comb, but each with its destinctive manners and customs and irregular military forces, in no instance numbering less than 6,000 men, and often twice that number, divided about equally into horse and foot. many of these render military service to the ameer, many are bandits in the worst sense. the nomadic tribes--like the eimaks peopling the heratic region--live principally in tents, encamping in winter in the valleys, and in summer on the table-lands of the mountain ranges. they are ignorant, hospitable, and brave and ardent hunters. their principal trade is with herat, and consists of woollen and camel-hair fabrics and clarified butter. [illustration: wullie mohammed, a dahzungi hazara. pozai khan, a shinwarri (musician).] the farming population all live in small hamlets. the better classes of these live in villages surrounding or joined to the castle of a khan. these castles are encompassed by a rude wall, having frequently turrets at the corners, and occasionally armed with swivel-guns or wall-pieces. the principal gardens are always on the outside of the castle, and the herds of horses and camels belonging to the khan are kept at distant pastures and attended by herders, who live in tents. in the bori and ghazgar valleys the houses are of wood. in the ghazgar valley they are all fortified, as already described; the doors are generally mere man-holes, and the top of the towers are loopholes. the better class, and more modern of these, have flat roofs, from which the water is carried by spouts; the walls surrounding are at least twelve feet high, and cover nearly an acre of ground. three or four such houses usually constitute a village. these semi-barbarians are noted for the length and ferocity of their feuds. sometimes two branches of a family who are neighbors become enemies. the distance between their "fortlets" may be two hundred yards, and on that space no one ventures. they go out at opposite gates and walk straight from their own fort in a line protected by its walls from the fire of the other, until out of range, then they turn around to their fields. broadfoot relates that "once in zurmat i saw a fort shut by rolling a stone against the door, instead of with the usual heavy chain. on inquiring as to the cause of such carelessness, the malik, a fine old man with a plump, good-humored face, stretched his arms out toward the line of distant forts, and said: 'i have not an enemy!' it was a pleasing exception to the rule." [illustration: khan baz, a khumbhur khel afreedi. tooro baz, a kookie khel afreedi.] these feuds are a system of petty warfare, carried on by long shots, stealing cattle, and burning crops. samson, burning his neighbor's corn, acted just like an afghan. when the harvest is nearly ripe, neither party dare sleep. the remedy is sometimes for both to fight until an equal number are killed on each side, when the neighbors step in and effect a reconciliation; another method is to pay forfeit of a feast and some sheep or cloth; in exceptional cases, a few afghan virgins are substituted for the sheep, but they are given in marriage, and are well treated. our space does not permit an extended reference to the manners and customs of this primitive people but a few characteristics may be briefly noted. the love of war is felt much more among afghans than by other eastern peoples, although but little effort has been made by them to augment the means of resistance and aggression. pillage, fighting, and disturbances are at times necessary to their very existence, and are followed by long days of idleness, during which they live on the fruits of their depredations. there is no shade of difference between the character of the nomad and the citizen; a town life does not soften their habits; they live there as they live in a tent, armed to the teeth and ready for the onslaught. though full of duplicity, one is nevertheless liable to be taken in by their apparent frankness. they are hospitable to strangers, but only because this is an ancient custom which has the force of law and is not a virtue which springs from the heart. the pride of the afghans is a marked feature of their national character. they boast of their descent, their prowess in arms, their independence; and cap all by "am i not a puktan?" the afghan people, occupied with the defence of their homes, have failed to assist the ameer in the formation and maintenance of that indispensable instrument--an organized, well-equipped, easily mobilized army. in regular battle the afghans can have but little hope of success; their strength lies in the petty warfare peculiar to a wild, mountainous country. as auxiliaries, as partisan troops in their own country, they would be of great value to their allies and extremely troublesome to their enemies. for outpost, courier, and scouting purposes, they would doubtless be most efficient. the strength of the organized army in the service of the ameer of afghanistan is about 50,000 men of all arms. the traveller vambery, who visited herat in 1863, says: "the afghan's national costume consists of a long shirt, drawers, and dirty linen clothes; or, if he is a soldier, he affects a british red coat. he throws it over his shirt, while he gets on his head the picturesque indo-afghan turban. others again--and these are the _beau-monde_--are wont to assume a half-persian costume. weapons are borne by all. rarely does any one, whether civil or military, enter the bazar without his sword and shield. to be quite _a la mode_ one must carry about one quite an arsenal, consisting of two pistols, a sword, poniard, hand-jar, gun, and shield." m. vambery also describes a drill of some afghan regulars. "the men had a very military bearing, far better than the ottoman army that was so drilled forty years ago. these might have been mistaken for european troops if most of them had not had on their bare feet the pointed kabuli shoe, and had not had their short trowsers so tightly stretched by their straps that they threatened every moment to burst and fly up above the knee." the adventurous o'donovan thus describes an afghan cavalryman whom he met unexpectedly, near herat, in 1880: "he wore a dark-colored turban, one end of the cloth pulled up in front so as to resemble a small cockade. his uniform was blue-black, and he wore long boots. a broad black leather cross-belt, with two very large brass buckles, crossed his breast. he had sabre, pistols, and carbine." [illustration: zool kuddar, an adam khel afreedi. mousa, a kizilbash, born in peshawur.] the actual fighting strength of the army of afghanistan cannot be definitely stated. major lumsden, who has represented the british government in that country in various diplomatic capacities, stated (some years since) that the regular army of the ameer consisted of sixteen regiments of infantry, three of cavalry, and seventy-six field guns. the infantry regiments numbered about 800 men each; the men were obtained by compulsory levy. their uniform consisted of english cast-off clothes purchased at auction. the pay, about five rupees per mensem, was paid irregularly and often in kind; two months' pay was deducted for clothing. the cavalry and artillery were badly horsed; and the horses were sent to graze in summer. a russian report of 1868 estimates the infantry at 10,000 men. the armament, equipment, and instruction of the troops have doubtless improved since that time, as ten years later the british government supplied the afghan government with 10,000 enfield and 5,000 snider rifles and one field battery, and very recently (1885) it was announced that a present of martini-henry rifles and improved field guns had been sent to abdurrahman by the indian authorities. besides the regular army there is a paid irregular mounted force of about 20,000 men, active and formidable in "hill operations," and known as jezailchis. the late general colin mackenzie, in an account of his experiences in the elphinstone disaster of 1842, says: "the jezailchis are so called from their jezails or long rifles. the afghans are said to be among the best marksmen in the world. they are accustomed to arms from early boyhood, live in a chronic state of warfare with their neighbors, and are most skilful in taking advantage of cover. an afghan will throw himself flat, behind a stone barely big enough to cover his head, and scoop a hollow in the ground with his left elbow as he loads. men like these only require training to make first-rate irregular troops. "as a trait of afghan character, i must mention that whenever the jezailchis could snatch five minutes to refresh themselves with a pipe, one of them would twang a sort of a rude guitar as an accompaniment to some martial song, which, mingling with the notes of war, sounded very strangely." the russian general staff have also estimated the ameer's force, exclusive of the irregulars, at 66,400 men with 30 guns. the efficiency of this body, by reason of their peculiar surroundings, must vary with the character of the operations. for defence--particularly of their own section--they form an important consideration; for aggressive purposes their strength lies in partisan operations, in small detachments, requiring great mobility. just as it is difficult to understand the rapidity with which large numbers are assembled in afghanistan for fighting purposes, so the dispersing of an afghan army together with its attendant masses of tribal levies in flight is almost beyond comprehension; men who have been actually engaged in hand-to-hand combat dispose of their arms in the villages they pass through, and meet their pursuers with melons or other fruit in their hands, while they adopt the _role_ of peaceful inhabitants. a brief description of some of the more noted cities of afghanistan may be appropriate here. sir henry rawlinson gives the following details respecting the so-called key of india--the city of herat: "that which distinguishes herat from all other oriental cities, and at the same time constitutes its main defence, is the stupendous character of the earthwork upon which the city wall is built. this earthwork averages 250 feet in width at the base and about 50 feet in height, and as it is crowned by a wall 25 feet high and 14 feet thick at the base, supported by about 150 semicircular towers, and is further protected by a ditch 45 feet in width and 16 feet in depth, it presents an appearance of imposing strength. whether the place is really as strong as it looks has been differently estimated. general ferrier, who resided for some time in herat, in 1846, states that the city is nothing more than an immense redoubt, and gives it as his opinion that, as the line of wall is entirely without flanking defences, the place could not hold out for twenty days against a european army; and m. khanikoff, who, although not a professional soldier, was a very acute observer, further remarks that the whole interior of the city is dominated from the rising ground 700 yards distant and covered with solid buildings at the northeast angle, while the water supply both for the ditch and the city would be at the mercy of an enemy holding the outside country; the wells and reservoirs inside the wall, which could then alone be available--being quite inadequate to the wants of the inhabitants: but on the other hand, all experience testifies to the defensibility of the position. "not to speak of the siege which herat sustained at the hands of genghiz khan, of timur, and of ahmed shah, we have only to remember that in 1837 the afghans of herat, under major eldred pottinger, beat off the continuous attacks, for nearly ten months, of a persian army of 35,000 regular troops supported by fifty pieces of artillery, and in many cases directed and even commanded by russian officers. the truth seems to be that herat, although in its present state quite unfit to resist a european army, possesses great capabilities of defence, and might by a skilful adaptation of the resources of modern science be made almost impregnable. major saunders, a british engineer officer, calculated in 1840 that, at an outlay of l60,000, which would include the expenses of deepening the ditch, clearing the glacis and esplanade, providing flanking defences, and repairing the walls throughout, herat might be rendered secure against any possible renewal of the attack by persia." the location of this city upon the principal thoroughfare between india, persia, and turkestan gives it a special importance in a military sense. it is also the principal mart of western afghanistan, and comprises extensive manufactures in wool and leather. the natural fertility of the country near herat has been enhanced by irrigation. "the valley, or _julgah_ (as the persians say), in which the city lies is rich in the possession of a river. this valley is about thirty miles long by sixteen in breadth, exclusive of the ground taken up by the fortress and the walls. four of these miles separate the town from the northern and twelve from the southern hills, while at one quarter of the greater distance runs the her-i-rud or herat river, which, rising near the kuh-i-baba, pursues a westerly course till, passing the city, it sweeps, first gradually, then decidedly, to the north, eventually to lose its identity in the environs of sarakhs. it is of political as well as of geographical importance, for it passes between the persian and afghan frontier posts of kahriz and kusun respectively, and may be considered to mark the perso-afghan boundary at the western paropismus. the plain, south of the walls, is watered by a net-work of eight or nine large and many minor ditches. the aqueducts are stated to be superior to those of bokhara, samarcand, and ispahan. the grain produced is abundant--beyond the requirements of town and suburbs together. the bread, the water, and the vines have the merit of special excellence. yet, with all this wealth of means and material, capable of subsisting an army of 150,000 men for some time, much of the legacy of past ages is disregarded and nullified by the supineness of a present generation. the ruins visible on all sides are not all useless or obsolete works. as one conclusive instance may be cited the neglected 'pul-i-malan.' this bridge, of twenty-three arches, can scarcely be considered void of purpose or practical benefit. it is, however, rapidly falling into decay, and as the river has changed its bed, part of it remains, barren of object, on dry land. on the rising of the waters this state of things is inconvenient; for the river, at such time, is no longer fordable, and the kandahar caravans, going to and fro, have difficulty in crossing." [footnote: sir f. j. goldsmid, "journeys between herat and khiva."] in 1830 conolly was of opinion that the city was one of the dirtiest in the world, being absolutely destitute of drainage; and vambery, thirty-three years afterward, when the city was captured by dost mohammed, says the city was largely a heap of rubbish, having suffered the horrors of a long siege. the city of kabul, from which the surrounding territory of eastern afghanistan takes its name, stands in lat. 34 degrees 30' n., and long. 69 degrees 6' e., near the point where the kabul river is crossed by three bridges. its altitude is 6,400 feet, and, within a short distance to the north, is overtopped by pinnacles of the hindu kush about 14,000 feet higher. the winters are severe, but the summers are very temperate--seldom going above 80 degrees. kabul is fortified without and within; being separated into quarters by stone walls: the bala hissar, or citadel proper, being on the east, while the persian quarter of the city is strongly protected on the southwest. in the days of sultan baber, kabul was the capital of the mogul empire. in modern times, it has been the scene of many anglo-indian struggles. it was taken by the british in 1839, and lost by them, through treachery, in 1841; in the following january, 4,000 british soldiers and 12,000 camp-followers were massacred while retreating. kandahar, the capital of central afghanistan, is about two hundred miles s. w. of kabul, and three hundred and seventy-one miles e. of herat. it is said to have been founded by alexander of macedon. the city is laid out at right angles, and is watered from the neighboring rivers through canals, which send to every street an ample supply. sir michael biddulph describes the surroundings: "kandahar stands on the western side of a plain, which was originally a barren skirt of the mountain. exactly opposite to the city, and two miles to the westward, there is a wide break in the dividing ridge, through which the road to herat leads, and by which are conducted the many canals and watercourses, taken from the argandab, to supply the town and fertilize its environs. the energy and skill displayed in these extensive water-works cannot be too highly extolled. brought from a point many miles distant in the argandab valley, the chief canal, with its offshoots, conducts a vast body of water, which is dispersed along the contours of the declining plain in innumerable channels, spreading a rich fertility for many miles in a fan-like form to the southeast of the gap. villages cluster around the city on three sides; cornfields, orchards, gardens, and vineyards are seen in luxurious succession, presenting a veritable oasis within the girdle of rugged hills and desert wastes all around. and if we turn to the aspect of the country beyond the gap, we see in the argandab valley, along the canals and the river banks, a fair and beautiful landscape of village and cultivated ground, stretching for many miles in each direction. this productive character of the immediate neighborhood of kandahar, and its commanding position within reach of other fertile districts, would give to this place, under a strong, stable, and just government, as much prosperity and happiness as falls to the lot of any place in the world." [illustration: city of kandahar, afghanistan.] jelalabad stands on the kabul river, about half-way between kabul and the khaiber pass. it was the scene of the stubborn defence by sir robert sale in 1842, referred to elsewhere. it has a floating population of about three thousand souls. our engraving is taken from the south and west. the stream in the west is the kabul river. the jati gate in the south wall is the exit from the hindu quarter. the kabul exit is on the west, while the road to peshawur commences at the gate of that name on the east wall of the city. the northern gate is known as the pheel khana, or elephant quarter. the walls of the town and of its houses are of mud, and the roofs generally of wood. the city is laid out in the form of a parallelogram intersected by two main streets crossing in the centre. the town of ghazni (the ancient ghizni) is another historical landmark in a region famous for its evidences of former grandeur. it stands about 230 miles northeast of kandahar on the road to kabul; it is literally "founded upon a rock" at an elevation of 7,726 feet, and its base is 280 feet above the adjacent plain. it has walls thirty-five feet high, and a wet ditch, but is not considered in any sense formidable by modern engineers, as it is commanded by neighboring heights; it will always be a rendezvous for the natives, and forms a station or an important line of communication between the indus and the murghab. in the tenth century it was the seat of an empire comprising the present territory of afghanistan, and which had in the space of seventy years absorbed thirty-eight degrees of longitude and twenty degrees of latitude. its decline dates from the twelfth century, when the seat of government was transferred to lahore. from 1839 to 1880 it has been occupied alternately by the british and the afghans. the climate is not exceptionally severe, although in winter the mercury drops to 25 degrees below zero at times. the population averages about ten thousand. peshawur is one of the most important towns, both in a military and commercial sense, in the _derajat_. it is the capital of a province of the same name on the n. w. frontier of india, eighteen miles from the khaiber pass and one hundred and fifty miles s.e. of kabul. it has the usual bastioned defences, besides some detached works of more importance. it was once a rich and populous city, but has, like many other like places in that region, fallen from its high estate. it is garrisoned by the british, and can boast of fair trade and a population of about fifty thousand. it is the centre of a fruitful district containing more than one million inhabitants. the fruitful valley and pass of bamian lie on the road leading from kabul to turkestan. the pass, at an elevation of 8,496 feet, is the only known defile over the hindu kush practicable for artillery. this valley was one of the chief centres of buddhist worship, as gigantic idols, mutilated indeed by fanatical mussulmans, conclusively prove. bamian, with its colossal statues cut out in the rock, was among the wonders described by the buddhist monks who traversed central asia in the fourth century. the statues are found on a hill about three hundred feet high, in which are a number of cells excavated in the rock, not unlike those found in the zuni country in the western part of the united states. the male figure is about 160 feet, the female 120 feet, in height; they are clothed in light drapery, and a winding stair may be ascended to the head. eight miles eastward of bamian lies the ancient fortress of zohak, attributed to the fabulous persian serpent-king of that name. it is still used as one of the defences of the pass. [illustration: castle of zohak, first march from bamian, on the irak road to kabul.] the animals of afghanistan adapted to military transport purposes are the camel, the _yabu_ (mountain pony), and the donkey. from certain professional papers, on the camel, by captain yaldwyn and other officers of the indian army, we learn that this beast of burden has been often utilized by the british in afghanistan, and the supply of camels raised in that country has generally been augmented by drafts from india, although the last mentioned do not thrive under the transition. the camel is docile, capable of abstinence in an emergency, well adapted for the imposition of loads and for traversing over flat or sandy ground, adapts itself to rough roads, has acute sight and smell, and, during progression, moves both feet on one side, simultaneously. its flesh and milk are wholesome articles of food. it is deficient in muscular power behind, and cannot readily climb hills. those found in afghanistan are of the arabian species. they are strong, thickset, with abundance of hair; are short in the leg, better climbers, and more accustomed to cold than others of the species. their feeding requires as much care as that of cavalry or artillery horses; they are fond of green food, and certain trees and shrubs. in grazing, camels brought from india sometimes are poisoned by eating the oleander bush and other plants which the native camel avoids. elphinstone's ill-fated expedition in 1841 lost 800 out of 2,500 camels from this cause alone. on the march, or where grazing does not abound, they are fed with grain and _bhoosa_ [footnote: chopped straw.]; this is given them in one ration at the end of the day. the theory that camels do not require much watering is declared a fallacy; the arabian species can take in five or six gallons, sufficient for as many days; they will not drink cold running water; but, where water can be had, they should be watered daily. the load of the camel varies from 300 to 450 pounds, depending upon its condition. it is admirably adapted for carrying long articles, as ladders, tent-poles, and even light mountain guns. the marching power of camels depends on a number of conditions. they are good goers in loose sandy soil, and even over stony ground, if the stones are not too large and sharp; in slippery places they are useless, as they have no hold with their feet. they are very enduring, making the longest marches at an average speed of two miles an hour, and can ford deep rivers with ease if the current is not too rapid. when the bottom of the ford is shifting sand, the passage of a number of camels renders it firm. a string of 500 camels covers about one mile of road; 1,250 mules, carrying the same weight of supplies, occupy double the distance. camels must be unladen at ferries. for military purposes these animals are purchased between the ages of five and nine years, and may be used up to the age of sixteen. they average about one thousand pounds in weight, seven feet in height to the top of the hump, and eight feet in length from nose to tail. in camp and when not at work they are arranged in lines facing each other, or in circles heads inward; the latter plan is the favorite formation at night. the allowance of spare camels on service is ten per cent. [illustration: an afghan post-chaise; going to the front. ] lieut. martin, r. e., states that his company, of sappers and miners, was able to get an exceptional percentage of labor from the camels under his charge by attention to certain details; and says further, that "camels are very quarrelsome and bite each other badly when grazing. they can ford four feet of moderately running water, easily, if the bed is good; but a yard of greasy mud, a few inches deep, will throw many camels and delay a convoy for hours. camel-bridges were carried on the leading camels, with a few shovels and picks, in every convoy of the kandahar field force, and all small cuts or obstructions were thus bridged in a few minutes; the camels remaining by their bridges (two gang-boards eight by three feet) until the last baggage camel had passed. in perfectly open country, such as kandahar to girishk, it was found possible to march the camels on a broad front, the whole convoy being a rough square; camels starting at 3 a.m. have been known to arrive at camp ten miles off as late as 5 p.m." captain yaldwyn says: "a camel's carrying-power is equal to that of two and a half mules or ponies, whilst his ration is only about that of one mule or pony. thus 500 camels only eat as much as 500 mules or ponies, and whilst the latter can only carry 1,000 _maunds_ [footnote: a _maund_ is 80 pounds.] the former can carry 2,500. again, 500 camels only require 125 attendants to be paid, clothed, and fed, whilst 500 mules or ponies require 167 attendants." but, on the other hand, the immense losses of camels from excessive heat or cold, or over-exertion in mountainous or rough roads, and other causes, greatly neutralize the force of this comparison. the _yabu_ is a hardy mountain pony used by the afghans for the saddle and packing purposes; they are very strong, active, and sure-footed, and have been frequently used by the british forces in their military operations. in 1839 captain (afterward general) outram relates that his _yabu_, "although but thirteen hands high, carried me and my saddlebags, weighing altogether upward of sixteen stone, the whole distance from kalat in seven days and a half (an average of nearly forty-seven miles a day), during which time i had passed 111 hours on its back; there was no saddle on the pony, merely a cloth over his back." they will carry from four to five _maunds_ with perfect ease, making journeys of thirty miles a day. those which are ridden and which amble, are called _yurgas_. the afghans tie a knot in the middle of the long tails of their horses, which, they say, strengthens the animal's backbone! the afghan donkey was severely tested in 1880 during the operations of sir donald stewart between kabul and kandahar, and this class of carriage was found very useful in the conveyance of provisions. afghan donkeys will march with troops and carry loads of grain or flour, averaging ninety pounds, without difficulty. they keep pace with mules or ponies in a baggage column, as they avoid the frequent checks which retard the larger animals; they browse on the line of march, and find their own forage easily in the neighborhood of camp; they are easily controlled and cared for, and are on all accounts the most inexpensive transport in eastern countries. [footnote: lieut.-col. e. f. chapman, c.b., r.a.] the transport animals found in india and turkestan will be described in the parts of this book devoted to the military resources of those regions. in concluding this sketch of the "threshold of india," a mere glance at the military history of the country will suffice. in fact, only so far as it may have a bearing upon the present, has reference to the past any place in this volume. the early periods of eventful interest to afghanistan have been already noted at the opening of this chapter. its purely oriental experiences were beginning to fade with the death of nadir shah--variously termed the "butcher of delhi," and the "wallace of persia," in 1747. his progress toward india, from which he was to tear its choicest treasure and loot its greatest city, reminds one of the arabian nights. a camp-follower from jelalabad reported as follows: "he has 36,000 horsemen with himself . . . after morning prayers he sits on a throne, the canopy of which is in the form of a dome and of gold. one thousand young men, with royal standards of red silk and the lance tops and tassels of silver, are disposed regularly; and, at a proper distance, five hundred beautiful slaves, from twelve to twenty years old, stand--one half on his right and the other on his left. all the great men stand fronting him; and the arzbegi stands between, in readiness to represent whatever he is desired, and everybody has his cause decided at once: bribery is not so much as known here. he has particular information given him of every thing that passes; all criminals, great and small, rich and poor, meet with immediate death. he sits till noon, after which he dines, then reposes a little; when afternoon prayers are over he sits till the evening prayers, and when they are over he shoots five arrows into the _khak tudah_, and then goes into the women's apartments." [footnote: fraser's "nadir shah."] the splendor of the robber king has departed, but his deeds of blood and treachery have often been repeated in the country of the afghans. a succession of struggles between afghan and persian leaders for the control of afghanistan marked the next fifty years. when the project of russian invasion of india, suggested by napoleon, was under consideration in persia, a british envoy was sent, in 1809, to the then shah sujah, and received the most cordial reception at peshawur. but shah sujah was, in 1810, superseded by his brother, mahmud, and the latter was pressed hard by the son of his wazir to such an extent that herat alone remained to him. in 1823 his former kingdom passed to dost mohammed, who in 1826 governed kabul, kandahar, ghazni, and peshawur. the last-named place fell into the hands of runjeet singh, the "lion of the punjab." dost mohammed then applied to england for aid in recovering peshawur, failing in which he threatened to turn to russia. that power was (1837) engaged in fomenting trouble in the western part of afghanistan, encouraging an attack by 30,000 persians, led by russian officers, upon herat. instead of acceding to the request of dost mohammed, the british governor-general--lord auckland--declared war against that potentate, alleging in a proclamation that "the welfare of the english possessions in the east rendered it necessary to have an ally on their western frontier who would be in favor of peace, and opposed to all disorders and innovations." this was the beginning of intrigues relating to afghanistan on the part, alternately, of england and russia, in which john bull has had to pay, literally, "the lion's share" of the cost in blood and treasure. in 1850, sir john cam hobhouse, president of the board of control in india confessed: "the afghan war _was done by myself_; the court of directors had nothing to do with it." the reason already mentioned was alleged as an excuse for hostilities. they were declared, notwithstanding that the british political agent at the court of dost mohammed reported that ruler as "entirely english" in his sympathies. this report was suppressed. twenty years later the facts were given to parliament, russian letters were found implicating the czar's ministers, and the english agent, burnes, was vindicated. the anglo-indian army--consisting of twenty thousand troops, fifty thousand followers, and sixty thousand camels--advanced in two columns, one from bengal, and the other from bombay by the indus. scinde, which had hitherto been independent, like the punjab and lahore, was subjugated _en route_, and nine thousand men were left behind to occupy it. on the 23d of february, 1839, a simultaneous advance from shikarpur, on the bolan pass, commenced. kandahar was occupied april 25th, ghazni july 23d, and kabul august 6th, and shah sujah was proclaimed ameer by british authority. by the following september the greater part of the english forces returned to india. only five regiments of infantry and one of cavalry remained in afghanistan, where suspicious symptoms of discontent with the new order of things began very soon to show themselves. during the summer of 1840 insurrections had to be put down by force in several places. in november of the same year dost mohammed defeated the english in the perwan pass. from that time until the autumn of 1841 a sultry calm reigned in the country. the english commanders, although fully aware of the state of mind of the people, neglected to take the most simple measures of precaution. the local control was vested in a mixed military and civil council, consisting of general elphinstone, unfitted by disease and natural irresolution from exercising the functions of command, and sir william mcnaghten, the british envoy, whose self-confidence and trust in the treacherous natives made him an easy victim. in the centre of an insurrection which was extending day by day under their eyes and under their own roofs, these representatives of a powerful nation, with a small but effective force, deliberately buried their heads in the sand of their credulity, not realizing the nature of the danger which for weeks was evident to many of their subordinates. finally a force of the insurgents, under the direction of the son of the deposed ruler, akbar khan, threw off the disguise they had assumed before the english, and taking possession of the khurd kabul pass near the city, entirely cut off the retreat to india which elphinstone had commenced. as there was no intelligent concert of action among the british leaders, the garrison melted away in detail, the afghan auxiliaries refused to fight, or turned their arms against the europeans. sir william mcnaghten was murdered by akbar, at a council in sight of the garrison. a few attempts to force a passage, or to defend themselves, made by certain brave officers of the beleagured force, failed. on january 6, 1842, an agreement was made by which the afghan leader promised to ensure to the british forces a safe withdrawal to india. this was violated with afghan readiness, and the entire anglo-indian contingent of seventeen thousand souls was destroyed; sacrificed to the murderous brutality of the afghan insurgents, or dying from exposure to one of the most severe winters known to that region. months after, heaps of dead bodies, preserved by the intense cold, obstructed the mountain passes. the horrors of moscow were repeated in the khurd kabul, and the noblest attributes of humanity were exemplified in the acts of the officers and soldiers of the doomed party. only twenty of this entire force survived. the news of this horrible disaster was brought to jelalabad by the only man who penetrated the afghan environment, dr. brydon. on receipt of the news of this overwhelming catastrophe, the indian government endeavored to rescue the garrisons of kandahar and ghazni, as well as that of jelalabad; but the mohammedan troops refused to march against their co-religionists, and the sikhs also showed great unwillingness. the garrison of ghazni, thinking to secure its safety by capitulation, was cut to pieces december 23, 1841. jelalabad, held by 2,400 men under general sale, still withstood the storm like a rock of iron. general nott, the energetic officer commanding at kandahar, on receiving the news of the destruction of the british, blew up the citadel of the town, destroyed every thing not necessary to his object, and started, august 8, 1842, for ghazni, which he also destroyed, september 6th. [illustration: gate of the bazaar at kabul.] another british force of twelve thousand men, under general pollock, was organized at peshawur, to punish the afghans, and, so far as might be, retrieve the errors of elphinstone and mcnaghten. pollock's operations were, in the sense of retaliation, successful. an eminent german authority wrote: "kabul and other towns were levelled with the ground; akbar's troops were blown from guns, and the people were collected together and destroyed like worms." general pollock carried the famous khaiber pass, in advancing to the relief of jelalabad in april, 1842. this was the first time that the great defile--twenty-eight miles in length--had ever been forced by arms. timur lang and nadir shah, at the head of their enormous hosts, bought a safe passage through it from the afridis. akbar the great, in 1587, is said to have lost forty thousand men in attempting to force it, and aurangzeb failed to get through. the misfortune of elphinstone's command, great as it was, would have been much more humiliating to england, had it not been for the firmness of the gallant general pollock, who, ordered to withdraw with his command to peshawur, by lord ellenborough, without effecting one of the objects of the expedition--the deliverance of the english captives in akbar's hands at kabul,--protested against such a suicidal act on the part of any englishman or any administration, and, at great personal risk, gained his point. in the forced march to kabul, which pollock made subsequently, the force of about eight thousand men moved in as light order as possible. after loading the commissariat camels to their utmost carrying capacity, the general discovered that the mounted men had in their kit a spare pair of pantaloons apiece, on which he ordered the legs to be filled with grain and carried by the men in front of them, on their saddles. by the middle of december the british had started on their return march, pursued as far as the indus by the afghans, and by this hurried conclusion to the war lessened their prestige in asia to an enormous degree. as sir henry rawlinson wrote: "it was not so much the fact of our retreat; disaster would have been diminished, if not altogether overcome; but retreating as we did, pursued even through the last pass into the plains by an implacable enemy, the impression became universal in india as well as in central asia, that we had simply been driven back across the mountains." a very able hindu gentleman, very loyal to the british, traced the mutiny of 1857 in a great measure to the afghan campaign of 1842. he said: "it was a direct breach of faith to take the sepoys out of india. practically they were compelled to go for fear of being treated as mutineers, but the double pay they received by no means compensated them for losing caste. the sepoys mistrusted the government from that time forward, and were always fearing that their caste would be destroyed; besides, the kabul disaster taught them that europeans were not invincible." the departure of the english forces was followed by the reestablishment of dost mohammed's authority in afghanistan. once, at the time of the sikh insurrection, the dost crossed the indian border with two thousand horsemen, and narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the british in the affair of gujrat, february 21, 1849, where the speed of his horse alone saved him from capture. in 1855 a better understanding was effected between the son of dost mohammed and his powerful european neighbor. he reconquered balkh in 1850, and gained kandahar by inheritance in 1855, while he lost herat to the persians in 1856. with the aid of great britain, in 1857, persia relinquished all claims to herat, but the dost had eventually to besiege that city, occupied by a rebellious faction, in 1863, and after a siege of ten months reduced the place, only to find a tomb within its walls. after the usual struggle for the throne, peculiar to a change of dynasty in afghanistan, shere ali, one of the dost's sons, prevailed, and was recognized in 1868. the next decade was notable for a series of diplomatic manoeuvres between england and russia for afghan friendship. shere ali now leaned toward the lion, now in the direction of the bear, with the regularity of a pendulum. the advances were received with presents and promises on the one hand, and promises, powerful embassies, and imposing military expeditions on the other. on september 21, 1878, a british ambassador was turned back by the afghan commandant of the frontier fort of ali musjid, and on the 20th of november, of the same year, war was declared against shere ali by the anglo-indian government. at that time the russian general kaufmann was operating on the northern border of afghanistan with a force of fifteen thousand men and sixty guns, and the ameer had reason to think that he could rely on russian cooperation against the english, who, with a force of forty thousand men, promptly invaded his dominion. this force moved into afghanistan in four columns, under the command, respectively, of generals browne, roberts, biddulph, and stewart, with reserves under generals maude and primrose. we shall have occasion later to consider some of the details of the protracted operations which followed. they embraced several admirably conducted marches, exposure to excessively severe winter weather, the successful surmounting of great natural obstacles, the development of the usual weakness in the department of transport, with unnecessary losses in animals, a considerable sick-list, and an inconsiderable proportion of killed and wounded in action. the military benefits were those resulting from a long and arduous field experience in a rough country. the interruption to these actual "field manoeuvres," this "fire-drill," by the enemy, was comparatively feeble,--as a rule, stimulating the anglo-indian force to put its best foot foremost. under this system, at the end of the two years' campaign, all departments of the army had become moulded into the efficient machines essential to success in any military venture. politically, the campaign had been a failure. the fate of the gallant major cavagnari and his mission, murdered at kabul, september 3, 1879, made a deeper impression on the afghan mind than the british occupation of afghan cities or the afghan losses in battle. in the same year the british secretary for india, in london, wrote to the governor-general that: "it appears that as the result of two successful campaigns, of the employment of an immense force, and of the expenditure of large sums of money, all that has yet been accomplished has been the disintegration of the state which it was desired to see strong, friendly, and independent, the assumption of fresh and unwelcome liabilities in regard to one of its provinces, and a condition of anarchy throughout the remainder of the country." early in the year 1880, the british government prepared to make a dignified withdrawal from afghanistan. that volcanic region was by no means tranquil, although the chief rebel, yakoub khan, had been driven out of kabul by general roberts, and had retired to the distant country of the her-i-rud. at this time appeared the exiled abdurrahman khan, who had long resided at tashkend, and who was welcomed warmly by the local sirdars on the northern frontier of afghanistan. as he approached kabul his authority and influence increased, and the british political officers, acting under instructions, formally recognized him as ameer of that district. in the meanwhile yakoub advanced westward from herat with a strong force, encountered a british brigade, under general burrows, near the helmund, and utterly routed it. the remnant of the european force took refuge in kandahar, where general primrose was in command. surrounding the city, yakoub succeeded in effectually "bottling up" the british garrison for some time. sir frederick roberts, however, made a rapid march from kabul on kandahar, and after a successful and decisive battle with the afghans, completely dispersed the native force, and relieved the beleaguered garrison. soon after, abdurrahman was formally installed as ameer of afghanistan, and the british army withdrew from the country. iii. the british forces and routes. a sketch of the military resources of great britain, more especially those available for field service in afghanistan, with notes upon the strength and composition of the forces, means of transport and supply, nature of important lines of communication, and of certain strategic points in the probable theatre of operations, will be attempted in this chapter. _organization_.--the military system of great britain is based upon voluntary enlistment instead of the usual european plan of universal liability to service. recruits may enlist either for the "short-service" or "long-service" term; the first being for six years in the ranks and six on furlough, and the last for twelve years in the ranks; the furlough of short-service men is passed in the army reserve, and then, in consideration of liability to be recalled to the colors, the men are paid sixpence a day. the troops of the standing army, (united kingdom,) march, 1885, were proportionately distributed as follows: forty-three per cent. in england, two per cent. in scotland, twenty-five per cent. in ireland, and thirty-five per cent. abroad, not including india. [illustration: major-general, sir f. s. roberts, v.c., k.c.b.] available british land forces. [footnote: approximately, from late returns (1885), but short of authorized "establishment" by 90,000.] england. ================================================================== army army militia yeomanry volunteers reserve ================================================================== class: engineers officers 423 men 4,762 cavalry officers 559 men 11,840 11,441 royal horse artillery officers 108 men 2,426 royal artillery officers 690 men 18,351 infantry officers 2,862 men 80,324 aggregate ------ ------ ------ ----- ------ all ranks 122,345 44,503 108,462 11,441 209,365 ================================================================== grand aggregate 469,116 ================================================================== india. [native contingents, independent states of india, [2] about 349,831.] ================================================================== army (e'r'p'n) (native) ================================================================== engineers officers 436 men [3] 232 3,109 cavalry officers 198 304 men 4,086 18,071 royal horse artillery officers men royal artillery officers 453 19 men 10,809 1,842 infantry officers 1,400 1,068 men 44,106 102,648 ------ ------ aggregate all ranks 61,488 127,263 ================================================================= grand aggregate 188,751 ================================================================= [footnote 2: cashmere 27,000, nepaul 100,000, hyderabad 44,000.] [footnote 3: sappers and miners.] for purposes of administration, instruction, and mobilization, great britain and ireland are partitioned into thirteen military districts commanded by general officers. these are sub-divided as follows: for the infantry one hundred and two sub-districts under regimental commanders; for the artillery there are twelve sub-districts, and for the cavalry two districts. the brigade of an infantry sub-district comprises usually two line battalions, two militia battalions, the brigade depot, rifle volunteer corps, and infantry of the army reserve. of the line battalions one is generally at home and one abroad. in an artillery sub-district are comprised a proportion of the royal artillery and artillery of the militia, volunteers, and army reserve respectively. in like manner a cavalry sub-district includes the yeomanry and army reserve cavalry. the officers on duty in the adjutant-general's and quartermaster's departments of the british army are, as a rule, detailed for a term of five years from the line, but must rejoin their regiments immediately upon orders for foreign service. the royal engineers then were and are organized into forty-three companies. the cavalry is divided into the household cavalry and cavalry of the line. the first named comprises the 1st and 2d life guards and royal horse guards,--three regiments. the line is composed of twenty-eight regiments, as follows: seven of dragoon guards, three of dragoons, thirteen of hussars, five of lancers. the strength of regiments varies from 450 to 625 men with from 300 to 400 troop horses each. the artillery--under the title of the royal regiment of artillery--is divided into three classes; the royal horse artillery of two brigades of twelve batteries each, making a brigade total of sixty guns; the field artillery of four, brigades of seventy-six batteries, and the garrison artillery of eleven brigades. for the non-professional reader it may be well to say that, in the horse artillery, all the _personnel_ of a battery is mounted, the better to act with cavalry or mounted infantry; under the general term "field artillery" may be classed mountain batteries (only maintained in india), field batteries proper, in which the guns are somewhat heavier, and served by gunners who are not mounted, but on occasion are carried on the limbers and on seats attached to the axles, and in an emergency may be carried on the "off" horses of teams. under the class "field artillery," also, would come such large guns as are required in war for siege or other heavy operations, and which in india or afghanistan would be drawn by bullocks. the infantry is composed of the guards, the line, and the rifles. the guards consist of three regiments--grenadier guards, coldstream guards, and scots fusilier guards; in all seven battalions. the line comprises 102 regiments (204 battalions); the rifles four battalions. besides these there are two regiments of colonial (west india) colored troops. the militia is intended for local defence, but can be ordered anywhere within the united kingdom, and is available for garrison duty in the mediterranean. enlistment in the militia is for six years. the officers are commissioned by the queen, and, as before noted, all the details of control and recruitment are entrusted to district commanders. for instruction this force may be called out, for a period not to exceed eight weeks annually, with regular officers as instructors. there are 212 battalions of infantry, 25 brigades of garrison artillery, and 3 regiments of engineers comprised in this force. the militia reserve, limited to one fourth of the active militia, is liable to army service in case of an emergency, and for the term of six years is entitled to l1 per annum. the volunteers represent "the bulwark" in case of invasion; they are organized principally as garrison artillery and infantry. the officers are commissioned by the county lieutenants, subject to the approval of the queen. the men are recruited, armed, and instructed by the government. recruits are required to attend thirty drills, and afterward not less than nine drills annually. the volunteer force is composed of 278 battalions of infantry, 46 brigades of garrison artillery and 15 battalions of engineers. the yeomanry cavalry are equipped as light cavalry, drill eight days per year, and are subject to call in case of riot and insurrection, when each man with a horse receives seven pence a day. there are thirty-eight regiments. the army of india differs from that of the united kingdom, not only in its composition, but in the character of its organization. this organization dates from 1858, when the government passed from the east india company to the crown. the european regiments serving in india are in all respects organized and maintained, as in england. in each presidency forming the three political subdivisions, and among which the anglo-indian army is distributed, exists a staff corps which supplies all european officers, permitted to serve with native troops. these officers must pass certain examinations before they can be assigned to any of the following vacancies in any native regiment. indian regiment. europeans 1 commandant, 1 second-in-command and wing officer, 1 wing-officer, 2 wing-subalterns, 1 adjutant, 1 quartermaster, 1 medical officer. natives 2 subadars (captains), 1st class, 2 " " 2d " 4 " " 3d " 4 jemandars (lieuts.), 1st " 4 " " 2d " 1 havildar (sergt.-major), 40 havildars (sergeants), 40 naicks (corporals), 16 drummers, 600 sepoys (privates). the duties of the commandant of a native regiment correspond in general to those of a similar officer in a european corps. three times a week he holds a "durbar," for the trial of offenders and transaction of general regimental business. the men are paid by the native officers in presence of the european "wing-officer," who is responsible for all public property issued to his half battalion, or wing. the native officers are commissioned by the indian government, and, as a rule, are promoted from the ranks, and are of the same caste as the privates. certain native officers of the engineers and artillery may be eligible to appointment in the corresponding european corps; one is always assigned as an aide-de-camp to the viceroy. when on detailed service, a native officer is allowed to command his company, but "no battalion parades should take place without the presence of a british officer." [footnote: indian army regulations.] in each regiment there is a drill-sergeant and drill-corporal, who receive extra pay for their services. corporals are promoted from privates who know how to read and write in at least one character, or who have displayed extraordinary courage. the pay per month of a sepoy is equal to $3.50; havildar, $7; jemandar, $17.50; subadar, $33.50 to $50. european officers with native regiments: commandant, $620; wing-officers, $302 to $322; adjutant, $237.86; quartermaster, $187.86; medical officers, $300, monthly. the annual pay-roll of a native regiment of 720 combatants and 45 non-combatants amounts to about $69,114. in consideration of the pay each sepoy is required to provide his rations and clothing, except one coat and one pair of trousers issued by the government every two years; in consequence, each regiment is accompanied by a native village called a bazaar, containing tradesmen of all kinds; this bazaar is under strict discipline and is managed by the quartermaster. the entire outfit follows the regiment into the field. colonel gordon of the indian army testifies: "with regard to native troops under a cannonade i may say that i saw our native infantry twice under the fire of the afghan mountain guns, and they behaved very steadily and coolly. ammunition was economically expended. i attributed much the small loss sustained by the troops in afghanistan to our excellent straight shooting." the cavalry of india has in certain instances borne an excellent reputation for efficiency in action, is well set up, and in its instruction and discipline is modelled after the british system. the artillery comprises well-instructed native organizations, but its principal experience has been with light field guns against irregular troops. the achilles heel of the indian army consists in this, that there are but eight european officers to each regiment, and of these but six would be available to lead in battle: the quartermaster and surgeon being at such a time otherwise engaged. the native officers, seldom having an opportunity to command in peace, would be unreliable leaders in such an emergency. at the action of ali musjid, november 21, 1878, the day before the occupation of that fort, six british officers of a native battalion were placed _hors de combat_, so that on the first day after crossing the afghan frontier there was but one european officer to manage the regiment. besides the regular establishment there are about 10,000 european volunteers (including 4,000 railway officials and employes) available for local defence. the feudatory chiefs of india enjoy an aggregate revenue of some l15,000,000, equal to more than one third of the income of the british government of india. they maintain forces aggregating 350,000 men with 4,000 guns to perform the duties of court ceremonial, garrison, military police, guards, and escorts, throughout territories aggregating nearly 600,000 square miles with 50,000,000 of inhabitants. these forces are unreservedly held at the disposal of the crown by the native princes. _transport and supply_.--this essential feature of all wars will be briefly considered in the light of the anglo-afghan war of 1879-80. large quantities of supplies were transported from the main base of operations on the indus, and distributed to the troops in the field over four or five distinct lines of communication, and over roads, and mountain paths of varied degrees of ruggedness. the country on both sides of the indo-afghan frontier was severely taxed to furnish the necessary animals. part of the transport was hired--and as in the case of the brahuis camels--with the services of the owners, who were easily offended and likely to decamp with their property in a night. during the first year the system was under the direct control of the commissariat department; but as this proved unsatisfactory, in the subsequent campaign it was entirely reorganized and superintended by an officer of engineers, with a large number of officers from the line to assist. this gave better satisfaction. immense numbers of camels died from heat, [footnote: of a train of eighteen hundred unloaded camels on the road from dadur to jacobabad, for six days in june, six hundred died of exhaustion. in march, 1855 col. green, c.b., lost one hundred and seventeen horses out of four hundred, from the heat, during a march of thirty miles.] overwork, irregular food, and neglect. owing to the dryness of the climate and intense heat of the summer the bullock-carts were perpetually falling to pieces. the mules, donkeys, and ponies gave the best results, but do not abound in sufficient quantities to enable an army in afghanistan to dispense with camels. a successful experiment in rafting, from jelalabad to dakka, was tried. the rafts consisted of inflated skins lashed together with a light framework; between june 4-13, seven thousand skins were used, and, in all, 885 soldiers and one thousand tons of stores were transported forty miles down the kabul river, the journey taking five hours. a great deal of road-making and repairing was done under the supervision of the transport corps. a system of "stages" or relays of pack-animals or carts was organized, by which a regular quantity of supplies was forwarded over the main lines, daily, with almost the regularity, if not the speed, of rail carriage. the great number of animals employed required a corresponding force of attendants, inspectors, and native doctors, all of whom served to make up that excessive army of "followers" for which anglo-indian expeditions are famous. drivers were required at the following rate: one driver for each pair of bullocks, every four camels, every three mules and ponies, every six donkeys. [footnote: the average carrying power of certain kinds of transport, in pounds, is as follows: _bullock-carts_ (with two pairs), on fairly level ground, 1,400; on hilly ground, 1,000; (with one pair) on fairly level ground, 850; on hilly ground, 650; _camels_, 400; _mules_, 200; _ponies_, 175; _men_, 50.] [illustration: khelat-i-ghilzi, between kandahar and ghazni.] the great obstacle to the satisfactory operation of the transport system was its novelty and experimental character, and that its organization had to be combined with its execution. besides which, cholera broke out in june and swept away three hundred employes. grazing camps were established in the neighborhood of the bolan pass for the bullocks, and aqueducts built for the conveyance of a water supply; one of these was of masonry, more than a mile in length, from dozan down to the bolan. it has been stated that grazing was scarce in the region of the bolan: in 1879 more than four thousand bullocks were grazed there during the summer, and large quantities of forage were cut for winter use. any prolonged military operations in afghanistan must, to a certain extent, utilize hired transport, although there are many objections urged. sir richard temple said (1879): "that the amount of transport required for active service, such as the late campaign in afghanistan, is so great that to hire transport is synonymous to pressing it from the people of the district from which it is hired, and impressment of the means of transport must lead to impressment of drivers, who naturally (having no interest whatever in the campaign in which they are called upon to serve) render the most unwilling service and take the earliest opportunity of rendering their animals unserviceable in hopes of escaping a distasteful duty. this service is frequently so unpopular that, sooner than leave the boundaries of their native country, the impressed drivers desert, leaving their animals in the hands of the transport authorities or take them away with them. . . . for the above reasons i should recommend that all transport for a campaign should be the property of government." in commenting on this subject, lord wolseley relates that when serving in china with indian troops he "awoke one morning and found that all our drivers had bolted. our transport consisted of carts supplied by the chinese government, by contractors, and by the country generally. i do not think that the carts had been carried away, but all the mules and men had disappeared except three drivers who belonged to me. i was very much astonished that these men had not bolted also. i had a small detachment of cavalry with me and a very excellent duffadar in charge of it. i asked him how he had managed to keep these drivers--having some time before said that unless he looked after them well he would never get to pekin. he replied, with some hesitation: 'i remember what you told me, and the fact is i tied the tails of those three men together, overnight, and then tied them to the tent pole, and put a man over them.'" the elephant, like the stage coach, finds his field of usefulness, as a means of transport, growing smaller by degrees. he is still a feature in india, and has been used for military purposes to some extent in the eastern part of afghanistan. he will doubtless form part of the means of transportation employed by the british forces near their present base, and in rear of the kabul-kandahar line, and for that reason is noticed here. [footnote: the use of elephants in transporting field guns in afghanistan is emphatically discouraged by those who served with it last; very few flankers were employed to protect the elephant artillery used in the kuram valley, and its success can only be interpreted by supposing the direct interposition of providence or the grossest stupidity to our feeble enemy.] the superintendent of the government elephant kheddahs at dakka has given us, in a recent paper, much information concerning the elephant in freedom and captivity. he does not claim a high order of intelligence, but rather of extraordinary obedience and docility for this animal very large elephants are exceptional. twice round the forefoot gives the height at the shoulder; few females attain the height of eight feet; "tuskers," or male elephants, vary from eight to nine feet; the maharajah of nahur, sirmoor, possesses one standing ten feet five and one half inches. the age varies from 80 to 150 years, according to the best authorities, and it is recorded that those familiar with the haunts of the wild elephant have never found the bones of an elephant that had died a natural death. in freedom they roam in herds of thirty to fifty, always led by a female; mature about twenty-five. in india the males only have tusks; in ceylon only the females. they are fond of the water, swim well, [footnote: elephants have been known to swim a river three hundred yards wide with the hind legs tied together.] but can neither trot nor gallop; their only pace is a walk, which may be increased to a _shuffle_ of fifteen miles an hour for a very short distance; they cannot leap, and a ditch eight by eight feet would be impassable. [illustration: elephant with artillery; on the road to ali musjid.] in bengal and southern india elephants particularly abound, and seem to be increasing in numbers. in the billigurungan hills, a range of three hundred square miles on the borders of mysore, they made their appearance about eighty years ago; yet prior to that time this region was under high cultivation, traces of orchards, orange groves, and iron-smelting furnaces remaining in what is now a howling wilderness. elephants are caught in stockades or kraals. the government employs hunting parties of 350 natives trained to the work, and more than 100 animals are sometimes secured in a single drive. new elephants are trained by first rubbing them down with bamboo rods, and shouting at them, and by tying them with ropes; they are taught to kneel by taking them into streams about five feet deep, when the sun is hot, and prodding them on the back with sharp sticks. the total number of elephants maintained is eight hundred, of which one half are used for military purposes. they consume about 400 pounds of green, or 250 pounds of dry fodder daily, and are also given unhusked rice. an elephant is expected to carry about 1,200 pounds with ease. in the abyssinian expedition elephants travelled many hundreds of miles, carrying from 1,500 to 1,800 pounds (including their gear), but out of forty-four, five died from exhaustion; they are capable of working from morning to night, or of remaining under their loads for twenty hours at a stretch. [footnote: there is no "elephant gun-drill" laid down in the imperial regulations, but when the gun goes into action the elephant is made to kneel, and long "skids" are placed against the cradle upon which the gun rests, so as to form an inclined plane to the ground. the gun is then lifted off the cradle and down the skids by levers and tackle.] an elephant's gear consists of a _gaddela_, or quilted cloth, 1-1/2 inches thick, reaching half-way down his sides and from the neck to the croup. on this is placed the _guddu_, or pad, 6x5 feet and 9 inches thick, formed of stout sacking stuffed with dried grass. the whole is girthed with a long rope passed twice around the body, round the neck as a breast-strap, and under the tail as a crupper. the whole weighs 200 pounds. an improvement upon this has been made by our authority (mr. sanderson), which seems to bear the same relation to the old gear that the open mcclellan saddle does to the ordinary british hunting saddle. it consists (see illustration) of two pads entirely detached, each 4 feet long, 15 inches wide, and 6 inches thick, made of blanket covered with tarpaulin, and encased in stout sacking. one is placed on each side of the elephant's spine, and retained there by two iron arches. there is no saddle-cloth, the load rests on the ribs; the breast-strap and crupper hook into rings on the saddle; there are rings to fasten the load to; it weighs 140 pounds. with foot-boards it is convenient for riding; a cradle can also be attached for carrying field guns. recent experiments have shown the practicability of conveying elephants by rail in ordinary open cattle-trucks; they were indifferent to the motion, noises, or bridges; it is said that 32 elephants could be thus carried on one train. [illustration: detail of elephant saddle.] the excellent railway facilities for moving troops and supplies to the indo-afghan frontier were described in 1880, by traffic manager ross, of the scinde, punjab, and delhi railway, before the united service institution of india. he stated that experiments had been made by the military and railway authorities in loading and disembarking troops and war _materiel_, and that much experience had been afforded by the afghan operations of 1878-9. the movement of troops to and from the frontier commenced in october, 1878, and ended june, 1879. during that period were conveyed over his road 190,000 men, 33,000 animals, 500 guns, 112,000,000 pounds of military stores. the maximum number carried in any one month was in november--40,000 men, 8,000 animals, and 20,800,000 pounds of stores. the greatest number of special trains run in one day was eight, carrying 4,100 men, 300 animals, and 800,000 pounds of stores. as an instance of rapid loading, when the both bengal cavalry left for malta, 80 horses were loaded on a train in 10 minutes appears to have been clean forgotten. the politicals were by no means silent, and the amount of knowledge they possessed of border statistics was something marvellous. did any step appear to the military sense advisable, there was a much better, though less comprehensible, _political_ reason why it should not be undertaken. the oracle has spoken and the behest must be obeyed. an enemy in sight who became afterwards hostile, must not be kept at a distance; through political glasses they appear as 'children of nature,' while the country out of sight must not be explored, the susceptibilities of the sensitive 'tammizais' having to be respected. that much valuable service was performed by political officers there can be no doubt, but that they caused great exasperation among soldiers cannot be denied, and the example of the war of 1839-40 causes them to be looked upon as a very possible source of danger. _anglo-afghan operations_.--the observations of a participant [footnote: lieut. martin, r. e. (_journal u. s. i. of india_).] in the last british campaign in afghanistan will be found of value in the study of future operations in that country. of the afghan tactics he says: "the enemy (generally speaking, a race of highlanders) vastly preferred the attack, and usually obtained the advantage of superior numbers before risking an attack; . . . being able to dispense (for the time) with lines of communication and baggage and commissariat columns, the afghan tribes were often able to raise large gatherings on chosen ground. they could always attack us; we were rarely able (except when they chose) to find them at home." this observer says the regular troops of the ameer were not so formidable as the tribal gatherings. the presence of a tactically immovable artillery hinders the action of an asiatic army. the mounted men are usually the first to leave when the fight is going against their side in a general engagement. one of the best specimens of their tactics was at ahmed-kheyl, on the ghazni-kandahar road, when the british division was one hundred miles from any support. the afghans assembled a force outnumbering the british ten to one. the attack was made in a series of rushes, twice dispersing the british cavalry, and once driving back the infantry. exposed to a constant fire of field guns, the afghans stood their ground, although poorly armed with a variety of obsolete weapons--from an enfield to a handjar or a stick. trouble may always be expected from the night attacks of certain tribes like the alizais and waziris. the english infantry formation was an objectionably close one, and lieut. martin says that the bayonets and rifle-barrels of the front rank were sometimes struck and jammed _by bullets from the rear rank_. the action of the english cavalry, as at ahmed-kheyl, was suicidal in receiving the enemy's charge--practically at a halt. occasionally shelter trenches were used, but disapproved. in the kuram valley column, under general roberts, the cavalry (principally native, with one regular squadron and a battery of horse artillery) formed a brigade, but was never used independently, nor was it instructed (although well equipped) for modern cavalry work. the opposition to dismounted cavalry duty is still so great, in the british army, that the mounted arm is paralyzed for effective service. very little was done by the horse artillery with the kuram column. in the case of the field artillery it was found necessary on two occasions to transfer the ammunition boxes from the bullock-carts to the backs of elephants, on account of the steepness of the hills. the mountain artillery (native) was the most serviceable; a gatling battery, packed on ponies, and in charge of a detachment of highlanders, was never used however. the armament of the infantry included both martini and snider rifles, requiring two kinds of ammunition, but, as the service by pack-mules was ample, no confusion ensued, although lieut. martin says: "in one case i heard a whisper that a regimental reserve of ammunition was found to be _blank cartridges_, but this must be a heavy joke." intrenching tools were carried on camels. a mixture of military and civil-engineer administration and operation is mentioned as unsatisfactory in results. there was great difficulty in getting tools and materials at the opening of the campaign--particularly those required for road and bridge work, although a railroad within two hundred miles had a large stock on hand. [illustration: noah's valley, kunar river.] the art of camping and rough fortification was well practised. the best defended camp was surrounded by bush abatis and flanked by half-moon _sungas_ of boulder-stone work, which held the sentries. the most approved permanent camps or "posts" were mud _serais_ flanked by bastions at the alternate angles and overlooking a yard or "kraal." these were established about ten miles apart, to protect communications, and furnished frequent patrols. during the latter part of the campaign these outposts were manned by the native contingents of the punjab who volunteered. the rapid march of general roberts from kabul to kandahar in august, 1880, and the final dispersion of the forces of ayoub khan, illustrated british operations in afghanistan under the most favorable circumstances. the forces included 2,800 european and 7,000 indian troops; no wheeled artillery was taken; one regiment of native infantry, trained to practical engineering work, did the work of sappers and miners; for the transportation of sick and wounded 2,000 doolie-bearers, 286 ponies, and 43 donkeys; for transport of supplies a pack-train of 1,589 yabus, 4,510 mules, 1,224 indian ponies, 912 donkeys--a total of 10,148 troops, 8,143 native followers, and 11,224 animals, including cavalry horses; 30 days' rations, of certain things, and dependence on the country for fresh meat and forage. the absence of timber on this route rendered it difficult to obtain fuel except by burning the roofs of the villages and digging up the roots of "southern-wood" for this purpose. the manner of covering the movement rested with the cavalry commander. usually the front was covered by two regiments, one regiment on each flank, at a mile from the column, detaching one or more troops as rear-guard; once movement had commenced, the animals, moving at different gaits were checked as little as possible. with such a number of non-combatants the column was strung out for six or seven miles, and the rear-guard leaving one camp at 7 a.m. rarely reached the next--fifteen to twenty miles distant--before sundown. [illustration: watch-tower in the khaiber pass.] _routes_.--for operations in afghanistan the general british base is the frontier from kurrachee to peshawur. these points are connected by a railway running east of the indus, which forms a natural boundary to the indian frontier, supplemented by a line of posts which are from north to south as follows: jumrud, baru, mackeson, michni, shub kadar, abazai, and kohut; also by fortified posts connected by military roads,--thull, bunnoo, and doaba. from the indus valley into the interior of afghanistan there are only four lines of communication which can be called military roads: first, from _peshawur_ through the khaiber pass to _kabul_; second, from _thull_, over the peiwar and shuturgurdan passes to _kabul_; third, from _dera ismail khan_ through the guleir surwandi and sargo passes to _ghazni_; fourth, by _quetta_ to kandahar and thence to _herat_, or by ghazni to _kabul_. besides these there are many steep, difficult, mule tracks over the bleak, barren, sulimani range, which on its eastern side is very precipitous and impassable for any large body of troops. [illustration: fort of ali musjid, from the heights above lala cheena in the khaiber pass.] the peshawur-kabul road, 170 miles long, was in 1880 improved and put in good order. from peshawur the road gradually rises, and after 7 miles reaches jumrud (1,650 feet elevation), and 44 miles further west passes through the great khaiber pass. this pass, 31 miles long, can, however, be turned by going to the north through the absuna and tartara passes; they are not practicable for wheels, and the first part of the road along the kabul river is very difficult and narrow, being closed in by precipitous cliffs. as far as fort ali musjid the khaiber is a narrow defile between perpendicular slate rocks 1,460 feet high; beyond that fort the road becomes still more difficult, and in some of the narrowest parts, along the rocky beds of torrents, it is not more than 56 feet wide. five miles further it passes through the valley of lalabeg 1-1/2 miles wide by 6 miles long, and then after rising for four miles it reaches the top of the pass, which from both sides offers very strong strategical positions. from thence it descends for 2-1/2 miles to the village of landi khana (2,463 feet), which lies in a gorge about a quarter of a mile wide; then on to dakka (altitude 1,979 feet). this pass, 100 to 225 feet wide and 60 feet long, is shut in by steep but not high slopes, overgrown with bushes. [illustration: fort of dakka, on the kabul river.] on the eleven miles' march from dakka to hazarnao, the khurd khaiber is passed, a deep ravine about one mile long, and in many places so narrow that two horsemen cannot pass each other. hazarnao is well cultivated, and rich in fodder; 15 miles farther is chardeh (1,800 feet altitude), from which the road passes through a well-cultivated country, and on through the desert of surkh denkor (1,892 feet altitude), which is over 8-1/2 miles from jelalabad. from this city (elsewhere described) onward as far as gundamuck the route presents no great difficulties; it passes through orchards, vineyards, and cornfields to the surkhab river; but beyond this three spurs of the safed koh range, running in a northeastern direction, have to be surmounted. [illustration: the ishbola tepe, khaiber pass.] between jelalabad [footnote: the heat at jelalabad from the end of april is tremendous--105 degrees to 110 degrees in the shade.] and kabul two roads can be followed: the first crosses the range over the karkacha pass (7,925 feet alt.) at the right of which is assin kilo, thence through the kotul defile, and ascending the khurd kabul [footnote: the khurd kabul pass is about five miles long, with an impetuous mountain torrent which the road (1842) crossed twenty-eight times.] (7,397 feet alt.) to the north reaches the high plateau on which kabul is situated; the other leads over the short but dangerous jagdallak pass to jagdallak, from which there are three roads to kabul--the northernmost over the khinar and the third over the sokhta passes; all these, more difficult than the khaiber, are impassable during the winter. it was here, as already related, that the greater part of elphinstone's command, in 1842, perished. there is a dearth of fuel and supplies by this line of communication. the second, or thull-kuram-kabul, route, was taken by general roberts in 1878-9. it extends from thull, one of the frontier posts already mentioned, some forty miles into the kuram valley, and then inclining towards the west leads to the kuram fort (mohammed azim's), a walled quadrangular fortress with flanking towers at an elevation of 6,000 feet. the kuram valley is, up to this point, well cultivated and productive; wood, water, and forage abound. winter only lasts with any severity for six weeks, and the spring and autumn are delightful. a short distance above the fort commences the ascent toward the peiwar pass (8,000 feet alt.), twenty-four miles distant. the road, thickly bordered with cedar and pine trees, is covered with boulders and is very difficult, and from the village of peiwar--one of many _en route_, of the usual afghan fortified type--it leads through a winding defile to the top of the pass. here the road is confined by perpendicular chalk rocks, the summits of which are covered with scrub timber and a luxurious growth of laurel. on the farther side of the pass the road ascends to the height of the hazardarakht, (which is covered with snow in the winter), and then climbs to the shuturgurdan pass (11,375 feet alt.), reaching a plateau on which the snow lies for six months of the year; thence it descends into the fertile logar valley and reaches akton khel, which is only fifty-one miles from kabul. the total length of this route is about 175 miles. the third, or dera-ismail-khan-sargo-ghazni, route passes through a region less frequented than those mentioned, and is not thought sufficiently difficult for detailed description. passing due west, through seventy miles of mountain gorges destitute of supplies or forage, it debouches, through the gomal pass, into a more promising country, in which forage may be obtained. at this point it branches to ghazni, kandahar, and pishin respectively. a road exists from mooltan, crossing the indus at dera-ghazi-khan, mithunkot, rajanpur, rojan, lalgoshi, dadur to quetta, and was utilized by general biddulph, from whose account of his march from the indus to the helmund, in 1879, is gleaned the following. the main point of concentration for the british forces, either from india or from england via kurrachee is thus minutely described. "the western frontier of india is, for a length of 600 miles, bounded by biluchistan and territories inhabited by biluch tribes, and for 300 miles biluch country intervenes between our border and afghanistan. the plains of the punjab and sind run along the boundary of biluchistan, and at a distance of from 25 to 50 miles the indus pursues a course, as far down as mithunkot, from north to south, and then winds south-west through a country similar to that of egypt. a belt of cultivation and beyond that the desert . . . this line of hills (the eastern sulimani) extends as a continuous rampart with the plains running up to the foot of the range, and having an elevation of 11,000 feet at the tukl-i-suliman, and of 7,400 near fort munro (opposite dera-ghazi-khan), gradually diminishes in height and dwindles away till it is lost in the plains near kusmore, at a point 12 miles from the indus. the strip of low-land country on the west bank of the indus up to the foot of the hills is called the _derajat_. it is cut up and broken by torrents, the beds of which are generally dry wastes, and the country is, except at a few places where permanent water is found, altogether sterile and hot. if we view the physical aspect looking north and north-west from jacobabad, we notice a wide bay of plains extending between the broken spur of the sulimani, and a second range of hills having a direction parallel to the outer range. this plain is called the kachi, extends in an even surface for 150 miles from the indus at sukkur, and is bounded on the north by successive spurs lying between the two great ranges. the kachi, thus bounded by barren hills on all sides but the south, is one of the hottest regions in the world. except where subject to inundations or within reach of irrigation it is completely sterile--a hard clay surface called _pat_,--and this kind of country extends around to the east of the spur of the suliman into the derajat country. subject to terrific heats and to a fiercely hot pestilential wind, the kachi is at times fatal even to the natives." [illustration: entrance to the bolan pass, from dadur.] the range of mountains bounding the kachi to the westward is a continuous wall with imperceptible breaks only, and it bears the local names of gindari, takari, and kirthar. through this uniform rampart there are two notable rents or defiles, viz.: the _mulla_ opening opposite gundana, leading to kelat; and the _bolan_ entering near dadur, leading to quetta, kandahar, and herat. the bolan is an abrupt defile--a rent in the range,--the bottom filled with the pebbly bed of a mountain torrent. this steep ramp forms for sixty miles the road from dadur, elevation 750 feet, to the dasht-i-bedowlat, elevation 6,225 feet. this inhospitable plateau and the upper portion of the bolan are subject to the most piercingly cold winds and temperature; and the sudden change from the heat of the kachi to the cold above is most trying to the strongest constitutions. notwithstanding the difficulties of the road, the absence of supplies and fuel, and the hostile character of the predatory tribes around, this route has been always most in favor as the great commercial and military communication from persia, central asia, and khorassan to india. the causes which led to the establishment of a british garrison at quetta are not unlike those which are urged as good russian reasons for the occupation of territory in certain parts of central asia. briefly stated, it seems that after the conquest of the punjab, the proximity of certain disturbed portions of biluchistan, and the annoyance suffered by various british military expeditions, in 1839-1874, from certain tribes of biluchis--notably the maris and bugtis,--made it desirable that more decisive measures should be adopted. in 1876 a force of british troops was marched to kelat, and by mutual agreement with the khan a political agency was established at quetta, ostensibly to protect an important commercial highway, but at the same time securing a military footing of great value. but the character of the lords of the soil--the maris, for instance--has not changed for the better, and the temporary general european occupation of the country would afford an opportunity to gratify their predatory instincts, which these bandits would not hesitate to utilize. the maris can put 2,000 men into the field and march 100 miles to make an attack. when they wish to start upon a raid they collect their wise men together and tell the warriors where the cattle and the corn are. if the reports of spies, sent forward, confirm this statement, the march is undertaken. they ride upon mares which make no noise; they travel only at night. they are the most excellent outpost troops in the world. when they arrive at the scene of action a perfect watch is kept and information by single messengers is secretly sent back. every thing being ready a rush of horsemen takes place, the villages are surrounded, the cattle swept away, the women and children hardly used--fortunate if they escape with their lives. the villagers have their fortlets to retreat to, and, if they reach them, can pull the ladders over after them and fire away from their towers. dadur is an insignificant town at the foot of the bolan. from here the kandahar road leads for sixty miles through the pass--a gradual ascent; in winter there is not a mouthful of food in the entire length of the defile. quetta, compared with the region to the south, appears a very garden of eden. it is a small oasis, green and well watered. from quetta to pishin the road skirts the southern border of a vast plain, interspersed with valleys, which extend across the eastern portion of afghanistan toward the russian dominion. a study of the pishin country shows that it is, on its northwestern side supported on a limb of the western sulimani. this spur, which defines the west of the barshor valley, is spread out into the broad plateau of toba, and is then produced as a continuous ridge, dividing pishin from the plains of kadani, under the name of khoja amran. the barshor is a deep bay of the plain, and there is an open valley within the outer screen of hills. a road strikes off here to the ghilzai country and to ghazni. though intersected by some very low and unimportant hills and ridges, the pishin plains and those of shallkot may be looked upon as one feature. we may imagine the shall valley the vestibule, the kujlak-kakur vale the passage, the gayud yara plain an antechamber, and pishin proper the great _salle_. surrounded by mountains which give forth an abundant supply of water, the lands bordering on the hills are studded with villages, and there is much cultivation; there is a total absence of timber, and the cultivation of fruit-trees has been neglected. the lora rivers cutting into the plain interferes somewhat with the construction of roads. [illustration: entrance to the khojak pass, from pishin, on the road to kandahar.] the plain of pishin possesses exceptional advantages for the concentration and rendezvous of large bodies of troops, and has already been utilized for that purpose by the british. from the khoja amran, looking toward kandahar, the plains, several thousand feet below, are laid out like a sea, and the mountains run out into isolated promontories; to the left the desert is seen like a turbulent tide about to overflow the plains. the rivers on the quetta-kandahar route do not present much impediment to the passage of troops in dry weather, but in flood they become serious obstacles and cannot be passed until the waters retire. the ascent from the east through the khojak pass is easy, the descent on the west very precipitous. a thirteen-foot cart road was made, over the entire length of twenty miles, by general biddulph in 1878-9, by which the first wheeled vehicles, which ever reached khorassan from india, passed. from kandahar (elsewhere described)--which is considered by general hamley and other authorities, one of the most important strategic points in any scheme of permanent defence for india--diverge two main roads: one a continuation of the quetta-herat route bearing n.w., and one running n.e. to kabul. gen. biddulph says: "the position of kandahar near to the slopes of the range to the westward of the city renders it impossible to construct works close at hand to cover the road from herat. the high ridge and outlying hills dividing kandahar and its suburbs from the argandab valley completely command all the level ground between the city and the pass. beyond the gap a group of detached mountains extends, overlooking the approaches, and follows the left bank of the argandab as far down as panjwai, fifteen miles distant. positions for defensive works must be sought, therefore, in front of that place on the right bank of the river. to the n.e. of kandahar the open plain affords situations for forts, well removed from the hills, at a short distance, and at akhund ziarut, thirty miles on the road to ghazni, there is a gorge which would, if held, add to security on that quarter." the country between kandahar and the helmund has the same general characteristics--plains and mountain spurs alternately,--and while generally fit for grazing is, except in a few spots, unfit for cultivation. according to the eminent authority just quoted, the great natural strategic feature of this route is the elevated position of atta karez, thirty-one miles from kandahar. he says: "on the whole road this is the narrowest gateway, and this remarkable feature and the concentration of roads [footnote: the roads which meet at atta karez are: the great herat highway passing through kokeran and crossing the argandab opposite sinjari, whence it lies along the open plain all the way to atta karez; the road which crosses the argandab at panjwai; and the road from taktipul towards herat.] here, give to atta karez a strategic importance unequalled by any other spot between india and central asia." general biddulph examined this position carefully in 1879, and discovered a site for a work which would command the valley of the argandab and sweep the elevated open plain toward the west and northwest. abbaza is a village at the crossing of the herat road over the helmund, forty-six miles west of atta karez. on the west bank lies the ancient castle of girishk. the country between the argandab and the helmund is rolling and inclining gradually from the hills toward the junction of these rivers. the plateau opposite girishk is 175 feet above the river, which it commands. the helmund has already been described. there are numerous fords, but, at certain times, bridges would be required for military purposes. the land in the vicinity of the helmund is very fertile and seamed with irrigating canals. from girishk a road _via_ washir runs through the hills to herat; this is said to be cool, well supplied with water and grazing, and is a favorite military route. a road, parallel, to the south, goes through farrah, beyond which both roads blend into one main road to the "key." still another road, by bost, rudbar, and lash, along the course of the river, exists. although not so direct, it is an important route to herat; upon this road stand the ruins of the ancient city of bost in a wonderful state of preservation; here, as elsewhere in this region, the remains of fortifications testify to the former military importance of the spot. the citadel of bost is built on the debris of extensive works and rises 150 feet above the river. _british generals_.--perhaps the most prominent of modern british commanders, next to lord wolseley--is the young and successful soldier, lieutenant-general sir frederick roberts, g.c.b., c.i.e., commanding the anglo-indian army of the madras presidency. he has already seen service in afghanistan and elsewhere, and has been appointed to the command of one of the principal divisions of the british forces intended to oppose the threatened advance of the russians on herat. it was said of him by one of the most brilliant military leaders of the age,--skobeleff: "for general roberts i have a great admiration. he seems to me to possess all the qualities of a great general. that was a splendid march of his from kabul to kandahar. i think more highly of him than i do of sir garnet wolseley, but there is this to be said of _all_ your generals, they have only fought against asiatic and savage foes. they have not commanded an army against a european enemy, and we cannot tell, therefore, what they are really made of." the commander-in-chief of the army of india, general sir donald m. stewart, g.c.b., c.i.e., to whom has been intrusted the conduct of the british forces in afghanistan, is also a very distinguished and experienced officer--probably more familiar with the nature of the probable field of operations than any other in her majesty's service. like the united states, the great latent power of england is indisputable, and so long as superiority at sea is maintained, time is given to render that latent power active. for the first year of the coming struggle england must lean heavily upon her navy. nearly all the regiments of infantry are below the average peace limit, and if filled up simultaneously to a maximum war strength will include more than fifty per cent, of imperfectly trained men, and as the practice has been to fill up those corps ordered abroad with men transferred from other small regiments, it may come to pass that so-called "regular" regiments will consist largely of raw material. colonel trench of the british army says "the organization of the regular cavalry is very defective," and especially complains of the maladministration we have just noted. demands for cavalry for the soudan were met by a heavy drain on the already depleted strength of regiments in england. the fifth dragoon guards, which stood next on the roster for foreign service, gave away nearly two hundred horses and one hundred men. colonel trench says that the reserve cavalry have no training, and that there is no reserve of horses. it is doubtful if more than seventy per cent. of the enlisted strength and fifty per cent. of the horses, on paper, could be put in the field now. allusion has already been made to the notorious weakness of the british transport system. [footnote: captain gaisford, who commanded the khaiber levies in the afghan campaign, recommended reforms in the system of transport and supply. he advocated certain american methods, as wind and water-mills to crush and cleanse the petrified and gravelled barley, often issued, and to cut up the inferior hay; the selection of transport employes who understand animals; and more care in transporting horses by sea.] if this has been the case in the numerous small wars in which her forces have been engaged for the last twenty-five years, what may be expected from the strain of a great international campaign. on the other hand, great britain can boast of an inexhaustible capital, not alone of the revenues which have been accumulating during the last quarter of a century, but of patriotism, physical strength, courage, and endurance, peculiar to a race of conquerors. iv. the russian forces and approaches. a mere glance at the ponderous military machine with which russia enforces law and order within her vast domain, and by which she preserves and extends her power, is all that we can give here. no army in the world has probably undergone, within the last thirty years, such a succession of extensive alterations in organization, in administrative arrangements, and in tactical regulations, as that of russia. the crimean war surprised it during a period of transition. further changes of importance were carried out after that war. once more, in 1874, the whole military system was remodelled, while ever since the peace of san stefano, radical reforms have been in progress, and have been prosecuted with such feverish haste, that it is difficult for the observer to keep pace with them. [footnote: sir l. graham (_journal royal u. s. institution_).] the military system of russia is based upon the principles of universal liability to serve and of territorial distribution. this applies to the entire male population, with certain exemptions or modifications on the ground, respectively, of age or education. annually there is a "lot-drawing," in which all over twenty, who have not already drawn lots, must take part. those who draw blanks are excused from service with the colors, but go into the last reserve, or "opoltschenie." the ordinary term of service is fifteen years,--six with the colors and nine with the reserves; a reduction is made for men serving at remote asiatic posts; the war office may send soldiers into the reserve before the end of their terms. reduction is also made, from eleven to thirteen years and a half, for various degrees of educational acquirement. exemptions are also made for family reasons and on account of peculiar occupation or profession. individuals who personally manage their estates or direct their own commercial affairs (with the exception of venders of strong liquors) may have their entry into service postponed two years. men are permitted to volunteer at seventeen (with consent of parents or guardians); all volunteers serve nine years in the reserve; those joining the guards or cavalry must maintain themselves at their own expense. the total contingent demanded for army and navy in 1880 was 235,000, and 231,961 were enrolled; of this deficit of 3,039, the greater number, 3,000, were jews. _organization_.--the emperor is the commander-in-chief, who issues orders through the war ministry, whose head is responsible for the general efficiency of the army. there is also the "imperial head-quarters," under a general officer who, in the absence of the war minister, takes the emperor's orders and sees to their execution. the war council, presided over by the war minister, supervises all financial matters in connection with the army. there are also a high court of appeals, and the head-quarters staff, who supervise the execution of all military duties. commissariat, artillery, engineer, medical, military education, cossack, and judge-advocate departments complete the list of bureaus. the military forces are arranged into nineteen army corps: five comprise three divisions of infantry; one, two divisions of cavalry; the remainder, two divisions of cavalry and one of infantry; with a due proportion of light artillery and engineers the war strength of an army corps is 42,303 combatants, 10,755 horses, and 108 guns. when war is declared an army is formed of two or more corps. the general commanding exercises supreme control, civil and military, if the force enters the enemy's country. his staff are detailed much as usual at an american army head-quarters in the field. there are in the active army--_infantry_: 768 battalions (192 regiments, 48 divisions), 54 batt. riflemen. _cavalry_: 56 regular regiments (4 cuirassiers, 2 uhlans, 2 hussars, 48 dragoons); 29 regt. cossacks, divided into 20 divisions, kept in time of peace at 768 men (864 with sub-officers) per regiment. _artillery_: 51 brigades, or 303 batteries of 8 guns each; 30 horse-batteries of 6 guns each; besides 14 batteries with cossack divisions. fifty "parks" and 20 sections of "parks" supply each infantry brigade and cavalry division with cartridges. the land forces of russia. [footnote: approximately from latest (1884-85) returns. (combatants only.)] europe. field troops peace. engineers. 21,335 cavalry. 52,902 infantry. 49,581 artillery. 323,701 total. 447,519 horses. 71,565 guns. 1,188 war. total. 821,243 horses. 155,149 guns. 2,172 reserve, fortress, and depot troops peace. engineers. cavalry. 10,504 infantry. 23,704 artillery. 54,995 total. 89,203 horses. 8,703 guns. 144 war. total. 891,404 horses. 109,822 guns. 1,236 caucasus. field troops peace. engineers. 1,548 cavalry. 12,364 infantry. 8,442 artillery. 59,254 total. 81,608 horses. 15,927 guns. 198 war. total. 150,313 horses. 31,700 guns. 366 reserve fortress troops peace. engineers. cavalry. 5,480 infantry. 2,860 artillery. 2,270 total. 10,610 horses. 6,137 guns. 8 war. total. 51,776 horses. 36,862 guns. 12 turkestan. peace. engineers. 496 cavalry. 6,744 infantry. 2,468 artillery. 12,522 total. 22,230 horses. 8,246 guns. 48 war. total. 34,125 horses. 12,780 guns. 76 siberia. peace. engineers. 244 cavalry. 2,606 infantry. 1,273 artillery. 7,752 total. 11,875 horses. 3,412 guns. 24 war. total. 29,779 horses. 14,745 guns. 58 _grand aggregate of the empire_. peace. engineers. 23,623 cavalry. 90,600 infantry. 83,328 artillery. 460,494 total. 663,045 horses. 113,990 guns. 1,610 war. total. 1,978,640 horses. 367,089 guns. 3,920 during 1884 the engineer corps was reorganized. henceforward the peace establishment will consist of seventeen battalions of sappers; eight battalions of pontoniers; sixteen field-telegraph companies, each of which is mounted, so as to maintain telegraphic communication for forty miles, and have two stations; six engineering parks or trains, each ten sections, carrying each sufficient tools and material for an infantry division; four battalions of military railway engineers; four mine companies; two siege trains, and one telegraph instruction company. the whole is divided into six brigades, and provisions are taken for training recruits and supplying the losses during war. the fortress troops, for the defence of fortresses, consist of forty-three battalions of twelve hundred men each in time of war, and nine companies of three hundred men each. the depot troops, for garrison service, consist of thirteen battalions and three hundred detachments. the reserve troops supply 204 battalions of infantry, 56 squadrons of cavalry, 57 batteries of artillery, and 34 companies of sappers. if mobilized, they are intended to supply 544 battalions, 56 squadrons, 144 batteries, and 34 companies of engineers. the second reserve, or "zapas," consists of "cadres" for instruction, organized in time of war. the training of the russian infantry comprises that of skirmishing as of most importance; the whistle is used to call attention; the touch is looser in the ranks than formerly; squares to resist cavalry are no longer used; [footnote: a british officer, who has had good opportunities, says the infantry drill is second to none.] the berdan breech-loader is the infantry arm; sergeant-majors wear officers' swords, and together with musicians carry revolvers. a great stimulus has been given to rifle practice in the russian army, with fair results, but complaint is made of want of good instructors. the dress and equipment of the infantry is noted for an absence of ornament, and hooks are substituted for buttons. every thing has been made subordinate to comfort and convenience. woollen or linen bandages are worn instead of socks. the entire outfit of the soldier weighs about fifty pounds. the guards, alone, are yet permitted to wear their old uniform with buttons. the arms of the turkestan troops are mixed berdan and bogdan rifles. the field clothing is generally linen blouse with cloth shoulder-straps, chamois-leather trousers, dyed red, and a white kepi. officers wear the same trousers in the field. cossacks wear gray shirts of camel's hair. the artillery is divided into field artillery and horse artillery, of which the strength is given elsewhere. the horse batteries have the steel four-pound gun. col. lumley, of the british army, says: "in russia it is believed that the field artillery is equal to that of any other power, and the horse artillery superior." lieut. grierson, r.a., from his personal observation, confirms this opinion. it is not too much to say that, in any european conflict in the near future, the russian cavalry will be conspicuous and extraordinarily effective. in a war with england, in asia, the use of large bodies of cavalry, organized, instructed, and equipped after the american plan, must become the main feature. from the wonderful reforms instituted by russia in her huge army of horsemen, which have put her before all other nations, not excepting germany, we may expect to hear of wonderful mobility, stunning blows at the enemy's depots, and the appropriation of choice positions under his nose: of stubborn contests with the anglo-indian infantry, the only weapon a berdan carbine; of communications destroyed by high explosives: especially, of the laying waste smiling afghan valleys, inexpedient to occupy:--these are a few of the surprises to which we may be treated if russia gets the chance. in this manner she is doubtless prepared to take the initiative in her next war. [footnote: the bold operations of general gourko in the russo-turkish war of 1878, afford the best illustration of the versatile qualities of the progressive military horseman since the american war, 1861-5. an austrian officer says: "the russian cavalry reconnoitred boldly and continuously, and gave proof of an initiative very remarkable. every one knows that russian dragoons are merely foot soldiers mounted, and only half horsemen: however, that it should come to such a point as making dragoons charge with the bayonet, such as took place july 16th near twardista, seems strange. cossacks and hussars dismounted on the 30th, formed skirmishing lines, coming and going under the fire of infantry, protecting their battery, and conducting alone an infantry fight against the enemy. at eski zagra, july 31st, the dragoons did not leave the field until all their cartridges were exhausted. on the other hand, the _offensive_ action, and the spirit of enterprise and dash, which are the proper qualifications of cavalry, were not wanting in the russians."] the whole of the regular cavalry of the line has been converted into dragoons armed with berdan rifle and bayonet; the guard regiments must adopt the same change when ordered into the field, and the cossacks have been deprived of the lance (excepting for the front rank); new musketry regulations have been prescribed. great stress is now laid upon the training of both horses and men in the direction of long marches, and the passage of obstacles. forced marches are also made to cover the greatest possible distances in the shortest possible time. [footnote: among other experiments are noted that of 7 officers and 14 men of the orenburg cossacks who in november last in bad weather travelled 410 versts between niji novgorod and moscow in 5 days--about 53 miles a day; then covering 685 versts from moscow to st. petersburg in 8 days--56 miles a day; on arrival an inspector reported horses fresh and ready for service; the party was mentioned in orders, and presented to the czar. a month before, in snow and intense cold, 7 officers and 7 men of the cavalry school covered 370 versts in 4 days--60 miles a day. it is asserted that the best russian cavalry can travel 70 miles a day, continuously, without injury. general gourko recently inspected two sotnias of don cossacks who had cleared 340 versts in 3 days, or 74 miles a day.] swimming was practised in the warsaw, odessa, and moscow districts, the horses being regularly taught with the aid of inflated bags tied under them. the suprasl was crossed by the entire 4th cavalry division swimming. in order to acquire a thorough knowledge of pioneer duty, both the officers and non-commissioned officers of cavalry are attached to the engineer camp for a short course of instruction. in one division a regular pioneer squadron has been formed for telegraphic and heliographic duty. the mounted force, provided for in the russian establishment, comprises twenty-one divisions of 3,503 sabres and 12 guns each, or an aggregate of 73,563 men and 252 field guns. a feature of the russian cavalry equipment is the pioneer outfit, consisting of tools for construction or destruction, as they desire to repair a bridge or destroy a railroad; this outfit for each squadron is carried on a pack-mule; dynamite is carried in a cart with the ammunition train. the cossack (except of the caucasus) is armed with a long lance (front rank only), a sabre without guard, and a berdan rifle. those of the caucasus have in addition pistol and dagger, besides a _nagaska_ or native whip. the uniform is blue, high boots, fur cap, cloak with cape. the snaffle-bit is universally used, even by the officers, although the average russian troop-horse is noted for his hard mouth. in the mounted drill of the cossacks there is a charge as skirmishers (or "foragers") called the "lava," which is executed at a great pace and with wild yells of "hourra!" lieut. grierson, of the british army, writes that: "a big fine man mounted on a pony, with his body bent forward and looking very top-heavy, always at a gallop, and waving his enormous whip, the cossack presents an almost ludicrous appearance to one accustomed to our stately troopers. but this feeling is dashed with regret that we possess no such soldiers." _transport and supply_.--the russian system of transport is in a very experimental and unsatisfactory state. it is the only army which provides regimentally for the _personnel_ and _materiel_ of this department. in each regiment is a non-combatant company, in which all men required for duty without arms are mustered. all military vehicles required for the regiment are under charge of this company. the intention of the system now developing is to reduce the quantity of transportation required. [footnote: in 1878 the head-quarters baggage of the grand duke nicholas required five hundred vehicles and fifteen hundred horses to transport it.] besides the wagons and carts used for ordinary movements of troops, russia will, in afghanistan, depend upon the animals of the country for pack-trains and saddle purposes. after the _camel_, of which large numbers exist in the region bordering afghanistan on the north, the most important aid to russian military mobility is the remarkable _kirghiz horse_. the accounts of the strength, speed, endurance, and agility of this little animal are almost incredible, [footnote: in 1869 a russian detachment of five hundred men, mounted on kirghiz horses, with one gun and two rocket-stands, traversed in one month one thousand miles in the orenburg steppe, and only lost three horses; half of this march was in deep sand. in october, m. nogak (a russian officer) left his detachment _en route_, and rode one horse into irgiz, 166-2/3 miles in 34 hours.] but they are officially indorsed in many instances. he is found in turkestan, and is more highly prized than any other breed. the kirghiz horse is seldom more than fourteen hands, and, with the exception of its head, is fairly symmetrical; the legs are exceptionally fine, and the hoofs well formed and hard as iron. it is seldom shod, and with bare feet traverses the roughest country with the agility of a chamois, leaping across wide fissures on the rocks, climbing the steepest heights, or picking its way along mere sheep-tracks by the side of yawning precipices, or covering hundreds of versts through heavy sand, with a heavier rider, day after day. its gaits are a rapid and graceful walk of five and one half to six miles an hour, and an amble [footnote: moving both feet on a side almost simultaneously.] at the maximum rate of a mile in two minutes. this animal crosses the most rapid streams not over three and one half feet deep, lined with slippery boulders, with ease. they are good weight carriers. [footnote: the mounted messengers (pony express) over the steppes, use these horses, and carry with them, over stages of 350 miles in 8 days, an equipment and supplies for man and horse of nearly 300 pounds.] with a view of stimulating horse-breeding in turkestan, the government in 1851 offered prizes for speed. [footnote: the greatest speed recorded (1853.) was 13-1/2 miles (on a measured course) in 27 minutes and 30 seconds.] kirghiz horses have been thoroughly tested in the russian army. for modern cavalry and horse-artillery purposes they are unsurpassed. the average price is l6, but an ambler will bring l12. great britain is said to possess 2,800,000 horses, while russia, in the kirghiz steppes alone, possesses 4,000,000 saddle or quick-draught horses. the supply of the russian army is carefully arranged under the central intendance. the ration in the field was, in 1878, 14.3 ounces of meat, 14.9 black bread, preserved vegetables and tea, with an issue of brandy in the winter. immense trains follow each division, at intervals, forming consecutive mobile magazines of food. a division provision train can carry ten days' supply for 230,000 men. forage is now supplied for transport in compressed cakes, of which 20,000,000 were used by russia in her last war. [footnote: a compressed ration of forage was extensively used by the russians in 1878, weighing 3-1/2 pounds; 5 days' supply could be carried on the saddle with ease.] clothing is furnished by the supply bureau of certain regions in which there are large government factories; it is usual to keep on hand for an emergency 500,000 sets of uniform clothing. _routes_.--having devoted a share of our limited space to an account of the roads leading to herat, from india, we may consider, briefly, certain approaches to afghanistan or india from the northwest. this subject has been so clearly treated in a recent paper read before the royal united service institution by captain holdich, r.e., who surveyed the region referred to, in 1880, that we quote liberally as follows: in improving our very imperfect acquaintance, both with the present military resources and position of russia in central asia, and of the difficulties presented both geographically and by the national characteristics of the races that she would have to encounter in an advance south of the oxus, a good deal has been already learned from the afghans themselves. among the turbulent tribes dwelling in and around kabul, whose chief and keenest interest always lies in that which bears, more or less directly, on their chances of success in mere faction fights, which they seem to regard as the highest occupation in life, the russian factor in the general game must be a matter of constant discussion. thus it may possibly arise from their individual interest in their national position that there is no better natural geographer in the world than the afghan of the kabul district. there is often an exactness about his method of imparting information (sometimes a careful little map drawn out with a pointed stick on the ground) which would strike one as altogether extraordinary, but for the reflection that this one accomplishment is probably the practical outcome of the education of half a lifetime. russia's bases of military operations towards india are two: one on the caspian sea at krasnovodsk, and chikishliar, with outposts at chat and kizil arvat; and the other on the line of khiva, bokhara, samarcand, and margillan, which may roughly be said to represent the frontier held (together with a large extent of boundary south of kuldja) by the army of tashkend, under general kaufmann. but between this latter line and the oxus, russia is undoubtedly already the dominant power. the mere fact of russia having already thoroughly explored all these regions, gives her the key to their future disposal. there is no doubt that in all matters relating to the acquirement of geographical knowledge, where it bears on possible military operations, russian perceptions are of the keenest. her surveying energies appear to be always concentrated on that which yet lies beyond her reach, rather than in the completion of good maps to aid in the right government of that which has already been acquired. with what lies north of the oxus we can have very little to say or to do; therefore it matters the less that in reality we know very little about it. the oxus is not a fordable river. at khoja saleh, which is the furthest point supposed to have been reached by the aral flotilla, it is about half a mile wide, with a slow current. at charjui it is about the same width, only rapid and deep. at karki it is said to be one thousand yards wide, and at kilif perhaps a quarter of a mile. but at all these places there are ferries, and there would be ample means of crossing an army corps, if we take into account both the aral flotilla and the native material, in the shape of large flat-bottomed boats, capable of containing one hundred men each, used for ferrying purposes, of which there are said to be three hundred between kilif and hazarasp. these boats are drawn across the river by horses swimming with ropes attached to their manes. but under any circumstances it seems about as unlikely that any british force would oppose the passage of a russian army across the oxus as that it would interfere with the russian occupation of the trans-oxus districts; but once south of the oxus, many new conditions of opposition would come into play, arising principally from the very different national characteristics of the southern races to those farther north. it would no longer be a matter of pushing an advance through sandy and waterless deserts, or over wild and rugged mountains, difficulties which in themselves have never yet retarded the advance of a determined general, but there would be the reception that any christian foe would almost certainly meet at the hands of a warlike and powerful people, who can unite with all the cohesion of religious fanaticism, backed up by something like military organization and a perfect acquaintance with the strategical conditions of their country. most probably there would be no serious local opposition to the occupation by russia of a line extending from balkh eastwards through khulm and kunduz to faizabad and sarhadd, all of which places can be reached without great difficulty from the oxus, and are connected by excellent lateral road communications. but the occupation of such a line could have but one possible object, which would be to conceal the actual line of further advance. each of these places may be said to dominate a pass to india over the hindoo kush. opposite sarhadd is the baroghil, leading either to kashmir or to mastuj and the kunar valley. faizabad commands the nuksa pass. khulm looks southwards to ghozi and the parwan pass into kohistan, while from balkh two main routes diverge, one to bamian and kabul, the other to maimana and herat. it would be a great mistake to suppose that this short list disposes of all the practicable passes over the hindoo kush. the range is a singularly well-defined one throughout its vast length; but it is not by any means a range of startling peaks and magnificent altitudes. it is rather a chain of very elevated flattish-topped hills, spreading down in long spurs to the north and south, abounding in warm sheltered valleys and smiling corners, affording more or less pasture even in its highest parts, and traversed by countless paths. many of these paths are followed by kuchis in their annual migrations southward, with their families and household goods piled up in picturesque heaps on their hardy camels, or with large herds of sheep and goats, in search of fresh pasturage. south of the hindoo kush we find most of the eastern routes to our northwest frontier to converge in one point, very near to jelalabad. there are certain routes existing between the russian frontier and india which pass altogether east of this point. there is one which can be followed from tashkend to kashgar, and over the karakoram range, and another which runs by the terek pass to sarhadd, and thence over the baroghil into kashmir; but these routes have justly, and by almost universal consent, been set aside as involving difficulties of such obvious magnitude that it would be unreasonable to suppose that any army under competent leadership could be committed to them. the same might surely be said of the route by the nuksan pass into the valley of chitral and the kunar, which joins the khyber route not far from jelalabad. its length and intricacy alone, independently of the intractable nature of the tribes which border it on either side, and of the fact that the nuksan pass is only open for half the year, would surely place it beyond the consideration of any general who aspired to invade india after accomplishing the feat of carrying an army through it. west of kafirstan across the hindoo kush are, as we have said, passes innumerable, but only three which need be regarded as practicable for an advancing force, all the others more or less converging into these three. these are the khak, the kaoshan (or parwan, also called sar alang), and the irak. the khak leads from kunduz _via_ ghori and the valley of the indarab to the head of the panjshir valley. its elevation is about thirteen thousand feet. it is described as an easy pass, probably practicable for wheeled artillery. the panjshiris are tajaks, and, like the kohistanis generally, are most bigoted suniu mohammedans. the rich and highly cultivated valley which they inhabit forms a grand highway into kohistan and koh dahman; but all this land of terraced vineyards and orchards, watered by snow-cold streams from the picturesque gorges and mountain passes of the hindoo kush and paghman mountains,--this very garden of afghanistan, stretching away southwards to the gates of kabul, is peopled by the same fierce and turbulent race who have ever given the best fighting men to the armies of the amirs, and who have rendered the position of kabul as the ruling capital of afghanistan a matter of necessity; with their instincts of religious hostility, it will probably be found that the kohistani, rather than the hindoo kush, is the real barrier between the north and the south. the sar alang or parwan pass leads directly from kunduz and ghori to charikar and kabul. it is the direct military route between afghan turkestan and the seat of the afghan government, but is not much used for trade. it cannot be much over eleven thousand feet elevation, and it is known to be an easy pass, though somewhat destitute of fuel and forage. the next route of importance is that which leads from balkh, _via_ bamian, to the irak pass on the hindoo kush, and into the upper watercourse of the helmund river, and thence by the unai over the paghman range to kabul. this is the great trade route from the markets of turkestan and central asia generally to kabul and india. the irak, like the parwan, is not nearly so high as has been generally assumed, while the unai is a notoriously easy pass. this route is at present very much better known to the russians, who have lately frequently traversed it, than to ourselves. like the parwan and the khak, it is liable to be closed for three or four months of the year by snow. during the winter of 1879-80 they were open till late in december, and appear to be again free from snow about the middle of april. between these main passes innumerable tracks follow the "durras," or lines of watercourse, over the ridges of the hindoo kush and paghman, which afford easy passage to men on foot and frequently also to "kuchi" camels. these passes (so far as we can learn) could, any of them, be readily made available for mountain artillery with a very small expenditure of constructive labor and engineering skill. in koh dahman nearly every village of importance lying at the foot of the eastern slopes of the paghman (such as beratse, farza, istalif, etc.) covers a practicable pass over the paghman, which has its continuation across the shoreband valley and over the ridge of the hindoo kush beyond it. but between the khak pass and the irak, the various routes across the hindoo kush, whether regarded as routes to india or to kandahar, although they by no means converge on kabul city, must necessarily pass within striking distance of an army occupying kabul. such a force would have, first of all, thoroughly to secure its communication with the oxus, and a strong position at kabul itself. having the official statement of a military engineer with reference to the oxus-hindu-kush line, as a barrier or base or curtain, we may pass to the principal approach to herat from the northwest. there are four distinct lines by which russia could move on herat: i. from the _caspian_ base a trans-caucasian army corps could move (only with the concurrence and alliance of persia) by the mashed route direct; ii. or it could move outside persian territory, from _chikishliar_ by the bendessen pass to asterabad, and would then have to pass through persian territory to sarakhs, or across the desert to merv; iii. from the _tashkend-bokhara_ base a route exists _via_ charjui, the oxus, direct to merv; and there is iv. also the well-known road by _balkh_ and mamiana, direct to herat. routes iii. and iv. having just been discussed, let us look at routes i. and ii. referring to the small outline map of the trans-caspian region, herewith, it will be seen that troops could embark from odessa in the fleet of merchant steamers available, and, if not molested _en route_ by hostile cruisers, would reach batum in from 2 to 3 days, thence by rail to baku in 24 hours, another 24 hours through the caspian sea to krasnovodsk, a transfer in lighters to the landing at michaelovsk, and the final rail transportation to the present terminus of the track beyond kizil arvat; this, it is said, will soon reach askabad, 310 miles from herat. the secretary of the royal asiatic society, mr. cust, with his wife, passed over this route in 1883, and testifies to the ease and comfort of the transit and to the great number of vessels engaged in the oil trade, which are available for military purposes, both on the black and caspian seas. he estimates that they could easily carry 8,000 men at a trip. [footnote: mr. cust says: "there are three classes of steamers on the caspian. 1, the imperial war steamers with which russia keeps down piracy; 2, the steamers of the caucasus and mercury company, very numerous and large vessels; 3, petroleum vessels--each steamer with a capacity of 500 men."] general hamley [footnote: lecture before r. u. s. institution (london), 1884.] says: "we may assume that if on the railway (single track) the very moderate number of 12 trains a day can run at the rate of 12 miles an hour, the journey would occupy 40 hours. the successive detachments would arrive, then, easily in two days at sarakhs. a division may be conveyed, complete, in 36 trains. thus, in six days a division would be assembled at sarakhs ready to move on the advanced guard. an army corps, with all its equipments and departments, would be conveyed in 165 trains in 17 days. it would then be 200 miles--another 17 days' march--from herat. thus, adding a day for the crossing of the caspian, the army corps from baku would reach herat in 35 days. also the advance of a corps from turkestan upon kabul is even more practicable than before." [footnote: in his plan of invasion, skobeleff thought 50,000 men might undertake the enterprise without fear of disaster. this force could be doubled from the caucasus alone.] the route from tchikishliar _via_ asterabad (where it strikes the main teheran-mashed-herat road) would be an important auxiliary to the railway line, _via_ asterabad. there is also a more direct caravan track running south of this across the khorassan, from asterabad (through shahrud, aliabad, khaf, gurian) to herat; or, at shahrud, an excellent road running between the two already described straight (_via_ sabzawar and nishapar) to mashed. from sarakhs to merv the road is said to be good and fairly supplied with water. from merv to herat the well-worn expression "coach and four" has been used to denote the excellent condition of the road. [footnote: for the first 100 miles the road follows the murghab, which abbott describes as "a deep stream of very pure water, about 60 feet in breadth, and flowing in a channel mired to the depth of 30 feet in the clay soil of the valley; banks precipitous and fringed with lamarisk and a few reeds."] yalatun is described as fertile, well populated, and unhealthy. [footnote: band-i-yalatun, or "bank which throws the waters of the murghab into the canal of yalatun."] from penjdeh, where the river is sometimes fordable, the road follows the khusk river, and, ascending the koh-i-baber pass, descends into the herat valley, immediately beneath it. [footnote: before closing the chapter on the "russian forces," a brief description of the order of march customary in central asia may be proper. from a translation by major clarke, r.a., from kotensko's "turkestan," it appears that the horses accompanying central asian detachments are so considerable that the latter form, as it were, the escort of the former. as an asiatic enemy nearly always attacks from every side, the distribution of the troops, during the march, must be such that they may be able to repulse the enemy no matter where he may appear. usually, a half sotnia (70 men) of cavalry marches in advance at a distance from 3/4 to 1-1/3 miles, so as to be in view of main body. immediately in front of main body marches a detachment of sappers and a company or two of infantry; then part of the artillery; then more infantry; the train; behind the train, remainder of artillery and infantry; as a rear guard, a sotnia of cavalry. bivouacs in the steppe are usually chosen at wells, and are, in many respects, similar to those customary in the indian country in america. first, an outer line of carts or wagons; then the troops; and inside, all the animals. the accompanying diagram is from _the journal royal united service institution_ (london).] [illustration: normal order of march in central asia. normal bivouac in central asia.] v. review of the military situation. the purpose of this volume has been to give as much reliable information upon the cause of the anglo-russian dispute, the nature of the probable theatre of operations in case of war, and of the armies of the powers concerned, as could be obtained and printed within a single fortnight. the richness of the available material made this especially difficult, comprising as it did the record of recent campaigns in afghanistan, as well as the opinions of those who, like vambery, veniukoff, rawlinson, napier, and cust, are authorities upon asiatic topics. as these lines are written [footnore: april 18, 1885.] the civilized nations of the world await with bated breath the next scene upon the afghan stage. seldom when two gladiators, armed and stripped, enter the arena does a doubt exist as to their purpose. yet such an exceptional uncertainty attends the presence of england and russia on the border of afghanistan. [illustration: gorge in the tirband-i-turkestan through which the murghab flows.] at least 50,000 british soldiers are drawn up in front of the indus awaiting a signal from their queen. nearly twice that number of russian troops are massed on or near the northwestern angle of the ameer's country. [footnote: since the events noted in our first chapter (page 12) transpired, another page has been added to afghanistan's blood-stained record. after confronting each other on the khusk river for some weeks a large russian force under general komaross attacked (march 30, 1885) the afghan troops at penjdeh, and after a gallant resistance on the part of the native garrison it was utterly routed and the town occupied by the victors. the russian casualties were inconsiderable, but the afghans lost nearly 1,000 men.] it is impossible to eliminate, altogether, from a study of the present military situation, certain political elements. it is apparent that the russians near herat stand practically at "the forks of the road"; it is a three-pronged fork--one branch running due south to the sea and two branches due east to india. the first-named requires but passing comment and only as it relates to herat, planted on a route which cannot be controlled without its possession, for military and commercial reasons well understood. as already explained, the routes to india, available to russia, enable her to move from her base on the merv-herat line, both _via_ balkh and kabul, for the purpose of flanking a british column moving from quetta westward, or of raiding the rich valley of the helmund; from turkestan above this route, a british force moving from kabul to balkh could also be threatened. by the main herat-kandahar route an advance from the east could also be directly opposed; the crossing of the helmund by either army would probably be contested. in case of war, whether anglo-russian or russo-afghan, the first great battle would doubtless be fought on the kandahar-ghazni-kabul line. [illustration: jelalabad from piper's hill.] general hamley, the leading british military authority, [footnote: lieut.-general sir. e. hamley, k.c.b.] shows that this line is, of all proposed, at once the most practicable and desirable line for the defence of india. [footnote: three lines had been considered: first, the line of the eastern sulimani, but this would leave the seaport of kurrachee unprotected; second, from pishin northeast to kabul.] he says: "we should have a strong british governor in kandahar, and a strong british force on the helmund and on the road to kabul; the railway completed to kandahar, and, in case of a movement from turkestan against kabul, a force on our side on its way to occupy that city, and new recruiting grounds open to us amid warlike populations. surely there can be no question as to which of these two sets of circumstances would give us most influence in afghanistan, most power to oppose russia and to maintain confidence in india." [footnote: gen. hamley's remarks were made before the royal united service institution (may 18, 1884), and, in the discussion which followed, colonel malleson said: "recently in india some influential natives said to me: 'russia will continue her advance; she will not stop until she has gained the fertile country of herat, and then she will intrigue with the native princes behind the indus, and when you send an army to meet her, you will find those native princes rising in your rear.' i may fortify my own experience by what was told me by an austrian gentleman who visited india about seven years ago. he paid a visit to the maharaja, of cashmere, who said to him: 'from you i hope to get the truth; you are not an englishman nor a russian. tell me which is the stronger--the english power or the russian; because it will be necessarily my duty, if russia should advance, and if i should find russia stronger than england, to go for the defence of my throne on the side of russia.'"] the same authority approves sir michael biddulph's recommendation to utilize the strong natural positions near girishk on the helmund. as to afghanistan he testifies: "with a power like russia closing on it, holding persia and persian resources subject to its will, it is in vain to think that afghanistan will be long independent even in name. it is between hammer and anvil, or, to use a still more expressive metaphor, between the devil and the deep sea. bound to us by no traditions, by no strong political influences such as might have been used to constrain them, the afghan tribes, mercenary and perfidious to a proverb, an aggregate of tribes--not a nation,--will lose no time, when the moment occurs, in siding with the great power which promises most lavishly, or which can lay strongest hold on them." the burning words with which general hamley closed his lecture one year ago are singularly true to-day, and form a fitting termination to this sketch: "i do not undervalue the many influences which will always oppose any policy entailing expense. but if the present question is found to be--how shall we guard against a terrible menace to our indian empire? any cost to be incurred can hardly be admitted as a reason which ought to influence our course. magnanimous trustfulness in the virtue and guilelessness of rival states; distrust and denunciation of all who would chill this inverted patriotism by words of warning; refusal of all measures demanding expense which do not promise a pecuniary return:--such is the kind of liberality of sentiment which may ruin great nations. the qualities of the lamb may be very excellent qualities, but they are specially inapplicable to dealings with the wolf. do those who shrink from expense think that the presence of russia in afghanistan will be inexpensive to us? will the weakness which will be the temptation and the opportunity of russia be less costly than effectual defence? when we enter the councils of europe to assert our most vital interests, shall we speak as we have been accustomed to speak, when our free action is fettered by the imminent perpetual menace to india? these are questions which, now put forth to this limited audience, will, perhaps, within the experience of most of us, be thundered in the ears of the nation. england is just now not without serious perplexities, but none are so fraught with possibilities of mischief as the storm which is now gathering on the afghan frontier." list of authorities. [footnote: unless otherwise designated, the authors named are officers of the british army, and nearly all the works are in the library of the military service institution of the united states, (governor's island, n. y. h.).] [source 1: journal royal united service institution (london).] [source 2: journal of the united service institution of india (simla).] anderson, capt. "a scheme for increasing the strength of the native armies," etc. [2] army list, british official, 1885. biddulph, gen. "the march from the indus to the helmund." [2] bellew, h. w., c.s.i. "a new afghan question." [2] bengough, lieut-col. "mounted infantry." [2] (from the russian.) bischoff, major. "the caucasus and its significance to russia." (ger.) [2] blundell, col. "british military power with reference to war abroad." [1] baker, col. "the military geography of central asia." [1] colquhoun, capt. "on the development of the resources of india in a military point of view." [2] cantley, major. "reserves for the indian army." [2] callen, major. "the volunteer force of india," etc. [2] cavenagh, gen. "our indian army." [1] chapman, lieut-col. "the march from kabul to kandahar in 1880." [1] clarke, capt, "recent reforms in the russian army." [1] cust, r., sec. r.a.s. "the russians on the caspian and black seas." [1] davidson, major. "the reasons why difficulty is experienced in recruiting for the native army." [2] dalton, capt. "skobeleff's instructions for the reconnaisance and battle of geok-tepe." [1] (from the french.) elias, capt. "a streak of the afghan war." [1] esme-forbes, lieut. "cavalry reform." [2] furse, major. "various descriptions of transport." [1] gaisford, capt. "new model transport cart for ponies and mules." [2] gloag, col. "military reforms in india." [2] gowan, major. "progressive advance of russia in central asia." [2] "the army of bokhara." [2] "russian military manoeuvres in the province of jaxartes." [2] (from the russian.) graham, col. "the russian army in 1882." [1] gordon, capt. "bengal cavalry in egypt." [2] grierson, lieut. "the russian cavalry," and "the russian mounted troops in 1883." [2] greene, capt. "sketches of army life in russia." (new york, 1881.) griffiths, major. "the english army." (london.) grey, major. "military operations in afghanistan." [2] gerard, capt. "rough notes on the russian army in 1876." [2] goldsmid, gen. "from bamian to sonmiani." [1] "on certain roads between turkistan and india." [1] heyland, major. "military transport required for rapid movements." [1] holdich, capt. "between russia and india." [1] henneken, gen. "studies on the probable course and result of a war between russia and england." [2] (from the russian.) hildyard, lieut.-col. "the intendance, transport, and supply service in continental armies." [2] haskyns, capt. "notice of the afghan campaigns in 1879-81. from an engineer's view." [1] hamley, lieut.-gen., sir e. "russia's approaches to india." (1884.) [1] journal of the military service institution of the united states. keltie, j. s. "the statesman's year-book." (london, 1885.) kirchhammer, a. "the anglo-afghan war." [2] (from the german.) kotensko. "the horses and camels of central asia." [2] "turkestan." [1] (from the russian.) little, col. "afghanistan and england in india." [2] (from the german.) leverson, lieut. "march of the turkistan detachment across the desert," etc. [1] (from the russian.) martin, capt. "tactics in the afghan campaign," [2] "notes on the operations in the kurrum valley." [2] "horse-breeding in australia and india." [2] "notes on the management of camels in the 10th company sappers and miners on field service." [2] "british infantry in the hills and plains of india." [2] morgan, d. "a visit to kuldja, and the russo-chinese frontier." [1] morton, capt. "gourko's raid." [2] (from the french.) mackenzie, lieut.-gen. "storms and sunshine of a soldier's life." mosa, p. "the russian campaign of 1879," etc. [2] (from the russian.) medley, col. "the defence of the northwest frontier." [2] newall, lieut.-col. "on the strategic value of cashmere in connection with the defence of our northwest frontier." [2] o'donovan, e. "the merv oasis." (new york, 1883.) price, capt. "notes on the sikhs as soldiers for our army." [2] pitt, lieut. "a transport service for asiatic warfare," etc. [1] ross, d., (delhi railway). "transport by rail of troops, horses, guns, and war materials." [2] st. john, major. "persia: its physical geography and people." [2] strong, capt. "the education of native officers in the indian army." [2] steel, veterinary-surgeon. "camels in connection with the south african expedition, 1878-1879." [2] shaw, major. "army transport." [1] sanderson, g. p. "the elephant in freedom and in captivity." [2] temple, lieut. "an historical parallel--the afghans and mainotes." [2] tyrrell, lieut.-col. "the races of the madras army." [2] trotter, capt. "the tribes of turkistan." [2] trench, col. "cavalry in modern war." (london, 1884.) upton, gen. "the armies of asia and europe." (new york, 1878.) veniukoff, col. "the progress of russia in central asia." [2] (from the russian.) yaldwyn, capt. "notes on the camel." [2] index. a abazai, mil. post abbaza, village abdurrahman, the ameer absuna, pass abul-khair afghanistan: territory; mountains; rivers; roads, animals; people; army; cities; military history ahmed-kheil, city ahmed-shah akbar khan akbar, the great akhunt ziarut, city akton khel, city alexander i. alexander, czar alexander of macedon ali musjid, fort altai, river aliabad amu daria (oxus), river aral, sea argandab, valley; river army, british: strength; organization; transport; supply; routes; operations indian army, russian: strength; organization; transport; supply; routes aryan, race askabad assin killo, city asterabad atta karez, mountain attreck, river auckland, lord aulicata, city auran, mountain aurangzeb ayoub khan b baber khan baku balkash, mountain balkh, city bamian, pass baroghil, pass barshor, valley baru, military post batum bekovitch, gen. beloochistan, state bendessen, pass bengal, city beratse, village berlin, city biddulph, sir m. billigarungan, hills bolan, pass bokhara, province bombay, city bori, valley bost, city broadfoot, capt. browne, gen. brydon, dr. bunnoo, mil. post burnes, agent burrows, gen. c calmucks camel cashmere, maharaja caspian, sea catharine ii. cavagnari, major ceylon, island chapman, col. charikar, town chat, town charjui, town chelmsford, lord chemkent, city chikishliar, town chitral, town clarke, major conolly, m. cossacks cust, mr. d dadur, city dakka, city dasht-i-bedowlat, mountain delhi, city dera ghazi khan, village dera ismail khan, city derajat, district djungaria, province doaba, military post dost, mohammed dozan, city e elephant ellenborough, lord elphinstone, gen. eski zagra, town f faizabad, city farrah, town farza, village fergana, province ferrier, gen. g gaisford, capt. gayud yara, plain geok tepe, fort genghiz khan ghazgar, valley ghazni, city ghilzai, district ghori, valley gilan, province gindari, mountain girishk, city gordon, col. gourko, gen. graham, sir l. green, col. grierson, lieut. guikok, range gujrat, city guleir surwandi, pass gundamuck, city gundana, town gurian, city h haines, sir f. hamley, gen. har-i-rud hazaristan, river hazarasp, city hazardarakht, mountain hazarnao, city helmund, river herat, city; river himalayas, mountain hindu kush, mountain hobhouse, sir j. c. hodjeni, province holdich, capt. horse, yabu; khirgiz i inderabad, river india, on the threshold of indus, river irak, pass irgiz, fort irtish, river ispahan, city istalif, village j jacobadad, city jagdallack, pass jamrud, city jelalabad, city jizakh, province jumrud, military post k kabul, city; river kachi, plains kadani, plains kafristan, province kabriz, fort kalat, city kandahar, city karakoran, mountain karkacha, pass karki, town kash, river; city kashgar kashmir, city kaufmann, gen. kelat, town khaiber, pass khanikoff, m. khaf khak, pass khinar, pass khiva, province khoja-saleh, city khokand, province khoja-amran, mountain ridge khorassan, province khulm, city khurd-kabul, pass khurd-khaiber, pass khusk', river khirtar, mountain kilif, city kizil arvat, city koh daman, mountain kohut, mil. post kohistan, province koh-i-baber, mountain kokiran, district komaroff, gen. kotensko krasnovodsk, city kuh-i-baba, mountain kujlak-kekur, valley kuldja, city kunar valley kunduz, city kurrachee, city kuram, river; valley; fort kusmore, village kussun, fort l lalaberg, valley lalgoshi, village lahore, city landi khana, village lash jowain, city lakhareff, gen. logar, valley london, city lora, river lumsden, sir p. lumley, col. m mackenzie, gen. c. mackeson, fort mcnaghten, sir w. mahmoud, sultan mahomet mahommed azim maimana, town malleson, col. malta margilan, town maris, tribe martin, lieut. marvin, c. mashed, city mastuj, town maude, gen. mazanderan, province mcclellan, saddle merv, province michaelovsk, town michni, fort mithunkot, town mogul mooktur valley mooltan, city moscow, city mulla, pass munro, fort murchat, town murghab, river mysore, province n nadir, shah nahur, maharajah of napier, lord napoleon nicholas, grand duke nijni novgorod, town nishuper, town-nogak, m. nott, gen. nuksan, pass o odessa, city o'donovan, m. orenburg, province orloff, gen. outram, capt. oxus, (see amer. daria) p paghman, mountains panjshir, valley panjwai, town paropismus, mountains parwan, pass pat, clay paul, emperor peiwar, pass pekin penjdeh, town persia perwan, pass perovsky, fort peter the great petropanlovsk, province peshawur, city pishin, village; plain pollock, gen. pottinger, major primrose, gen. q quetta, city r raganpur, city rawlinson, sir h. roberts, gen. rogan, village ross, railway manager rudbar, town russian army: strength; organization; transport; supply; routes s sabzawar, city sale, sir r. samarcand, city samson san stefano sarahks, town sargo, pass sarhadd, town saunders, major scinde, province seistan, district shahrud, town shere ali shikapur, town shul kadar, fort shurtargurdan, pass singh runjit sirpul, town skobeleff, gen. stewart, sir d. stolietoff, gen. st. petersburg sufed koh, mountain sujah shah sulimani, mountains suprasl, river surkh denkor surkhab river t takwir, mountain taktipul, town targai, fort tartara, pass tashkend, city teheran tehernayeff, gen. tejend, river temple, sir r. terek, pass timwi trench, col. troitsk, province turkestan turnak, valley twarditsa, town u unai, river ural, mountains v vambery, m. veniukoff, m. vernoye, fort volga, river w warsaw, city washir, town wolseley, lord y yakoub, khan yalatun, town yaldwin, capt. yaxartes, river z zurmat, district zohak, fort among the wild tribes of the afghan frontier a record of sixteen years' close intercourse with the natives of the indian marches by t. l. pennell, m.d., b.sc., f.r.c.s. with an introduction by field-marshal earl roberts, v.c., k.g. and with 37 illustrations & 2 maps second edition london seeley & co. limited 38 great russell street 1909 to my mother, to the inspiration of whose life and teaching i owe more than i can realize or record introduction this book is a valuable record of sixteen years' good work by an officer--a medical missionary--in charge of a medical mission station at bannu, on the north-west frontier of india. although many accounts have been written descriptive of the wild tribes on this border, there was still plenty of room for dr. pennell's modestly-related narrative. previous writers--e.g., paget and mason, holdich, oliver, warburton, elsmie, and many others--have dealt with the expeditions that have taken place from time to time against the turbulent occupants of the trans-indus mountains, and with the military problems and possibilities of the difficult regions which they inhabit. but dr. pennell's story is not concerned with the clash of arms. his mission has been to preach, to heal, and to save; and in his long and intimate intercourse with the tribesmen, as recounted in these pages, he throws many new and interesting sidelights on the domestic and social, as well as on the moral and religious, aspects of their lives and characters. during a long career in india i myself have seen and heard a good deal about these medical missions, and i can testify to their doing excellent and useful work, and that they are valuable and humanizing factors and moral aids well worthy of all encouragement and support. no one can read dr. pennell's experiences without feeling that the man who is a physician and able to heal the body, in addition to being a preacher who can "minister to a mind diseased" as well as to spiritual needs, wields an influence which is not possessed by him who is a missionary only. as the author himself writes: "the doctor finds his sphere everywhere, and his hands are full of work as soon as he arrives (at his station). he is able to overcome suspicion and prejudice, and his kindly aid and sympathetic treatment disarm opposition, while his life is a better setting forth of christianity than his words. there is a door everywhere which can be opened by love and sympathy and practical service, and no one is more in a position to have a key for every door than a doctor." these few words fairly sum up the situation, and i fully agree with the view they express. on such a wild frontier as that on the north-west border of india the life of a doctor-missionary is beset with many perils. a perusal of dr. pennell's most interesting story shows that he has had his share of them, and that in the earnest and zealous discharge of his duties he has faced them bravely and cheerfully. i cordially recommend his book to all readers, and my earnest hope is that medical missions will continue to flourish. roberts, f.m. december 19, 1908. preface after sixteen years of close contact with the afghans and pathans of our north-west frontier in india, i was asked to commit some of my experiences to paper. the present book is the result. i have used the government system of transliteration in vernacular names and expressions, and i beg the reader to bestow a few minutes' consideration on the table of corresponding sounds and letters given on p. xvi, as it is painful to hear the way in which englishmen, who, with their wide imperial interests, should be better informed, mispronounce common indian words and names of places which are in constant use nowadays in england as much as abroad. nothing is recorded which has not been enacted in my own experience or in that of some trustworthy friend. in chapters xiii. and xiv. it would have been unwise to give the actual names, so i have put the experience of several such cases together into one connected story, which, while concealing the identity of the actors, may also make the narrative more interesting to the reader; every fact recorded, however, happened under my own eyes. in chapter xxii., the night adventure of chikki, when he met an english officer in disguise, was related by him to me of another member of his profession, and not of himself. i wish to thank the church missionary society for allowing me to reproduce some articles which have already appeared in their publications, notably chapter xx. and part of chapter iv. i tender my best thanks to major wilkinson, i.m.s., major watson, h. bolton, esq., i.c.s., and colonel s. baker, for some of the photographs which have been here reproduced; and to dr. j. cropper for his kindness in reading the proofs. we are at present engaged in building a branch dispensary at thal, a place on the extreme border mentioned several times in the text, where the medical mission will have a profound influence on the trans-border tribes, as well as on those in british india. this will be known as the "lord roberts hospital," as that place was at one time of the 1879-80 campaign the headquarters of his column. the author's profits on the sale of this book will be entirely devoted to the building of the hospital, and carrying on of the medical mission work at thal. t. l. pennell. p. and o. s.s. "china," gulf of suez, september 24, 1908. contents chapter i the afghan character pages paradoxical--ideas of honour--blood-feuds--a sister's revenge--the story of an outlaw--taken by assault--a jirgah and its unexpected termination--bluff--an attempt at kidnapping--hospitality--a midnight meal--an ungrateful patient--a robber's death--an afghan dance--a village warfare--an officer's escape--cousins 17-30 chapter ii afghan traditions israelitish origin of the afghans--jewish practices--shepherd tradition of the wazirs--afridis and their saint--the zyarat, or shrine--graveyards--custom of burial--graves of holy men--charms and amulets--the medical practice of a faqir--native remedies--first aid to the wounded--purges and blood-letting--tooth extraction--smallpox 31-43 chapter iii border warriors peiwar kotal--the kurram valley--the bannu oasis--independent tribes--the durand line--the indispensable hindu--a lawsuit and its sequel--a hindu outwits a muhammadan--the scope of the missionary 44-53 chapter iv a frontier valley description of the kurram valley--shiahs and sunnis--favourable reception of christianity--independent areas--a candid reply--proverbial disunion of the afghans--the two policies--sir robert sandeman--lord curzon creates the north-west frontier province--frontier wars--the vicious circle--two flaws the natives see in british rule: the usurer, delayed justice--personal influence 54-67 chapter v the christian's revenge police posts versus dispensaries--the poisoning scare--a native doctor's influence--wazir marauders spare the mission hospital--a terrible revenge--the conolly bed--a political mission--a treacherous king--imprisonment in bukhara--the prayer-book--martyrdom--the sequel--influence of the mission hospital--the medical missionary's passport 68-77 chapter vi a day in the wards the truce of suffering--a patient's request--typical cases--a painful journey--the biter bit--the condition of amputation--"i am a better shot than he is"--the son's life or revenge--the hunter's adventure--a nephew's devotion--a miserly patient--an enemy converted into a friend--the doctor's welcome 78-88 chapter vii from morning to night first duties--calls for the doctor--some of the out-patients--importunate blind--school classes--operation cases--untimely visitors--recreation--cases to decide 89-97 chapter viii the itinerant missionary the medical missionary's advantage--how to know the people--the real india--god's guest-house--the reception of the guest--oriental customs--pitfalls for the unwary--the mullah and the padre--afghan logic--a patient's welcome--the mullah conciliated--a rough journey--among thieves--a swimming adventure--friends or enemies? --work in camp--rest at last 98-113 chapter ix afghan mullahs no priesthood in islam--yet the mullahs ubiquitous--their great influence--theological refinements--the power of a charm--bazaar disputations--a friend in need--a frontier pope--in a militia post--a long ride--a local canterbury--an enemy becomes a friend--the ghazi fanatic--an outrage on an english officer 114-125 chapter x a tale of a talib early days--the theological curriculum--visit to bannu--a public discussion--new ideas--the forbearance of a native christian--first acquaintance with christians--first confession--a lost love--a stern chase--the lost sheep recovered--bringing his teacher--the mullah converted--excommunication--faithful unto death--fresh temptations--a vain search--a night quest--the mullahs circumvented--dark days--hope ever 126-139 chapter xi school-work different views of educational work--the changed attitude of the mullahs--his majesty the amir and education--dangers of secular education--the mission hostel--india emphatically religious--indian schoolboys contrasted with english schoolboys--school and marriage--advantage of personal contact--uses of a swimming-tank--an unpromising scholar--unwelcome discipline--a ward of court--morning prayers--an afghan university--a cricket-match--an exciting finish--a sad sequel--an officer's funeral--a contrast--just in time 140-152 chapter xii an afghan football team native sport--tent-pegging--a novel game--a football tournament--a victory for bannu--increasing popularity of english games--a tour through india--football under difficulties--welcome at hyderabad--an unexpected defeat--matches at bombay and karachi--riots in calcutta--an unprovoked assault--the calcutta police-court--reparation--home again 153-167 chapter xiii 'alam gul's choice a farmer and his two sons--learning the quran--a village school--at work and at play--the visit of the inspector--pros and cons of the mission school from a native standpoint--admission to bannu school--new associations--in danger of losing heaven--first night in the boarding-house--a boy's dilemma 168-178 chapter xiv 'alam gul's choice (continued) the cricket captain--a conscientious schoolboy--the scripture lesson--first awakenings--the mullah's wrath--the crisis--standing fire--schoolboy justice--"blessed are ye when men shall persecute you for my name's sake"--escape from poisoning--escape from home--baptism--disinherited--new friends 179-189 chapter xv afghan women their inferior position--hard labour--on the march--suffering in silence--a heartless husband--buying a wife--punishment for immorality--patching up an injured wife--a streaky nose--evils of divorce--a domestic tragedy--ignorance and superstition--"beautiful pearl"--a tragic case--a crying need--lady doctors--the mother's influence 190-201 chapter xvi the story of a convert a trans-frontier merchant--left an orphan--takes service--first contact with christians--interest aroused in an unexpected way--assaulted--baptism--a dangerous journey--taken for a spy--a mother's love--falls among thieves--choosing a wife--an afghan becomes a foreign missionary--a responsible post--saved by a grateful patient 202-210 chapter xvii the hindu ascetics the hindu sadhus more than two thousand years ago much as to-day--muhammadan faqirs much more recent--the indian ideal--this presents a difficulty to the missionary--becoming a sadhu--an afghan disciple--initiation and equipment--hardwar the holy--a religious settlement--natural beauties of the locality--only man is vile--individualism versus altruism--the water god--wanton monkeys--tendency to make anything unusual an object of worship--a brahman fellow-traveller--a night in a temple--waking the gods--a hindu sacrament--a religious bedlam--a ward for imbeciles--religious delusions--"all humbugs"--yogis and hypnotism--voluntary maniacs--the daily meal--feeding, flesh, fish, and food 211-226 chapter xviii sadhus and faqirs buried gold--power of sympathy--a neglected field--a sadhu converted to christianity--his experiences--causes of the development of the ascetic idea in india--more unworthy motives common at the present time--the prime minister of a state becomes a recluse--a cavalry officer sadhu--dedicated from birth--experiences of a young sadhu--an unpleasant bedfellow--honest toil--orders of muhammadan ascetics--their characteristics--a faqir's curse--women and faqirs--muhammadan faqirs usually unorthodox--sufistic tendencies--habits of inebriation--the sanctity and powers of a faqir's grave 227-240 chapter xix my life as a mendicant dependent on the charitable--an incident on the bridge over the jhelum river--a rebuff on the feast-day--an indian railway-station--a churlish muhammadan--helped by a soldier--a partner in the concern--a friendly native christian--the prophet of qadian--a new muhammadan development--crossing the beas river--reception in a sikh village--recognized by his majesty yakub khan, late amir--allahabad--encounter with a brahman at bombay--landing at karachi--value of native dress--relation to natives--need of sympathy--the effect of clothes--disabilities in railway travelling--english manners--reception of visitors 241-256 chapter xx a frontier episode a merchant caravan in the tochi pass--manak khan--a sudden onslaught--first aid--native remedies--a desperate case--a last resort--the feringi doctor--setting out on the journey--arrival at bannu--refuses amputation--returns to afghanistan--his wife and children frightened away 257-266 chapter xxi frontier campaigning the pathan warrior--a christian native officer--a secret mission--a victim of treachery--a soldier convert--influence of a christian officer--crude ideas and strange motives of pathan soldiers--camaraderie in frontier regiments--example of sympathy between students of different religions in mission school--a famous sikh regiment--sikh soldiers and religion--fort lockhart--saraghari--the last man--a rifle thief--caught red-handed 267-276 chapter xxii chikki, the freebooter the mountains of tirah--work as a miller's labourer--joins fortune with a thief--a night raid--the value of a disguise--the thief caught--the cattle "lifter"--murder by proxy--the price of blood--tribal factions--becomes chieftain of the tribe--the zenith of power--characteristics--precautionary measures--journey to chinarak--a remarkable fort--a curious congregation--punctiliousness in prayers--changed attitude--refrained from hostilities--meets his death 277-286 chapter xxiii rough diamonds a novel inquirer--attends the bazaar preaching--attacked by his countrymen--in the police-station--before the english magistrate--declares he is a christian--arrival of his mother--tied up in his village--escape--takes refuge in the hills--a murder case--circumstantial evidence--condemned--a last struggle for liberty--qazi abdul karim--his origin--eccentricities--enthusiasm--crosses the frontier--captured--confesses his faith--torture--martyrdom 287-295 chapter xxiv deductions number of converts not a reliable estimate of mission work--spurious converts versus indigenous christianity--latitude should be allowed to the indian church--we should introduce christ to india rather than occidental christianity--christianizing sects among hindus and muhammadans--missionary work not restricted to missionaries--influence of the best of hindu and muhammadan thought should be welcomed--the conversion of the nation requires our attention more than that of the individual--christian friars adapted to modern missions--a true representation of christ to india--misconceptions that must be removed 296-304 chapter xxv a forward policy frontier medical missions--their value as outposts--ancient christianity in central asia--kafiristan: a lost opportunity of the christian church--forcible conversion to islam--fields for missionary enterprise beyond the north-west frontier--the first missionaries should be medical men--an example of the power of a medical mission to overcome opposition--the need for branch dispensaries--scheme of advance--needs 305-312 glossary 314-318 index 319-324 list of illustrations dr. pennell travelling as a sadhu frontispiece a khattak sword-dancer 28 a zyarat or shrine on the takht-i-suliman 34 a group of lepers at a zyarat or shrine in hazara 36 the khaiber pass. a village in the pass 46 a cavalry shutur-sowar, or camel-rider 46 types of frontier tribesmen 50 bannu villagers 56 the khaiber pass. khaiber rifle sepoy on the watch 62 the result of a blood-feud 82 a transborder afghan bringing his family to the hospital 82 bannu mission. a group of patients 94 a group of out-patients at the mission hospital 94 travelling by riding camel 100 itineration by means of ekkas and mules 100 ferrying across the river indus 112 travelling down the indus on a "kik" 112 mahsud labourers at work in bannu cantonment 148 bannu mission. a group of students 148 a football match at bannu 154 the bannu football team 154 the chief bazaar, peshawur city 156 the bazaar in peshawur city 156 the indus in flood-time 158 a ferryboat for the mail on the indus river 158 a modern "black hole" 164 boy and girl grazing buffaloes 170 women carrying waterpots 196 women going for water at shimvah 198 water-carrying at shimvah 198 near shinkiari, hazara district 208 a muhammadan faqir 212 dr. pennell 244 flour mills near shinkiari 278 map of the north-west frontier province 313 map of the north-west frontier of india 318 table of the chief sounds represented in the government system of transliteration a = short u, as in "bun." ã¡ = broad a, as in "mast." i = short i, as in "bin." ã­ = ee, as in "oblique." e = a, as in "male." o = long o, as in "note." u = short oo, as in "foot." ãº = long oo, as in "boot." q = guttural k. kh = ch, as in "loch." gh = guttural r, not used in english. ' = the arabic letter 'ain, a guttural not used in english. pronunciation of the principal oriental words used in this book afghã¡n jahã¡n nizã¡m afghã¡nistã¡n jamã¡la panjã¡b afrã­di jelã¡lã¡bad panjã¡bi allã¡hu akbar kabã­r pathã¡n amã­r kã¡bul patwã¡r badakshã¡n kã¡fir peshã¡wur baltistã¡n kã¡labã¡gh qurã¡n bengã¡li kalã¡m rã¡m bezwã¡da karã¡chi ramazã¡n bhã¡galpur karã­m risã¡ldã¡r bukhã¡ra khalã­fa rã­shã­kes chenã¡b khorasã¡n sã¡dhu chilã¡s kohã¡t sanyã¡si chinã¡rak laghmã¡ni saragã¡ri chitrã¡l lohã¡ni sardã¡r derajã¡t majã­d sarkã¡r dharmsã¡la mã¡lik subadã¡r ghulã¡m mirzã¡da sulã­man hã¡kim (ruler) mughã¡l tã¡lib hakã­m (doctor) multã¡n tamã¡na hardwã¡r nã¡nak tirã¡h hazã¡ra nã¡rowã¡l waziristã¡n islã¡m nezabã¡zi among the wild tribes of the afghan frontier chapter i the afghan character paradoxical--ideas of honour--blood-feuds--a sister's revenge--the story of an outlaw--taken by assault--a jirgah and its unexpected termination--bluff--an attempt at kidnapping--hospitality--a midnight meal--an ungrateful patient--a robber's death--an afghan dance--a village warfare--an officer's escape--cousins. the east is the country of contradictions, and the afghan character is a strange medley of contradictory qualities, in which courage blends with stealth, the basest treachery with the most touching fidelity, intense religious fanaticism with an avarice which will even induce him to play false to his faith, and a lavish hospitality with an irresistible propensity for thieving. there are two words which are always on an afghan's tongue--izzat and sharm. they denote the idea of honour viewed in its positive and negative aspects, but what that honour consists in even an afghan would be puzzled to tell you. sometimes he will consider that he has vindicated his honour by a murder perpetrated with the foulest treachery; at other times it receives an indelible stain if at some public function he is given a seat below some rival chief. the vendetta, or blood-feud, has eaten into the very core of afghan life, and the nation can never become healthily progressive till public opinion on the question of revenge alters. at present some of the best and noblest families in afghanistan are on the verge of extermination through this wretched system. even the women are not exempt. in 1905, at bannu, there was a case where a man had been foully murdered over some disputed land. it was generally known who the murderer was, but as he and his relations were powerful and likely to stick at nothing, and the murdered man had no near relation except one sister, no one was willing to risk his own skin in giving evidence, so when the case came up in court the judge was powerless to convict. "am i to have no justice at the hands of the sarkar?" passionately cried the sister in her despair. "bring me witnesses, and i will convict," was all the judge could reply. "very well; i must find my own way;" and the girl left the court to take no rest till her brother's blood, which was crying to her from the ground, should be avenged. shortly after this i was sitting in a classroom of the mission school teaching the boys. it was a friday morning, when thousands of the hillmen come in to the weekly fair, and the bazaars are full of a shouting, jostling throng, the murmur of which reaches even the schoolroom. suddenly a shot was heard, and then a confused shouting. running out on to the street hard by, i found a wazir, quite dead, shot through the heart. it was the murderer who had escaped the justice of the law, but not the hand of the avenger, for the sister had concealed a revolver on her person, and coming up to her enemy in the crowded bazaar, had shot him point-blank. she was arrested there and then, and the court condemned her to penal servitude for life. i met her some weeks later as she was on the march with some other prisoners to their destination in the andaman islands. resignation and satisfaction were her dominant feelings. "i have avenged my brother; for the rest, it is god's will: i am content." those were the words in which she answered my inquiries. the officer who has most power with the pathans is the one who, while transparently just, yet deals with them with a strong hand, whose courage is beyond question, and who, when once his mind is made up, does not hesitate in the performance of his plans. to such a one they are loyal to the backbone, and will go through fire and water in his train. "tender-handed grasp a nettle, it will sting you for your pains; grasp it like a man of mettle, soft as silk it then remains." this has its counterpart in a pashtu proverb, and is no doubt a true delineation of the afghan character. some years ago some outlaws had fortified a village a few miles across the border, and had there bidden defiance to the authorities while carrying on their depredations among the frontier villages, where they raided many a wealthy hindu, and even carried off the rifles from the police posts. the leader of the gang was sailgai. his father was mian khan, a wazir of the sparkai clan. when still a boy sailgai showed great aptitude and skill in archery, and when about fifteen he commenced rifle-shooting, and soon became a noted marksman. this, however, led him to associate with the desperadoes of the clan, and before long he became the leader of a gang which used to go out at night-time to break into shops and into the houses of rich hindus. when this occupation began to pall on him he became a highway robber, and lay in wait with his confederates in various parts of the kohat-bannu road to waylay and rob travellers both by day and night. the next step onward--or downwards, we should say--was to become the leader of a gang of dacoits. these men would enter a village, usually in the late evening, and hold up the inhabitants while they looted the houses of the rich hindus at leisure. on these occasions they often cut off the ears of the women as the simplest way of getting their earrings; and fingers, too, suffered in the same way if the owner did not remove his rings quickly enough. at the same time sailgai became a professional murderer, and used to take two hundred to four hundred rupees for disposing of anyone obnoxious to the payer. still, up to this time he had contrived to keep clear of the police, and had never been caught. if anyone informed against him he soon discovered who the informant was, and paid him a night visit, only leaving after he had either killed him or taken a rich ransom. some eight years ago he took two hundred rupees for killing a bizun khel wazir, and went to his house one evening with fifteen of his followers. the wazir, however, got a warning, and made a bold stand, and sailgai had to fire seven times before he despatched him, and by that time the brother of the deceased had fetched some police and followed up in chase of sailgai. when, however, the police saw that they had a well-armed band to contend with, although about equal in number to the wazirs, they beat a hasty retreat, with the exception of one man, who opened fire on the murderers at two hundred paces, but was hit and disabled, so that sailgai and his party got away in safety. government gave a reward to this, the one brave man, and put a price on sailgai's head, so that he could no longer enter british territory except by stealth, and he retired to his fort at gumatti, which he strengthened and made the base for marauding expeditions on government territory. these subsequently became so frequent and so successful that the indian government was finally constrained to send up a column under colonel tonnochy, who was in command of the 53rd sikhs at bannu, to destroy his fort once for all. before the guns opened fire the political officer, mr. donald, walked up alone to the loopholes of his fort to offer sailgai and his fellow-defenders terms. knowing well the long list of crimes that would be proved against him, he replied that he had determined to sell his life as dearly as possible in the fort where he had been born and bred; and we must say, to his credit, that they restrained their fire till mr. donald got back to his own lines. colonel tonnochy brought the guns up to within sixty yards of the fort, and while directing their operations he was mortally wounded. when the tower was finally taken by storm, all sailgai's companions were dead, and he himself wounded in four places. he, however, with a last effort took aim at the british officer, captain white, who was bravely leading the assault, and shot him dead, and was almost at the same moment despatched by that officer's orderly. wazirs from gumatti, as well as from all the rest of the neighbourhood, are constantly coming to the mission dispensary, and some of them have been in-patients. the police munshi who made the bold stand above mentioned was himself treated for his wound in our hospital. the afghan has in some respects such inordinate vanity in connection with his peculiar ideas of sharm, and is so hot-headed in resenting some fancied insult, that he sometimes places himself in a ridiculous position, from which he finds it difficult to extricate himself without still further sacrificing his honour. an instance of this occurred in december, 1898. the mission school athletic sports were in progress in the mission compound, and the political officers of the tochi and wano were engaged not far off in a jirgah of the representatives of the mahsud and darwesh khel sections of the wazirs. suddenly the cry was raised, "the wazirs have attacked us!" and for a short time all was confusion. wazirs were seen rushing pell-mell into school, bungalow, and other buildings, and a great part of the spectators who had gathered to see the sports fled in confusion. it transpired, however, that, so far from the wazirs desiring to do us any injury, they were the mahsuds in flight from the darwesh khels, who were hot in pursuit, chasing them even into the mission buildings where they had sought refuge. the council had been proceeding satisfactorily, and with apparently amicable relations on both sides, when a darwesh khel malik, in the excitement of debate, gesticulated too close to the seat of the political officer. a mahsud orderly, thinking he was disrespectful to the officer, pushed him back with needless force, so that the malik slipped and fell. the darwesh khels round him at once set on the orderly, saying he had done it of malice prepense, and began to beat him. in another moment the whole assembly were frantically attacking each other; but the mahsuds, being very decidedly in the minority, found safety in flight, and, our mission compound being the nearest rallying-place, had come down upon us in this unceremonious manner, with the darwesh khels in hot pursuit. fortunately, no serious injury resulted, and both parties were soon laughing at their own foolish hot-headedness. bluff is a very prominent characteristic of the afghan, and this makes him appear more formidable than he really is to those who are not acquainted with his character. he is also a great bully and exults in cruelty, so that he becomes a veritable tyrant to those who have fallen into his power or are overawed by his bluff. at the same time, he has a profound reverence for the personification of power or brute force, and becomes a loyal and devoted follower of those whom he believes to be his superiors. it is often asked of me whether i carry a revolver or other arms when travelling about among these wild tribes. for a missionary to do so would not only be fatal to his chance of success, but would be a serious and constant danger. it would be impossible for him to be always on his guard; there must be times when, through fatigue or other reasons, he is at the mercy of those among whom he is dwelling. besides this, there is nothing which an afghan covets more, or to steal which he is more ready to risk his life, than firearms; and though he might not otherwise wish harm to the missionary, the possibility of securing a good revolver or gun would be too great a temptation, even though he had to shed blood to secure it. my plan was, therefore, to put myself entirely in their hands, and let them see that i was trusting to their sense of honour and to their traditional treatment of a guest for my safety. at the same time, i was rather at pains than otherwise to let them see that the bluff to which they sometimes resorted had no effect upon me, and that i was indifferent to their threats and warnings, which, as often as not, were just a ruse on their part to see how far they could impose on me. once, when i was in a trans-border village, resting a few hours in the heat of the day, some young bloods arrived who had just come in from a raid, and were still in the excitement of bloodshed. some of them thought it would be a good opportunity to bait the daktar sahib, and one of them, holding his loaded revolver to my chest, said: "now we are going to shoot you." i replied: "you will be very great fools if you do, because i am of more use to you than to myself, and you would as likely as not poison yourselves with my drugs if i were not there to tell you how to use them." at this the senior man of the party rebuked them, and offered me a kind of apology for their rudeness, saying: "they are only young fellows, and they are excited. do not mind what they say. we will see that no harm comes to you." on another occasion i came to a village across the border rather late at night. there were numerous outlaws in the village, but the chief under whose protection i placed myself took the precaution of putting my bed in the centre of six of his retainers, fully armed, in a circle round me, one or two of whom were to keep watch in turns. i had had a hard day's work, and was soon sound asleep, and this was my safety, because i was told in the morning that some of the more fanatical spirits had wanted to kill me in the night, but the others said: "see, he has trusted himself entirely to our protection, and because he trusts us he is sleeping so soundly; therefore, no harm must be done to him in our village." not long ago there was a notorious outlaw on the frontier called rangin, who had been making a practice of kidnapping rich hindus, and then holding them to ransom. i was in the habit of visiting our out-station at kharrak about once a month, and usually went alone and by night. information was brought that rangin, knowing of this, intended one day to kidnap me, and hold me to a high ransom. the next time i visited kharrak, i purposely slept by the roadside all night in a lonely part, that the people might see that i was not afraid of rangin's threats. needless to say, no harm came of it; but the people there in the countryside spread the idea that, as there was an angel protecting the daktar sahib, it would be a useless act of folly to try to do him an injury. although the honour which an afghan thinks is due to his guest has often stood me in good stead, yet sometimes the observance of the correct etiquette has become irksome. a rich chief will be satisfied with nothing less than the slaying of a sheep when he receives a guest of distinction; a poorer man will be satisfied with the slaying of a fowl, and the preparation therefrom of the native dish called pulao. on one occasion i came to a village with my companions rather late in the evening. the chief himself was away, but his son received me with every mark of respect, and killed a fowl and cooked us a savoury pulao, after which, wearied with the labours of the day, we were soon fast asleep. later on, it appeared, the chief himself arrived, and learnt from his son of our arrival. "have you killed for him the dumba?" he at once asked; and, on learning from his son that he had only prepared a fowl, he professed great annoyance, saying: "this will be a lasting shame (sharm) for me, if it is known that, when the bannu daktar sahib came to my village, i cooked for him nothing more than a fowl. go at once to the flock, and take a dumba, and slay and dress it, and, when all is ready, call me." thus it came about that about 1 a.m. we were waked up to be told that the chief had come to salaam us, and that dinner was ready. it would not only have been useless to protest that we were more in a mood for sleep than for dinner, but it would also have been an insult to his hospitality; so we got up with alacrity and the best grace possible, and after a performance of the usual salutations on both sides, we buckled to that we might show our appreciation of the luscious feast of roast mutton and pulao that had been prepared for us. on one occasion, in turning back to bannu from a journey across the frontier, i had an escort of two villainous-looking afghans, who appeared as though they would not hesitate at any crime, however atrocious. they, however, looked after us with the greatest attention, and brought us safely into bannu. on arrival there, i offered them some money as a reward for their good conduct; they, however, refused it with some show of indignation, saying that to take money from one who had been their guest would be contrary to their best traditions. consequently, i sent them over to rest for the night at the house of one of my native assistants, with a note to give them a good dinner, and send them away early in the morning. he gave them the dinner, but when he got up in the morning to see them off, he found that they had already decamped with all his best clothes. among the afghans theft is more or less praiseworthy, according to the skill and daring shown in its perpetration, and to the success in the subsequent evasion of pursuit. two years ago an afghan brought his little daughter for an operation on her eye. the operation was successfully performed, and the day of discharge came. meanwhile the eyes of the afghan had lighted on my mare, and he thought how useful it would be to him on his travels, and the night following his discharge we found that he had come with a friend and taken the horse away. unfortunately for the success of the undertaking, he had an enemy, who, when a reward was offered for the discovery of the thief, thought he might enrich himself and pay off an old grudge at the same time. the culprit had, however, by this time arrived with his capture safely across the afghan frontier into khost, and no laws of extradition apply there. other members of the tribe, however, reside in british india, and would be going up with their families into the hills as the heat of summer increased. the deputy commissioner called for the chiefs of the tribe, and informed them that until they arranged for the return of the mare, he would be reluctantly compelled to issue orders that they were not to go up to the hills with their families. at first they protested that they had no control over the thief, whom they had themselves turned out of their tribe because he was a rascal; but when they found that the officer knew them too well to be hoodwinked by their bluff, they found it convenient to send up into khost and bring back the mare. the man through whose instrumentality it was brought back has posed to me ever since as my benefactor, and expected a variety of favours in return. the theft was universally reprobated by the tribe, but chiefly because circumstances had doomed it to failure. notorious thieves and outlaws have frequently availed themselves of the wards of the mission hospital when suffering from some fever or other disease which has temporarily incapacitated them; but, of course, they come under assumed names, and otherwise conceal their identity. it is to be hoped, however, that they benefit all the same from the addresses and good counsel which they daily hear while under treatment. sometimes, as in the case i am about to relate, their identity becomes known. a few years ago, in bed 26--the "southsea" bed--there was zaman, a noted thief, who came in suffering from chronic dysentery, and continued under treatment for over two months. he lingered on, with many ups and downs, but was evidently past recovery when he came in. he paid much attention to the gospel that was read to him, and sometimes professed belief in it, but showed no signs of repenting of his past career. but when told eventually that there was no hope of his recovery, he at once had a police officer summoned, so as to give him the names of some of his former "pals," hoping thereby not only to get them caught and punished in revenge for their having thrown him off when too weak and ill to join in their nefarious practices, but also to gain a reward for the information given. he gradually sank and died, professing a belief in christ; but he alone, who readeth the heart, knoweth. i do not think he would have turned informer had not his confederates apparently deserted him in his distress. no description of afghan life would be complete which did not give an account of their public dances. these take place on the 'id days, or to celebrate some tribal compact, or the cessation of hostilities between two tribes or sections. it can only be seen in its perfection across the border, for in british india the more peaceful habits of the people and the want of the requisite firearms have caused it to fall into desuetude. across the frontier some level piece of ground is chosen, and a post is fixed in the centre. the men arrange themselves in ever-widening circles round this centre and gyrate round it, ever keeping the centre on the left, so as to give greater play to their sword-arms. the older and less nimble of the warriors form the inner circles; outside them come the young men, who dance round with surprising agility, often with a gun in one hand and a sword in the other, or, it may be, with a sword in each hand, which they wave alternately in circles round their heads. outside them, again, circle the horsemen, showing their agility in the saddle and their skill with the sword or gun at the same time. on one side are the village minstrels, who give the tune on drums and pipes. they begin with a slow beat, and one sees all the circles going round with a measured tread; then the music becomes more and more rapid, and the dancers become more and more carried away with excitement, and to the onlooker it appears a surging mass of waving swords and rifles. the rifles are as often as not loaded and discharged from time to time, at which the gyrations of the horsemen on the outside become more and more excited, and one wonders that heads and arms are not gashed by the swords which are seen waving everywhere. suddenly the music ceases, and all stop to regain their breath, to start again after a few minutes, until they are tired out. the excitement and the intricate revolutions often bring the scene to the brink of a real warfare, and not infrequently it ends in bloodshed. in one instance, where a man fell, and in falling discharged his rifle with fatal effect into another dancer, the unintentional murderer would have had his throat cut there and then had not his friends hurriedly dragged him out and carried him off to his home, fighting as they went. in this way blood-feuds are sometimes started, which will divide a village into two factions, and not end till some of the bravest have fallen victims to it. on one occasion i was seated with some afghans in a house in the village of peiwar in the kurram valley. most of the houses were on either side of one long street running the length of the village, and i noticed that some little doors had been made from house to house all down the street, and on inquiring the object of this, i was told that some time before a great faction fight had been carried on in the village. one side of the street was in one faction and the other side in the other faction, and they were always in ambush to fire at each other across the street. the only way to get to the village supply of water was to go from house to house down to the bottom of the street, and in order to do this without exposure, doors had been made, while by common consent they had agreed not to shoot while getting their supplies from the stream at the bottom. my host went on to show me sundry holes in his door and in the wooden panels of the windows, which the bullets of his neighbours across the street had penetrated, and said: "it was behind that hole in the door there that my uncle was shot; that hole in the window was made by the bullet which killed my brother." pointing to another afghan who had come into the room and seated himself on the bed, he said: "that is the man who shot my brother." on my remarking upon the peace and goodwill in which they appeared to be living at the present time, he said: "yes, we are good friends now, because the debt is even on both sides. i have killed the same number in his family." after a faction fight of this kind, the fatalities on both sides are added up, and if they can be found to be equal, both sides feel that they can make peace without sacrificing their izzat (honour), and amicable relations are resumed, it being thought unnecessary to investigate who were the real instigators or murderers. if, however, one side or the other believes itself to be still aggrieved, or not to have exacted the full tale of lives required by the law of revenge, then the feud may go on indefinitely, until whole families may become nearly exterminated. the avenger will go on waiting his opportunity for months or years, but he will never forget; and one will always remember the hunted look and the furtive expression and nervous handling of the revolver and cartridges which mark the man who knows that one or more such avenger is on his track. a political officer in the kurram valley was once visiting a chief of the village of shlozan, who, like all chiefs, had a high tower, in which he would seek security from his enemies at night. his host took him up into the tower, after carefully seeing that a window in the upper story was shut. the officer, thinking he would like a view of the country round, went to open it, but was hurriedly and unceremoniously pulled back by the chief, who told him that his cousin had been watching that window for months in the hope of having an opportunity of shooting him there. the officer made no further attempt to look out of the window, but some months later he heard that his friend the chief, having inadvertently gone to the open window, had been shot there by his cousin. so universal is the enmity existing between cousins in afghanistan that it has become a proverb that a man is "as great an enemy as a cousin," the causes of such feuds being such as are more likely to arise between those who have some relationship. the causes of 90 per cent. of such feuds are described by the afghans as belonging to one of three heads--zan, zar, and zamin, these being the three persian words meaning women, money, and land; and disputes are more likely to arise between cousins than between strangers on such matters as these. chapter ii afghan traditions israelitish origin of the afghans--jewish practices--shepherd tradition of the wazirs--afridis and their saint--the zyarat or shrine--graveyards--custom of burial--graves of holy men--charms and amulets--the medical practice of a faqir--native remedies--first aid to the wounded--purges and blood-letting--tooth extraction--smallpox. a controversy as to the origin of the afghans centres round the question as to whether they are the children of israel or not; and there are two opposing camps, one regarding it as an accepted historical fact that they are descended from the lost ten tribes of israel, and the other repudiating all israelitish affinities except such as may have come to them through the muhammadan religion. the afghans themselves--at least, the more intelligent part of the community--will tell you that they are descended from the tribe of benjamin, and will give you their genealogy through king saul up to abraham, and they almost universally apply the term "bani-israil," or children of israel, to themselves. wolff, the traveller, relates that an afghan, mulla khodadad, gave him the following history: saul had a grandson called afghã¡na, the nephew of asaph, the son of berachiah, who built the temple of solomon. one year and a half after solomon's death he was banished from jerusalem to damascus on account of misconduct. in the time of nebuchadnezzar the jews were driven out of palestine and taken to babylon. the descendants of afghã¡na residing at damascus, being jews, were also carried to babylon, from whence they removed, or were removed, to the mountain of ghor, in afghanistan, their present place of residence, and in the time of muhammad they accepted his religion. to most observers the afghan has a most remarkably jewish cast of features, and often in looking round the visitors of our out-patient department one sees some old greybeard of pure afghan descent, and involuntarily exclaims: "that man might for all the world be one of the old jewish patriarchs returned to us from bible history!" all muhammadan nations must, from the origin of their religion, have many customs and observances which appear jewish because they were adopted by muhammad himself from the jews around him; but there are two, at least, met with among afghans which are not found among neighbouring muhammadan peoples, and which strongly suggest a jewish origin. the first, which is very common, is that of sacrificing an animal, usually a sheep or a goat, in case of illness, after which the blood of the animal is sprinkled over the doorposts of the house of the sick person, by means of which the angel of death is warded off. the other, which is much less common, and appears to be dying out, is that of taking a heifer and placing upon it the sins of the people, whereby it becomes qurban, or sacrifice, and then it is driven out into the wilderness. the afghan, more than most muhammadans, delights in biblical names, and david, solomon, abraham, job, jacob, and many other patriarchs, are constant inmates of our hospital wards. new testament names, such as king jesus (mihtar esa) and simon are occasionally met with. the ceremonies enacted at the muhammadan "'id-i-bakr," or feast of sacrifice, have a most extraordinary similarity to the jewish passover; but as these have a religious, and not a racial, origin and signification, and can be read in any book on muhammadanism, it is unnecessary to describe them here. the strongest argument against their jewish origin is the almost entire disappearance of any hebrew words from their vocabulary; but this may be partly, at least, explained by their admixture at first with chaldaic, and subsequently with arab, races. the wazirs have a tradition as to their origin, which, although its biblical resemblance may be accidental, is yet certainly remarkable when found among so wild and barbarous a race. the tradition is that a certain ancestor had two sons, issa and missa (probably jesus and moses). the latter was a shepherd, and one day while tending his flocks on the hills a lamb strayed away and could not be found. missa, leaving his other sheep, went in search of the lost one. for three days and nights he wandered about the jungle without being able to find it. on the morning of the fourth day he found it in some distant valley, and, instead of being wroth with it, he took it up in his arms, kissed it, and brought it safely back to the flock. for this humane act god greatly blessed him, and made him the progenitor of the wazir tribe. though it would seem to us more appropriate had this action been attributed to issa instead of to missa, yet this tradition has often given me a text for explaining the gospel story to a crowd of these wild tribesmen. though all afghans are fanatically zealous in the pursuit of their religion, yet some are so ignorant of its teachings that more civilized muhammadans are hardly willing to admit their right to a place in the congregation of the faithful. the wazirs, for instance, who would always be ready to take their share in a religious war, are not only ignorant of all but the elementary truths of muhammadanism, but the worship of saints and graves is the chief form that their religion takes. the afridis are not far removed from them in this respect, and it is related of a certain section of the afridis that, having been taunted by another tribe for not possessing a shrine of any holy man, they enticed a certain renowned seyyed to visit their country, and at once despatched and buried him, and boast to this day of their assiduity in worshipping at his sepulchre. the frontier hills are often bare enough of fields or habitations, but one cannot go far without coming across some zyarat, or holy shrine, where the faithful worship and make their vows. it is very frequently situated on some mountain-top or inaccessible cliff, reminding one of the "high places" of the israelites. round the grave are some stunted trees of tamarisk or ber (zisyphus jujuba). on the branches of these are hung innumerable bits of rag and pieces of coloured cloth, because every votary who makes a petition at the shrine is bound to tie a piece of cloth on as the outward symbol of his vow. in the accompanying photograph is seen a famous shrine on the suliman range. despite its inaccessibility, hundreds of pilgrims visit this yearly, and sick people are carried up in their beds, with the hope that the blessing of the saint may cure them. sick people are often carried on beds, either strapped on camels or on the shoulders of their friends, for considerably more than a hundred miles to one or other of these zyarats. in some cases it may reasonably be supposed that the change from a stuffy, unventilated dark room to the open air, and the stimulus of change of climate and scenery, has its share in the cure which often undoubtedly results. another feature of these shrines is that their sanctity is so universally acknowledged that articles of personal property may be safely left by the owners for long periods of time in perfect confidence of finding them untouched on their return. this is the more remarkable, remembering that these tribes are thieves by profession, and scarcely look upon brigandage as a reprehensible act. the inhabitants of a mountain village may be migrating to the plains for the winter months, and they will leave their beds, pots and pans, and other household furniture, under the trees of some neighbouring shrine, and they will almost invariably find them on their return, some months later, exactly as they left them. one distinct advantage of these shrines is that it is a sin to cut wood from any of the trees surrounding them. thus it comes about that the shrines are the only green spots among the hills which the improvident vandalism of the tribes has denuded of all their trees and shrubs. graves have a special sanctity in the eyes of the afghans, more even than in the case of other muhammadans, and you will generally see an afghan, when passing by a graveyard, dismount from his horse and, turning towards some more prominent tomb, which denotes the burial-place of some holy man, hold up his hands in the attitude of muhammadan prayer, and invoke the blessing of the holy man on his journey, and then stroke his beard, as is usually done by the muhammadans at the conclusion of their prayers. there are few graveyards which do not boast some such holy man or faqir in their midst; in fact, as often as not, the chance burial of some such holy man in an out-of-the-way part determines the site of a cemetery, because all those in the country round desire to have their graves near his, in the belief that at the resurrection day his sanctity will atone for any of their shortcomings, and insure for them an unquestionable entry into bliss. the graves always lie north and south, and after digging down to a depth determined by the character of the soil, a niche is hollowed out at one side, usually the western, and the corpse is laid in the niche, with its face turned towards mecca. some bricks or stones are then laid along the edge of the niche, so that when the earth is thrown in none of it may fall on the corpse, which is enveloped in a winding-sheet only, coffins being never used. the origin of the word "coffin" is possibly from the arabic word kafn, which denotes the winding-sheet usually used by muhammadans. [1] great marvels are related about the graves of these holy men, among the commonest being the belief that they go on increasing in length of their own accord, the increase of length being a sign of the acceptance of the prayers of the deceased by the almighty. near the mission house in peshawur was one such grave, which went on lengthening at the rate of one foot a year. when it had reached the length of twenty-seven feet it was seriously encroaching on the public highway, and it was only after the promulgation of an official order from the district authorities that the further growth of the holy man should cease that the grave ceased to expand. this shrine is still famous in the country round as "the nine-yard shrine," which numbers of devotees visit every year, in the expectation of obtaining some material benefit. the use of charms or amulets is practically universal. the children of the rich may be seen with strings of charms fastened up in little ornamented silver caskets hung round their neck, while even the poorest labourer will not be without a charm sewn up in a bit of leather, which he fastens round his arm or his neck. these charms are most usually verses out of the quran, transcribed by some mullah of repute and blessed by him; others are cabalistic sentences or words, while some are mere bits of paper or rag which have been blessed by a holy man. on more than one occasion i have found my prescriptions made up into charms, the patient believing that this would be more efficacious than drinking the hospital medicines; in fact, one patient assured me that he had never suffered from rheumatism, to which he had previously been subject, after he had tied round his arm a prescription in which i had ordered him some salicylate of soda, although he had never touched the drug. in one instance i found that a man who had been given some grey powders, with directions how to use them, had instead fastened them up, paper and all, into a little packet, which he had sewn up in leather and fastened round his neck, with, he told me, very beneficial result. from this it can be readily understood that mullahs and faqirs who pretend to have the power of making charms for all known diseases, and sell them to the people at large, are often able to enrich themselves far more rapidly than a doctor who confines himself to the ordinary methods of treatment. once, when i was in camp, i came across a mountebank who was making quite a large fortune in this way. he had travelled over a large part of south-western asia, but did not stop long in any one place, as no doubt his takings would soon begin to wear off after the first days of novelty. one of his performances was to walk through fire, professedly by the power of the muhammadan kalimah. a trench was dug in the ground, and filled with charcoal and wood, which was set alight. after the fire had somewhat died down, the still glowing embers were beaten down with sticks, and then the faqir, reciting the kalimah with great zest, proceeded to deliberately walk across, after which he invited the more daring among the faithful to follow his example, assuring them that if they recited the creed in the same way and with sincerity, they would suffer no harm. some went through the ordeal and showed no signs of having suffered from it; others came out with blistered and sore feet. these unfortunates were jeered at by the others as being no true muhammadans, owing to which they had forfeited the immunity conferred upon them by the recitation of the creed. one young sikh student, calling out the sikh battle-cry, ventured on the ordeal, and came out apparently none the worse. the muhammadans looked upon this as an insult to their religion, because muhammadans oftener than not heard that cry when the sikhs had been engaged in mortal combat with them, and this action of the young sikh appeared to them to be a challenge as to whether the muhammadan or the sikh cry had the greater magic power. however, some of the more responsible persons present checked the more hot-headed ones, and the affair passed off with a little scoffing. every morning and afternoon the faqir prepared for the reception of the patients, who were collected in great numbers on hearing of his fame. each applicant had to give 5 pice to the assistant as his fee. he was then sent before the faqir, who remained seated on a mat. the faqir asked him one or two questions as to the nature of the illness, wrote out the necessary charm, and passed on to the next. three or four hundred people were often seen at one sitting. this would give about 50 rupees (â£3. 6s. 8d.) as a day's takings. some days would, no doubt, be occupied in travelling, and others less fruitful; but his equipment and his method of travelling showed that it was a very profitable business. he was stopping in the rest-house, and invited me to dinner, which was served in english fashion. he entertained me with stories of his travels, and made no secret of the fact that he took advantage of the credulity of the people to run a good business. when dinner was nearly over an assistant came in to say that there were many people outside clamouring for charms. with an apology to me for the interruption, he took a piece of paper, tore it up into squares, quickly wrote off the required number, and gave them to the assistant to go on with. in some cases, especially those suffering from rheumatism or old injuries or sprains, he used rubbings and manipulations, much as a so-called bone-setter does, and these, no doubt, helped the charm to do its work. the medical and surgical treatment of the faqirs is extremely crude. sometimes jogis and herbalists from india travel about the country and practise a certain amount of yunani, or hippocratic medicine; but the native doctors of afghanistan have extremely little knowledge of medicine. the two stock treatments of afghanistan are those known as dzan and dam. dzan is a treatment habitually used in cases of fever, whether acute or chronic, and in a variety of chronic complaints, which they do not attempt to diagnose. it consists in stripping the patient to the skin and placing him on a bed. a sheep or a goat is then killed and rapidly skinned. the patient is then wrapped up in the skin, with the raw surface next him and the wool outside. he is then covered up with a number of quilts. when successful, this treatment acts by producing a profuse perspiration, and when it is removed--on the second day in the summer and the third day in the winter--the patient is sometimes found to be free from fever, though very worn and weak from the profuse sweating. if the first application is not successful, it may be repeated several times. in a case of severe injury to one of the limbs, the same treatment is often applied locally. in the case of a fractured thigh, for instance, the sheepskin is tied on, a rough splint applied externally, and often left for a week or more. where there has been an open wound, and the patient has been brought several days' journey through the heat down to our hospital in bannu, you can usually anticipate the character of the case by seeing the men who have carried the bed in carefully winding their pagaris round their noses and mouths before proceeding to unbandage it for your inspection, and when it is at last opened all except the doctor and his assistant try to get as far away as possible. a surgeon can scarcely be confronted with a more complete antithesis to his modern ideas of aseptic surgery than a case like this, and many and prolonged applications of antiseptics and deodorants are required before the wound begins to assume a healthy aspect, even if inflammation and gangrene have not rendered amputation a necessity. in the case of a small wound, the whole or a part of the skin of a fowl is used in the same way, the flesh of the slaughtered animal being always a part of the fee of the doctor. the other remedy, or that known as the dam, is akin to what is known in western surgery as a "moxa." a piece of cloth is rolled up in a pledget of the size of a shilling, steeped in oil, placed on the part selected by the doctor, and set alight. it burns down into the flesh, and a hard slough is formed; this gradually separates, and leaves an ulcer, which heals by degrees. this remedy is used for every conceivable illness, a particular part of the body being selected according to the disease or the diagnostic ability of the doctor who applies the remedy. thus, in people who have suffered from indigestion you will often see a line of scars down each side of the abdomen. for neuralgia, it is applied to the temples; for headache, to the scalp; for rheumatism, to the shoulders; for lumbago, to the loins; for paralysis, to the back; for sciatica, to the thighs; and so on indefinitely. i have counted as many as fifty scars, each the size of a shilling, on one patient as the result of repeated applications of this remedy. the afghans have extraordinary faith in both these treatments, and i have sometimes sat in a village listening to an argument in which some young fellow, lately returned from a visit to a mission hospital, recounted the wonderful things he had seen there, to which some old conservative greybeard retorted: "what do we want with all these new-fangled things? the dzan and the dam are sufficient for us." as formerly in the west, so still in afghanistan, the village barber performs the ordinary surgical operations, such as opening an abscess or lancing a gum. the women all claim a greater or less knowledge of such surgery and medicine as they think necessary for them. after one of the village frays, when the warriors come back to their homes more or less cut and wounded, the women of the household at once set about their treatment. if there is severe hã¦morrhage some oil is quickly raised to boiling-point in a saucepan, and either poured into the wound, or if, for instance, a limb has been cut off, the bloody stump is plunged into the oil. this, no doubt, acts as an effective, though somewhat barbarous, hã¦mostatic. if the bleeding is only slight, a certain plant gathered from the jungle is reduced to ashes, and these ashes rubbed on the wound. in the case of a clean cut the women draw out hairs from their own head, and sew it up with their ordinary sewing-needles, and i have sometimes seen flesh wounds which have been quite skilfully sewn up in this way. they are less skilful in the application of splints. in most neighbourhoods there is some village carpenter who prides himself on his skill in the application of splints to broken bones; but in most cases he bandages them too tightly, or with too little knowledge of the circulation of the limb, so that not a year passes in which we do not get one or more cases of limbs which have become gangrenous after quite simple fractures through this kind of treatment. almost the only drugs which are used to any extent in afghanistan are purgatives, and especially those of a more violent and drastic nature. nearly every afghan thinks it necessary to be purged or bled, or both, every spring, and not unfrequently at the fall of the year too. scarcely any illness is allowed to go to a week's duration without the trial of some violent purge. sometimes the purge is given with so little regard to its quantity and the vitality of the patient that it results in rapid collapse and death. in other cases a latent dysentery is excited, which may result in an illness lasting many months, and leaving the patient permanently weakened thereby. the seasonal blood-lettings are performed, as in the west, from the bend of the arm, this position having, no doubt, come down to the practitioners of both east and west from the ancient greeks; but in the case of illness, while the physicians of the west have had their practice revolutionized by modern ideas of anatomy and physiology, those of the east still follow the humoral and hypothetical pathologies of hippocrates and his predecessors. these practitioners know the particular vein in the particular limb or part of the body which has to be selected for venesection in any particular illness. i have known a young doctor from england lose at once the confidence which the people might up to that time have had in his medical knowledge, because in a case of illness to which he was called he recommended venesection, and the patient's medical attendant who was to carry out the treatment made the, to him, very natural inquiry, "from what vein?" the english doctor said: "it does not matter." both patient and medical attendant not unnaturally assumed that he was either a very careless doctor or an ignoramus, and, in either case, that they had better call in a fresh opinion. cataract is a very common complaint in afghanistan, and from time immemorial there have been certain hakims, or native practitioners, who operate on this by means of the old process of couching. these men usually itinerate about the country from village to village, as in most cases the old men and the old women who are suffering from cataract are unable to undertake the journey to a town where one of these practitioners lives; or it may be that their relations are not willing to take the trouble for someone whose working days are apparently over. in some cases no doubt the operation results in good sight, but in the majority other changes which take place in the eye as a result of the operation lead before long to total blindness. as, however, the hakim seldom goes over the same ground again till after the lapse of several years, his reputation does not lose by these failures, as it would have done if he were always resident in one place. the tooth extracting of the village is usually entrusted to the village blacksmith, who has a ponderous pair of forceps, a foot and a half to two feet long, hung up in his shop for the purpose. where the crown of the tooth is fairly strong and prominent the operation generally results in a short struggle, and then the removal of the aching tooth; but if the tooth is very carious, or not prominent enough for a good grip, the results are often disastrous, even to fracture of the jaw, and these ultimately come to the mission hospital for repair, several often turning up in one day. at one time smallpox was terribly rife in afghanistan, and even now no village can be visited without seeing many who are permanently disfigured by it. when an afghan comes to negotiate about the price of an eligible girl for marrying to his son, one of the first questions asked is, "has she had the smallpox?" and if not, either the settlement may be postponed until she is older, or else some deduction is made for her possible disfigurement if attacked by the disease. many times fathers have brought their daughters to the hospital with the scars left by smallpox in their eyes, begging me to remove them, not so much for the sake of the patient as because the market value of the daughter will be so much enhanced thereby. the custom of inoculation was at one time almost universal in afghanistan. a little of the crust of the sore of a smallpox patient was taken and rubbed into an incision made in the wrist of the person to be inoculated. the smallpox resulting, though usually mild, was sometimes so severe as to cause the death of the patient, and the people have not been slow to recognize the great advantages which vaccination has over inoculation. only two circumstances deter the people from universally profiting by the facilities offered by the british government. the first reason is that very often the vaccinators are underpaid officials, who use their opportunities for taking bribes from the people, and make the whole business odious to them. the other is, that they have a widespread superstition that the government are really seeking for a girl, who is to be recognized by the fact that when the vaccinator scarifies her arm, instead of blood, milk will flow from the wound; she is then to be taken over to england for sacrifice, and the parents are afraid lest their girl should be the unlucky one. chapter iii border warriors peiwar kotal--the kurram valley--the bannu oasis--independent tribes--the durand line--the indispensable hindu--a lawsuit and its sequel--a hindu outwits a muhammadan--the scope of the missionary. i was standing on a pine-clad spur of the sufed koh range, which runs westwards towards kabul, between the khaiber pass on the north and the kurram pass on the south. the snow-clad peaks of sika ram, which rise to a height of fifteen thousand feet, tipped by fleecy white clouds, were just behind me, while in front was the green valley of the kurram river, spread out like a panorama before me, widening out into a large plain in its upper part, where numerous villages, partly hidden in groves of mulberry and walnuts, nestled among the lower spurs of the mountains, while farther down the hills on either side of it closed in and became more rugged and bare, and the river wound its circuitous path through defile and gorge, till it debouched on the plains of india. immediately before me was the pine-covered pass of peiwar, which will always be memorable as the scene of the great battle fought between the forces of the amir, sher ali, and the advancing column of sir frederick roberts. there were the pines covering the crest where the afghan batteries were ensconced, and one could trace without difficulty the circuitous path up the stony bed of the mountain torrent, through a deep ravine, and then winding up among the pine-woods, by which the gallant regiments of the advancing army stormed and finally captured the afghan position. westward of the pass was a fertile valley, dotted over with villages here and there, forming part of the territory of the amir of afghanistan. a few miles below the top of the pass could be seen the fort where the soldiers of the amir guarded his frontier. turning eastward, some dozen miles off, could be seen the cantonments of parachinar, the westernmost cantonments of british occupation, and the seat of administration of this trans-border valley. there was a fort garrisoned by the local levies of the kurram militia--afghans from the villages round, who, under the training and influence of three or four british officers, have become part of the "far-flung battle line" of the defences of the empire. i had been spending some weeks among the people of this district, and the time had come for reluctantly leaving the shady groves and cool breezes of the upper kurram for the sweltering plains of bannu, which even now i could see in the eastern distance covered by heat haze, recalling the punkahs and restless nights which were soon to be my lot instead of the bracing air of the sufed koh. our tents and baggage had been loaded up on some mules, which we could see winding along the white road below us, while we were lingering behind to take a last leave of the hearty afghans, who had been both our hosts and our patients. three times had we to pitch our nightly camp before we crossed the border of british india and entered the border town of thal, which is the first town in british india which a traveller from afghanistan enters. from the time of crossing the afghan frontier till now, he has been going through what is known as an "administrative area." here was a fort, occupied by troops of the indian army, under command of a british officer. thirty-four miles still remained in a direct line between us and our destination in bannu, and before accomplishing this special arrangements had to be made with the tribes occupying it for our escort; for this tongue of country running up between thal and bannu was not british india, nor even an administrative area, but independent, and owned by the marauding wazir tribe, who owed allegiance to neither amir nor viceroy. a couple of ruffianly-looking wazirs arrived to escort us down. their rifles were slung over their shoulders, and well-filled cartridge belts strapped round their waists; a couple of afghan daggers were ensconced in the folds of the dirty red pagaris which they had bound round their bodies, and they carried their curved afghan swords in their hands. we had now left the fertile valley of upper kurram behind us, and wandered through a succession of rocky mountain defiles, over precipitous spurs, and along the stony bed of the river for more than thirty miles. the lower mountain ranges separating afghanistan from india form by their intricacy and precipitate nature a succession of veritable chevaux de frise, which by their natural difficulties maintain the parda or privacy of the wild tribes inhabiting them, who value the independence of their mountain fastnesses more than life itself. here and there is a patch of arable land in a bend of the kurram river, overlooked by the walled and towered village of its possessors, who have won it by force of arms, and only keep it by their armed vigils, even the men who are ploughing behind their oxen having their rifles hung over their shoulders, and keeping their eyes open for a possible enemy. in some places a channel from the river has been carried with infinite labour on to a flat piece of ground among the mountains, where a scanty harvest is reaped. for the rest the hill seems to be almost devoid of animal or vegetable life. a few partridges starting up with a shrill cry from a tuft of dry grass in front of one are occasionally seen, and stunted trees of ber and acacia supply a certain amount of firewood, which some of the wazirs gather and take down to the friday fair in bannu. the afghans will tell you that when god created the world there were a lot of stones and rocks and other lumber left over, which were all dumped down on this frontier, and that this accounts for its unattractive appearance. there is one more range of hills to surmount before we reach the plains of india. we have toiled up a rocky path, from the bare stones of which the rays of the summer sun are reflected on all sides, without any relief from tree or shrub, or even a tuft of green grass, till the ground beneath our feet seems to glow with as fierce a heat as that of the blazing orb above us. we have reached the summit, and the vista before us changes as if by magic. five hundred feet below us is the broad plain of india, irrigated in this part by the vivifying waters of the kurram river, which, liberated from the rock-bound defile through which they have wandered for the last thirty miles, now dashing over their stony bed, anon hemmed in by dark overhanging cliffs, are at last free to break up into numberless channels, which, guided by the skill of the agriculturist, form a labyrinth of silver streaks in the plain below us. as far as the life-giving irrigation cuts of the kurram river extend are waving fields of corn, sugar-cane, maize, rice, turmeric, and other crops, spread in endless succession as far as the eye can reach. scattered among the fields are the teeming villages of the bannuchies, partly hidden in their groves of mulberries and figs and their vineyards, as though cornucopia, wearied by the barren hills above them in afghanistan, had showered down all her gifts on the favoured tribes below. such is india as it appears to the pathans inhabiting the hills on our north-west frontier, and when we see it thus after some time spent with them in their barren and rocky hills, we can readily understand that two thoughts are dominant in their minds. the one is: "those rich plains have been put there, in contiguity to our mountains, because god intended them to be our lawful prey, that when we have no harvest we may go down and reap theirs; and when we are hard up, and have a big fine to pay to the british government, we may lighten some of the wealthy hindus of the money that they have accumulated through usury and other ways which god hates." the other thought is: "what possible reason has the british government, the overlord of such rich lands, for coming and interfering with us in our mountain homes, which, though nothing but rocks and stones, are still our homes for all that, where we resent the presence and interference of any stranger?" the reader will have observed that in the journey above described, from peiwar down to bannu, four different territories have been passed through. the first and the last--viz., afghanistan and british india--are two well-defined, easily comprehensible geographical areas; but it is seen that betwixt the two are various other tribal areas, in varying relations with the indian government. a few words must be said to familiarize the reader with the political conditions obtaining there. the frontier of british india is well defined, but that of afghanistan was more or less uncertain until the year 1893, when sir mortimer durand was deputed by the british government to meet the officers delegated by the amir abdurrahman, in order that the frontier might be delimited. this frontier is since known as the "durand line." the intervening area between the durand line and the british frontier is in varying relations to the indian government. some parts of this, such as tirah (the country of the afridis and orakzais) and waziristan (the country of the wazirs and mahsuds), are severely left alone, provided the tribes do not compel attention and interference by the raids into british territory, which are frequently perpetrated by their more lawless spirits. these raids are no doubt disapproved of by the majority of the tribesmen, who recognize the fact that they must stand to lose in any conflict with the british government; but such is the democratic spirit of the people that every man considers himself as good as his neighbour, and a step better if he has a more modern rifle. as in the interregnums of the days of the israelitish judges, each man does what seems good in his own eyes, and bitterly resents any effort of his neighbour, and even of the tribe, to control his actions or curtail his liberty. thus it happens that it is really very difficult for the tribal elders to prevent their bad characters from perpetrating these raids. the raiders are usually men with nothing to lose, owning no landed property within the confines of british india, and guilty of previous murders or other crimes, which make it impossible for them to enter the country, except surreptitiously, as they would certainly be imprisoned, and perhaps hanged, if caught. a great number in the tribe own lands on both sides of the border, and find it to their interest to take no overt part against the government; while at the same time, unless they give asylum to the desperadoes, and conceal them on occasion, they are liable to be themselves the victims. thus it happens that in nearly every frontier expedition there are some sections of the tribe which desire to be on good terms with the british, and are known as "friendlies." it is difficult for a military commander who has not previously known the people to appreciate this, and when he finds his camp being sniped from a supposed "friendly" village, he not unnaturally doubts the sincerity of the people. as likely as not, however, the recalcitrant sections of the tribe have been at pains to snipe from such points as to implicate the friendly sections and force them into joining the standard of war. on one occasion the exasperated general refused to believe the representations of the political officer that the villages from the neighbourhood of which the sniping came were friendly until he left the camp and went over to live in the (supposed) enemies' village himself! the well-disposed clans would welcome an administration of the country by which these lawless spirits could be kept in check. then, there are certain semi-independent states, such as chitral and dir, where there are rulers of sufficient paramount power to govern their own country and to render it possible for the british to maintain that amount of control of their external relations which is considered desirable, by means of a political agent attached to the court of the chief, while still leaving the latter free to manage his own internal affairs in accordance with the customs of his tribe and the degree of his own supremacy over the often conflicting units composing it. thirdly, there are what are known as "administered areas," such as the upper kurram valley, above mentioned. these are inhabited by tribes over whom no one chief has been able to gain paramount authority for himself, where, as is so often the case among afghans, the tribe is eaten up by a number of rival factions, none of which are willing to acknowledge the rule of a man from a faction not their own. the government official, therefore, is unable to treat with one ruler, but has to hear all the members of the contending factions. so great is the democratic spirit that any petty landowner thinks he has as much right to push his views of public policy as the representative of an hereditary line of chiefs. this naturally greatly complicates official relations, and the political officer, however much he would like to refrain from interference in tribal home policy, finds that, amid a host of conflicting units, he is the only possible court of appeal. this results in an intermediate form of government: the indian penal code does not obtain; tribal laws and customs are the recognized judicial guides, and there is a minimum of interference with the people; yet the political officer is the supreme authority, and combines in himself the executive and judicial administration of the area. notwithstanding the exclusiveness of the religion that these people profess, they find it impossible to do their business or live comfortably without the help of the ubiquitous and obsequious hindu. just as much as the great mughal emperors of old found it best to have hindus for the posts of treasurer, accountant, adviser, etc., so the frontier chief of to-day has his hindu vassal always with him, to keep his accounts, write his petitions, and transact most of his written and judicial business. the majority of the shopkeepers also are hindus. even under the settled administration of british india the muhammadan has never become such an adept at bargaining, petty trade, and shopkeeping as the more thrifty and quick-witted hindu. thus in every village of any pretension there are the hindus, with their shops, who make their journeys to the big market-towns on the frontier--peshawur, bannu, and dera ismail khan--and return with piece-goods, matches, looking-glasses, and a variety of western trinkets, as well as the food-stuffs which the afghan covets, but cannot produce himself, such as white sugar and tea. these hindus are regarded as vassals by the muhammadan community they supply, and each hindu trader or shopkeeper has his own particular overlord or muhammadan malik, who in return for these services guarantees his safety, is ready to protect him--by force of arms, if necessary--from rival muhammadan sections, and to revenge any injury done to him as if it were a personal one to himself. the hindu supplies the brains and the muhammadan the valour. the hindu is ever ready to outwit his overbearing but often obtuse masters, and under british rule avails himself of the protection the law affords to do things he would not venture on across the border. once when travelling across the border my guide was an outlaw, who had been obliged to fly from british territory after committing a murder. he told me that he had gone into partnership with a hindu for an extensive contract for road-making: the hindu was to supply the capital and keep accounts, and he was to recruit the coolies and do the supervision of the work. "while i," he said, "was broiling and sweating in the summer sun, that pig of a hindu was comfortably seated in his office falsifying the accounts, and i never got an anna for all my labours. i thought i should get justice from the sarkar, so i brought a civil action against him; but i was a plain man, and he learnt all about the ways of the law from some pleader friend of his, and i lost the case. then i paid another pleader a big sum to take my appeal to the sessions judge, but he had manipulated the accounts and paid the witnesses, so that i lost that too. allahu akbar! the judge gave his verdict before the shadow had turned [before midday], and before the time of afternoon prayers had arrived that son of a pig was as dead as a post. but then i had to come over here, and i can only pay an occasional night visit to my village now." a story which he told me to illustrate the mercantile genius of the hindu will bear repeating. a muhammadan and a hindu resolved to go into partnership. the muhammadan, being the predominant partner, stipulated that he was to have the first half of everything, and the hindu the remainder. the hindu obsequiously consented. the first day the hindu brought back a cow from market. he milked it, got the butter and cream, made the dung into fuel-cakes for his fire, and then went to call the muhammadan because the cow was hungry and wanted grass and grain. the muhammadan said he was ready to do his share if the hindu did his. the hindu blandly replied that he had already done his, while the stipulated "first half" of the cow included the animal's mouth and stomach, and fell clearly to the lot of the muhammadan. now let us see what is the position of the missionary in each of these areas. in british india he has a free hand so long as he keeps within the four corners of the law. in afghanistan there is an absolute veto against even his entry into the country, and there is no prospect of this changing under the present rã©gime. a convert from muhammadanism to christianity is regarded within the realms of the amir as having committed a capital offence, and both law and popular opinion would decree his destruction. in the intervening tribal areas there is no reason why a cautious missionary, well acquainted with the language and customs of the people, should not work with considerable success. a medical missionary who did not attack their religion with a mistaken zeal would undoubtedly be welcomed by the greater number of the people, though the mullahs, or priests, would be an uncertain element, and certainly hostile at the beginning. the local political authorities have the final say as to how far the missionaries may extend their operations. i shall revert to this subject in the concluding chapter (chapter xxv.), where i shall show that in no part of the country are medical missions more obviously indicated, not only for christianizing the people, but equally so for pacifying them and familiarizing them with the more peaceful aspects of british rule. chapter iv a frontier valley description of the kurram valley--shiahs and sunnis--favourable reception of christianity--independent areas--a candid reply--proverbial disunion of the afghans--the two policies--sir robert sandeman--lord curzon creates the north-west frontier province--frontier wars--the vicious circle--two flaws the natives see in british rule: the usurer, delayed justice--personal influence. among the various tracts of border territory that have recently been opened up and brought under the influence of civilization by the frontier policy of the indian government, none is fairer or more promising than the upper kurram valley, on the lower waters of which river bannu, the headquarters of the afghan medical mission, is situate. the river kurram rises on the western slopes of sikaram, the highest point of the sufed koh range (15,600 feet), and for twenty-five miles makes a dã©tour to the south and east through the aryab valley, which is inhabited by the tribe of zazis, who are still under the government of the amir, and form his frontier in this part. the river then suddenly emerges into a wider basin, the true valley of upper kurram, stretching from the base of the sufed koh range to the base of a lower range on the right bank, a breadth of fifteen miles, the river running close to the latter range, and the north-western corner of this basin being separated from the head-waters of the kurram by the ridge of the peiwar kotal, where was fought the memorable action of december 2, 1879, by which the road to kabul was opened. this wide valley runs down as far as sadr, thirty miles lower down towards the south-east, being narrower, however, below. here the valley narrows down to from two to four miles, and runs south-east for thirty-five miles to thal, where it ceases to be in british territory, but winds for thirty miles among the waziri hills, until it emerges into the bannu plain, and flows through the bannu and marwat districts into the indus at isa khel. thus, with the exception of the head-waters and some thirty miles just above bannu, the territory is all now subject to british rule, and is steadily becoming more peaceful and civilized. below the zazis the valley down as far as waziristan was originally possessed by the bangash, a sunni tribe of pathans, who came themselves from the direction of kohat. the turis were a shiah tribe inhabiting some districts on the eastern bank of the indus near kalabagh, who, being ardent traders and nomads, were accustomed to visit the cool regions of upper kurram every summer for trade, health, and pasturage. one summer, some two hundred years ago, a quarrel arose between them and the bangash of a village called burkha, and resulted in a battle, in which the turis came off victorious, and, destroying or driving away the inhabitants of burkha, made it their first settlement in the valley. soon after this they attacked and possessed themselves of two of the most important villages of the valley, peiwar and milana, and to this day every turi with aspirations to importance claims land in one of these three villages, though it may be only the fiftieth part of a field, as proof of his true lineage. year by year the turis gradually strengthened their position, driving the bangash farther down the valley, except in some cases, such as the inhabitants of the large and beautiful village of shlozan, the bangash of which, all becoming shiahs, amalgamated with the turis, and retained their lands. finally, having made their position secure, and realizing the charms of the valley, the turis ceased to return to the plain, and remained in the valley all the year round. hence to-day we find the upper part of the valley inhabited only by turis, while below this, as far as the alizai, the turis and bangash are mingled, their villages being often side by side; and further down still the bangash have the land all to themselves. since the people have realized the peace resulting from english rule, and have begun to beat their swords into ploughshares, many of the hill tribes bordering the valley have taken every opportunity of settling in allotments in the valley, and enjoying the larger produce of its richer soil. these are the mangals and makbals above, and the zaimukhts below, thus introducing a fresh element into the population. over and above these any worker in the valley has to count on dealings with the neighbouring tribes, who still cling to their mountain fastnesses, and sometimes still show their old disposition to loot the more peaceable inhabitants. these are the ningrahars, spinwars, and paris on the north, and the zazi-i-maidan on the south; while the afghan country of khost being in close proximity, its people also would be easily reached. to make the enumeration of the inhabitants complete, it only remains to mention the hindus, who, mostly of the arora caste, are in large numbers in the valley, and retain most of the trade, and do much clerical and business work for the muhammadans. in the time of the hindu rajahs of kabul they were probably in the ascendant here, and the little archã¦ology which the valley presents is all of hindu origin. apart from the variety of tribes who are thus brought into close proximity in the valley, it has a special interest and importance from its being one of the two routes from kabul to india (the other being the khaiber). hence many nomads from afghanistan frequently visit and temporarily inhabit the valley. prominent at present among these are the hazaras, numbers of whom have been driven out from their own lands by the amir, and have come here to labour on the roads. the khorotis and ghilzais also frequent the valley. it is owing to this peculiarly central and cosmopolitan position, and partly to the character of the people themselves, that this district presents so many advantages as a centre of mission work and influence. there is a great opportunity for mission work among the turis. these, as above mentioned, are shiahs, while all the tribes round belong to the orthodox sect of sunnis; consequently, previously to the english occupation in 1891 they were subjected to persistent, relentless persecution at the hands of the amir, and to frequent inroads from their sunni neighbours. they naturally, therefore, look on the christians as deliverers from the throes of sunni rule and persecution, and are ipso facto inclined to look on christianity favourably, since it has brought them so much peace and freedom from oppression. and still, as a wordy warfare is carried on by their respective mullahs, both sides endeavour to find in christianity points of resemblance by which they can magnify their own sect, rather than, like the muhammadans of bannu, to be constantly cavilling at every word from a christian tongue or a christian book. this has resulted in a wonderful (wonderful, at any rate, to a missionary from bigoted bannu) openness to conversation about the christian scriptures, and readiness to receive christian teaching. for instance, in bannu a well-inclined mullah dare not read a bible except in secrecy, while in kurram i have frequently seen mullahs publicly reading and commenting on the holy word to large groups of khans and other men. again, in bannu mention of such doctrines as the sonhood, the crucifixion, or the sinlessness of christ, or the fatherhood of god, is as often as not the signal for an uproar; while here the same doctrines, even if not partially accepted, may yet be freely talked about, with the certainty of nearly always getting a fair hearing. the first summer during which i spent some time among these people i nearly everywhere had a hospitable, not to say cordial, reception. this, of course, was partly attributable to the medical benefits they received, but it was markedly different from the reception often accorded to the bearer of gospel tidings in hindustan. at no place was there any open opposition from the mullahs, and most of them came to see me, and had long talks about the injil (gospel), and asked for and gratefully accepted copies of it, which i have reason to believe they preserved carefully and read regularly; while the people often besought us to partake longer of their hospitality or to visit them again next year, or, better still, to start a dispensary in their midst. a reference to the map shows how intimate are the relations of this valley with afghanistan, and relics of afghan rule frequently present themselves to the doctor when going about their villages--men who have been crippled for life as a punishment for some crime, or it may be merely because they incurred the displeasure of someone of influence, who manufactured a case against them. i have seen men who have had their right hand cut off for robbery, and others whose feet were completely crippled by long-continued incarceration in the stocks, or by a torture often inflicted to extract evidence, in which the foot is tied with cords to a piece of wood like a magnified tent-peg fixed in the ground. this peg has a cleft in it, and a wedge is then hammered slowly into this cleft, thus gradually tightening the cords till they cut into the foot and cause its mortification. in every village there are one or more matamkhanas, where the shiahs hold their annual mournings for the martyrs of kerbela (hasan and huseã¯n) at every muharram. under afghan (sunni) rule these ceremonies were often interdicted, or at least restricted; but now they are able to carry them on unhindered, and pray for the continuance of british rule in consequence. these places form convenient centres for the men to gather together and talk, and in them many of my religious discussions have been held. they are all the more ready to accept the christian account of the crucifixion and its meaning (which is such a stumbling-block to the sunnis), because they look on the martyrdom of the two brothers at kerbela as having a vicarious efficacy for those who perform the memorial rites, and regard 'ali, the fourth khalifa from muhammad, as being indeed a saviour. if we could have visited this valley in the days long before the christian era, when the first aryan immigrants were passing down from central asia into the panjab, we should have seen it covered with their settlements, and seen them engaged in the simple nature-worship depicted in the vedas, which record this stage of aryan civilization. this region was probably much better watered and more fertile in those days than it is now. not only does geological evidence point to a greater rainfall and vegetation, but as these early immigrations were mostly of large bands of pastoral people, moving with their flocks and herds, their families and household possessions, and as they probably only gradually moved down the valley into the plains below, they must have found more pasturage than the desolate frontier ranges would now afford. the kurram valley above described serves as a good example of an administered area fairly well advanced in the civilizing effects of a settled and just government. the independent tribes, on the other hand, go down the scale till you find tribes, such as some sections of the wazirs and afridis, who are utter barbarians, entirely devoted to a nomadic life of systematic highway robbery. a political officer was once seated, with a number of the head men of some of these independent tribes, on the top of one of their rugged mountains, from which you look down on afghanistan to the west and india to the east. they had been touring with him as his escort for some days. he had fed them well, and could chat familiarly with them in their own lingo, so that they had learnt to talk with him without reserve about even their tribal secrets. "now, tell me," said the officer, "if there were to be war--which god forbid--between russia and england, what part would you and your people take? whom would you side with?" "do you wish us to tell you what would please you, or to tell you the real truth?" was their naã¯ve reply. "i adjure you only tell me what is the 'white word'" (meaning the true statement). "then," said an old greybeard among them, voicing the feelings of all present, "we would just sit here up on our mountain-tops watching you both fight, until we saw one or other of you utterly defeated; then we would come down and loot the vanquished till the last mule! god is great! what a time that would be for us!" no doubt he spake truly, but such is the discord of the afghan tribes that no doubt the spoil would scarcely be gathered in before they would begin to fight among themselves over the division of it. these tribal jealousies and petty wars are inherent among the afghans, and greatly diminish their formidableness as foes. if you ask them about it they will acknowledge this defect in their character, and tell you how that one of their ancestors displeased the almighty, who, to punish him, wove the strands of discord in the web of their nature from that time onwards. hence the saying, "the afghans of the frontier are never at peace except when they are at war!" for when some enemy from without threatens their independence, then, for the time being, are their feuds and jealousies thrown aside, and they fight shoulder to shoulder, to resume them again when the common danger is averted. even when they are all desirous of joining in some jihad, they remain suspicious of each other, and are apt to fail one another at critical moments; or else one tribe will wait to see how it fares with those already in it before unsheathing their own swords. thus it was in the frontier rising of 1897 that the difficulty of quelling the rising would have been immensely greater had it not been that the tribes rose seriatim instead of simultaneously, and the rising in one part of the frontier had been put down before another broke out. two policies have at various times been advocated with equal warmth by their respective partisans. the earlier policy, which was supported by lord lawrence in the days of his viceroyalty, was generally known as the "policy of masterly inactivity." later on the "forward policy" received more general approbation, its chief exponent being sir robert sandeman. those who advocate the former point out the great expenditure involved in all interference with the internal tribes across our border, and that almost inevitably we become sooner or later involved in wars with them. they would therefore have the british government strictly abstain from all trans-frontier politics, and leave the tribes severely alone, so long as they give no trouble to us on our side of the border. the "forward" party, on the other hand, point out the danger of having this extensive area on the most vulnerable part of our indian empire outside our own control, and they advocate a system of controlling all the political affairs of the trans-border tribes, while leaving their internal policy in the hands of their own chiefs, who, though guided by our political officers, would be free to maintain the ancient tribal customs. sir robert sandeman is, perhaps, the most remarkable instance of the power which a single officer has been able to exercise over these border tribes, and it was through him that the large tract on the border between quetta and the deras was organized under our political officers, working through the tribal chiefs. allowances are made to the tribes, in return for which they guarantee the safety of the british posts on the highroads, and become responsible for any misdemeanours on the part of other members of their tribe. tribal levies are organized under young officers of the british army, who train them in military discipline, drill, and marksmanship. the pay received by these soldiers becomes a valuable asset to the tribe, and a strong inducement to give up their more predatory habits, in favour of the pax britannica. still, it was found necessary to place regular troops of the indian army in some of the more important and critical situations. the frontier is, for the most part, composed of intricate, and in many parts inaccessible, mountain ranges, which form an absolute barrier to the passage of troops; but piercing through these are the passes, of which the best known are the khaiber and the bolan, which from time immemorial have formed the highways through which hostile armies have invaded india, and it would be through them that any enemy of the future would endeavour to bring its forces. it is therefore a paramount necessity to the british government that these passes should be securely guarded, and therefore each one of them forms part of one of the areas administered by british officers, and guarded either by native troops or tribal levies. it is through these passes, too, that the great merchant caravans pass down from afghanistan and central asia into british india. in former times the merchants had to subsidize the tribes through which they passed, who would otherwise have blocked the passes and stolen their goods; and it is partly to make up to the tribes for the loss of this income that the tribal subsidies were arranged. near where each of these passes debouches on to the trans-indus plain is a city, which forms an emporium for the merchandise brought down, and a military station for the protection of the pass. while peshawur serves this purpose for the khaiber, kohat commands the kurram, bannu the tochi, and dera ismail khan the gumal. when lord curzon assumed the viceroyalty, the frontier districts formed part of the panjab, and the lieutenant-governor of that province was in administrative control of them. lord curzon wished to bring them more directly under his own control, so in 1901 a new province, composed of five frontier districts of the panjab, was constituted, and called the north-west frontier province. the five districts composing this province are hazara, peshawur, kohat, bannu, and dera ismail khan. these are all beyond the indus, except hazara, which is to the east of that river. a chief commissioner was appointed over the whole province, directly responsible to the viceroy, and he had his headquarters and the centre of government at peshawur. lord curzon's next move was to advance the railway systems of the panjab along the frontier, bringing their termini to the mouths of the khaiber and kurram passes. as this enabled a rapid concentration of troops at any point along the frontier, he was able to withdraw the regiments of the indian army which garrisoned the more outlying districts, and to replace them by tribal levies. no doubt it is the desire of the government not to make any further annexations of this barren, mountainous, and uninviting border region; but it is not always equally easy to avoid doing so, and it is a universal experience of history that when there are a number of disorganized and ill-governed units on the borders of a great power, they become inevitably, though it may be gradually and piece by piece, absorbed into the latter. there are, however, financial considerations which induce the government to refrain from annexing a country which has few natural resources, can pay little in taxes, and must cost a great deal to administer. but these frontier tribes form some of the finest fighting material from which the indian army is recruited, and it may be that years of regular and peaceful administration will destroy the military qualities of these people, as has been the case in south india. the many opportunities afforded by the frontier to the indian army for active service, and the training that they get in the little frontier expeditions, may also be looked upon by some as a valuable asset. the usual sequence of events is as follows: first, the more unruly sections of the tribes carry on a series of raids on the frontier villages of india, as has been their custom from time immemorial. sometimes the miscreants are captured and meet their fate; more often they escape, and, in accordance with the system of tribal responsibility, a fine is put on the tribe from which they come. these fines go on accumulating, the tribe running up an account with the government for its misdeeds. thus we come to the second stage, when the patience of the government is exhausted. the tribal heads are called in, and an ultimatum offered to them. they must pay so much in fines and deliver the criminals demanded, or an expedition will be organized. much time--it may be many months--is occupied in councils, while the tribe is endeavouring to gain time or to make the terms more favourable. the third stage is when the tribe fail to meet the government's conditions, and a punitive expedition is organized against them. this expedition enters their hills, raises their parda, burns their villages, fights a few actions--usually of the nature of ambuscades or rearguard actions--realizes more or less of the fine, confiscates a number of rifles, and comes back again. the tribe is now free to commence its depredations afresh with a clean sheet, and to begin to run up a new account, and, in order more effectually to prevent this and keep a greater control over them, the government find themselves compelled to enter on the fourth stage, which is that of annexing some points of vantage where military posts can be erected, which will overawe and control them. it is thus that a gradual, though it may be reluctant, annexation of territory becomes inevitable. then, it must be remembered that there is always a section of the tribe, and often a majority, who are favourable to annexation, for the more settled and peaceful rule of the british brings many advantages in its train. while before they were not able to cultivate their crops at any distance from the village, and even then only when fully armed, now they are able to till the ground in peace even miles away from their habitations, and land which was before unculturable becomes of great value. they are able to trade and carry on the ordinary avocations of life with a security to which they have been hitherto strangers. they learn the value of money, and begin to amass wealth. there are always, however, two parties in the tribe who are opposed tooth and nail to british rule, and as they have got power far in excess of their more peacefully disposed brethren, they are usually able to terrorize the more peace-loving majority into a false acquiescence in their own opposition. these two parties are the outlaws and the mullahs. the outlaws have made their living by raiding and robbery for generations, and have no inclination to give up their profession for more peaceable but less exciting and less profitable employment. not only have the mullahs an antipathy to those whom they consider kafirs, or infidels, but they know that under the changed conditions of life, their influence, their power, and their wealth must all suffer. besides this, there are two elements in our rule which are equally repugnant to all. one is the protection which we give to the money-lender, and the other is the dilatory nature of our justice. usury is unlawful to the muhammadans, but as they are spendthrift and improvident, the hindus are able to make a living among them by lending them money in times of necessity. the hindu was formerly prevented from charging too high a rate of interest or running up too long an account, by the fact that if he did so, his muhammadan masters, who held the sword, would come one night and burn his house over his head, and let him start afresh. under british rã©gime, however, the usurer is protected. he is able to recover his debts from the impecunious muhammadan by a civil action, and may get the latter thrown into prison if he does not pay; while if the muhammadan tries to burn his account-books, he will find himself an inmate of his majesty's gaol. the justice which the muhammadan of the frontier appreciates is a rapid and appropriate justice, such as used to be meted out by officers in the days of nicholson, when the offender might find himself accused, arrested, judged, and visited with some punishment appropriate to the crime all within the course of a few days. at the present time he can, if rich enough, call in a pleader, and get any number of false witnesses, and his case is inevitably dragged out by the magistrate by successive postponements for getting the attendance of these witnesses, or through some technicality of the law; and even when he does--it may be after the lapse of some months--get a judgment, the losing party in the suit is at liberty to bring an appeal to the sessions judge, and from him another appeal can be lodged at the high court of lahore, which has so many cases on its lists that it may be his case will not be taken till after the lapse of two or three years. the real strength of our administration on the frontier is the personnel of our officers, for it has always been the man, and not the system, that governs the country; and there are names of officers now dead and gone which are still a living power along that frontier, because they were men who thoroughly knew the people with whom they had to deal, and whose dauntless and strong characters moulded the tribes to their will, and exerted such a mesmeric influence over those wild afghans that they were ready to follow their feringi masters through fire and sword with the most unswerving loyalty, even though they were of an alien faith. as an example of this, it is related that on a certain frontier expedition the regiments were passing up a defile on a height, above which some of the enemy had ensconced themselves in ambush behind their sangars. the afghans had been soldiers in the indian army, who had now completed their service and retired to their hills, and were, as is often the case, using the skill which they had learnt in their regiments against us. they were about to fire, when one of them recognized the officer riding at the head of the regiment as his own colonel. he stopped the others, and said: "that is our own karnal sahib. we must not fire on him or his regiment." that regiment was allowed to pass in safety, but they opened fire on the one which succeeded. chapter v the christian's revenge police posts versus dispensaries--the poisoning scare--a native doctor's influence--wazir marauders spare the mission hospital--a terrible revenge--the conolly bed--a political mission--a treacherous king--imprisonment in bukhara--the prayer-book--martyrdom--the sequel--influence of the mission hospital--the medical missionary's passport. i was once urging on a certain official the need of a government dispensary in a certain frontier district. "there is no need there," he replied; "the people are quiet and law-abiding. now a---, that is a disturbed area: there we ought to have medical work"--an unintentional testimony to one result of the doctor's work, though rather hard on the law-abiding section of the populace that they should have no hope of a hospital unless they can organize a few raids, or get a reputation for truculence. which will be better--a punitive police post or a civil dispensary? this seems a not very logical conundrum, yet it is based on sound reasoning, and a well-managed establishment of the latter kind will often remove the necessity of setting up the former. the doctor is a confidant in more matters than one, and the right man will often smooth down little frictions and mollify sorenesses which bid fair to cause widespread conflagrations. a medical mission is a pacific, as well as an essentially pioneer, agency. there was a little missionary dispensary on the frontier, in charge of a native doctor, a convert from muhammadanism, who had gone in and out among the people till he was a household friend all down the country-side. one day he was sitting in his dispensary seeing out-patients, when he heard the following conversation: abdultalib. "the sarkar has sent out agents to kill the mussulmans by poisoning their drinking-water." balyamin. "mauzbillah! how do you know that?" a. "mullah d. arrived last night, and, sitting in the chauk, he told how he had seen a man throwing pills into the well at dabb village. he went after him, but as soon as the man saw him he ran away." b. "what is to be done?" a. "first we must tell the women not to draw water from the wells--they have certainly been poisoned in the night--but they can take their pitchers to the tank in the big mosque; no one would interfere with that." b. "if we can catch the miscreant, we will show him plainly enough who is the mussulman and who the infidel." as the news spread through the village, the excitement grew; women who had already filled their pitchers from the wells hurriedly emptied them and started off afresh to the mosque tank. guards were placed at the well, both to warn the faithful and to give short shrift to any hapless stranger on whom suspicion might fall. the men about the bazaar had procured thick sticks, and seemed only waiting for the opportunity of using them, and things looked black all round. news was brought to the police-station, and, without waiting to don his uniform, the inspector buckled on a revolver, and, taking a constable with him, hurried off to the most disturbed portion of the village. the men there were sullen, and would give no information, and two or three of the more truculent seemed inclined to hustle the police-officer. just then the native doctor appeared on the scene, and recognized the gravity of the situation at once. one rash act, and the police might have to use their firearms in self-defence. the people, however, trusted the doctor. had he not often championed them when subjected to little police tyrannies, and had they not often sought counsel from him in their village quarrels, and always found his advice had helped them to come to an amicable settlement? so now, when he quietly slipped his arm into that of the inspector, and led him out of the dangerous quarter, chatting the while, till he got him safely into a house without loss of official dignity, not even the most truculent tried to resist his passage. then he returned and reasoned with them on the groundlessness of their suspicions. had any of them ever seen anyone throw anything into the wells? had anyone even got a stomach-ache from drinking the water? did any king ever want to kill off all his own subjects? if so, whom would he rule, and where would be his kingdom? finally, he bantered them out of their warlike intentions: the sticks were returned home, business resumed, the inspector came back as though his authority had never been questioned, and a very ugly situation was successfully negotiated. in the year 1879 the tribe of the wazirs had been incited by their mullahs to rise, and they came down suddenly with their lashkar on the little frontier town of tank. there was a mission hospital there, in charge of an indian doctor, the rev. john williams. before the authorities could summon the troops the wazir warriors had overrun town and bazaar, and were burning and looting. some young bloods went for the mission hospital, but they were at once restrained by the tribal elders, who forbade them to meddle with the property of "our own daktar sahib," as they called him. had they not often been inmates of his hospital and partakers of his hospitality? not a hair of his head was to be injured. they at once set a guard of their own men on the mission hospital, who warned off any excited tribesmen who might have done it injury, and that was the only place in the bazaar that escaped fire and sword and pillage. some of his surgical instruments had been carried off before the posting of the guard; but upon this being made known, search was made through waziristan, and the friends of the doctor were not satisfied until all were returned to him. revenge is a word sweet to the afghan ear, and even a revenge satisfied by the culminating murder is the sweeter if the fatal blow, preferably on some dark night, is so managed that the murdered man has a few minutes of life in which to realize that he has been outwitted, and to hear the words of exultation with which his enemy gluts his hatred. in one case that came to my knowledge, after strangling his victim, but before he was quite gone, the murderer dealt his victim a terrific blow on his jaw, shattering the bone, with the taunt: "do you remember the day when i told you i would knock out your teeth for you?" in the autumn of 1907 a fine stalwart wazir was brought to the bannu mission hospital in a pitiable state: both of his eyes had been slashed about and utterly blinded with a knife. his story was that his enemies came on him unexpectedly in his cottage one day, beat his wife into insensibility, tied him to a bed, and then deliberately destroyed his eyes with a knife. his wife came to hospital with him, suffering from severe contusions and some broken ribs, and we put them both into one of our small "family wards"--so called because father, mother, and children, if there be any, can all stop together for treatment. it was painful to have to tell him that he would never see again, and still more painful to hear him as he piteously said: "oh, sahib, if you can give me some sight only just long enough to go and shoot my enemy, then i shall be satisfied to be blind all the rest of my life." it could not be. his lot would probably become that of the numerous blind beggars that throng eastern bazaars; for who would plough his land now or speak for him in the village council? yet of pure pity we kept him a few weeks, that he might hear the story of the gospel of goodwill and forgiveness; but he would shake his head and sigh. "no, that teaching is not for us. what i want is revenge--revenge!" then, because a concrete case will sometimes accomplish what a mere statement cannot effect, i told him the story of the conolly bed. over each bed is a little framed card denoting the benefactor or supporter of that bed and the person commemorated thereby, and over this particular bed is written: conolly bed. in memory of captain conolly, beheaded at bukhara. as long ago as 1841 this brave english officer was sent on a political mission to bukhara, which was then an independent state, and not under the rule of russia, as now. the muhammadan ruler, bahadur khan, affected to be suspicious of his intentions, and threw him into prison, where another english officer, colonel stoddart, had already been incarcerated. it was in vain for them to protest and to claim the consideration due to a representative of the british government; they were met by the answer that no letter had come from the queen in reply to one sent by the amir, and that therefore they had certainly come to stir up khiva and khokand to war against the amir of bukhara. their effects were confiscated; even their very clothes were taken from them, till they only had their shirts and drawers left, when a filthy sheepskin was given to captain conolly as some protection against the winter cold of bukhara. their servants were thrown into a horrible dungeon called the black well, into which each man had to be lowered by a rope from the aperture at the top, and was then left to rot in the filth below. captain conolly managed to secrete a small english prayer-book about his person, and this was a daily source of comfort to him and his companion in prison, and he marked verses in the psalms and passages in the prayers from which they derived comfort. on the fly-leaves and the margins he wrote a diary of their sufferings; month succeeded month, and their hearts grew sick with hope deferred, and their bodies worn with fever, wasting and wounds. on february 10, 1842, he writes: "we have now been fifty-three days and nights without means of changing or washing our linen. this book will probably not leave me, so i now will, as opportunity serves, write in it the last blessing of my best affection to all my friends." again, on march 11, he writes: "at first we had viewed the amir's conduct as perhaps dictated by mad caprice, but now, looking back upon the whole, we saw indeed that it had been the deliberate malice of a demon, questioning and raising our hopes and ascertaining our condition, only to see how our hearts were going on in the process of breaking. "i did not think to shed one more tear among such cold-blooded men, but yesterday evening, as i looked upon stoddart's half-naked and much lacerated body, conceiving that i was the especial object of the king's hatred, because of my having come to him after visiting khiva and khok, and told him that the british government was too great to stir up secret enmity against any of its enemies, i wept on, entreating one of our keepers to have conveyed to the chief my humble request that he would direct his anger upon me, and not further destroy by it my poor broken stoddart, who had suffered so much and so meekly here for three years. my earnest words were answered by a 'don't cry and distress yourself.' he, alas! would do nothing, so we turned and kissed each other and prayed together, and we have risen again from our knees with hearts comforted, as if an angel had spoken to us, resolved, please god, to wear our english honesty and dignity to the last, within all the misery and filth that this monster may try to degrade us with." again, on march 28: "we have been ninety-nine days and nights without a change of clothes." one of the native agents of the mission, salih muhammad by name, subsequently escaped to india, and thus relates the closing scene of the tragedy. "on tuesday night (june 14, 1842) their quarters were entered by several men, who stripped them and carried them off, but i do not know whether it was to the black well or to some other prison. in stripping colonel stoddart a lead pencil was found in the lining of his coat and some papers in his waist. these were taken to the amir, who gave orders that he should be beaten with heavy sticks till he disclosed who brought the papers, and to whom he wrote. he was most violently beaten, but he revealed nothing. he was beaten repeatedly for two or three days. on friday the amir gave orders that colonel stoddart should be killed in the presence of captain conolly, who should be offered his life if he would become a muhammadan. in the afternoon they were taken outside the prison into the street, which is a kind of small square. their hands were tied across in front. many people assembled to behold the spectacle. their graves were dug before their eyes. "colonel stoddart's head was then cut off with a knife. the chief executioner then turned to captain conolly and said: 'the amir spares your life if you will become a mussulman.' captain conolly answered: 'i will not be a mussulman, and i am ready to die!' saying which he stretched forth his neck, and his head was then struck off. their bodies were then interred in the graves which had been dug." for a long time the fate of these two officers was unknown in england, and, indeed, overshadowed by the greater disaster in kabul. then a missionary, the rev. joseph wolff, undertook a journey to bukhara, and after many sufferings and dangers, ascertained that they had been murdered two years before. he did not, however, come across the little prayer-book, which appears to have been lying about in some shop in bukhara for seven years after the officers' death, when a russian officer, passing through the bazaar, happened to light on it. he picked it up, and, observing its interesting nature, purchased it from the shopkeeper. for another fourteen years the little book was lying on his table at st. petersburg, when a visitor who knew captain conolly's relations saw it, and obtained leave to take the precious relic and place it in the hands of the relatives of the deceased; and thus, twenty-one years after her brother's death, miss conolly obtained the full account of his sufferings, written with his own hand. so far no vengeance had been exacted for the amir's atrocity; now the murdered man's sister thought she would like to have her revenge, so when the bannu mission hospital was inaugurated, she wrote out to the medical missionary, expressing her desire to support a bed in memory of her brother, and that bed has been supported in his name ever since, and we tell the afghans in it that that is the christian's revenge. when i sit by the bedside of some sick or wounded afghan in that bed, and tell him and the others round him that it was their co-religionists who killed this officer because he would not forsake christianity for islam, and that now his sister is paying for them to be nursed and tended, and praying for them that they may learn of the saviour who bid us forgive our enemies, and do good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us, then it is easy to see that the story has set them thinking. and when it is further brought home by their experiences in the mission hospital, where they have been lovingly tended by the very native converts whom they have abused and perhaps maltreated in the bazaar, they return to their afghan homes with very different feelings towards christians. it is thus that the medical missionary gets his passport to all their villages, not only in british india, but across the border among the independent tribes. while visiting a wazir chief once in his border fort, he said to me: "you can do what we cannot possibly do. i cannot go into that village over there, because i have enmity with the people there. the chief of that tribe across the river a few miles off has a blood-feud with me, and i have always to go armed and with a guard lest he should waylay me; at night i cannot leave my fort, but have to sleep ready armed in my tower. and i am like most of us in this country: we all have our enemies, and never know when we may meet them. but you can go into any of our villages and among all the tribes, although you have not even got a revolver with you, and, more than that, you get a welcome, too." in some parts of the country across the border it is necessary to take a fresh guide every few miles, as the various villages are on bad terms, and might injure the traveller on the lands of the opposing village merely in order to get their enemies involved in a feud, or into trouble with the government. these guides are called badragga, and within the tribal boundary any member of the clan, even a child, is often sufficient protection, as that is sufficient to show that the traveller has received the sanction of the tribe to move about within their boundaries. if, however, marauding bands are known to be about, or if the tribe is at feud with a neighbouring one, then they will send a fully-armed badragga of several men with you. i have, however, seen a traveller consigned to the care of a boy of nine years or so, and, no doubt, with perfect security. on one occasion when it had been arranged that the badragga of a certain clan was to meet me at a prearranged rendezvous, i arrived at the appointed time and place under the care of the badragga of the clan through whose territories i had just passed, but no one was forthcoming. we waited an hour or so, but still no one came; my badragga then accompanied us a little way forward till we came in view of the first village of the next clan. here they stopped and said: "we can go no farther. if we were to go into that village, there would very likely be bloodshed, as there is enmity between us and them; but we will sit at the top of this knoll here and watch you while you go on to the village, and if anyone interferes with you on the way we will shoot." i went on with an indian hospital assistant who was with me, and when nearing the village a man came up and shook hands with great heartiness, saying: "don't you remember me? i brought my brother to your hospital when he was shot and his leg broken, and we were with you for two months." he brought me to the village and to his brother, who hobbled out on a crutch to meet us, and was very pleased. they insisted on our stopping while they called some of the other villagers, who were anxious to see the doctor, and finally sent us forward on our journey with a fresh escort and a hearty "god-speed." chapter vi a day in the wards the truce of suffering--a patient's request--typical cases--a painful journey--the biter bit--the conditions of amputation--"i am a better shot than he is"--the son's life or revenge--the hunter's adventure--a nephew's devotion--a miserly patient--an enemy converted into a friend--the doctor's welcome. as i have already said, the afghans never forget their tribal feuds except in the presence of foes from without. then they may put them aside for a while, especially if their foe be not mussulman in faith, but only for a while. the feuds begin again as soon as the danger is past. but in the wards of the mission hospital all this is changed, and here may be seen representatives of all the frontier tribes chatting fraternally together, who as likely as not would be lying in ambush for one another if they were a few miles off across the frontier. but it is generally recognized among them that feuds are to be forgotten in hospital; and accordingly the doctor gets an audience from half a dozen different tribes in one ward when he is drawing out the conversation from the land of feuds to the prince of peace, and when he contrasts the gospel of loving your neighbour with their rule of "shoot your neighbour and get his rifle." they say in a half-apologetic tone: "true; but god has decreed that there shall always be discord among the afghans, so what can we do?" sometimes a patient will say: "i want to be in a ward that has no windows, because i am afraid that one of my enemies may come at night when the lamp is burning in the ward and shoot me through the window by its light." great as is the variety of physiognomy, of dress, and of dialect, even more diverse are the complaints for which they come. eye diseases form more than a quarter of the whole, and few cases give so much satisfaction both to surgeon and patient as these, in many of which the surgeon is able to restore sight that has been lost for years, and to send the patient back to his home rejoicing and full of gratitude. here is a bannuchi malik suffering from consumption, a not uncommon complaint in their crowded villages; next him is a wazir lad from the hills, muhammad payo by name, suffering from chronic malarial poisoning. he is an old acquaintance, as he returns to his home when he feels strong enough, and then, what with coarse fare and exposure (for he is a poor lad), soon relapses and comes back to us at death's door, as white as a sheet, and has to be nursed back again to vigour. just now he is convalescent, and is going about the ward doing little services for the other patients, and telling them what to do and what not to do, as though he had been in the hospital all his life. poor fellow! he has lost both his parents in a village raid, and would have been dead long ago himself but for the open door of the mission hospital. in another bed is a fair-haired, blue-eyed boy of twelve from khost, suffering from disease of the bones of his right leg, which he has not been able to put to the ground for two years. his home is eighty miles away across the mountains, and he had no one to bring him to bannu, though he had begged some of the traders to let him sit on one of their baggage camels; but who was going to inconvenience himself with a friendless boy like that? he had heard such wonderful stories of the cures effected in the bannu hospital from a man in his village who had been an inmate for six weeks for an ulcer of the leg, that he determined to get there by hook or by crook, and he had accomplished the greater part of the journey crawling on his hands and knees, with an occasional lift from some friendly horseman, and had been six weeks on the road, begging a dinner here and a night's lodging there from the villages through which he passed. when he arrived, his state can be better imagined than described: the weary, suffering look of his face; the few dirty rags that covered him; the malodorous wound on his leg, full of maggots, bound round with the last remains of his pagari; while now there is no brighter, happier boy in the hospital, with his white hospital shirt and pyjamas, clean, gentle face and pleasant smile, as he moves about from bed to bed with his crutch, chatting with the other patients. passing on, we see a big swarthy afghan, with fine martial features, in which suffering is gradually wearing out the old truculent air. he had gone armed with a friend one night to a village where there was a militia guard. he maintains that they had merely gone to visit a friend, and had been delayed on the road till night overtook them; but to be out armed at night is of itself sufficient to raise a prima-facie case against a man on the border, and when the militia soldiers challenged him, and instead of replying he and his friend took cover, it was so clear to the former that they must be marauders, that they opened fire. the friend escaped, but our patient received a bullet through the left thigh, which shattered the bone. he was not brought to the mission hospital for some time, and when we first saw him it was obvious that unless the limb were speedily removed, his days were numbered. he, like all afghans, had an innate repugnance to amputation, but finally consented on condition that the amputated limb should be given to him to take back to his home, that it might ultimately be interred in his grave; only thus, he thought, would he be safe from being a limb short in the next world. once i tried to argue an afghan out of this illogical idea, and when other arguments failed, i suggested that the unsavoury object might be buried in a spot in the mission compound, and he might leave a note in his grave specifying where it might be found. he answered at once: "do you suppose the angels will have nothing better to do on the resurrection day than going about looking for my leg? and even if they would take the trouble, they would not come into this heretic place for it." so the limb was removed and carefully wrapped up and stored away somewhere, so that he might on recovery take it back with him to his village. his wound is nearly healed now, and he has sent off his sister, who was in hospital to nurse him, to his home to fetch a horse on which to ride back the forty miles to his village, where he will wile away many a long winter's night with stories of his experiences in the bannu mission hospital, and how kind the feringis were to him. among afghans a man's nearest relations are often his deadliest enemies, and "he hates like a cousin" is a common expression. thus it came to pass that one day a wounded afghan was brought to the mission hospital on a bed borne of four, and examination showed a serious condition. he had been shot at close quarters the night before while returning to his house from the mosque after evening prayers. the bullet had passed completely through the left side of the chest, the left lung was collapsed, and the patient was blanched and faint from the severe bleeding that had occurred. a compress of charred cloth and yolk of egg had been applied, through which the red stream was slowly trickling. he believed he had been shot by his uncle, with whom he had a dispute about the possession of a field, but had not seen his face clearly. a room was got ready, the patient's blood-saturated garments were replaced by hospital linen, and the wound was cleansed and dressed. for a long time he hovered between life and death, constantly attended by two brothers, who, if they had been as instructed as they were assiduous, would have made two very excellent nurses. gradually, however, he recovered strength, and the wound healed; and one day when visiting his ward i found him sitting up with a smile on his face, and after the usual greetings, he said: "please come to me, sahib; i have a request to make." i sat by his bedside, and asked what i could do for him. he drew me closely to him, and said in a subdued voice: "sahib, i want you to get me some cartridges; see, here are four rupees i have brought for them." "why, what do you want them for?" said i. "look here," said he, pointing to the wound in his chest; "here is this score to pay off. i am stronger now, and in a few days i can go home and have my revenge." i said to him deprecatingly: "cannot you forego your revenge after all the good counsels you have been hearing while in hospital? we have, after so much trouble and nursing, cured you, and now, i suppose, in a few days we shall be having your uncle brought here on a bed likewise, and have to take the same trouble over him." "don't fear that, sahib," was the prompt reply; "i am a better shot than he is." well, we never did have to deal with that uncle, though i never gave him the cartridges; probably he got them elsewhere. another day a similar cortã¨ge came to the hospital. this time the man on the bed was a fine young pathan of about twenty summers, and his father--a greybeard, with handsome but stern features, and one arm stiffened from an old sword-cut on the shoulder--accompanied the bearers, carefully shielding his son's face from the sun with an old umbrella. his was a long-standing feud with the malik of a village hard by, and he had been shot through the thigh at long range while tending his flocks on the mountain-side. it had happened four days ago, but the journey being a difficult one, they had delayed bringing him; and meanwhile they had slain a goat, and, stripping the skin off the carcass, had bound it round the injured limb with the raw side against the flesh. under the influence of the hot weather the discharges from the wound and the reeking skin had brought about a condition of affairs which made bearers and bystanders, all except the father and the doctor, wind their turbans over their mouths and noses as soon as the hospital dresser began to unfold and cut through the long folds of greasy pagari which bound the limb to an improvised splint and that to the bed. it was a severe compound fracture of the thigh-bone, with collateral injuries, and i called the father aside and said: "the only hope of your son's life is immediate amputation. if i delay, the limb will mortify, and he will certainly die." the old man, visibly restraining his emotion, said: "if you amputate the leg, can you promise me that he will recover?" "no," i said; "even then he might die, for the injury is severe, and he is weak from loss of blood; but without amputation there is no hope." "then," said the father, "let it be as god wills: let him die, for, by our tribal custom, if he dies as he is i can go and shoot my enemy; but if he dies from your operation then i could not, and i want my revenge." after this they would not even accept my offer of keeping the wounded lad in the hospital to nurse, but bore him away as they had brought him, so that he might die at home among his people, and then--well, the mind pictured the stealthy form crouching behind the rock; the hapless tribesman of the other village with his rifle loaded and slung on his shoulder right enough, but who was to warn him of his lurking enemy? and then the shot, the cry, and exultation. a man of the khattak tribe was out on the hills with a friend after mountain goats; he tracked one, but in following it up passed over into the hills of a section of the wazir tribe. he was passing along one of those deep gorges which the mountain torrents have worn through the maze of sandstone ridges, where the stunted acacia and tufted grass afford pasturage to little else than the mountain goats, when his practised eye descried two heads looking over the ridge four hundred feet above him. seeing they were observed, the two wazirs stood up and challenged them. "who called you to come poaching in our country?" "i shall come when i choose, without asking your permission," retorted the khattak. "swine! has your father turned you out because there was no maize in your corn-bin?" the khattak retorted with something stronger, and each proceeded to impugn the character of the other's female relations, till the wazir, thinking he had excited the khattak to give him sufficient provocation, sent a bullet whistling past his head. the khattak made a jump for the cover of a neighbouring rock, but before he had time to gain shelter a second bullet had struck him in the leg, bringing him headlong to earth. his companion had got the shelter of a rock and opened fire on the wazirs; but the latter, thinking they had sufficiently vindicated the privacy of their stony hills, made off another way. the khattak could do no more than lift his friend into the shelter of a cliff, stanch the bleeding with a piece torn from his pagari, and make off in hot haste for his village to sound a chigah and bring a bed on which the wounded man might be carried home. the chigah, of course, came too late to track the wazirs, but they bore the wounded man home, and next morning brought him to the mission hospital. he lay there for three months, carefully tended by his father and a brother, and there all three were attentive listeners to the daily exposition of the gospel by the doctor or catechist; but the wounded man got weaker and weaker, and when it became clear to all that his recovery could not be hoped for, they took him off to his home to die. the next day a wazir of the same tribe that had shot him was brought in suffering from an almost identical gunshot wound, and we thought at first it had been the work of an avenger, but it proved to have been received in another feud about the possession of a few ber-trees (zizyphus jujuba). this wazir submitted to amputation, and is now going about the hills the proud possessor of an artificial limb from england, which his father sold a rifle to buy, and which is the wonder and admiration of his neighbours. the devotion shown in some cases by relations who have accompanied some sick or wounded man to hospital is very touching, and in pleasing contrast to their frequent enmity. one case that imprinted itself on my memory was that of a man from kabul, who had been a sufferer for several years from severe fistula; his nearest relation was a nephew, and he was a talib (student). both were poor, but the man sold up some little household belongings and hired a camel-driver to bring him down on his camel. the journey to bannu occupied fourteen days, and the sick man suffered much from the constraint and jolting of the camel-ride. an operation was performed, but it was some months before the patient was cured and discharged, and during all that time he was assiduously nursed by the talib, who sat day and night by his bedside, attending to his wants and reading to him either the suras of the quran or some persian poet, only leaving him to go into some mosque in bannu, or in a village near, where some charitable muhammadans would give him his morning and evening meal. to save the patients from the danger of having their money stolen by other patients or visitors, we advise them on admission to give up their money into our charge, to be kept safely until they get their discharge, when it is returned to them. usually they readily agree to this, but sometimes we have some wary characters, usually kabulis or peshawuris, whose experience of the world has led them to trust no one, and these refuse to let their possessions out of their own keeping, usually securing their money in a bag purse tied round their waist under their clothes. one such kabuli came into the hospital terribly ill with dysentery. fearing, i suppose, we might take his money by force, he swore, in answer to the usual question, that he had not a single anna on him, and all through his illness he begged a few pice from us or from other patients to buy some little delicacy he fancied to supplement the regular hospital diet. he said he had no relations or friends living; "all had died," and certainly none ever came to inquire after him. his disease resisted all our efforts to cure it--he had been worn out with exposure and hard living--and at last, one morning, we found him dead in his bed; he had passed away quietly in the night, without even the patient in the bed next him knowing of it. we then found a bag containing eighty rupees bound round his waist; he had kept it carefully concealed from everyone throughout, and now died leaving behind him what might have purchased him so many little delicacies. there being no claimant for the money, we made it into a fund for helping indigent patients to get back to their more distant homes. there was once a mullah in bannu who was particularly virulent in his public denunciations of the mission and everything connected with it. he would frequently give public lectures which were tirades against all christians, and missionaries in particular, telling the people that if they died in the mission hospital they would assuredly go to hell, and all the mission medicine they drank would be turned into so much lead, which would drag them relentlessly down, down to the bottomless pit--and very much more in that strain. we were therefore somewhat surprised when one fine morning we beheld four white-robed talibs bringing a bed to the hospital, on which was a form covered by a white sheet, and on lifting the sheet, there was this very mullah! we did not ask him awkward questions, but admitted him at once, and i think our christian assistants throughout his long and dangerous illness showed him particular attentions, and nursed him with special care. they never taunted him with his former attitude to us, but strove, by the exhibition of christian forbearance and sympathy, to give him a practical exposition of what christianity is. when he left the hospital he thanked us in the presence of his disciples, offered a prayer for blessing on the hospital, and is now one of our staunchest friends. here is a very sad case in bed 18, called "the gleaners' bed," because it is supported by the gleaners' union of lambeth: a young man of twenty-five or thirty, blind from his birth, and yet brought to the hospital cruelly slashed in several places with sword and knife; one cut on the right shoulder went through the muscle down to the bone. and this was done only to rob him of the few things he possessed. had the culprit known that the man was blind, let us hope he would not have been so brutal, but poor mirzada was on the ground asleep, covered up with a sheet, as is the custom with the natives, and had been attacked in this way before he could escape or beg them to spare him. it was so sad to see him stretched moaning on his bed, with eyes that had never seen the light or the beauty of god's creation, heart that had never felt, ear that had never heard of the "light of life" or the "glory that shall be revealed." our christian assistants sat beside him day by day, and told him of christ and his love; but he never, so far as we could judge, seemed to grasp the truth for himself, and, when his wounds were healed, left us to beg by the wayside. we pray for mirzada, "who sitteth by the wayside begging," that he may yet find the light! he at least has learnt to bless the mission hospital and the christian friends in england, through whose charity he can say: "i was a stranger, and ye took me in; sick, and ye visited me." the doctor or his assistants may go a long journey up and down the frontier and both sides of the border without coming to a village where they will not get a hearty welcome from some old patient. he will be made to sit down for a little good cheer in the village chauk, that the grateful patient may call his acquaintances round to shake hands with the daktar sahib, whose patient he was while in the mission hospital, and with stories about whom he has so often regaled them in the winter evenings. chapter vii from morning to night first duties--calls for the doctor--some of the out-patients--importunate blind--school classes--operation cases--untimely visitors--recreation--cases to decide. an eastern day begins early. as the first streak of dawn lightens the eastern sky the slumberers are awakened by the long-drawn-out chant of the muezzin calling to prayer from all the mosques in the city. "god is great, god is great. i give witness there is no god but god. i give witness that muhammad is the prophet of god. come to prayer; prayer is better than sleep." and forthwith every pious muslim hastily rises, performs the necessary ablutions, and commences the day with ascription of praise to the creator. the hindus follow suit: little bells tinkle in their temples as their priests rouse the slumbering gods, or as the puritanical arya samajist offers his early sacrifice of "hawan," or incense. meanwhile, the church bell calls the little christian community together for early morning worship, and they unite in prayer and praise before separating, each to his or her own sphere of work for the day. if the missionary desires a morning "quiet time" he must get up early enough to get it in before this, as after morning service the busy round of duties leaves him little leisure till the evening shades close in. darya khan, the "lord of the rivers," the hospital cook, is waiting for the day's supplies, and reports fifty patients on full diet, twenty on middle, and fifteen on milk diet. so many cases have left the hospital, so many admitted; such a one died last night. and so the supplies for the day are measured out and weighed, and orders given for the purchase of fresh goods as needed. then come the ward clerks, with their tale of soiled linen and case sheets to be checked, and clean towels, bandages, bed-linen, and clothes for the in-patients have to be dealt out according to the needs of each one. this over, the head gardener, 'alam khan, or the "lord of the world," is standing by with the day's supply of vegetables and flowers, and these have to be apportioned to the patients in the hospital and to the various members of the staff whose families reside on the premises. he follows with a string of questions, each of which requires due consideration, such as, "are the mulberries to be shaken yet?" "where are the young pipul tree saplings to be planted?" "some oranges were stolen in the night; would i come and see the footmarks?" "a hostel boy ('light of religion') was caught among the plum-trees with some fruit in his pocket. would i punish him?" and so on, as long as one has leisure to listen and adjudicate. the clock strikes eight, leaving just half an hour to visit the wards before out-patients begin. there is the abdominal section operation of yesterday to examine; the house-surgeon has come to report that the case of tubercular glands has had a hã¦morrhage during the night. we are just hurrying over to see them, when up comes 'alam gul, the "flower of the earth," to say his brother was coming down from the roof that morning, when his foot slipped on the ladder; he fell on his head, and was lying unconscious. would i go and see him? the serious cases seen, and 'alam gul's brother visited, the out-patient department is demanding our attention. the verandahs are full of patients, the men in one and the women and children in another, and while the catechist is preaching to the former, a bible-woman is similarly engaged with the latter. outside are some patients lying on the native beds, or charpais, and a variety of other equipages which have all brought patients--palanquins, camels, oxen, asses, and so on. let us see some of these. here is a wazir shepherd from the mountains. he has been shot through the thigh while tending his flocks, and eight rough-looking tribesmen of his have bound him securely on a bed and carried him down, journeying all night through, and they have left their rifles, without which they could not have ventured out, at the police post on the frontier. another of those on the beds is a man of about fifty years, suffering from dropsy. he has been carried sixty miles on this bed from khost, a district in afghanistan. a third, who has been brought from another transfrontier village on an ox, is suffering from a tumour of his leg, which will require amputation. and so on with some half-dozen others. after this brief examination, saying a word of welcome to the travel-stained afghans who have borne their precious burdens in with so much labour, and even danger, and with a word of comfort and reassurance to the sick ones themselves, the doctor enters his consulting-room, and the patients are brought in one by one to be examined. those requiring in-patient treatment are sent off to the wards, and the remainder get the required medicines, or have their wounds dressed and leave for their homes. a great number of the out-patients are cases of eye disease, and sometimes four or five blind men will come in a line, holding on to each other, and led by one who is not yet quite blind. very likely they have trudged painfully upwards of a hundred miles, stumbling over the stones in the mountain roads, and arriving with wounded feet and bruised bodies. they sit together, listening, perhaps for the first time in their lives, to the gospel address, and eagerly awaiting the interview with the doctor, when they will hear if they are to receive their sight there and then, or to undergo an operation, or what. for the stories they have heard of the power of western skill lead them to believe that if the doctor does not cure them on the spot it must be that he is too busy or they are too poor. when, therefore, as sometimes happens, the doctor sees at the first glance that the case is a hopeless one, and that the sight is gone never to be brought back, it is a painful duty to have to explain the fact to the patient, and often the doctor needlessly prolongs the examination of the eye lest the man should think that it was want of interest in his case that makes the doctor say he can do nothing. and then the beseeching, "oh, sahib, just a little sight!" "see, i can tell light from darkness; i can see the light from that window there." "i have come all the way from kabul because they said the feringi doctor could cure everything. why do you not cure me?" one man refused to budge till i had taken him to see my mother; she might be able to do something--she must have more skill than i, for from whom had i learnt? another went to her to beg her to intercede with me for him, because he was sure it was want of will, not want of power, that prevented him gaining his end. at last, when they are convinced that nothing can be done, it is touching to see them as they resignedly say, often with tears rolling down their cheeks: "it is god's will. i will be patient." then they may begin their weary trudge home again, or stop in the bannu bazaar for a few days to beg some money to get them a lift on a camel for part of the long journey. a commotion at the door, and a bannuchi boy of about seven is carried in on the shoulders of his father, with his hand tied up in the folds of a turban. "we were crushing sugar-cane in our press, when my beloved mir jahan got his hand in the cogs of the wheel, and it was all crushed before we could stop the buffalo. oh! do see him quick--he is my only son, a piece of my liver!" and the father bursts into tears. mir jahan is chloroformed at once, the bandages unbound, and a terrible sight we see; the hand has been crushed into a pulp, but the thumb is only a little cut. that will enable him to pull the trigger of a rifle when he grows up, and that is what his father and he consider of great importance. so the thumb is saved, and the mangled remains of the other fingers removed, and a shapely stump fashioned. it is fortunate that the bannuchis have not much machinery. this sugar-press is almost the only piece they have, and we get several crushed hands every year as a result, usually because they let their children play in dangerous proximity to the wheels, and then leave them to "qismet" (fate). meanwhile, perhaps, some big chief has come in with several attendants. he wants to have a special consultation with the doctor, and has to be treated with as many of the formalities of oriental courtesy as the doctor can find time for. he gives some fee for the hospital, or perhaps may send one or two ox-burdens of wheat or indian corn as his contribution to the hospital stores. the patients are still coming, when a schoolboy comes to say that it is time for the doctor to take his classes in school. it is not every mission station that can provide a distinct european missionary for the school, and bannu is one of those where the supervision of the school is one of the duties of the medical missionary, who takes the senior classes in scripture, english, and science. so the consulting-room is changed for the class-room, and the missionary finds himself surrounded by a class of twenty to twenty-five intelligent young fellows preparing for the matriculation at the panjab university, and waiting to be initiated into the mysteries of optics, or chemistry, or mechanics, or to practise english composition, or he may have them attentively listening while he goes with them through the ever-fresh stories from the life of our lord, hearing and asking them questions as its inimitable teachings are brought home to them by precept and by illustration. class-work over, a visit of inspection is paid to the other class-rooms, where the remainder of the school staff are at their work, which the school principal must criticize and supervise, giving some advice here, some correction there, and seeing generally that everything is kept up to the mark. now we must go to see what progress has been made with the new ward which is being built in the hospital. the beams must be selected and tested. here a carpenter has been putting some bad work into a lintel, thinking it will not be noticed; there the bricklayers have been idle, and have not finished the stipulated number of layers. the foreman has a complaint to make of some of the coolies, who went away from work without his permission. "we only went to say our prayers. surely you would not have us miss them?" they plausibly urge. put them on piecework, and their prayers are got over very quickly; but pay them by the day, and even the ablutions seem interminable! but such is human nature, and they have such an air of injured innocence it is difficult to be angry with them. they are mahsud wazirs from over the border, and work hard when well managed, so are let off with a warning this time. this done, a visit must be paid to the mission press. here not only is printing in vernacular and in english carried on for the mission's own requirements, but work is executed for the various offices and merchants in the city. accounts have to be checked, bills have to be made out, proofs have to be corrected, and directions given for the day's work. now it is time to visit the hospital wards, and perform the day's operations. usually, patients are operated on the same day that they are admitted. if this were not done, not only would the wards become hopelessly congested, but in many cases the courage of the patients would ooze out of their fingers' ends, and, instead of finding them ready for the ordeal, one would be greeted by "i have just heard that my father has been taken seriously ill. if i do not go home at once, i shall never see him again." another: "i quite forgot to arrange for my donkey to get hay during my absence. i will go home and make arrangements for it, and return in two days." of course, one knows that these stories are pure fabrications, but it would be useless to tell them so, or to argue; one can only return them their own clothes, take back the hospital linen, and let them go. sometimes they come back later on, and tell more fibs about their father or their donkey in justification of themselves; more often they are not seen again. while the operation cases are being prepared by the house-surgeon, the doctor goes the round of the wards, examining, prescribing, and saying words of cheer from bed to bed. this done, he is just about to commence operations, when a man comes running up to say that his brother was out shooting when his gun exploded, blowing off his hand; would the doctor see him at once lest he bled to death? and close behind him is the wounded man brought up on a bed. the doctor examines him, sets a dresser to apply a temporary dressing, and perhaps a tourniquet, so that the case may safely wait till the conclusion of the other operations. the operation cases to-day are representative of an average day in the busy time of the year: they begin with five old men and three women suffering from cataract, then two cases of incurved lids, then an amputation, the removal of a tumour, and two cases of bone disease. these over, the man with the injured hand is chloroformed and the wound stitched up, except for two fingers, which were so damaged that they had to be removed altogether. the schoolboys are out now in the field playing football, and the doctor, after refreshing himself with a cup of tea, thinks that nothing would be more invigorating than a good hour's exercise with them; but he has scarcely got his togs on before the servant comes to announce that a certain big malik, or chief, has come to make a call. one would like to put him off with an excuse for a more convenient time; but then it was he who gave us lodging and hospitality when itinerating in his neighbourhood six months ago, and this would be a poor return for his courtesy; so he is ushered in, with four or five of his retainers, and some minutes are spent in formal courtesies and talking about nothing in particular. then, just as one is going to suggest that as one has something to do the interview might terminate, he comes to the point and object of his interview. he has got a lawsuit on in one of the local courts against a neighbouring malik. his case is an absolutely just one; but as the other party have some relationship with the head-clerk of the judge's office, he fears he will not get justice, unless--unless--would i just write a few lines to the judge, asking him to give his case full consideration? it would be no trouble to me, and would confer a benefit on him which he will remember to his dying day. one launches into an explanation, which is wearying because one has so often given it in similar cases before, that the judge would be very angry if i adopted such a method of influencing his case, that if his case is a just one there is no need of such measures, that he must rely on the integrity of his witnesses, and so on; no, he cannot or will not understand why you profess friendship with him, and yet refuse so very humble a request as the writing of a note. by the time the visitor has departed only half an hour is left for the game of football, and there is a man waiting to take you to a case of pneumonia at the other side of the bazaar, and two other calls have to be made on medical cases in the city. it is evening now, and once more the church-bell collects the little christian community together for the evening hymn of praise and worship, and the pastor gives some words of instruction and encouragement, specially intended for the catechumens and inquirers who are present. at last, however, these duties accomplished, dinner is negotiated, and then the doctor can sit down to his newspaper and his correspondence. he is not, however, long left free from interruption. the first to come is the superintendent of the boarding-house; he reports that some of the hindu boarders have been cooking meat in the school saucepan, and now the vegetarian party refuse to eat food cooked in that vessel, which has ipso facto become unclean. the arguments of both sides are heard, and the case decided, that the meat party are to provide their own saucepan. then the house-surgeon comes in with his nightly report of the wards, stating the condition of the operation cases or of any other serious cases, and taking the orders for the night. following on him comes a catechumen who has a quarter of an hour's instruction every night; then three of the senior boarders, to ask some questions about the english composition for the morrow, and get some hints for their essays. lastly, the night-watchman comes to report that, as there is a gang of wazir marauders about, special precautions must be taken for the security of the compound; but he thinks that if i get him a new pistol and some cartridges all will be safe. a day such as i have described is not at all above the average during the busy months of the year, and the doctor may consider himself lucky if the soundness of his slumbers is not disturbed by any calls during the night. chapter viii the itinerant missionary the medical missionary's advantage--how to know the people--the real india--god's guest-house--the reception of the guest--oriental customs--pitfalls for the unwary--the mullah and the padre--afghan logic--a patient's welcome--the mullah conciliated--a rough journey--among thieves--a swimming adventure--friends or enemies?--work in camp--rest at last. there is this difference between the medical missionary and the preacher pure and simple: that while the latter has to seek his congregation, the former will have his congregation come to him, and often in such numbers that, like our lord and his disciples, he will not have leisure even so much as to eat. but even a doctor, who finds his time at headquarters fully and profitably occupied, will be committing a great mistake if he never itinerates. for it is in camp and in village life that the missionary gets to know and understand the people, and by travelling from village to village, and living with them as their guest, he gets to know their real inner life in a way that otherwise he never would, and for a missionary, at least, such an experience is indispensable. there are two methods of itineration. on the one hand, he may carry tents and a full camp equipment, and pitch his camp near some large village, or in the midst of several small ones, and may receive his patients and do his daily work there, while visiting the villages after his day's work is done. by this plan he is independent, and can work at his own time, and can stay or move as his fancy dictates. on the other hand, he may become the guest of one of the chief men of the village, who will put his guest-house at his disposal and give him hospitality. by this plan he is brought into much closer contact with the people and will see more of them, but he will forfeit his independence, will be obliged to consult his host in all his plans, and must be prepared to put himself and his time at the disposal of his host and the villagers, both by day and night. both methods have their advantages. for a new district, and where the people are suspicious, the latter plan, though more exacting, is probably the better; when the missionary has become well known and has much work to do, the former is preferable. the traveller who has spent a winter in touring india, but has only visited the large towns and show places, and has never lived in an indian village, remains altogether a stranger to the deep inner life of the indian. the real india is not seen in the westernized bazaars of the large cities, but in the myriads of villages, wherein more than 80 per cent. of the population of india dwell. moreover, a much better and more attractive side of indian life is seen in the villages than in the towns, and it is among their less sophisticated population that the missionary spends his happiest hours. when travelling without camp equipment, we generally follow the bible precept. we arrive at a village, and, "inquiring who within it is worthy, abide there till we depart thence." this is usually some malik, or head man, who possesses that great institution of afghanistan, a hujra, or guest-house. we are shown to this house, usually a mud building with a low door and a few small apertures in the walls in the place of windows, and a clean-swept earthen floor, which may be covered by a few palm-mats. hearing of our arrival, the owner of the guest-house comes to receive us in the oriental fashion so familiar to readers of the old testament. thus, on one occasion i came rather late at night to one such guest-house. the host had already retired, but rose from his bed to receive me. i inquired if that was his hujra. he answered: "no; it is god's, but i am in charge of it." such expressions are not mere form, as was shown by the cheerful and unostentatious way in which the owner put himself out in order to insure my comfort. once i arrived about midnight at a village, the head man of which i did not know personally, though it appears he knew me well. he was not satisfied until i consented to occupy his bed, which he had just vacated for me, while he went off to make himself a shift elsewhere. the acceptance of such an offer might not always prove very attractive among those afghans whose ideas of cleanliness are not the same as ours, but to refuse it would--at least, on the part of a missionary--be an act so discourteous as to injure the attainment of those relations with the people which he should desire. the head man will at once call for some of his attendants, who, except at the busy time of sowing and harvest, are probably lounging about the chauk, and they at once bring a number of the plain wooden bedsteads of the country, which are almost universally used, even by the richer classes, in preference to chairs. rugs and pillows are brought, and perhaps a carpet may be spread on the floor. tea is then ordered, and an attendant brings in a tray on which is a very large teapot and a number of very small saucerless cups, called in these parts balghami, and used all over central asia for tea-drinking. the whole is covered by an embroidered cloth, which is removed by the attendant. sugar is added to the teapot to a degree which to many western palates appears nauseating. cardamoms, and sometimes other spices, are also added. the milk, too, is usually added to the teapot, although some hosts, who have learnt by experience the peculiarity of western taste, leave the milk and the sugar to be added by the guests themselves. tea is poured out and handed round, and drunk usually very hot; and if the guests drink it with very loud smackings of the lips, it is supposed to indicate that they particularly appreciate it. the cups are filled repeatedly, and when the guest wishes to indicate that he has had enough he turns the cup upside down. by this time the news of our arrival has spread through the village. there are probably a number of old patients there, who have once or oftener been inmates of the base hospital, and they help to collect all the blind, the halt, the maimed, and the sick of the village, and we proceed to unpack our medicines and commence prescribing and physicking. then will come the mullah of the village, with his quran under his arm and his rosary in his hand, and with a very sanctimonious and superior kind of air. he has come to see that the faith of the flock is not endangered, and is followed by a number of his talibs, or students, whose great desire is to hear a wordy battle between the padre and the mullah, and to see the former ignominiously defeated. eastern ideas are cast in such a very different mould to western, and their system of logic and habit of mind are so unlike ours, that the young missionary may consider himself fortunate if he is not frequently held up to ridicule by some ignorant mullah, who on such an occasion as this, before an audience who are naturally inclined to side with him, and can appreciate his language and arguments very much better than ours, has all the advantage on his side. it is no doubt better to avoid such discussions as far as possible. but this cannot always be done, as the refusal to answer questions would be assumed to imply inability to do so, and would be taken by the audience to indicate defeat. what really impresses the people would not usually be our arguments, but the patience and courtesy with which we meet, or ought to meet, the endeavours of our opponent to make us lose our temper. according to eastern ideas, the mere stroking of the beard is supposed to indicate irritation arising from the inability to answer the questions, and if the inexperienced disputant incautiously puts his hand to his beard, his opponent will most probably show off his advantage by pretending to apologize to him for having made him lose his temper. on one occasion, while touring among the frontier villages, i was spending the night at a hujra, and after dark a mullah had come in for discussion, and a great number of the men of the village, attracted by the hope of an interesting conflict between their champion and the padre sahib, had collected to listen. it was winter, and there was a fire of twigs burning in the middle of the room, which was filling the place with its smoke, as there was only one quite inadequate aperture in the centre of the room by which it could find its exit. round all four sides were a number of the native beds, on which both disputants and audience were seated cross-legged or reclining at their ease. as the fire burnt low a boy would bring in some crackling thorns and branches which were piled outside the room, and throw some on the fire, which would blaze up and illuminate the faces of all around; for the only other light was the little earthen oil lamp in a niche in one corner, which only served to make the darkness visible. the mullah was evidently bent on making a display of his own dialectic skill at my expense, and began in a rather condescending tone to ask if i knew anything about theology; and on my replying that i had come to the country in order to teach the christian religion, he turned to the audience, and said somewhat contemptuously: "i do not suppose these padres know much, but we will see." he then turned to me and said: "can you tell me the colour of faith?" rather puzzled by the question, i asked what he meant. he said: "why, is it white, or green, or red, or what colour?" i replied that, as an abstract idea, it did not possess the quality of colour. mullah: "then can you tell me what shape it is? is it round, or square, or what?" i: "neither has it any shape. it is only an abstract quality." mullah: "it is evident that he does not know much about theology, seeing he cannot answer such simple questions as the colour and shape of faith." at this time i did not know that the muhammadans ascribed such concrete qualities to all their abstract religious ideas. mullah: "do you know anything about astronomy?" i thought that here at least my knowledge might not be far inferior to that of this mullah, and said: "yes, i think i can answer you any questions on that subject." mullah: "tell me, then, what becomes of the sun when it sinks below the horizon every evening?" i then proceeded to as simple and lucid an explanation as i could of the revolutions of the earth on its axis, but could see from the looks and ejaculations of the audience that they thought the idea rather a mad one. the mullah himself made no effort to conceal his contempt, and said: "that, then, is all you know about it?" a little nettled, i said: "well, what explanation do you give?" "we all know that the fires of hell are under the earth. the sun passes down there every night, and therefore comes up blazing hot in the morning." i rather had my breath taken away by this explanation, which met with ejaculations of approbation from the men around me, and i incautiously asked the mullah if he could explain the seasons. mullah (turning to the people): "it is evident that i shall have to teach him everything from the beginning." to me: "it is in the spring that the devil makes up his fires, and piles on the firewood. therefore the fires get very hot in the summer, and cool down later on. that is why the summer sun is so hot." needless to say, the explanations of the mullah appeared to the audience as rational and lucid as mine were far-fetched and incomprehensible, and they had no doubt as to which of the disputants had won the day. from this it can be seen that if a young missionary thinks that a mere knowledge of western learning and western logic will enable him to cope with the very limited learning of the afghan mullahs on their own ground, he is vastly mistaken, and will before long be put to ridicule, as i was on the above occasion, which was one of my earliest experiences on the frontier. since then i have learnt how to argue with afghan logic, and from the afghan point of view. if it happens that the mullah, or some friend of his, is in need of medical or surgical advice, his attitude to you will undergo a great change, and you will have much greater facilities for carrying on your work among the people. sometimes, when he sees the benefits accruing to the poor people who had no other prospect of getting medical relief, his attitude becomes unexpectedly friendly, as his better feelings prevail over his religious animosity. once, having set out on an itineration, some pathans came to tell me i might as well save myself the trouble of going in that direction because a certain mullah, who had much influence in those parts, had gone before us, warning the people not to accept our treatment, listen to our preaching, or even come near us. i answered by the remark which appeals to the muhammadan mind under almost every conceivable circumstance: "whatever god's will has ordained will be," and told him we should adhere to our original plan. on the first two days the people certainly seemed suspicious, and very few came near us. while we were on the march on the third day, passing not very far from a village, a man who had apparently noticed us from the village, which was situated on an eminence above the road, came running down to us, and, after the usual salutations, said: "there is an old patient of yours here who is very anxious to see you; please turn aside and come to the house." on arrival we found that it was a woman who, a year before, had been an inmate of the bannu hospital for malignant tumour on the leg, which had required amputation. before she left the hospital we had made her a rough wooden pin leg, on which she now appeared hobbling along to greet us. she showed great delight at unexpectedly meeting us, and had apparently been telling her fellow-villagers wonderful stories of what she had seen and heard in the mission hospital, and of the unaccountable love and sympathy which had been shown her there, for others of her neighbours came crowding into her little courtyard, and among them, though unknown to us, the mullah who was supposed to be preaching a crusade against us. he had apparently come in on the quiet to see for himself what we and our work were like, and was greatly struck at the undisguised delight with which we were greeted by our old patients; for when the woman of the house begged us to stop while she prepared us a meal, he came forward and disclosed himself, saying: "no; my house is in the next village, and it is my prerogative to entertain the padre sahib. he must come on to my house." at the same time he took up some pashtu gospels which we had been giving away, but which the people, for fear of theological displeasure, had been afraid to take openly, and said: "this is kalam ullah [word of god], and is a good book." thus, in a moment, by this providential presence of the mullah, the whole attitude of our reception was changed. word was passed on from village to village that we had become the guests and eaten the bread of the mullah himself, and that he had pronounced in favour of our books, telling the people that we were ahl-el-kitab, or people of the book, the term which muhammadan theologians apply to christians and jews when they wish to speak of them in a friendly spirit. we were not always equally fortunate, especially in our earlier years on the frontier. about two years after i first went to bannu i went out on a short itineration with my assistant jahan khan, an account of whom is given in chapter xvi. we came to one village where the mullahs had been exciting the feelings of the people against us, and telling them that any food or vessel we touched was thereby defiled. we found it difficult to get food or drinking-vessel even on payment, and some of the patients who came to us were induced to go away, and in some cases to throw away the medicine they had already received. with some difficulty we got a lodging for the night, and early next morning we started off to look for a village where we might get a more hospitable reception. but the minds of the people had already been poisoned against us. we went into the courtyard of the patwar-khana (village bailiff), and sat down and opened our medicines. some hindus came for treatment, and we got one of them to bring us some food; but the muhammadans were universally hostile, and stationed one of their number at the gate to prevent any muhammadan communicating with us. they then apparently became annoyed with the hindus, that they should be participating in benefits from which they had excluded themselves, and stones began to fall into the courtyard where we were seated; and as the hindus in these villages are not only in a small minority, but live in dread of the fiercer muhammadans, even they who had already come to us disappeared, and we were left alone. it seemed useless to stop in a village where we were not welcomed, so we saddled our animals and departed. many years have passed since this experience. patients from both these villages frequently come to the bannu hospital, and now i and my assistants get a welcome and hospitality whenever we visit them. at other times the difficulties of itineration are not so much from the people as from the hardships of travelling among the frontier mountains, where the roads are nil, and the bridle-tracks such that it is often impossible to get a loaded camel through. i will therefore give a short account of a journey from bannu across the wazir hills to thal, which we made in the summer of 1904. as our route lay chiefly through independent territory, it was difficult to procure camel-men for so trying a journey. the men with the first camels we hired ran away when they found we were going into the hills, as not only is the road very difficult for laden animals, but they are afraid of being attacked by wazir robbers, the wazirs having the worst reputation of all the tribes of afghans who live on the border. with some difficulty we got four more camels, and as their owners were themselves wazirs, we prevailed on them to accompany us. we loaded up our tents, medicines, and bedding, and about 9 a. m., when the sun was already very hot, we finally started. besides the two camel-men, there were a hospital assistant, two servants, a muhammadan inquirer, whom i was taking along for the sake of instructing him, and one of the schoolboys, who had persuaded me to let him accompany us, so that we were quite a large party. after toiling for some hours along a mountain defile we came to gumatti post, one of those frontier forts that line the north-west border. this was built close to an old wazir fort, in capturing which, two years ago, colonel tonnochy and captain white lost their lives, as described in chapter i. we passed through the wire entanglement, and spent the heat of the day talking to the native officer and soldiers in charge. in the afternoon we set out again, and marched along the bed of the kurram river, which we had to ford six times, so that before we reached our night camp it had become quite dark. taking advantage of the dark, some light-fingered wazir thieves managed to steal the tent carpet off the back of a camel without our catching sight of them. our camp was in a wazir village, built on a cliff overhanging the river. the people were rather excited, as another wazir clan had been up during the day and made off with twenty head of cattle. however, there were some old patients among the people, so we got a hearty welcome. they made us some tea, and set some of their number to watch round our beds with their martini-henrys ready loaded in case enemies should come during the night. the mullah of the place came and had a talk with us, and then we were soon all fast asleep. next morning we were up betimes, and i found my bed surrounded by a number of women with squalling babies. one mother wanted me to see her baby's eyes, another the stomach of hers, another the ears; in fact, all the babies seemed to have made common cause to delay my departure as long as possible. however, after doling out various lotions and pills, and giving the mothers many instructions, which, i fear, were only heard to be forgotten, we managed to get the camels loaded and started. now, however, a new difficulty confronted us. during the night there must have been heavy rain higher up the valley, for the river was in flood and unfordable. i knew by experience how strong yet deceptive the currents of the river are when it is in flood, for a few weeks before i had been out on a bathing excursion with some of our schoolboys in another part of the same river. i had dived into a deep pool, when i found myself in a return current, which was carrying me back under a small waterfall, where the water was sweeping over an obstruction like a mill-race, with a fall of about four feet. as soon as i got to the fall i went down, down, down, till i thought i was never coming up again. however, i did come up, only, however, to be pulled back at once under the waterfall and down into the depths again. the third time i came up i got a momentary glimpse of two of the boys trying to throw me the end of a pagari. they were, however, much too far away for me to reach it, and i was pulled under again before i had time to get even one good breath. as i went down i wondered if i should ever see the boys again, and how many times i should come up before it was all over. then all at once it struck me that i was very foolish trying to get out at the surface, where the current was beyond my strength, and i must change my tactics; so i turned over and dived down till i felt the boulders at the bottom, and then crept along the bottom with the aid of the current--which there, of course, was flowing downstream--as long as i could. when i could do so no more, and had to strike upwards, i found, to my delight and thankfulness, that i was out of the eddy and going downstream. so it was clearly impossible to keep along the river, even if we had not had laden animals with us. we were obliged, therefore, to make a long dã©tour through the hills, which took us nearly all day. so rough and precipitous was the path that we had the greatest difficulty in getting the camels along, and had several times to unload them in order to get them over bad places. during the afternoon we saw a party of fifteen or sixteen armed wazirs hastening towards us. at first we thought they were coming to loot us, and one of the wazirs with us told us to stop, while he went forward and called out, "are you friends or enemies?" when they replied "friends" he went up to them, and then called us on to join him, when i found that they were a party of outlaws who had fallen foul of the government, and, therefore, had made their escape across the frontier. they got me to sit down with them in the shade of a rock and write down a list of their grievances for them, so that they might propitiate the political officer and obtain permission to return to british india. i was very happy to render them this service, and we parted good friends. i noticed, however, that the wazirs with us seemed uncomfortable, and kept their rifles ready cocked till they had disappeared behind a turn in the defile. i make it a principle never to carry any arms myself, and think i am much safer on that account, but the villagers who accompany me always go well armed; in fact, across the border few afghans can go out of their houses without their rifles on their shoulders ready for use, so terribly prevalent are the blood-feuds and village quarrels. we spent that night in a wazir village, where we saw a number of patients and made fresh friends. the head man of the village apologized next morning for not accompanying us more than half a mile. he said that he had blood-feuds with most of the villages round, and could not, therefore, venture farther. the fame of the bannu mission hospital, however, was our best escort, and passport too, and we got a welcome at almost every village we passed, through the mediation of numerous old patients, who had recounted in all the villages the kind treatment they had received at the hands of the feringis (europeans) in bannu. progress was somewhat delayed by frequent calls to visit a sick person in one or another village, but openings for the gospel were at the same time secured, and the lessons of the parable of the good samaritan imparted. by midday we reached thal, which was for some days to be our field hospital. here we pitched our tents, under the shade of some willows, by a small stream outside the town, and early the next morning started work. a large crowd of sick and their friends had collected from thal itself and the villages round. i first read a passage out of the pashtu testament, and explained it to them in that language. the gospel address over, i wrote out prescriptions for each one in order, which my assistant dispensed to them. after a minor operation or two, a fresh crowd had collected, another address was given, and they, too, were seen and attended to. in this way five lots of patients were treated, and about 200 or 300 people heard the gospel story in their own language. then, as evening was drawing on, we shut up our books and our boxes, washed off the dust of the day's work in the brook hard by, and proceeded to interest ourselves in the operations which the cook was conducting over an improvised fireplace, made of a couple of bricks placed on either side of a small hole in the ground. dinner over, we had family prayers, and then fell soundly asleep. an interesting town where we have sometimes stopped in our itinerations is that of kalabagh. it is situated on the right bank of the river indus where it finally breaks forth from the rocky gorge that has hemmed it in with high, often precipitous, sides, which rise at dimdot to a sheer height of four hundred feet above the surging river, on to the boundless alluvial plain of the panjab. in some of the bends between attock and kalabagh, it rushes at a great speed over rapids, where the boatmen warily guide their heavy river boats, lest they be drawn into some whirlpool, or dashed against the precipitous sides; at others there are deep, silent reaches where the bottom is two hundred feet from the surface. during the hot weather, when the river is in flood, it is an exciting experience to be ferried across its dark grey surging stream. at kalabagh there are extensive quarries of salt of a beautiful pink and white colour and great purity; these bring in a considerable revenue to the government. the town itself is built on the side of a hill of red salt marl, some of the houses being quarried out of the salt itself, so that the owner has only to chip off a bit of his own wall in order to season his cooking-pot. it is a standing grievance with the inhabitants that their own walls are government contraband, and they are subject to a fine if they sell a brick from their wall without paying duty on it. the streets are narrow and winding, and being, many of them, roofed and even built over, are very dark, and in the hot summer nights insufferably close and hot, and at all times distinctly insanitary and malodorous. the people are pale and anã¦mic, and nearly all suffer from goitre in a greater or less degree. they form a great contrast to the hardy mountaineers of the bangi khel khattak tribe on the hills behind them. these form one of the great recruiting grounds of the pathan regiments of the frontier, while from kalabagh itself it would be hard to find a score of men who could pass the recruiting officer. in the sultry summer weather the inhabitants spend the day under a number of large banyan-trees (ficus indica) which are scattered along the edge of the river. here, too, the civil officers of the district hold their courts, and i was encamped under a spacious banyan. its spreading branches not only sheltered me and all the sick and visitors who thronged around me, but also the deputy commissioner of the district and his court, together with the crowd of suitors and applicants that always followed in his train; and the district judge, with his court, and a crowd of litigants, pleaders and witnesses--and this all without incommoding one another. the land away from the river is pulsating with the fervid heat of the summer sun, and the town itself is like an oven; but there is nearly always a cool breeze blowing on the bank of the river, and, when heated and dusty with the day's work, one can throw off one's clothes and cool oneself with a swim in the river, where the young men of the place are disporting themselves all their leisure time. they use the inflated skin of a goat or of a cow, and, supporting themselves on this, can rest on the deep, cool bosom of the river as long as they like without fatigue. the river is too rapid for them to travel upstream, but when business takes them downstream, they simply fasten their clothes in a bundle on their heads, lie across their inflated skin, and quietly drift downstream at about four miles an hour as far as they desire. on returning, they simply deflate their skin, and sling it over their shoulders. we were usually thronged with patients here from morning to evening, and i have seen as many as three hundred in one day, the work including a number of operations. one day a noted muhammadan sheikh visited the place. he was a convert from hinduism, and was travelling about the country preaching islam and decrying the christian and hindu religions. he sent us a challenge to meet him in a public discussion on the respective merits of the cross and the crescent. i was reluctant, as such discussions are seldom conducted fairly or sincerely; but, finding my reluctance was being misunderstood, i consented, and we met one evening, a muhammadan gentleman of the place being appointed chairman. it was arranged that we were each in turn to ask a question, which the other was to answer. he was given the first question, and asked how it was that we had not miraculous powers, seeing that the bible said that those who believed in christ should be able to take poison or be bitten of snakes without suffering injury. the catechist with me gave so lucid and categorical a reply that the muhammadan disputant and chairman changed their tone, and said that, as the time was getting late, it would be better to postpone my question till another time. needless to say, that more convenient time never came, and we were not again challenged to a discussion at kalabagh, and the sheikh left for fresh pastures a few days later. chapter ix afghan mullahs no priesthood in islam--yet the mullahs ubiquitous--their great influence--theological refinements--the power of a charm--bazaar disputations--a friend in need--a frontier pope--in a militia post--a long ride--a local canterbury--an enemy becomes a friend--the ghazi fanatic--an outrage on an english officer. here we are met by an apparent paradox. there is no section of the people of afghanistan which has a greater influence on the life of the people than the mullahs, yet it has been truly said that there is no priesthood in islam. according to the tenets of islam, there is no act of worship and no religious rite which may not, in the absence of a mullah, be equally well performed by any pious layman; yet, on the other hand, circumstances have enabled the mullahs of afghanistan to wield a power over the populations which is sometimes, it appears, greater than the power of the throne itself. for one thing, knowledge has been almost limited to the priestly class, and in a village where the mullahs are almost the only men who can lay claim to anything more than the most rudimentary learning it is only natural that they should have the people of the village entirely in their own control. then, the afghan is a muhammadan to the backbone, and prides himself on his religious zeal, so that the mullah becomes to him the embodiment of what is most national and sacred. the mullahs are, too, the ultimate dispensers of justice, for there are only two legal appeals in afghanistan--one to the theological law, as laid down by muhammad and interpreted by the mullahs; the other to the autocracy of the throne--and even the absolute amir would hesitate to give an order at variance with muhammadan law, as laid down by the leading mullahs. his religion enters into the minutest detail of an afghan's everyday life, so that there is no affair, however trivial, in which it may not become necessary to make an appeal to the mullah. birth, betrothal, marriage, sickness, death--all require his presence, and as often as not the afghan thinks that if he has called in a mullah to a sick relation there is no further necessity of calling in a doctor. thus the mullah becomes an integral part of afghan life, and as he naturally feels that the advance of mission work and of education must mean the steady diminishing of his influence, he leaves no stone unturned to withstand the teaching of missionaries and to prejudice the minds of the people against them. the great religious fervour of the afghans must be evident to anyone who has had even a cursory acquaintance with them, whether in their mountain homes or as travellers through india. i remember once sitting in a village chauk while a religious discussion was going on which threatened to launch the two opponent parties into making bodily attacks on each other, and the whole of the matter under discussion was whether prayers said by a worshipper on the skin of a jackal were efficacious or not. according to the tenets of islam, if a worshipper were to perform his genuflections on the bare ground they would be of no effect, because the ground might certainly be assumed to be ceremonially polluted. ordinarily, the worshipper will spread a piece of clean cloth, or mat, or skin on the ground, and, removing his shoes beforehand, will perform his prayers thereon. it might be contended, however, that even though the skin of the jackal were absolutely clean, yet the unclean nature of the animal still attached to it, and rendered the prayers ineffective. the matter in this case was referred to a renowned mullah who lived some way off, and to whom both parties had to send deputations several days' journey. then, in the mission hospital the question has frequently been raised by the afghan patients as to whether it was lawful to say prayers in the clothes provided by the mission for the patients, even though these may have come direct from the washing; and we have been unable to persuade patients to put on clothes, however clean, which might possibly prevent them from saying their prayers until they have brought the case before some mullah who was willing to give an ex cathedrã¢ pronouncement in our favour. mullahs sometimes use the power and influence they possess to rouse the tribes to concerted warfare against the infidels, as they tell them that the english are; and often a prelude to one of the little frontier wars has been some ardent mullah going up and down on the frontier, like peter the hermit, rousing the tribes to come down and fight. often they lay claim to magical powers whereby those who submit themselves to their incantations become invulnerable, so that they are able to stand up before the bullets of the english troops unscathed. before the war of 1897, a mullah, known as the mullah povindah, was reputed to have this power; and many of the afghans i met maintained that they had put it to the test, and seen with their own eyes the bullets fall harmless off the people to whom he had extended his protection. it was useless to say that they were trying to impose upon them, for they thoroughly believed it themselves, as was shown in many cases by the reckless daring with which they charged down on the british troops. even those who may be supposed to be free from the superstition of the ignorant believe with equal fervour in this power of the mullahs and holy men. an instance of this occurs in the memoirs of the late amir abdurrahman, who relates that once during a military review a soldier deliberately shot at him as he was sitting in a chair. the bullet passed through the back of the chair, and wounded a page-boy standing behind. he attributes his escape entirely to a charm written on a piece of paper which a holy man had given to him when a boy. he says: "at first i did not believe in its power to protect; i therefore tried it by tying it round the neck of a sheep, and though i tried hard to shoot the animal, no bullet injured her." one of the commonest experiences of the open-air preacher on the borders of afghanistan is the wordy warfare in which he is obliged to engage with some bellicose mullah. the mullah has heard that the missionary has begun to preach, and he regards it as his duty to come down and champion islam. he brings a big volume of the quran ostentatiously under his arm, and is followed by four or five students, or talibs, ready to applaud all his thrusts, while ridiculing in a very forcible way the replies of the preacher. such arguments can hardly be expected to bear any reasonable fruit, because the object of the mullah is not to ascertain what your views on any doctrine really are, but only to gain a strategical victory and hold you up to ridicule; but it is equally impossible to refuse the challenge, for then not only would the audience conclude that you had no answer to give, but the mullah would take care that no one remained to listen to you. frequently the object of the mullah is to egg the people on to acts of open violence, and then, when they see that the row is well started, they suddenly make themselves scarce, and leave their flock to take the risk of any subsequent police investigations which may result. on one occasion i had a providential deliverance from an unpleasant incident. on proceeding to the place in the market where i usually preached, i found a mullah in possession preaching to a scowling crowd of townsmen. as we had always preached in that particular place for years, i saw it was only a ruse to oust us from preaching first there and then anywhere else where we might go, so i promptly took my place by the mullah's side, and commenced preaching to the same audience. the mullah vociferated, and the audience scowled more and more, and then the mullah, turning to me, said: "look here, you had better get out of this, as these people here are up to mischief, and it may go hard with you." i felt much like micah when the danites said to him: "let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee." but i told the mullah that i held him responsible for the acts of his followers, and i did not intend to forsake the place to which long custom had given us a right. just as the storm seemed about to break, and i momentarily expected to be pitched across the street, a stalwart smith, a well-known muhammadan, himself respected by the people, pushed through the crowd, and, taking the mullah by the arm, said: "now, mullah sahib, you know the padre sahib never interferes with you in your place, and that this is not your proper preaching-place. why do you want to make a row and injure him?" so saying, he took the rather unwilling mullah off to his usual place, and the more unruly portion of the crowd, after hurling a few imprecations at me, followed him, too. our friend the smith was an old hospital patient, so this, too, may be set down, under the overruling providence of god, to the mollifying influence of a medical mission. one of the most influential mullahs on the british side of the afghan border is the mullah karbogha, so called from the village which forms his canterbury. in some respects his influence was directed towards the moral improvement of the people, while in others his religious schools became hotbeds of fanaticism. thus he set his face steadily against the evil practice, which is so prevalent among the frontier afghans, of selling their daughters in marriage to the highest bidder. not long ago a mullah of considerable power, who had himself sold his daughter in marriage, had to make the most abject profession of repentance lest the mullah karbogha should excommunicate him, and he should have to fly the country. he regards the smoking of tobacco as one of the works of the devil, and when the mullah makes his visitation to some village there is a general scramble to hide away all the pipes; for not only would any that he found be publicly broken, but the owner would incur his displeasure. as the afghans do not confine themselves to the soothing weed, but mix it up with a number of intoxicating and injurious substances, such as indian hemp or charras, this attitude of the mullah may be regarded in the light of a reform. unfortunately, he regards it as a heinous sin for any muhammadan to take service with, or to receive pay from, the british government. often on the frontier a grave crisis has threatened to result from the refusal of one of his underlings, or sheikhs, as they are called, to grant the rites of marriage or burial to some unfortunate pathan who has enlisted in one of the regiments of the indian army. the missionaries, of course, are regarded by him and his sheikhs as the embodiment of the heresies of an infidel government. for many years the mullah karbogha apparently ignored me, but finally i had information that his attitude was going to become more distinctly hostile. i thought it better, therefore, to act on the biblical adage to "agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him," and to seek to modify his attitude by a personal interview. it was one hot august day that found me and an indian medical assistant riding to this frontier mecca. it was a part of the district notorious for deeds of violence, and after riding some ten miles, when the hot summer sun made us feel the need of some refreshment, we came to one of those villages where is posted a guard of some twenty militia sepoys, who represent the army of the government in their midst. it was only a roughly-built house, loopholed and strengthened in some parts to simulate a fort, and the soldiers themselves were only removed by a few months' military training, a simple uniform, and the salt of the sarkar, which they had eaten, from the families of brigands and highwaymen from which they had been enlisted. there had been a double murder that morning in a village a few miles off, and most of the soldiers were scouring the country round in quest of the marauders; but, as usually happens, the murderers had got a good start, and were already probably well across the frontier. when the soldiers who remained in charge found that it was the bannu daktar sahib who had come so suddenly upon them, they were all attention. tea was brewed, and milk and unleavened cakes were fetched from the village, while men suffering from ague and women bringing their children suffering from various ailments to which afghan children are liable soon came crowding in, and a little store of medicines that we had carried on our saddles was in great request. after refreshing ourselves with their simple hospitality, and chatting with them on the various subjects which come most naturally to travellers and to missionaries, we tightened our saddle-girths, which had been loosened to give the horses a feed, mounted, and rode on. the road lay through a wide and picturesque valley. a small river was dashing into silver spray over the boulders on some steep descent, and elsewhere deepening into some pool overshadowed by acacias and oleanders, where the fish could be seen disporting themselves on the shingly bottom. the sides of the valley rose up to right and left in rough escarpments, where the olive and the gurguri-berry gave a clothing of green to the bare rocks, while here and there the hills receded sufficiently to enable the thrifty husbandman to clear a little piece of land from stones and to plant it with millet, which in good seasons would supply his household with bread through the winter months. after a couple of hours of such riding, we approached the watershed of the valley, northward of which the streams flowed in the opposite direction towards the miranzai and the kurram. it was one of those wide stony plains called in afghanistan raghzas, covered for the most part with stones stained black by oxides of iron and manganese, and called by the people dozakhi kanrai, or "hell-stones," from their tradition that they were thrown there in some ancient conflict between the devils and the angels. the coarse grass springs up in tufts between the stones, and affords a pasturage to the flocks of hardy goats and sheep. shepherds may be seen here and there guarding and attending them, while in parts there may be sufficient soil to give in a rainy season a fair crop of millet or of barley. before long we descried four tall minarets rising up beyond an undulation of the plain. this was our first view of the famed cathedral of this canterbury of the frontier where the mullah karbogha held his court and issued his decrees and excommunications, which carried dismay into any hapless chief's home or village against whom they had been fulminated. as we drew near we met various other travellers, who had come, it may be, to bear the mullah their respects and some votive offerings, or it may be to bring some long-standing dispute for settlement. we wondered within ourselves what the result of our pilgrimage would be. as we drew near we got a fine view of the really beautiful and artistic mosque which the offerings of the faithful had enabled the mullah to build at no little cost in this wild region, where both skilled labour and building material were at a premium. there was a beautiful tank of clear limpid water, supplied by a fountain in the hill above, and here the faithful performed their ablutions before worship. some of the talibs and sheikhs were sitting round the tank and in the courtyard of the mosque, and appeared not a little surprised to see the bannu daktar sahib come to their own mecca. we were informed that the mullah himself had gone to a neighbouring village to decide some dispute, but two of the sons came out to receive us, and led us into a verandah, where we were soon surrounded by the curious of the place. they led our horses away with the promise to look after their needs, and inquired as to the reason of our unexpected arrival. we told them how the fame of the mullah karbogha had reached bannu, and how we had long been desirous of ourselves making his personal acquaintance. after some hesitation, the mullah's eldest son, who was the chief in authority during his absence, asked if he should bring us refreshments. this was what we wished, not so much because the hot august sun had made us both tired and thirsty, but because it had a deeper signification; for, after having once offered us hospitality and broken bread with us, we should be recognized as guests of the mullah, and any opposition which he might have been contemplating against us would be seen at once by the observant afghans around to have been laid aside in favour of the reception due to an honoured guest. we therefore accepted the offer without demur, and tea sweetened with plenty of sugar and flavoured with cardamoms was brought, with biscuits, for our refection. our repast over, and various questions asked and answered, we were left for a time to ourselves, for in the hot summer days of india the noonday hours are as sacred to retirement and repose as those of midnight. after a few hours' interval, wherein we were left to rest ourselves, the mullahs returned and commenced conversation somewhat more affably. they had no doubt found themselves between the horns of a dilemma, for their outward rejection of our advances might have led to acts of open violence on the part of the fanatical inhabitants of the town, the responsibility for which would ultimately have come home to themselves in a way far from pleasant; while, on the other hand, our reception as guests broke down their attitude of hostility, as at once it would be noised all down the countryside that the great mullah had broken the bread of friendship with the daktar sahib from bannu, and among the afghans the relationship between host and guest is inviolable. thus, it came about that on our host making inquiries as to where we intended to spend the night, and finding that we had no other plans, he insisted on our stopping as his guests, and there and then sent his servants for the preparation of our lodging and our evening repast. the ice thus broken, we were able to proceed from general topics to the more abstruse theological speculations, in which his reverence excelled, and, like a summer shower, this friendly interchange of ideas washed away the dust of many old prejudices and misunderstandings, and as the evening hours drew on our talk continued under the starlit canopy of the glorious eastern night, and we were vowing mutual friendship, and he promising on his own behalf and on that of his father himself to become our guests on the next occasion of a visit to bannu. when at last we lay down to rest, we first thanked god, who had so prospered our journey, and broken down the great barrier of prejudice, and opened a way for us to carry on our work in the villages round. many of the people still looked askance at us, and spoke of us as "infidels" and "blasphemers," and would, no doubt, have been led to proceed further at a hint from the mullahs; but our mission had been accepted, and we knew it was only a matter of time that we should be actually welcomed. even now, grown bolder by the attitude of the mullah, some old patients appeared, and insisted on our accompanying them to various houses in the village where there were patients in need of medical help and advice. one cannot overestimate the religious influences emanating from a place like karbogha. numbers of religious students are attracted there by the fame of the mullah even from distant places on both sides of the border, and the offerings of the faithful enable the mullah to give a free-handed hospitality to one and all, and in afghanistan there is no quicker road to influence than the ability to do this. it was a tradition in the villages round that when the mullah daily prepared his saucepans of rice and cakes of unleavened bread in his kitchens, the amount was always found to be sufficient for the pilgrims of that day, even though hundreds might come in before night, unexpected and unprepared for. after imbibing not only his theological teaching, but his religious and political ideals, these students are scattered far and wide from kabul to peshawur, and from zwat to waziristan, where they become his staunch adherents against rival mullahs or against a materialistic government. the more fanatical of these mullahs do not hesitate to incite their pupils to acts of religious fanaticism, or ghaza, as it is called. the ghazi is a man who has taken an oath to kill some non-muhammadan, preferably a european, as representing the ruling race; but, failing that, a hindu or a sikh is a lawful object of his fanaticism. the mullah instils into him the idea that if in so doing he loses his own life, he goes at once to paradise, and enjoys the special delights of the houris and the gardens which are set apart for religious martyrs. when such a disciple has been worked up to the requisite degree of religious excitement, he is usually further fortified by copious draughts of bhang, or indian hemp, which produces a kind of intoxication in which one sees everything red, and the bullet and the bayonet have no longer any terror for him. not a year passes on the frontier but some young officer falls a victim to one of these ghazi fanatics. probably the ghazi has never seen him before in his life, and can have no grudge against him as a man; but he is a "dog and a heretic," and his death a sure road to paradise. one summer afternoon in bannu i went out with some of our schoolboys who were training for the mile race in the coming school tournament. i was accompanying them on my bicycle as they were running round the polo-ground, where some officers of the garrison were enjoying a game of golf. suddenly a young afghan of some eighteen summers, who had been able to arm himself with no more formidable weapon than a sharp axe, rushed up to one of the officers, and, before he could realize what was coming, dealt him a violent blow across the neck. the officer partly shielded himself with his golf-club, and probably thereby saved his life, for the axe came within a hair-breadth of severing the main arteries, and before the fanatic could deal another stroke he was felled to the ground by a blow from another officer with his golf-club. he was only a village youth, with little knowledge of the world, but had been incited to this act of suicidal fanaticism by a mullah, who, without the grit to become a martyr himself, thought it an act of piety to incite the ignorant boy to the murder of an innocent fellow-creature at the sacrifice of his own life. in this case it became known who the mullah in question was, and which was the mosque in which he had given this teaching, and while the boy himself suffered the extreme penalty of the law, the mullah and the mosque were not exempted from its operation. the former was transported to the andamans and the latter dismantled. still, it is well known that other mullahs are daily engaged in the same teaching on both sides of the frontier, and other young bloods are equally desirous of obtaining the sweets of martyrdom. chapter x a tale of a talib early days--the theological curriculum--visit to bannu--a public discussion--new ideas--the forbearance of a native christian--first acquaintance with christians--first confession--a lost love--a stern chase--the lost sheep recovered--bringing his teacher--the mullah converted--excommunication--faithful unto death--fresh temptations--a vain search--a night quest--the mullahs circumvented--dark days--hope ever. muhammad taib was born in the village of thandkoi, in the peshawur district. his father was a small farmer, a good example of the better sort of muhammadan of the yusufzai tribe, thoroughly religious, yet not fanatical, and honest withal. he was careful not only to bring up muhammad taib in a knowledge of his religion, but to preserve him from the vices which are rife among the youth of the pathan villages. taib's inclinations were towards study, and he showed a great aptitude for books. his father, however, was of the old school, which looked with suspicion on the education of the feringis; so it happened with him as with most young men in afghanistan who desire to cultivate their minds: he became a religious student, or talib. there happened to be a mullah in the village known as the khani mullah, who took a great fancy to young taib, so he was placed under his tutelage, and passed his days studying arabic and persian in the village mosque, while at the same time all the tenets and rites of the religion of islam were inculcated and explained. a talib could, however, never attain the knowledge and experience expected of a mullah if he were to remain in his own town; he must travel and sit at the feet of several at least of the mullahs most renowned for their sanctity and learning. so, when young taib was fifteen years of age, he tied up his few books in a shawl, and set out from home to sit at the feet of the renowned manki mullah. the learned man himself would not condescend to teach so immature a pupil, but he was surrounded by his sheikhs, who acted as his staff, and taught the talibs who flocked there from all parts of the country. besides, here taib met with mullahs from delhi, lucknow, bukhara, kabul, and other far-famed seats of learning, contact with whom could not fail to widen the horizon and enlarge the experience of the pupils who sat around them, and listened to their arguments and dissertations on the various schools of thought, and engaged in wordy polemics, which practised the budding mullahs in the art of drawing fine theological distinctions on the interpretation of a hadis or the difference of a vowel point in the quran. of a night the talibs would wile the hours away by telling tales of their respective countries or capping verses from the persian poets. but taib must travel and visit other mullahs, too; so it happened that, when seventeen years old, he visited bannu, and lodged in the mosque of a noted mullah near the bazaar. one day, when passing down the bannu bazaar, he saw a crowd, and, going up, he found an animated discussion going on between two afghans. while one was obviously a mullah, the other seemed not to be; but with him was a companion dressed as a mullah, whose face struck taib as not quite that of any of the afghan tribes he knew. he began to listen to see if the enigma would be solved, but was still more surprised to find that the argument was as to whether the ingil (gospel) and tauret (pentateuch) should be read by muhammadans or not. the mullah was arguing that the books had been abrogated by the mission of muhammad and the descent of the quran on that prophet, saying that, though it was right to read them till muhammad came, since then it was only lawful to read the quran. the stranger, on the other hand, pointed out that muhammad himself expressly referred his followers to the perusal and study of the "former scriptures," and clinched his argument by quotations from the quran itself. finally, the mullah, finding himself getting into a dilemma, obtained a release by the artifice with which we are very familiar by now. "it is time for afternoon prayers. i must hurry off, or my prayers will lapse by default," he said; and, folding up his quran in his shawl, hurried off. finding their champion gone, another in the crowd called out: "all who are mussalmans go away; he is no true mussalman who stops to listen to these kafirs. there is no god but god, and muhammad is the prophet of god." and then with one voice all the crowd took up the last sentence and shouted in unison: "la ilaha ilia 'llahu, muhammadun rasulu 'llah!" till the bazaar echoed with the sound; and then, with jeers and curses at the two preachers, in which taib thought it the proper thing to join, the crowd dispersed. "who were those two kafirs?" said taib to a bannuchi talib who was walking away with him. "the one in the dress of a mullah is a feringi whom we call the padre sahib. he has built a hospital here, where he preaches to the people about hazrat 'esa, and he has, indeed, misled many; in fact, the other kafir who was with him was led astray by him: he is an afghan from laghman, and has brought disgrace on the prophet. may god destroy them both!" taib thought here would be good opportunities for acquiring the art of theological polemics, so he came regularly every day with other talibs to support the muslim champion and jeer at the christians if they appeared at all discomfited. he could not help, however, being struck by the forbearance of the laghmani, who preserved an equable temper, though the talibs tried to excite him by all the opprobrious epithets with which their repertory is so well supplied. he saw, too, that the more difficult their champions found it to answer his arguments, the more they resorted to the expedient of crying him down with derisive shouts and jeers, and he began to have a feeling of sympathy, if not admiration, for him. then one day he waited behind till the talibs with him had gone, and the afghan preacher, seeing him lingering, took him by the arm and entered into conversation with him. they went on talking till they reached the mission compound, and taib accepted the invitation of the preacher to stop the night with him. instead of finding him a reviler of the prophet and a miscreant, as he expected, he found that all he said was quite reasonable and free from the rancour which his talib friends always introduced into their theological arguments. then the peace and comfort of a christian home, where the wife, instead of being a chattel or a drudge, was a real helpmate, opened up new trains of thought in his mind. the laghmani, too, was a pathan, like himself, with the same afghan prejudices and predilections, and yet there was an undefinable something in him, a spirit of self-control and self-abnegation and inward peace of mind, that he did not remember having met with in any pathan before. in short, taib, instead of being the guest of one night, as he had at first, not without misgiving, consented to be, stopped on to learn more of the new doctrine and discover the secret of the change that had been effected in the afghan preacher. taib proved an apt pupil, and the natural gentleness and fairness of his character made christianity all the more attractive to him, and he applied himself with assiduity to the study of the christian scriptures, and attended the christian worship. there were struggles without and doubts within to contend against. his former talib companions came in a body to see whether the padre sahib had kidnapped him, and when they found him stopping in the mission compound of his own freewill abused him and threatened him, but did not succeed in getting him away. one of the chief bannu mullahs came and argued with him for hours, telling him he was guilty of mortal sin in even allowing himself to entertain doubts about the truth of islam. but taib had become fascinated with the scriptures, and especially with the teaching of the gospels, as is often the case with those who have never read them till adult life, and he had no intention of forsaking his host till quite decided one way or the other. ultimately he decided that the prophet christ must indeed be the son of god, the very saviour that he claimed to be, and he asked for baptism. it was thought better to let him wait a few months till he had a maturer knowledge of the doctrines of christianity, and had shown his sincerity by standing some of the fire of persecution. there was no lack of the latter. when he accompanied us to the bazaar preaching, the foulest abuse was showered on him, and sometimes stones were thrown, and on one occasion, when he was caught alone, he received a beating from some talibs and others. the bishop of lahore visited the station about that time, and muhammad taib was baptized under the new name of taib khan, and was radiant with delight at having been at last admitted to the christian church. i was going on a long medical itineration about that time, and he accompanied me, and was zealous in his new-found faith, taking every opportunity of drawing mullahs and others into conversation about the claims of christ and the witness of the quran to him. those were perhaps the happiest days he ever experienced. then came a new trial. taib had been betrothed to a girl in his village, and his relations, having heard of his baptism, came to bannu. in nothing is the honour and sharm of the pathan more nearly touched than in his marital relation, and the taunt that he had lost the sharm which every pathan so dearly loves, came nearer home to him than persecution or loss of land and patrimony. one morning i found that taib had disappeared. no one knew exactly when or how, but he had been seen with the people from his village the night before, and nothing more was known. i assumed that by inducement or force they had taken him away to his village, and therefore would have gone by the kohat road; but they had already had at least eight hours' start, and the sun was now declining. however, no time was to be lost, so i got an ekka, or native pony-cart, and, taking with me a young bannuchi convert, sahib khan by name, started off in pursuit. for a long time we could get no news of the fugitives; then, at a village thirty-five miles from bannu, i was told that some pathans answering to the description of taib and his captors had said their afternoon prayers in the mosque there and then gone on. our pony was too tired to go farther; it was already midnight; the next stage was eleven miles on, and they would certainly leave there before daybreak. what was to be done? while we were debating this, we heard the bugle of the tonga with the mails. this runs between bannu and kohat every day in the winter and every night in the summer, and accommodates three passengers. if the seats had not been taken, we might go on in this. it so happened that two seats were vacant, so we got in, and soon arrived at the next stage, a village called banda. here we alighted. it was 1 a.m. the village was silent and dark except for the light of the half-moon. on the side of the hill above the village was the village mosque, and we knew that was the most likely place for travellers to lodge; so we passed through the silent village, and, removing our shoes, entered the courtyard of the mosque. thirteen men were stretched on the ground fast asleep and covered with their chadars, the sheet or shawl which an afghan always carries about him and uses as a girdle or shawl during the day, and wraps himself up in cap-ã -pie at night. as afghans always sleep with their heads covered in their sheet or quilt, we could not recognize the object of our search, and to wake all would mean certain defeat. but the bannuchies are at home in any night-work requiring stealth, so by the light of the setting moon my companion lifted the corner of the sheet from off the faces of the sleepers without waking any of them, and the last one was taib himself. a touch on his shoulder and he was roused, and recognized us. i merely said to him: "will you come back with me to bannu?" he answered, "yes, sahib," and got up, wound on his turban, and left with us without another word. we had to walk back to khurram, the village where we had left our pony-cart, and, finding it still there, drove back to bannu with the lost sheep, found none too soon. months now passed in study and in learning the work of a ward assistant in the mission hospital, so that he might be able to earn his own living, and use the opportunities of the mission hospital in working among the afghans attending it. there was a mullah in a village not far from bannu, where he acted as the imam and village schoolmaster. at one time taib had himself been his pupil, and was much attached to him. he had long been desirous of getting this mullah, his quondam teacher, or ustad, to study the claims of christ, and one day he had visited him with this object. when the mullah mentioned that he had been suffering from some deafness for some months past, "come to the mission hospital," said taib; "the padre sahib there will certainly cure you." the mullah hesitated at first when he heard that every day an address on christian doctrine was given to the assembled out-patients before they were treated. he thought it hardly seemly that he, a mullah and an ustad, should sit and listen to heretical teaching without being able to protest. however, tales of others who had been under treatment and recovered won the day, and he decided to go. "after all," he said, "i need not listen, and i can say extra prayers to atone for any sin there may be in my going." he came regularly till the cure was complete, but he did not keep up his intention of not listening to the preacher; in fact, some things that were said riveted his attention, and made him go home and search his quran, and his curiosity was aroused, and he talked over many things with taib khan, and finally came to me to ask me if i would read the gospels with him. he was careful to say that he had not any intention of becoming a christian, but merely desired to read them because every muhammadan regarded them with veneration as the word of god. the sermon on the mount entranced him, and he used to kiss the book and place it on his head, as muhammadans do with their quran. he would read by the hour, but as i had not much time to devote to him, he used to betake himself to the room of taib khan, and sit there half the day studying the scriptures. this could not go on, of course; the people of the village heard of it, and said that they must have an imam who was free from the suspicion of heresy; he lost his pupils, and at last a synod of the chief mullahs of bannu formally excommunicated him. he then came to live in the mission compound, and spent some happy months in study, while supporting himself as custodian of the mission bookshop. seldom have i seen so remarkable a growth of the christian graces in the character of any of our converts as in this man, and it was a great delight to see him admitted to christian baptism, already more mature in christian character than many who had been in the visible church for years. he bore the most scurrilous abuse with exemplary forbearance, and even when struck, as happened several times when going through the bazaar, forbore to retaliate, which for an afghan is the acme of self-control. he was a seyyid--that is, one who claims descent from muhammad--and when he came with us to the bazaar preachings, and stood by our side, the people were furious with him, saying that it was bad enough that he, a mullah and a seyyid, should have become a christian, but to parade it there in the bazaar in that shameless way was too much, and if he did not desist they would certainly kill him. i recommended him to abstain from accompanying us to the bazaar preachings, because i feared that the people would indeed put their threat into execution, but he would not hear of it. he had read, he said, that our lord said he would be ashamed of those who were ashamed of him before the world, so how could he refrain from showing publicly that he had become a christian? he would think it an honour if he could obtain the crown of martyrdom for the sake of the saviour in whom he had believed. one morning he found an afghan dagger lying outside his door. we thought perhaps his enemy had come in the night, but had been startled by the night watchman and escaped, dropping his weapon; or it might be that it had been left there to scare him, as much as to say, "that is what is waiting for you if you do not desist." as a precaution i told him not to sleep there any more, but gave him a bed in the house of a native christian near where i slept myself; for it was summer, and we were all sleeping in the open. three nights later i was awakened about one o'clock in the morning by the report of a gun, and, running over instinctively to seyyid badshah, found the enemy had indeed come and shot him through the stomach. everything possible was done for him, but the wound was mortal, and that evening he passed away, his last words being: "o lord jesus, i am thy servant!" there were many moist eyes as we carried seyyid badshah to his last resting-place in the little cemetery at bannu. his had been a very lovable character, and in his short christian life he had been the means of influencing more than one afghan towards christ. one in particular was a mullah from the yusufzai country, abdullah by name; and we sometimes spoke of the "four generations," as in these few years taib had been brought by the afghan preacher from laghman, whose story is given in chapter xvi.; then taib had been the instrument in bringing seyyid badshah; and through seyyid badshah's influence this other mullah believed. taib khan continued in the work of the mission hospital, but fresh trials were about to test and sift him more severely than ever. the old friend of his boyhood, the khani mullah, and some relations came down to bannu, and while pretending at first to acquiesce in his having become a christian, recalled to him the memories and associations of his boyhood. he became violently homesick. the old village scenes, his patrimony there only waiting for him to claim, the girl to whom he had been engaged, and whom her parents were, they said, still keeping unmarried in hopes that taib would recant and claim her--all these old scenes and ideas came to him with such irresistible force that he came to me one day and asked for a month's leave, that he might revisit his village. i well knew the dangers to which he would be exposed, but i sympathized with his homesick state of mind, and knew it would be futile to expect him to stifle it, so i gave him leave, and, warning him of the specious nature of the suggestions and temptations which would be offered to him there, reluctantly parted from him. at the same time i told him that if he did not return at the expiration of the month, i should conclude that something was wrong, and go in search of him. the month passed, and taib did not appear, so i started for peshawur, and thence to thandkoi, to get news of him. i took as my companion azizuddin, an afghan, who but for his conversion to christianity would have been a distinguished mullah, but now was a simple mission catechist. it was a long walk of about seventeen miles from the station to the village, and we were caught in a tropical thunderstorm. watercourses that had been all but dry an hour before were now surging up to our armpits, and could only be forded with difficulty. we reached the village like drowned rats, and the people were kind to us and dried our clothes and gave us breakfast; but all inquiries as to taib khan were fruitless, though someone indeed told us that he had gone to the akhund of swat in company with the khani mullah. we had to return to peshawur after a bootless search. a fortnight later, while on tour in the kohat district, news was brought me that taib was again in his village. this time i took a convert from islam with the very muhammadan name of muhammad hoseã¯n. though children born of christian parents are never given names distinctive of islam, yet when converts have such names, and are not desirous of changing them, we do not advocate a change of name, because we wish them to feel that the change is a spiritual and not a material one. so muhammad hoseã¯n and i set off, but resolved to proceed more warily than in my previous visit; so, instead of going straight into the village, we sat down by a well outside the neighbouring town of zaida, and my companion, leaving me there, went into the town to make inquiries. zaida is a larger and more important place than thandkoi, and contains many mosques, while the overlord is a well-educated muhammadan nobleman, an alumnus of the peshawur mission school. he was led to believe that taib was secreted in one of the mosques there, but would not be allowed to appear except perhaps at night. he returned to me at the well, and by this time it had become known who we were, so there was less hope than ever of taib being allowed to show himself. as evening drew on we made as though we would return to peshawur, but on reaching the first village on the peshawur road i let my friend go on alone, while i returned for a night quest. at the same time i told him to wait for me till morning at the ferry over the kabul river, fifteen miles distant. i bound my turban over my face, as is the custom with pathans when they wish to be incognito, and, throwing my lungi, or shawl, over all, returned to zaida. i entered the mosques one by one, and finally discovered taib seated with some mullahs in one of them. i was still far from the attainment of my object, as to have made myself known to taib under such conditions would, of course, have been fatal; so i betook myself to the chief of the village above mentioned. he, being in government service, was away, but his brother received me, and i told him that i had reason to believe that taib khan was being kept there against his will, and wished him to call the young man and inquire from him whether he wished to return to bannu with me or no. the chief, who had received me with the greatest good-nature, even though he had been roused from his sleep for the purpose, acceded to my request and sent a messenger to have taib and the other mullahs called. taib was much astonished, and apparently ashamed too, when he saw me; but when the chief addressed him, saying, "do you wish to stop here as a muhammadan or return with the padre sahib?" he at once replied: "i will go with the padre sahib." there was a great clamour from the mullahs, on the one hand urging taib not to leave, and reviling him when he persisted, and on the other insisting to the chief that taib was really a true muhammadan, and did not want to go, but the eye of the padre sahib had a mesmeric influence on him, and he should not, as a true mussulman himself, allow taib to go away with me. both taib and the chief, however, stood firm, and the chief, turning to me, said: "now take him away with you, and look better after him in the future; but make haste, and do not loiter on the way. i will see that no one leaves the village for half an hour; after that you must look out for yourselves." i thanked him for his courtesy, and taib and i wasted no time on the road, and reached the kabul river at dawn, just as muhammad hoseã¯n was about to cross over. some years passed, and taib khan became one of our valued mission workers, and i hoped that he was mature and strong enough to stand any vicissitudes; but often one finds that, while a convert in his first enthusiasm will suffer much for the gospel's sake, afterwards an inordinate idea of his own power and importance grows upon him, and he falls a victim to the blandishments of false friends who seek his downfall. so it turned out with taib khan: he, like most of the afghan converts, would not have shrunk from martyrdom, and, in fact, he had already undergone great hardships and sufferings for the gospel's sake. he was put in joint charge with another indian christian of a rather remote dispensary. the muhammadans of the place became very friendly, and pointed out how needless it was for him to forsake his village, his relations, and the graves of his forefathers just because he wished to be a christian; let him be a christian if he liked--it was no doubt written in his fate that he should be so--but let him go and live in his village. with the knowledge that he had acquired of medicine he could easily earn enough to support himself and his wife and child, and besides that he could claim the piece of land that was his by right, if he took the trouble to prove his title to it. then followed a spiritual decline. hypercritical objections to christianity, which had never troubled him before, were made into excuses for returning more and more to his original muhammadan position. finally he went to live in his village, conforming himself outwardly at least to the muhammadan standard, though, no doubt, professing in some respects still to have an attachment to the christian religion. who is to judge? even through perverts christian doctrine continues to permeate the great mass of islam, and god will undoubtedly bring back his own at the last. so, "undeterred by seeming failure," we work and pray on, leaving the result with him who knows the hearts of men. chapter xi school-work different views of educational work--the changed attitude of the mullahs--his majesty the amir and education--dangers of secular education--the mission hostel--india emphatically religious--indian schoolboys contrasted with english schoolboys--school and marriage--advantage of personal contact--uses of a swimming-tank--an unpromising scholar--unwelcome discipline--a ward of court--morning prayers--an afghan university--a cricket-match--an exciting finish--a sad sequel--an officer's funeral--a contrast--just in time. there are four attitudes towards educational work: that of the people at large, who desire learning, not usually for learning's sake, but because that is the portal of government preferment and commercial success; that of the priests and religious-conservative element, who oppose it tooth and nail as subversive of the old religious ideas and priestly power; that of the missionary, who finds therein his vantage-ground for familiarizing the intelligent and influential section of the people with the doctrines and ideals of the christian religion; and that of the government, which, indifferent alike to the motives of the missionary and the opposition of the mullahs, requires educated young men for administrative posts, and believes that education eclipses fanaticism. "any parent sending his son to the mission school will be excommunicated" was the fatwa of the mullahs at bannu when the mission school was inaugurated; the delinquent would be unable to get priestly assistance for marriage, for burial, or for the other rites so essential to a muhammadan's religious safety. but parents and boys alike were desirous of availing themselves of the advantages of the school, so the mullahs relented, and said: "let the boys go to school, but beware lest they learn english, for english is the language of infidelity, and will certainly destroy their souls." but without english all the best government appointments were unattainable, and their boys would have to be content with inferior posts and inferior pay; so pressure was again brought to bear on the mullahs, and the fiat went forth: "let the boys read english, so long as they do not read the christian scriptures, for the christians have tampered with those books, and it is no longer lawful for true muhammadans to read them." again a little patience and a little gaining of confidence, and the mullahs tacitly retracted this restriction too, and now many of the most prominent mullahs themselves send their sons to the mission school. the muhammadan lads compete zealously with the others for the scripture prizes, and in 1907 two muhammadan officials gave prizes to be awarded to the boys who were most proficient in scripture in the matriculation class. sic tempora mutantur! a significant occurrence was the visit of his majesty the amir of afghanistan to the islamic college at lahore, when he made a speech, in which he reiterated the advice: "acquire knowledge! acquire knowledge! acquire knowledge!" and went on to say that if they had been previously well grounded in their religion they need not fear lest the study of western science might overthrow their beliefs or undermine their faith. thus most of the muhammadan boys in our school have already studied the quran in a mosque, and many continue to receive religious teaching from their mullah while studying in school. thus they enter school at an older age than the hindu students, who, except in family life, take little count of their religion, and slight their priests. the danger is obvious: faith in the old order is lost, and there is nothing but a conceited and bumptious materialism to take its place. here it is that the mission school holds the advantage of the government institution. the latter, in the endeavour to be impartial, excludes all religious teaching, and therewith loses the most valuable means of moral training. the mission school, on the other hand, gives special prominence to religious and moral training, which go hand-in-hand. "i prefer sending my son to the mission school," said a muhammadan father to me once, "because he will be taught the religious incentives to moral conduct there, and i shall not be afraid of his character losing its moral balance." and this was said by a man thoroughly orthodox and zealous in his own religion. there can be no doubt that a far smaller proportion of the students in mission schools and colleges lose the religious instinct of their forefathers, and it is often the loss of this which results in moral instability and ruin. "i never took an interest in studying my own religion till i was taught scripture in the mission school," said a pupil to me; and, of course, we encourage the boys not only to perform the religious duties inculcated by their own religion, but to study it thoughtfully, and see how far it satisfies the aspirations of their souls. a visitor to our school hostel of an early morning would find the muhammadans saying their prayers and the hindus their devotions, and we encourage this, and give facilities for it by setting apart places for its performance, because it is a terrible thing to take away a boy's faith, even though it be a faith in a mistaken creed, and i think the man who has argued or bantered a young fellow out of his faith without bringing him to a higher faith has incurred a grave responsibility. the real enemy of the christian faith is not so much islam or hinduism, but infidelity and a gross materialism. it is not education that is to blame for the unrest, sedition, and materialism which threatens to engulf india, but the government system of education has undoubtedly much to answer for. god is ignored in government schools, prayer is proscribed, and the teachings of english socialistic and materialistic philosophers are poured into the capacious but untrained minds of the students. the result is mental intoxication and libertinism. india has always been religious to the core, and learning and religion have gone hand-in-hand. the result of their divorce is destructive to moral stability, and the nemesis of the policy will pursue the country for years, even if, as is to be hoped, the policy itself be discontinued. when i first went to india i had a prejudice against mission schools, and protested against a medical missionary having to superintend one; but i have become convinced that the hope of india is in her mission colleges and schools, for it is in their alumni that we find young men who have been able to acquire western knowledge without losing the religious spirit, learning without moral atrophy, mental nobility without a conceited mien and disrespect for their parents, and breadth of view without disloyalty and sedition. i should like to see the government close all their schools and colleges except those for primary and technical education, and devote the money saved to the encouragement of private effort on lines more germane to the spirit of the country. the indian student is an attractive personality and well worth sympathetic study, for he is the future of the country in embryo. the schoolboy has not yet lost the ancient indian respect, even love, of the pupil to the master, and is therefore much more readily subjected to discipline than his english counterpart. his chief failing is his incorrigible propensity to what is known in english schools as "sneaking"; schoolboy honour and esprit de corps are being developed in mission schools, but have very little basis on which to build. "please, sir, mahtab din has been pinching me." "shuja'at 'ali has stolen my book." "ram chand has spilt the ink on my copy-book." if the master is willing to listen to tales of this kind, he will get a continuous supply of them all day long. there are few boys who are not ready, by fair means or foul, to use a master for paying off a grudge against a fellow-student, and as the schemes are often deeply laid and the schemers very plausible, the master has to be very much "all there," or, on the plea of maintaining discipline, he will be merely a tool in a personal quarrel. once two or three of the senior students came to bring to me serious charges against the moral character of one of the junior masters. they were prima facie well substantiated by witnesses, but on further investigation it turned out that the whole affair had been engineered merely because the master had broken up an undesirable clique of theirs. such habits have, of course, to be sternly repressed. there is much greater diversity in the social status of the boys in an indian school than in english schools. in the bannu mission school every class of the community is represented--from the son of the rich landowner to that of the labourer, from the brahmin to the outcast--and not only do they get on well together, without the poor boy having to feel by taunt or treatment that he is unwelcome or despised, but i have often come across genuine acts of charity which have been done quite naturally and without any ostentation; in fact, they tried to keep it secret in more cases than one. thus, a poor boy, unable to buy his books, has had them supplied to him by the richer boys in the class. in one case a poor boy was left quite destitute by the death of his father, and some of the boys arranged a small subscription month by month to enable him to remain at school. the bannu school course commences in the infant class, where little toddles of five summers sit on grass-mats and learn their alphabet, to the big lads of eighteen in the fifth form, who are preparing for the matriculation of the punjab university. visitors are sometimes surprised to be told that many of the boys in this class are married and have children, but such is unfortunately still the case. at one time even much younger boys married, but a school law was passed that any pupil marrying under the age of sixteen would be expelled. since then some twenty or more boys have had to leave because their parents, usually much against the boys' will, insisted on getting them married below this age. but many marriages have been postponed, and there is a healthier public feeling against early marriage, and we hope that before long there will be no married boys in the school at all. i place great importance on the influence of the school hostels. these are the boarding-houses where those students whose homes are in the remoter parts of the district reside, and the contrast between our raw material, the uncouth, prejudiced village lad, and the finished product, the gentlemanly, affectionate student who is about to leave us, is an object-lesson in itself. the boarders, though comparatively few in number, are really the nucleus of the school, and take a prominent part in matches and in school life in general quite out of proportion to their numbers. the missionary is constantly in contact with them, and they come to him at all seasons, till the relationship is more like that of a father to his family than of a master to his students. such students leave the hostel with friendly feelings towards christians and englishmen, which show themselves in after-years in the hospitable and hearty reception which they accord not only to the missionary, but to others who may be visiting their village. there is a swimming-tank attached to the hostel, and the boys bathe every morning except in the coldest winter months, when they bathe at the well, where the water is several degrees warmer. woe betide the boy who is found asleep after sunrise! for should the manager come round and find him so, he is hauled out by two of the monitors, who, seizing him by hands and feet, toss him far into the swimming-tank before he quite knows whether he is dreaming or awake. a similar punishment is inflicted on a boy using foul language, who is thrown in, clothes and all, for purification from its stain. at one time visitors often got opportunities of seeing the punishment inflicted, but it is getting rarer now as the standard rises. a strange fragment of frontier boyhood was amal khan. he was brought down to us from afghanistan by a friendly sardar, who had taken an interest in him. he was only about eleven years old, but his father and most of his family had been killed in vendettas, and his ruling passion was to grow big and strong, buy a rifle, and go in quest of the murderers or their relatives. his gentle little face and winsome manner seemed so out of keeping with the cold bloodthirstiness of the remarks he used to make with the greatest naã¯vetã© that he was looked on as a kind of curiosity. later on, when he had made some acquaintance with scripture, he used to like to hear the gospel stories of the gentleness of jesus--the good shepherd, the miracles of compassion, the parable of the good samaritan, and such like; but even then the passion for revenge seemed to dominate his little breast, and he finally went back to his village across the afghan border in order to apply himself more seriously to the object of his fate. once a well-to-do afghan brought down his three sons to place them in our hostel, and told me i might use any means i liked to discipline them, short of shooting them. he had evidently found them too much of a handful himself. they had been accustomed to run wild in a wild country, and any idea of sitting still in a classroom to learn lessons seemed to have never entered their heads. they seemed so accustomed to the use of knife and revolver that the other boys, afghans though they were, came to ask me to take precautions for their safety. finally, when i had to "discipline" them, and that was not before very long, they all three disappeared, and i never saw them till, some years later, i visited their village. once a government civilian wrote asking me to take a young ward of court into my hostel. the account of him was not promising, as, though only sixteen, he had been turned out of two schools for misconduct. his family was of noble afghan descent, but had been bereft of most of its male members owing to the wretched blood-feuds, and this boy was now the head of the family. hoping to be able yet to save him and to make him a power for good instead of for evil, as he must by his position become one or other, i consented, and a day was appointed for his admission. the day passed, but the boy did not appear. i then got a letter from the officer responsible for him, saying that as he had just murdered his younger brother, the hope of his schooling must be abandoned. some of the masters of the little government primary schools in the more remote parts lead very unenviable lives, especially if they happen to be hindus. their pupils often defy their authority, and they are afraid to chastise them. i have myself seen a boy allowed to sit in class with a loaded revolver in his belt. the unwillingness of the master to enforce his authority is excusable, yet, had he complained, he would merely have lost his place and his pittance. on another occasion i came upon a poor hindu schoolmaster in a certain village who was about to send in his resignation. he had punished a boy for playing truant, and the father had just been round with a loaded rifle and dared him to touch his son again. in the mission school the work of the day commences with roll-call, at which a portion of scripture is read by the headmaster, and the lord's prayer repeated. during the latter the boys have to stand. they do not object to this, but i remember once a hindu boy being accused of having become a christian because he had shut his eyes and folded his hands during the prayer. he told me that many of the boys really joined in the prayer, and certainly they have got to value and appreciate prayer. on a sunday evening the boarders come to my house to sing hymns from "sacred songs and solos" and vernacular collections, and if i omit to offer the usual prayer at the close, they remind me of the omission; they do not wish to go away without it. once, at a cricket-match with a rival school, when the issue of the game was hanging in the balance, and depended on the last man, who had just gone in, making four runs, a muhammadan afghan, one of the eleven, retired to a corner of the field and repeated the lord's prayer, closing it with a petition for the victory of the school, and returned to find the winning run just made! at meetings of the schoolboys among themselves it is not uncommon for prayer to be offered by one of the number, and at a farewell dinner given me in 1908 by some pupils a very beautiful and touching prayer was offered by an old hindu student, now reading in the lahore medical college, and all the other muhammadans, hindus, and christians stood up for it. missionaries were the first to open schools on modern lines, but at the present time muhammadans, hindus, and sikhs are endowing their own schools and colleges on the most lavish scale, and teaching their own religions therein, just as the mission schools teach christianity. this certainly has many advantages over the government system, where religion is ignored. his majesty the amir of afghanistan is alive to the necessity of keeping up with the times, and is founding a college on modern lines at kabul, which will be the first step towards the foundation of an afghan university. during his recent visit to india he selected a number of trained muhammadan graduates from lahore and elsewhere, who are to inaugurate the new scheme. he will, no doubt, encounter the opposition of some of the more fanatical mullahs, who already look upon him as having been contaminated with many western and heretical ideas; but the ultimate result will be good, and the attempt shows that even for afghanistan a new era is approaching. perhaps it may not be long before a mission school at kabul will receive the royal sanction. the following episode i relate in this place because it shows the striking contrast between the uneducated ghazi fanatic of the hills and young men of the same race and antecedents who have passed through the humanizing and civilizing influences of a mission school. it is a lovely autumn afternoon in the little frontier town of bannu. the trees round the recreation-ground between the city and cantonments are becoming sere and showing variegated tints of yellow and brown. there is an unusual crowd round the greensward which forms the station cricket-pitch, and as it is friday, the bannu market-day, a number of wazirs and other hillmen who are coming to and from market stop for a few minutes to gaze on the scene that lies before them, and probably to wonder in their minds what mysterious ultimate object the feringis have in the evolutions they are watching enacted, or whether it is some preliminary to military operations on their own hill fastnesses. turning to the recreation-ground itself, we find that it is a cricket-match between the garrison officers and the mission high school students. the boys have been stealing a number of runs, and their score is beginning to draw on towards a century, when the officers put on a new slow bowler, and a succession of unwary batsmen fall victims to his wiles, and soon the innings is over with a score of eighty-eight. the officers begin to bat, and the score rises rapidly; then some good catches send several players back to the pavilion (here represented by some shady shisham-trees). the score reaches eighty-eight, and the last player goes in, a young fair-haired boy, the son of the slow bowler; the winning run is made, and the boy caught at point next ball, and the innings is over. just one week has passed. again it is market-day, but no tribesmen can be seen anywhere near the recreation-ground; instead we see long lines of khaki-dressed native infantry, while sentries and patrols guard all the roads leading thereto, and all is silent as the grave. then we see a long procession slowly, silently moving out of the fort, long ranks of native infantry--sikh, pathan, and punjabi mussulmans--with slow, measured tread and arms reversed; then a gun-carriage surmounted by a coffin covered with the union jack and wreaths, the masterless steed, the mourners; a group of sunburnt officers of the frontier force and some more troops bring up the rear. it is the funeral of a distinguished frontier officer, and the slow bowler of last friday, now borne to his last resting-place, the victim of a dastardly ghazi outrage the day before. just facing the cricket-ground is a shady and flowery patch of ground, enclosed by a simple brick wall and containing a number of white tombstones. here lie many gallant officers, military and civil--some killed in action; others, like the present captain donaldson, killed by religious fanatics in bannu and the neighbourhood while in the execution of their duties; others, again, carried off by pestilence and disease. here, too, in lowlier grass-grown graves, lie a number of the native christian community. east and west, high and low, all gathered in one small plot, covered with the same mother earth to await their common resurrection--so glorious in its expectations for some, so dread in its possibilities for others. here, just facing the now deserted cricket-ground, the long procession halts; the chaplain, just arrived after a hasty drive of ninety miles from dera ismaã¯l khan, begins to recite the solemn verses of the burial service, and the booted and spurred officers do their last brotherly service and shoulder their comrade's coffin from the gun-carriage to the grave. the strains of the "last post" sound forth--a shrill call to the sombre mountains round as the last rays of the setting sun fall slanting through the foliage on the faces of the mourners; some sharp words of command ring forth from a native officer; the troops wheel about, and all is solitude and silence. only the day before a new regiment was to arrive in bannu, and, as the custom is, the station regiments were marching out with their band to welcome them in. at the head of the regiment a group of officers were riding, including the officer commanding the district, colonel aylmer, v. c., and his brigade-major, captain donaldson. just beyond the fort the road narrows a little to pass over a culvert, and the officer on the outside of captain donaldson fell back a little to make room for him. behind that culvert a mahsud wazir was in hiding, determined to kill an infidel and gain a martyrdom in the most sensational manner possible, so that for many an evening in years to come the tribal bards might sing his praises round the camp-fires and in the village chauks. just as captain donaldson, now on the outside rank, came abreast of him, he sprang out; a pistol shot rang through the air, and the officer fell mortally wounded. there was, of course, no escape for the mahsud; bullet and bayonet at once disabled him, though he lived long enough to be hanged that afternoon. our first feelings are those of horror at the enormity of the act--killing a stranger who has never seen or injured him--but who is worthy of our severer judgment, this young and ignorant soldier (for he had recently served in the border militia), thirsting for religious fame by a deed of daring, or the muhammadan priest who had assiduously taught him that all feringis were kafirs, and that to kill one of them, in no matter how dastardly a manner, was a sure passport to paradise, and that eternal joys were awaiting him as the reward of the valour and righteousness of his deed? here, at any rate, we see the two extremes--the gentlemanly afghan from the mission school, entering with zest and sport into the game of cricket with the officers, and, so far from feeling any resentment towards them, ready, if need be, to fight with them shoulder to shoulder in the common cause of humanity, under the same flag, and defend them with their own blood from the fanaticism of their fellow-countrymen; on the other hand, the fanatical tool of the mullah, who quails before his ex-cathedrã¢ denunciations, but is ready at his suggestion to meet a bloody death as a martyr in the cause of his religion. as an example of the former, i might mention muzaffar khan, an old student of the bannu mission school, who risked his life to save that of the political officer of the tochi valley, with whom he was on tour. while that officer was viewing a muhammadan shrine a fanatic rushed out and ran a dagger into his body; but, quick as thought, muzaffar khan threw himself on the would-be murderer and dragged him back before he had been able to inflict a fatal wound. the ghazi was secured and hanged soon after, while the officer recovered, the stab having just missed a vital part, although it had pierced right through his body. yet, but for the mission school, muzaffar khan might have been the ghazi himself. race and religion were the same, but their environments had been different. chapter xii an afghan football team native sport--tent-pegging--a novel game--a football tournament--a victory for bannu--increasing popularity of english games--a tour through india--football under difficulties--welcome at hyderabad--an unexpected defeat--matches at bombay and karachi--riots in calcutta--an unprovoked assault--the calcutta police-court--reparation--home again. the reader must imagine himself on a flat open piece of ground covered by the hard alluvial earth known in the panjab as pat. this kind of earth is somewhat saline, and has a universally smooth surface, unbroken by grass or shrub, which is utilized by the villagers for their games and fairs, and by the british for the evolutions of their troops. around are a number of bannu villages, but the men and children have all collected round this piece of ground in their gala-day attire, for it is the day of the feast, "'id-el-fitr," or the breaking of the fast, following the month of ramazan, and is to be celebrated as usual by sports and merry-making. all the men who own or can borrow a horse are mounted upon steeds of all descriptions, more or less richly caparisoned, according to the ability of the owner. saddles are of the high-backed pattern universally used in afghanistan, with a long wooden croup, which helps the rider to retain his seat. they are all carrying the long bamboo iron-tipped lance for their national sport of tent-pegging, or nezabazi, as the afghans call it. some of the boys who are there as spectators are mounted two or even three on a horse, and others, mounted on riding camels, are able to get a good view of the games over the heads of the others. the pegs, cut out of the wood of the date-palm, are fixed in the ground, three or four abreast, so that an equal number of horsemen may be able to compete simultaneously. the competitors, with their embroidered turbans and gay, many-coloured coats and shawls, form a brave show at one end of the course, as they pass the intervening time in showing off feats of horsemanship on their prancing chargers. then, at a given word, three or four strike their heels into the horses' sides--for they wear no spurs--and as often as not rousing their own excitement and that of their horses by shouting out the muhammadan kalimah ("la ilaha illa 'llahu, muhammadun rasulu 'llah"), career wildly down on the pegs, and, if successful, gallop on triumphantly, waving the peg at the end of their lances. this goes on till men and horses are weary, and then a new game commences. this is known as tod or kari. the people form a large circle; then some young athlete, stripped except for his loin-cloth, tied tightly round, or secured by a leather waistband, jumps lightly out into the arena, his muscular frame showing to advantage as he contracts his muscles under his glossy, well-oiled skin. two other athletes, similar in attire and appearance, answer his challenge from the party on the opposite side. the endeavour of the challenger is to avoid capture, while yet allowing the pursuers to come near enough for him to give them at least three slaps with the open hand; while the pursuers in their turn try to seize him and throw him on to the ground, in which case they are adjudged the winners, and a fresh challenger comes forth. both sides are apt to get very excited, and the throws are often so violent that bones are broken, or other injuries received; and if that side believes this to be due to malice prepense, the game not unfrequently terminates in a free fight. these amusements and games go on until nightfall, when they may be followed by some fireworks, and competitors and spectators, both equally wearied, go home to their feast of pulao and halwa. such scenes have no doubt been common in afghanistan for centuries past, but the reader must now come with me to a different scene, and he will see how western influences are changing even the sports of the people. this time we are in a large grassy sward between bannu city and the cantonments. there is a crowd, as before, of some thousands of spectators, but the football goal-posts and flags show that the game is something different. it is the day of the provincial tournament of all the schools of the province, and teams of the various frontier schools from peshawur, kohat, dera ismaã¯l khan, as well as those of bannu, have collected here to pit their skill and prowess against one another in games and athletics. the referee, an english officer from the garrison, has blown his whistle, and the youthful champions come out, amid the cheers of their supporters, from the opposite sides of the ground. the bannu team are somewhat smaller in stature, and are wearing a uniform of the school colours--pink "shorts" and light blue shirts. the peshawur team are heavier in build, and are wearing their blue-and-black uniform. the referee blows his whistle again, and both sides are exerting all their powers to reach their adversaries' goal. as the ball travels up and down, and the chances of one or other side appear in the ascendant, the cheers from their supporters redouble, and as goals are attempted and gained or lost the excitement of all the spectators is not less than may be witnessed at a similar match in england. the captain of the bannu side is a native christian, whose father is a convert from muhammadanism; but the other muhammadans and hindus in his team are loyal to him to the backbone, and carry out his every order with that alacrity which displays the new esprit de corps which has developed in our mission schools. on his outside left is a young hindu, who carries the ball past the opposing half-backs and backs right up to the corner, from which he centres with great skill to the captain. the captain is, however, being marked by the other opposing back, so he passes to a muhammadan lad on his inside right, and then the whole line of forwards--muhammadan, hindu, and christian--rush the ball through the goal, amid the triumphant cheers of their side. the game is restarted, and peshawur makes a number of desperate rallies and skilful rushes, which, however, are all foiled by the vigilance of the bannu backs and the agility of the goal-keeper, a tall muhammadan lad, whose weight and height both tell in his favour. once one of the peshawur forwards brought the ball right up to the mouth of the goal. the bannu custodian seized it, but the peshawari was upon him. the goal-keeper held the ball securely, awaited the charge of the peshawari, who bounded back off him as from a wall, and then cleared the ball with his fist far up the field to the bannu left half. the whistle for "time" is sounded, and the bannu boys rush into the field and carry off their victorious schoolfellows shoulder high, amid great clapping and cheering. the next day the final cricket-match is held. in this the dera ismaã¯l khan boys are pitted against one of the peshawur teams. peshawur has already defeated bannu and kohat, and the dera ismaã¯l khan boys have disposed of the other peshawur team. all the technicalities of the game are observed with as much punctiliousness as in england, and their white flannels show off well under the bright indian sun, and but for their dark faces and bare feet one might imagine that he was watching a public school match in england. to-day the laurels rest with dera ismaã¯l khan, and they triumphantly bear off a belt with silver shields awarded annually to the winning team. the old order changes and gives place to the new. tent-pegging will always retain its charm, with its brave show and splendid opportunities for the display of manly courage and dextrous horsemanship, so dear to a militant nation like the afghans, and will always remain their favourite pastime. but the simpler native games are gradually giving place to the superior attractions of cricket and football, and the tournaments which of recent years have been organized between the various native regiments and between the different tribes inhabiting each district and between the schools of the provinces are doing much to create a spirit of friendly rivalry, and to develop among these frontier people a fascination for those sports which have done so much to make england what she is. some tribes among the afghans, such as the marwats, are very stay-at-home, and soon become homesick if they enlist in a regiment or undertake a journey. others, like the povindahs, are perhaps the greatest overland merchants of the east. they travel down from their mountains in khorasan, through the passes in the north-west frontier, and traverse with their merchandise the length and breadth of india, and numbers of them engaged in the trade in camels cross over the seas to australia and take service there. with the idea of developing the esprit de corps of the school, and gratifying their love of travel, while at the same time conferring on them the benefits of a well-planned educational tour through the chief cities of india, i arranged in the summer of 1906 to take the football team of the mission high school at bannu on a tour through a great part of northern india. a number of colleges and schools from calcutta to karachi not only accepted our challenge for football matches, but offered us hospitality for such time as we should be in their town. our team represented all classes--muhammadans, hindus, native christians, and sikhs. the captain of the team was an afghan lad of the khattak tribe, shah jahan khan by name, while the vice-captain was a native christian, james benjamin. various difficulties presented themselves, but all were eventually successfully surmounted. stress of work and school duties compelled us to make the tour in the slacker time of the year--viz., in july, august, and september. this was also the hottest time in most of the places we visited, and some of the matches were played in a temperature bordering on 100â° f., while the spectators were sitting under punkahs. at this time of year the river indus is in full flood, and presents a remarkable sight as, bursting forth from its rocky defile at kalabagh, it spreads out over the flat alluvial plain of the western panjab. in the winter it may be confined to one, two, or three channels, each about one to four hundred yards wide; but in the early summer, swollen by the melting snows of the himalayas, it overflows its banks, and not infrequently forms a wide expanse of water ten miles broad from bank to bank. at such a time the villages, which are built on the more raised areas of its bed, appear as little islands scattered here and there, the people of which get to and from the mainland in their boats. it is then that the tonga, or cart, has often to be dragged over miles of submerged road, with water from one to three feet deep, before it reaches the place where it is able to transfer its passengers and burden to the ferry-boats, which are waiting to carry them across the deeper portions of the river, and it may be that several changes from boat to cart and cart to boat have to be made before the traveller attains the farther shore, where is the railway-station and the train waiting to carry him down to karachi or up to lahore. in our case, after getting across the main stream in the ferry-boat, we put our luggage into two carts, and, removing our superfluous clothing, started to trudge through the inundated country to the station of darya khan, on the eastern bank. sometimes there was a quarter of a mile or so of fields not yet submerged; sometimes the water was up to our knees or hips for miles together, and in one place there was a deep channel about one hundred yards wide, where a ferry-boat was in readiness for the luggage, but we enjoyed having a swim across. two of the team, who were less practised swimmers, and had miscalculated the strength of the current, found themselves being carried rapidly down the stream; but just as some of those who had already gained the opposite bank were about to return to the rescue, they found their feet on a sandbank, and were able to struggle across. the thirteen miles across the swollen river took us from nine in the morning till four in the afternoon, though it must be admitted we loitered several times to enjoy a swim in the cool waters of the deeper channels. we found, too, that the football season differs in various places. while calcutta plays football in july and august, karachi plays from december to march, and bombay in the spring. however, even those colleges which were not in their actual football season sportingly agreed to get up matches during our visit. in no place did we find greater enthusiasm among the colleges and schools for football and a more open-handed hospitality than in hyderabad, the capital of the nizam's government, and here our team experienced their first defeat in this tour. we had had thirty hours' travelling from ahmadnagar, in the north, and the stations on this line were so ill supplied with refreshments that we had been unable to get anything except some biscuits and sweets, and, arriving at hyderabad at midday, we found the match had been fixed for 4 p.m., so that the team had only time for a hastily-prepared meal before the match. the college of the nizam put a strong team against us, and for the first time in the tour the bannu boys were distinctly outmatched. it was, however, nice to see what good feeling was evinced by both teams in this and nearly all the matches of the tour, both sides fraternizing with the greatest bonhomie both before and after the matches, and friendships were made which continued long after our team got back to bannu. tours such as this undoubtedly tend to promote that feeling of friendship and union between the races of various parts of india which has hitherto been so little in evidence. it also tends to widen sympathies and to lessen religious prejudices. not only did the members of our team sink the prejudices which might have arisen from diversity of religious opinion, but our hosts, too, represented all classes and faiths. thus, in hyderabad the organizer of hospitality was a christian missionary, the rev. canon goldsmith. a house was lent us for residence by a parsi gentleman, and dinners were given us by the muhammadans of the place. further south the hindus were more in evidence, and entertained us royally at bezwada and masulipatam. in the latter place we were the guests of the staff of the noble college, belonging to the church missionary society, and here an amusing incident took place. the boys in these parts are accustomed to play football with bare feet, and are light, lithe, and wiry, while our northerners were heavy, big-boned, and wore the usual football boots; so it came about that when they saw our team arrive, their hearts melted within them for fear, and they refused to play unless our boys consented to play barefooted; and this they refused to do, as they had had no practice in playing like that. it seemed as though we should have to go away without a match, but a missionary there had a boarding-house of christian lads of the district, and these sportingly declared that they were ready to play. both teams appeared at the appointed time amid a great concourse of spectators. the bannu boys, with their football boots, looked much the heavier team; but the telegu boys proved themselves much the more nimble, and outran and ran round our boys time after time, and as the bannu boys played very cleanly and were careful not to hack, they did not suffer from want of boots; but, on the other hand, several of our boys took off theirs at half-time, hoping thereby to become as nimble as their antagonists. they, however, lost by one goal to love, amid the greatest excitement. the teams which had refused to play were now most importunate in begging us to stop for other matches, but as we were engaged for a match next day at guntur it could not be done. with one exception, our afghans had never seen the sea, and they were all greatly desirous of making its acquaintance. i accordingly arranged for the journey from karachi to bombay to be on one of the british india steamers which ply between those two ports. it was the height of the july monsoon, and they had not realized what their request entailed. there was a strong wind on our beam the whole of our forty hours' journey, and the little steamer kassara rolled continuously the whole time, the billows sometimes breaking over her fore-deck. all but three of them suffered the terrors of mal-de-mer in its worst form, and earnestly wished that they had never been so rash as to dare the terrors of the ocean at such a time. we arrived at bombay amid a torrential rain--a bedraggled, dispirited, and staggering crew. it was pitch dark, and it was only with some difficulty that we found our way to the money school of the church missionary society, where we were to receive hospitality. the shops were closed and the watchman asleep, but after some delay we aroused him, got some tea at a belated coffee-shop, and lay down on the boards to wish for the morrow. it rained almost continuously during our stay at bombay, but we managed one match with the city club, of which the following account appeared in the bombay gazette: "match between the bannu football team and the city club. "the visitors opened the attack last evening from the southern end of the oval, and although the city club at times were pressed, the game was more or less of an even nature. the bannu combination was the first to score, and soon after followed up with their second goal. pulling themselves together, the city club then made several good rushes, and eventually succeeded in scoring. soon after they annexed their second goal, and equalized matters. in the second half the game was intensely exciting, as either side tried to get the winning goal. the visitors had a warm time of it, but eventually succeeded in getting their third goal. a minute before the close of time, however, the city men equalized by a well-judged shot, and the match thus ended in a draw of three goals each." one of the best matches of the tour was with the y.m.c.a. of karachi, which was thus described by the sindh gazette: "an interesting football match was played on tuesday evening last on the howard institute ground, between the team of the y.m.c.a. and dr. pennell's team of pathan boys from the c.m.s. high school, bannu. the first goal was scored soon after the match began, by a soft drive, and was in favour of bannu. almost immediately the y.m.c.a. equalized by bannu heading into their own goal during a mãªlã©e from a corner kick. soon afterwards the y.m.c.a. took the lead through a clever run up by wolfe, who passed neatly to morton, who netted with a neat shot. on the whole play was very even till half-time, when the y.m.c.a. led by two goals to one. at half-time the y.m.c.a. lost the services of their outside right, who retired on account of a weak knee. bannu generally took the lead in attacking, and scored twice again, the last time from a stinging shot well up the field. the bannu team played consistently, and altogether without roughness. we are glad to have seen them in karachi, and wish them all success in the remainder of their tour." from guntur we travelled north to calcutta, where a series of matches had been arranged, after which we had arranged a number of matches with the schools and colleges of the united provinces of agra and oudh, and those of the panjab; but an unforeseen and unaccountable misadventure brought our tour to a premature conclusion a few hours before the time fixed for our departure from calcutta. it was the outcome of one of those waves of unrest which followed the outburst of the storm with which the bengalis exhibited their resentment at the partition of bengal. the bengalis had organized a boycott of european goods, and in the fervour of their campaign had placed a number of boy sentinels at the doors of the shops of those merchants who dealt in articles of western manufacture. these were largely marwari merchants from the bombay presidency, and they thought to relieve themselves of this wasp-like horde of boy sentinels by circulating the rumour that a number of panjabis and afghans had come down from the north to kidnap boys and children whom they could lay hands on. this rumour was widely believed by the credulous mob of calcutta, and, all unknown to us, who were ignorant even of the existence of the rumours, our team had been pointed out as some of the probable kidnappers. we had returned on the morning of august 23, 1906, from playing a number of matches in krishnagar, and were to leave calcutta the same afternoon to play a match the following day at bhagalpur. the team had broken up into two parties to get their breakfast in one of those eating shops which abound in the calcutta bazaar, and i had gone along to howrah station to purchase the tickets. it was a hot day, and on my return i stopped at a refreshment shop in the harrison road, near the church mission boarding-house, where we were stopping, to get a glass of lemonade. i was sitting quietly drinking it in the shop front, when i noticed the whole bazaar was in an uproar. the crowd was rushing to and fro, and the shopkeepers were hurriedly putting up their shutters. all ignorant of the fact that it was my own boys who were being attacked, i quietly finished my glass and strolled back to our hostel, thinking there was no reason why i should trouble myself about affairs of calcutta which did not concern me. no sooner had i entered the gates of the compound when i saw one of our team--rahim bakhsh--his face covered with blood, and another one injured. "do you not know," cried one, "that our boys have been murderously assaulted, and perhaps killed?" "where are they?" i hurriedly asked. "they are probably in the hospital by this time." a cab was passing at the moment, and i jumped in, and drove off to the hospital. running up into the casualty room, i was horrified to find six of the team lying about with their clothes all torn and covered with blood and mud. their heads had been shaved by the casualty dressers, and were so cut and swollen that i could not recognize them all until i had spoken to them, and then for the first time i learnt what had happened. a party of nine had gone in a refreshment room, and were having their breakfast. meanwhile they noticed that a crowd of many hundreds had collected outside. scarcely realizing that they were the cause of the crowd, after finishing their meal, they came out to return to the mission boarding-house, but were met by cries on all sides: "these are the kidnappers! kill them! kill them!" even now they did not understand the cause of the excitement, but when they asked what it was all about, and what was wanted from them, they were only answered by derisive shouts and a shower of stones and brickbats. before they had time to organize any resistance they were separated one from another, in the midst of a raging mob, who belaboured them with stones and sticks until they fell senseless in the street. two only managed to escape--rahim bakhsh, whom i had met in the hostel, and one other, who had managed to get into a passing carriage. five of them, having been reduced to a state of insensibility, were taken by the mob and thrown into a back alley, where the blood from their wounds continued to flow and trickle down in a red stream into the street gutter. one of them--ganpat rai--was rescued by a friendly bengal gentleman, who bundled him into his house and attended to his wounds, and afterwards sent him under escort to the hospital. another--gurmukh das--was being belaboured by some ruffians while lying in the middle of the road, when an english gentleman passed in his carriage. naturally indignant at what he saw, he jumped down and asked them what they thought themselves to be, beating a senseless man in that way; and if he had committed a crime, why did they not take him to the police-station? someone in the crowd called out, "this englishman is their officer: let us kill him!" and, leaving the boy, they all set on him. he defended himself for some time, when some ruffian, coming up behind, turned a basket over his head, and it would have gone hard with him had not some friendly natives pulled him into the ripon college, which was close at hand. we would fain have got away from calcutta as soon as the condition of the wounded enabled us to travel, for the unaccustomed diet and climate was affecting the health of all of us; but we found ourselves prisoners to the will of the government, who required us to remain in calcutta as witnesses in the prosecution which the government was instituting, and we had to spend day after day of weary waiting, hanging about the police-courts of bow street bazaar. the police had secured a number of men who had been shown to have taken part in the riot, and most of these had secured barristers and pleaders for their defence; consequently, there was a formidable array of advocates on the side of the defence, each one of whom thought it his duty to cross-examine each member of the team at tedious length, and regardless of some of the questions having been asked us time after time by his brothers of the law. the brow-beating and cross-examining which we had to undergo could not have been worse had we been the aggressors instead of the victims, while the irrelevancy of the questions and the needless waste of time, entailing constant postponement from day to day, was exceedingly trying to us in our wounded and feeble condition, only anxious to get back to our homes on the frontier. the barristers and pleaders of the defence professed notwithstanding to be very sympathetic with us in our troubles, and one and another would come up and say something like this: "we people of calcutta are most sorry for this very unfortunate occurrence. no doubt most of the men in the dock are guilty, and should be punished for so unwarranted an attack on innocent travellers, but there is one man who has been arrested by some mistake of the police. he had nothing to do with it, and should be released, because he is quite innocent." as in each case the man "arrested by mistake" proved to be the one for which the barrister was holding a brief, their protestations lost something of their force. a more pleasant feature was the genuine sympathy shown by a certain section of the bengalis, a sympathy which was voiced by the hon. surendra nath bannerji, who convened a public meeting, in which he expressed the regrets of the calcutta citizens in an address which was presented to us in a silver casket. at last the court, taking pity on our uncomfortable condition, consented to take our examination and cross-examination previous to that of the hundred and more witnesses which the defence were going to bring, and which would have entailed some months' stay in calcutta, had we been kept back to the end of the trial. when we reached bannu we were honoured with a civic reception, which went far to make up to the members of the team for the discomforts that they had undergone. the civil officer of the district, the municipal commissioners, and a great number of the citizens, met us with a band some few miles before reaching bannu, and we were escorted in amid great rejoicings. chapter xiii 'alam gul's choice a farmer and his two sons--learning the quran--a village school--at work and at play--the visit of the inspector--pros and cons of the mission school from a native standpoint--admission to bannu school--new associations--in danger of losing heaven--first night in the boarding-house--a boy's dilemma. pir badshah was a well-to-do farmer of the bangash tribe, not far from kohat, and he had married a woman of the afridi tribe from over the border, called margilarri, or "the pearl." he had not to pay for her, because it was arranged that his sister was to marry her brother, and in cases where an exchange like this is made nothing further is required. they had two sons, 'alam gul and abdul majid. the father intended that the elder should be educated, and one day he hoped would become a great man, perhaps tahsildar (meaning revenue officer) of the british government, so he was going to give him the best education he could afford; while abdul majid was to look after the lands and become a farmer, for which it is not supposed that any education is necessary. pir badshah was very orthodox and punctilious in all the observances of his religion, so the two boys were not to learn anything else until they had sat at the feet of the village mullah, and learnt to read the quran. the mosque was a little building on the hillside. it was built of stones cemented together with mud, and in the centre was a little niche towards the setting sun, where the mullah, with his face towards mecca, led the congregation in their prayers. there was a wooden verandah, the corners of which were ornamented with the horns of the markhor, or mountain goat. beyond this was the open court, in which prayers were said when the weather was fine, and either in this verandah or the courtyard 'alam gul and his brother used to sit at the feet of the old mullah, reciting verses from the quran in a drawling monotone, and swaying their bodies backwards and forwards in the way that all easterns learn to do from the cradle when reciting or singing. when they had finished the quran and learnt the prayers and other essentials of the muhammadan religion, 'alam gul was sent to the village school, while abdul majid began to make himself useful on the farm. he used to go out with his father's buffaloes to take them to pasture, and sometimes he used to take his brother out for a ride on one of these ungainly animals. then, when the harvest was ripening, a bed was fastened up at the top of four high poles, and he had to sit all day on this to protect the crops from the birds. for this purpose cords are fastened across the field up to the bed, and oil-cans or other pieces of tin are fastened to them here and there, so that as abdul majid had all the ends of the cords in his hands, he could make a din in any part of the field where he wished to frighten away the birds, and sometimes was able to take half a dozen home for the evening meal. 'alam gul, on the other hand, was being initiated into the mysteries of the hindustani language and of arithmetic. the school was a little mud building in the centre of the village, and the schoolmaster was a muhammadan from the panjab, who found himself rather uncomfortable in the midst of these frontier pathans, whose language seemed to him so uncouth and their habits so barbarous. his meagre salary of ten rupees (13s. 4d.) a month was somewhat augmented by his holding the additional post of village postmaster; but it had this disadvantage--that when one of the villagers came in to buy an envelope, and get the postmaster to address it, as probably he did not know how to write himself, teaching had to be dropped for a season: for it must be remembered that for a pathan villager to send off a letter is quite an event, and he may well afford to spend a quarter of an hour or so, and give the postmaster a few annas extra to get it properly addressed and despatched to his satisfaction. meantime, 'alam gul and his companions would take the opportunity of drawing figures on the sand of the floor, or of playing with a tame bullfinch or a quail, which they were fond of bringing into the school. to make up for these little interruptions, the schoolmaster used to sit from morning to night, and expect his pupils to be there almost as long, only giving them an interval of about an hour or so in the middle of the day to go home and get their morning meal. friday used to be a whole holiday, for it was on that day that all the men of the village had to assemble in the mosque for the morning prayers, and when these were over 'alam gul used to go out with some of the elder village boys to catch quails in the fields. this they did by means of a long net spread across about thirty or forty feet of the field. the quails were driven up into this, and the meshes of it were of such a size that, though they could get their heads through, their wings became hopelessly entangled, and they fell an easy prey to the fowlers. the male quails were then kept in little string or wicker baskets for the great quail fights, which were one of the chief excitements and pastimes of the village. this pastime is one of the most universal in afghanistan, and even well-to-do men think there is no shame in spending a great part of the day toying with their favourite quails, and backing the more redoubtable ones against some quail belonging to a friend, while all the men of the neighbourhood will be collected round to see the two champions fight. 'alam gul had to spend five years in this school. at the end of this time the government inspector came round to examine the pupils for the government primary examination. this was an eventful day for the schoolmaster, for on the report of the inspector his promotion to some more congenial sphere and the increase of his salary would depend. the boys, too, were all excitement, for if they passed this examination, they would be allowed to go to the big school at hangu or kohat. the schoolmaster would spend days drilling them how they were to answer the questions of the inspector; how they were to salaam him; how they were to bring him a hookah if he required one, bring him tea, or do him any other service which it might be supposed would put him in a better mood for making a good report of the school. the inspector was a peshawuri pathan of portly presence (it is commonly believed that among the upper ranks of native government officials a man's salary may be gauged by the girth of his body) and of supercilious manners, as though his chief aim in life were to criticize everyone and everything. all the boys had put on their best clothes for the occasion, and 'alam gul had borrowed the turban which his father was accustomed to wear on feast days. on the arrival of the inspector, the boys hurriedly got into line. the schoolmaster called out: "right-hand salute!" for though not a boy in the school knew a word of english, it is the custom to give all the class orders in that language. then one boy was hurried off to hold his horse, another to go and get it some hay, a third to get a chair for the great man, while the schoolmaster himself was obsequious in obeying his every sign. the boys were examined in urdu, writing and reading, arithmetic, geography, and persian. there were five boys altogether in the top class, and of these, to the delight of the schoolmaster, the inspector declared four to have passed, among them being 'alam gul. his father wanted to send 'alam gul to the government school at kohat, but 'alam gul had a friend who had been reading in the bannu mission school, and the tales that he had heard from him had given him a great desire to be allowed to go there to study. his father, however, was opposed to the idea, because the mullah told him that people who went to mission schools must become infidels, because they were taught by feringis, who were all infidels, and that if he sent his son there he would excommunicate him. there would have been no hope of 'alam gul attaining his wish had it not been that just at that time the subadar (native officer), an uncle of 'alam gul's, came to the village on leave from his regiment, which was stationed at bannu, and it so happened that he had made the acquaintance of the missionary in charge of the bannu school, and had been very favourably impressed with what he had seen of the institution, and he offered to take 'alam gul back with him to the regiment, and let him live with him. the father had now to propitiate the mullah, so he killed a sheep, and made some luscious dishes with the meat, and some halwa, or sweet pudding, which is supposed to be a delicacy to which the mullahs are very partial, and called his reverence in to partake of the feast; and when his heart was merry, he propounded the scheme to him. after he had heard the arguments of the subadar, the mullah relented, and said that he knew how to make a charm which, if it were always worn round the boy's neck, would effectually prevent him from being contaminated by any heretical teaching which he might have in the school; and if 'alam gul were admonished to be careful always to wear this charm, he might safely be allowed to go with his uncle. so when the leave of the latter expired, 'alam gul was put into his charge, and went off with great excitement, filled with hopes of what he would do in the great school of which he had heard so much. the day after his arrival in bannu the subadar sent 'alam gul down to the school in charge of a soldier of his regiment. the soldier and 'alam gul came into the mission compound, and, seeing some boys standing about, told them their errand. one of the boys offered to take them to the head-master. they were taken to the school office, and here they found the head-master. he was an old gentleman with a grey beard and a kindly face, mr. benjamin by name. when a young man he had himself been converted from muhammadanism to christianity, so that he was able to sympathize with the religious difficulties of the boys under his charge, and he had been for thirty years head-master in this school, and was looked up to by the boys as their father. 'alam gul's certificates were examined, and he was told what books he must obtain, and that if he came the next morning he would be enrolled as a scholar of the bannu mission school. this being an anglo-vernacular school, where english is taught in all but the very lowest classes, boys who come from the village schools have to spend one whole year in learning english, in order that the following year they may be able to take their place with the other boys in the class to which they are entitled; so 'alam gul was enrolled in this, which is called the "special class." the next day the soldier again brought him, and left him alone in the school. here he was surrounded by a greater number of boys than he had ever seen before in his life--boys of all ages, all sorts, all sizes, and all religions. there were some muhammadans from his district, but none from his village, or that he knew, so he felt very nervous, and wished himself back again in the little village school on the mountain-side among his old playmates. then the letters of the english language seemed so uncouth and different from the euphonious sounds of the arabic and persian alphabet, to which he had been accustomed. "a, b, c," said the master, and "a, b, c," repeated the other boys in the class; but he found he could not shape his mouth to these unfamiliar sounds, and tears began to flow at the apparent hopelessness of the task which he had undertaken with so much enthusiasm. however, day by day the work grew easier, and new friends and acquaintances began to be made among his class-mates. every day there was some fresh astonishment for him. in the village school he had played what they called balli-ball, a village imitation of cricket, played with rough imitations of bats and wickets; but here he found that every class had its own cricket team, which played with real polished bats and balls brought all the way from lahore. and above all was the school eleven, composed of boys who were looked up to by young hopefuls of the lower classes, much as we might regard a county eleven in england--boys who played in real wilayiti flannels, and had matches with the english officers of the garrison, and saw that the other boys in the school treated them with the respect due to their position. 'alam gul wondered if ever the day would come when he would find himself numbered among this favoured throng. it was not long before the captain of his class told him that he must come and practise, to see if they could make him one of their class cricket team. he would have accepted with alacrity had it not been for one circumstance, which gave his unformed religious ideas a rude shock. the captain of the party was a hindu! it seemed to him ignominious, if not subversive of his religion, that he should subject himself to the orders of a hindu class-fellow, and he would have refused had not a muhammadan from his district, reading in the class above him, to whom he confided his scruples, laughed at him, and said: "you silly fellow! we do not trouble about that here; everyone has his religion ordained by fate. what does it matter, be he muhammadan, hindu, or christian, if he play cricket well?" when his fears had been thus allayed, 'alam gul joined his party, and soon became as enthusiastic a member of it as any. a year passed, and he was promoted to the first middle class, where he took up the full curriculum of subjects, learning not only english, but arithmetic, urdu, persian, arabic, geography, indian history, and elementary science. before he had been many months in this class he was attacked by malarial fever, which is so virulent in the bannu valley in the autumn months. his uncle sent a soldier to say that he had sent him back to his village in charge of a man of his regiment, and that he would come back after recovering; so his name was entered on the roll of those absent for sick-leave. about three weeks later his father himself appeared at the school one day, and requested to interview the head-master. after the usual salutations were over, the father began: "sir, i have a request to make." "what is it?" "i wish you to strike the name of my son off the roll-call of your school." "why so? what has happened?" "he is ill--very ill." "but i have given him sick-leave. he can stop at home as long as he is ill, and then come back to school. his name can remain on the register, and he return when he is quite well." "certainly, he will come back if he recovers; but, then, he is very ill. supposing he were to die?" "if he were to die, then what matter whether his name be on our register or not?" "sir, the mullah tells me that if he die with his name still on the register of the mission school, he could never go to heaven." arguments were useless, and the head-master had perforce to satisfy the father by giving the boy a leaving certificate. ultimately, however, 'alam gul recovered, and was allowed to go back to the mission school; but a few months later the regiment in which his uncle the subadar was was transferred to another station, and the uncle wished to take his nephew with him there. but the boy had by this time formed a great attachment to the school, and begged to be allowed to remain, so it was arranged that he should be entered in the school boarding-house. this hostel accommodated a number of those pupils whose homes were too far from bannu for them to attend as day scholars, and who had no relations in the town with whom they might lodge. each boy is provided with a bedstead and a mat, and he brings his own bedding, books and utensils. the first night 'alam gul felt very strange. instead of the small crowded room of his house was a large airy dormitory, shared by some twenty of his schoolfellows. at one end of the dormitory was the room of the superintendent, so that he could supervise the boys both by day and night. the superintendent was a hindu, but 'alam gul had got used by this time to respect his masters, even though they were not muhammadan, and had overcome some of his old prejudice. as the superintendent treated him kindly, and there was a muhammadan friend of his in the next bed, he was soon very happy there. attached to the hostel was a pond of water supplied daily from the kurram river, in which it was the duty of every boarder to bathe regularly. this tank served other purposes too, as 'alam gul found to his cost. it was the rule that all boarders were to be up and have their bedding tidily folded by sunrise. the principal of the school every now and again paid surprise visits to the boarding-house about that time, and woe betide the luckless boy who was found still asleep in bed! two of the monitors were told to take him by the head and heels and swing him far into the middle of the tank. 'alam gul had not been many weeks in the boarding-house before one morning he overslept himself, and before he had time to rub his eyes or change his clothes he found himself plunged in the water, which at that time--the early spring--was cold enough to become a real incentive to early rising. schoolboys freshly joined were often found to have the bad habit of freely abusing each other, and using foul language. the swimming-tank formed an excellent corrective for this too, because the boy found guilty was treated in the same way, being pitched in with all his clothes on, and allowed to creep out and dry himself at leisure. once, indeed, 'alam gul felt very much like leaving the school altogether. every day in each class a period is set apart for the scripture lesson. at first 'alam gul did not wish to be present at this, but when he found that all the other boys attended it without demur, and remembered the power of the charm which the mullah had given him, he thought it did not, after all, matter; he need not pay attention to what was taught, and so he went. but this day a verse came to his turn to read in which were the words, "jesus christ, the son of god." he remained silent. the catechist who was teaching him said: "why do you not read?" "i cannot read that." "why, what is wrong? read it." "that is blasphemy. god had no son. i cannot read that." "it is written in the book, and you must read it." "i will not read it!" the catechist was not willing, however, to grant him exemption, and gave him some punishment. 'alam gul had a fit of pathan temper then, and there was a serious breach of discipline, which could not be overlooked. before, however, he had time to arrange with his father for leaving the school, he had cooled down sufficiently to take a less prejudiced view of the case, and decided to undergo the discipline, and stay on with us. chapter xiv 'alam gul's choice (continued) the cricket captain--a conscientious schoolboy--the scripture lesson--first awakenings--the mullah's wrath--the crisis--standing fire--schoolboy justice--"blessed are ye when men shall persecute you for my name's sake"--escape from poisoning--escape from home--baptism--disinherited--new friends. about this time three circumstances occurred which brought about a change in 'alam gul's ideas. the first happened in this way. the captain of the cricket eleven chanced to be a christian boy, and as two or three of the members of the cricket eleven had left, he was in need of some fresh talent to fill their places; so a match had been arranged with a number of the boys of the school who were aspirants to places in the coveted eleven. 'alam gul by this time had developed into a very steady player, who could be relied upon to keep his wicket up at times when his side was going to pieces; and on this particular occasion he was one of those selected for trial, and it so happened that he made one of the best scores of the match. this was the commencement of the friendship with the cricket captain, which went a long way to mould his ideas. hitherto he had rather fought shy of making friends with the christian boys, for fear anything should be said repellent to his religious ideas; but as his friendship with the cricket captain increased, they had many a chat--not only on cricket and school matters, but on deeper things that concerned the faith in their hearts. the second circumstance arose in this wise: on the occasion of a paper-chase the track had led through an orchard, and some of the boys were not proof against the temptation of helping themselves to the fruit, and the next day the owner of the garden came in high dudgeon to the principal of the school to complain that some of the fruit had been stolen. "you call yourself a mission school, and here are your boys coming into my orchard and taking my fruit!" the next day the principal had a roll-call of the school, and made a short speech to them, saying that he much regretted that some of the boys had brought a bad name on the school by stealing plums. he then ordered that the boys who had taken any should fall out and stand in a row in front. after much exchange of glances and hesitation, twenty or so of the boys fell out. these were ranged up in line, facing the rest of the school, while the principal told them that he intended to make an example of them as a warning to others not to sully the fair name of the school. one of the printers from the mission press was then called, with his printing-roller well inked, and this was rolled three times down the face of each boy, leaving one long black streak down the forehead and nose and one down each cheek, which they were not allowed to wash off for the rest of the day. 'alam gul was rather surprised to see that one of these boys was a member of the cricket eleven, who evidently felt the indignity very acutely. 'alam gul had been by his side during the paper-chase, and he had noticed that he had passed by the fruit without taking any; so he went up afterwards to console him, and ask him why he had fallen out with those who had taken the fruit. he told him that when he saw the other boys plucking the plums, he had himself taken one; but then he thought how they had been told in the scripture lessons that that was a wrong thing to do, and so he had thrown the plum away. 'alam gul had hitherto never looked on the scripture lesson as a time for moral improvement, but rather as a time when fidelity to his religion required him to shut his ears; so when he found his schoolmate with a conscience that had become so tender through listening to the scripture teaching that he even thought it necessary to confess to having plucked a single plum which he had not eaten, his mind was filled with an inrush of new conflicting ideas. the third influence came to him through the scripture lesson itself. the indian pastor was teaching them from that chapter of the greatest pathos in all history--the crucifixion of our lord. when it came to his turn he read the verse: "father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." not very long before he would have resented even having to read a verse addressing the almighty as "father," but now his heart was full of new emotions. "how could the prophet christ pray for the forgiveness of enemies?" he remembered how an uncle of his, on his death-bed, in making his last testament to his sons, had enumerated his enemies and what evil they had done him, and impressed upon them that revenge for those wrongs was the heirloom which he had bequeathed to them, and which they must regard as their bounden duty to perform. he remembered, too, how many of his own family had been killed in blood-feuds, and even now his uncle, the subadar in the regiment, took precautions against somebody whom he suspected of being his enemy. if christ was able to die in this way and his teaching had still such moral power, how was it that muhammad, who professed that his teaching had superseded that of christ, had not been able to give his followers an equal power? why were there muhammadan tribes always torn with discord and feud and bloodshed on every side, and by those who professed to do such deeds in his name? 'alam gul now began to study the gospels for himself, and an interest was awakened in his heart which surprised him; and instead of trying to shirk the scripture lessons, he began always to look forward to them, and asked many questions which showed the greater insight that he was gaining into their meaning. the next vacation, when he went home, he took an early opportunity of visiting the old mullah who had given him the charm when first he joined the school five years before, and asked him about some of his difficulties. he wanted to know why the muhammadans always spoke of the book of the law and of the gospels with respect, and yet would not allow people to read them, and why the gospels spoke of christ as the son of god, which he had been taught to consider blasphemy. the mullah, however, did not deign to try to solve his difficulties, but became very angry, and abused him roundly, and that evening went to his father to tell him to take his son away before he became utterly corrupted. 'alam gul got a great beating that night, and ran away to the house of a relation, and did not come back for three days, and asked no further questions. his father, no doubt, thought that the beating had had its effect, and, when the time arrived for rejoining school, allowed him to go back. the crisis came on the day of a school picnic. it was a may morning, and the masters and boys were going to a shady spot on the banks of the kurram river, where the day would be spent in aquatic sports and merry-making. 'alam gul sought counsel of the missionary in a quiet spot under the trees, where he might unburden his heart without being disturbed. "does christ demand that i should confess him openly? should i not wait till my parents are dead?--because it will be a great trouble to them when they hear that i have become a christian, and they will never want to see me again. cannot i be a secret follower, and continue to live as a muhammadan, and attend the prayers in the mosque?" "if any man confess me not before men, neither will i confess him before my father. if any man love father or mother more than me, he is not worthy of me." "let the dead bury their dead, but follow thou me." how pulsating with the deepest verities of life these sayings seem, when we put them forward to such an inquirer in answer to such questions! how charged with the magnetism which draws the seeking soul almost in spite of itself--a two-edged sword dividing asunder the bones and the marrow! "no; you must go home and tell your father what your intention is. persecution must come, sooner or later, and unless you are willing to bear it for christ's sake now, how can you be received into the company of his soldiers? you have a duty to your parents, from which you cannot absolve yourself, and no blessing of god will rest on your actions when you are deceiving them, and till you are of full age you are bound to obey them." 'alam gul was awake a long time that night after the lights were out and all the other boys in the dormitory were fast asleep under their quilts. at last he got up, and, with his pocket-knife, cut the cord that still bound the charm that the old mullah had made for him, and stuffed it away among his books. he then knelt down by his bedside for a few minutes, and when he got into bed again he had made his choice, and his mind was made up; but there were to be many vicissitudes before the goal was reached. 'alam gul was in the matriculation class now, and a member of the coveted cricket eleven. he still performed his muhammadan prayers, and kept the fast of ramazan; but the moments which gave him most satisfaction in the day were those in which he took his little english testament into a quiet corner on the roof of the school-house, and read the words of our lord, calling the weary and sin-laden to himself, and, after set portions of the muhammadan prayers were over, in the part reserved for the munajat, or private petitions, he would pray earnestly in the name of christ that god would make the way clear to him to become his disciple, and to incline the hearts of his relations thereto as well. he had to stand fire, too, among his school-fellows, now that it had become known that he was an inquirer; but his position in the school, and the fact that he was nearly the best bat in the cricket team, and therefore of value to the honour of the school in the inter-school tournaments, prevented them from carrying the persecution very far, and it was more banter and sneers than anything worse. a few irreconcilables, however, tried to injure his reputation by spreading lying rumours about him, even going to the head-master with some concocted evidence against his moral character, which, had that official been less conversant with the wiles of the backbiters, might have resulted in his expulsion from school, but actually resulted in their utter discomfiture. one muhammadan youth, who professed great zeal for his religion, was always starting some recriminating religious discussion, till the other boarders passed a resolution that any of their number starting such a discussion was to be fined one rupee. before the lapse of many days there were the two at it again, hammer and tongs, in the middle of the dinner-hour. a schoolboy court was appointed to name the culprit responsible for starting the discussion, and it is a pleasing tribute to the schoolboys' love of fair play that, though the judges chosen were one muhammadan and one hindu, they both decided that the muhammadan was guilty, and should be fined. the latter declared that he was going to pay no fine! they then held a fresh council, to settle how they were to bring the pressure required for the carrying out of their law. at last one boy said: "i have it. till he pays the fine, not one of us is to speak to him or have anything to do with him, on the pain of a fine of one anna." this bright idea was passed unanimously, and, after a few anna fines had been levied, the recalcitrant member gave in. sweets were bought with the proceeds, there was a general merry-making, and no more disturbances of the peace on 'alam gul's account, who was tacitly allowed to have what opinions and fads he liked without further interference. he had not so easy a time, however, when the vacation came round and he went home, and in much fear and trembling made his longings known to his father. first they resorted to blandishments, reminded him of his good family and noble ancestors, and of the bright future which lay before so clever and well educated a boy. his brother was about to be married; even then they were preparing for the wedding-guests. this would have to be all stopped, for the family of the bride would refuse to give her into a family disgraced, and then his brother would die of shame, and no one would be able to wipe the stain away for ever. when these tactics failed, the old mullah was called. he was too wroth to argue when he found that 'alam gul no longer wore the charm, and abused him with all the epithets that he could think of, and left the house threatening to excommunicate the whole family. later on he came back in a calmer mood with two older mullahs from a neighbouring village, who were much revered for their learning and sanctity, and these surrounded 'alam gul, and argued for hours to show him the error of his ways and the corruption of the christian scriptures. 'alam gul had one argument, to which they had no answer to give: "if you say these scriptures are corrupted by the christians, then where have you genuine copies by comparison with which we can see the proof of it? had the muhammadans themselves no copies of the scriptures which they were able to preserve from those wicked people who wanted to corrupt them?" finding their arguments of no avail, they formally cursed him with all the anathemas of the quran, both for this life and the next. the next trial was to be the most heart-searching and trying of all, and 'alam gul felt he would ten times rather have had the anathemas of the mullahs or the beatings of his enemies. it was when he went into the zenana. his mother was there with other women, and as soon as they saw him they began weeping and loudly lamenting. his mother came with her hair dishevelled, and, falling down before him, beat her breast, and bewailed with loud cries and frantic gesticulations that she had borne a son who was going to disgrace the family and bring down her grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. 'alam gul burst into tears, and besought his mother to be comforted; saying that she had been misinformed as to what he was going to do, and who the christians were. he was not going to forsake her, but would serve her to the day of his death. "i adjure thee," she said, "swear to me that you will never go near those christians again or read their books." "no, mother, i cannot do that; for their book is the kalam ullah [the word of god], and god is with them of very truth." the women were still weeping, and 'alam gul persuading, when his father came in, and, seizing 'alam gul, pulled him outside, and, getting a thick stick, beat him till he was black and blue all over, and then left him with a kick and a curse. that night 'alam gul found that all his clothes had been taken away, and he was left with only a loin-cloth. this had been done lest he should run away and escape, they thinking that in a few days, finding the hopelessness of his position, he would relent and submit. six days he remained thus, being given nothing more than a bit of stale bread once a day and a little water. still he remained firm, and refused to go to the mosque or repeat the kalimah; and when he found himself alone for a time, he knelt down and prayed for help and deliverance. on the seventh morning an uncle came, and sat down by his side, and began to commiserate him and profess his sympathy for the hardships he was undergoing. he then untied the corner of his shawl, and got out some sweetmeats and gave them to 'alam gul, as some amends for the privations he had been undergoing. something, however, in his demeanour made 'alam gul suspicious, and he excused himself for not eating the sweetmeats at once, and put them in a handkerchief by his side. when his uncle had departed, he gave some of the sweetmeats to one of the dogs in the house. very shortly afterwards the dog began to vomit and show signs of pain. he was now sure that the plan had been to poison him in such a way that his death might be reported as due to some ordinary sickness, and he made up his mind to escape at all costs. it was midday, and nearly everyone was enjoying a sleep during the oppressive noon of a summer day. searching about, he found a shirt and an old turban, and, donning these, he slipped out, and was soon through the deserted village street out in the fields beyond. he dared not take the direct route to bannu, for he knew that pursuit would be made, and the pursuers would probably take that direction; so he turned northwards towards kohat, and came to the village of a schoolmate, who gave him shelter and food for that night in his house and a pair of shoes for his feet, which had become blistered on the hot rocks over which he had been travelling. the next night he slept in a mosque, and then reached the highroad from kohat to bannu, and got a lift on a bullock-waggon travelling to the salt-mines of bahadur khel. on the fifth day after leaving his village, very footsore, tired, and ragged, he appeared in the mission compound at bannu. he was now nineteen years of age, so nothing stood in the way of his being admitted as a catechumen, of which he was greatly desirous, and the following easter he was baptized into the christian church. he had, of course, been publicly disowned and disinherited by his family, who now regarded him as one dead; but he was supremely happy in his faith, and was always seeking opportunities of leading, not only his schoolmates, but also mullahs and others whom he encountered in the bazaar or elsewhere, into conversation concerning the claims of jesus christ. his original acquaintance with the quran and islam had been deepened and extended by the study of books of controversy and his knowledge of christianity by daily bible study, so that even the mullahs found they had to deal with one who could not be silenced by the threadbare arguments and trite sophisms which were all that most of them knew how to use. there was a great crowd of students and others both inside and outside the native church on the day when, arrayed in clean white clothes, he came to receive the rite of baptism, and the deepest silence was upon all when he answered a clear, unfaltering "i do" to each of the questions of the native clergyman who was officiating. his reception afterwards by his muhammadan acquaintances was not altogether a hostile one. students form a remarkable contrast to the ignorant portion of the population in the comparative absence of religious fanaticism and their ability to recognize and honour sincerity of motive, even in those who are to them apostates, and many of his muhammadan schoolmates maintained their friendship with him, and others who at first had joined in the opposition and abuse of the crowd came round before long and resumed their old relations as though nothing had happened. judging by other cases, even his own relations will probably resume friendly relations after the lapse of time has enabled them to do so without incurring a fresh stigma among the villagers, and they will be all the more ready to do this if he has won for himself a good position in government service, and is able to help them to meet the dunnings of the money-lender in a bad season. when 'alam gul had to find some way of earning his own living, he found many avenues closed to him. the muhammadans would not give him work, and even in government offices, if his immediate superior was at all a bigoted muhammadan, he would find it impossible to stop there without getting involved in traps that had been laid for him almost every day, and which would ultimately and inevitably result in his dismissal in disgrace. finally he obtained a post in the government telegraph office, and, by his industry and punctuality, rapidly made progress and attained a position which was a universal silencer to the common taunt, "he has only become a christian for the sake of bread," with which young converts are assailed, even when the charge is palpably untrue. chapter xv afghan women their inferior position--hard labour--on the march--suffering in silence--a heartless husband--buying a wife--punishment for immorality--patching up an injured wife--a streaky nose--evils of divorce--a domestic tragedy--ignorance and superstition--"beautiful pearl"--a tragic case--a crying need--lady doctors--the mother's influence. in all muhammadan countries women hold a very inferior, almost humiliating, position, being regarded as very distinctly existing for the requirements of the stronger sex. in afghanistan they labour under this additional hardship, that the men are nearly all cruel and jealous to a degree in their disposition, and among the lower sections of the community the severe conditions of life compel the women to labour very hard and continuously--labour which the men think it beneath their dignity to lighten or share. the wife has to grind the corn, fetch the water, cook the food, tend the children, keep the house clean--in fact, do everything except shopping, from which she is strictly debarred. the husband will not only buy the articles of food required for the daily household consumption, but he will buy her dresses too--or, at least, the material for them--and the lady must be content with his selection, and make up her dresses at home with what her lord is pleased to bring her. how would their sisters in england approve of that? the fetching of the water is often no sinecure. if the well is in the village precincts it may be pleasant enough, as it no doubt affords excellent opportunity for retailing all the village gossip; but in some places, as, for instance, during summer in marwat, the nearest water is six or seven, or even ten, miles away, and the journey there and back has to be made at least every other day. in marwat the women saddle up their asses with the leathern bottles made from goatskins long before daybreak, and the nocturnal traveller sometimes meets long strings of these animals going to or returning from the watering-place under the care of a number of the village women and girls. the animals in these cases have to be satisfied with what they drink while at the source of the water-supply. when the women get back to their houses it will be still scarcely dawn, but they have a busy time before them, which will occupy them till midday. first the grain has to be ground in the hand-mills; then yesterday's milk churned; then the cows and goats milked; then the food cooked, the house cleaned, and a hundred and one other duties attended to which only a woman could describe. when on the march the women are heavily loaded. they can often be seen not only carrying the children and household utensils, but driving the pack animals too, while the lordly men are content to carry only their rifle, or at most give a lift to one of the children. yet it is not because the men are callous, but because it is the custom. their fathers and forefathers did the same, and the women would be the first to rebuke a young wife who ventured to complain or object. some of the women of the povindah tribe are splendid specimens of robust womanhood. these people travel hundreds of miles from khorasan to india, carrying their families and household goods with them, and the women can load and manage the camels almost as well as the men, and carry burdens better. the outdoor, vigorous, active life has made them healthy, muscular, and strong, and buxom and good-looking withal, though their good looks do not last so long as they would were their life less rough. but when a baby is born, then comes the suffering. the caravan cannot halt, and there is seldom a camel or ox available for the woman to ride. she usually has to march on the next day, with the baby in her arms or slung over her shoulder, as though nothing had happened. then it is that they endure sufferings which bring them to our hospital, often injured for life. if there is no hospital, well, they just suffer in silence, or--they die. the afghan noblemen maintain the strictest parda, or seclusion, of their women, who pass their days monotonously behind the curtains and lattices of their palace prison-houses, with little to do except criticize their clothes and jewels and retail slander; and afghan boys of good family suffer much moral injury from being brought up in the effeminate and voluptuous surroundings of these zenanas. the poorer classes cannot afford to seclude their women, so they try to safeguard their virtue by the most barbarous punishments, not only for actual immorality, but for any fancied breach of decorum. a certain trans-frontier chief that i know, on coming to his house unexpectedly one day, saw his wife speaking to a neighbour over the wall of his compound. drawing his sword in a fit of jealousy, he struck off her head and threw it over the wall, and said to the man: "there! you are so enamoured of her, you can have her." the man concerned discreetly moved house to a neighbouring village. the recognized punishment in such a case of undue familiarity would have been to have cut off the nose of the woman and, if possible, of the man too. this chief, in his anger, exceeded his right, and if he had been a lesser man and the woman had had powerful relations, he might have been brought to regret it. but as a rule a woman has no redress; she is the man's property, and a man can do what he likes with his own. this is the general feeling, and no one would take the trouble or run the risk of interfering in another man's domestic arrangements. a man practically buys his wife, bargaining with her father, or, if he is dead, with her brother; and so she becomes his property, and the father has little power of interfering for her protection afterwards, seeing he has received her price. the chief exception is marriage by exchange. suppose in each of two families there is an unmarried son and an unmarried daughter; then they frequently arrange a mutual double marriage without any payments. in such cases the condition of the wives is a little, but only a little, better than in the marriage by purchase. if a man and a woman are detected in immorality, then the husband is at liberty to kill both; but if he lets the man escape, he is not allowed to kill him subsequently in cold blood. if he does, then a blood-feud will be started, and the relations of the murdered man legitimately retaliate, or he must pay up the difference in the price between that of a man's life and that of a woman's honour. in practice, one often finds that a man has been murdered where, by tribal custom, he should only have had his nose cut off; as it is obviously easier for the aggrieved husband to ambush and shoot him unawares than to overpower him sufficiently to cut off his nose. every year in the mission hospital we get a number of cases, many more women than men, where the sufferer has had the nose cut off by a clean cut with a knife, which sometimes cuts away a portion of the upper lip as well. this being a very old mutilation in india, the people centuries ago elaborated an operation for the removal of the deformity, whereby a portion of skin is brought down from the forehead and stitched on the raw surface where the nose had been cut off, and we still use this operation, with certain modifications, for the cases that come to us. two years ago a forbidding-looking afghan brought down his wife to the bannu mission hospital. in a fit of jealousy he had cut off her nose, but when he reflected in a cooler moment that he had paid a good sum for her, and had only injured his own property and his domestic happiness, he was sorry for it, and brought her for us to restore to her as far as possible her pristine beauty. she had a low forehead, unsuitable for the usual operation, so i said to the husband that i did not think the result of the operation would be very satisfactory; but if he would pay the price i would purchase him an artificial nose from england, which, if it did not make her as handsome as before, would at any rate conceal the deformity. "how much will it cost?" said the afghan. "about thirty rupees." there was a silence: he was evidently racked by conflicting sentiments. "well, my man, what are you thinking about? will you have it or no?" "i was thinking this, sir," he replied, "you say it costs thirty rupees, and i could get a new wife for eighty rupees." and this was said before the poor woman herself, without anything to show that he felt he had said anything out of the common! i am glad to say, however, that he ultimately decided to have the original wife patched up, paid the money, and i procured him the article from england, which gave, i believe, entire satisfaction, and the last time i heard of them they were living happily together. perhaps he is able to hold out the threat of locking up her nose should she annoy him, and knows he can remove it as often as he likes now without having to pay up another thirty rupees. in a case where i procured a false nose for a man, the shop in england sent out a pale flesh-coloured nose, while his skin was dark olive! obviously this had to be remedied, so i procured some walnut stain, and gave him something not very different from the colour of the rest of his face. unfortunately, he started off home before it was dry, and was caught in a rainstorm. he was annoyed to find himself the centre of merriment on his arrival at his village, and came back to me to complain. the nose was all streaky! the fine physique and good health of the hill afghans and nomadic tribes is largely due to the fact that their girls do not marry till full grown, not usually till over twenty, and till then they lead healthy, vigorous, outdoor lives. they form a great contrast to the puny hindu weaklings, the offspring of the marriage of couples scarcely in their "teens." the two greatest social evils from which the afghan women suffer are the purchase of wives and the facility of divorce. i might add a third--namely, plurality of wives; but though admittedly an evil where it exists, it is not universally prevalent, like the other two--in fact, only men who are well-to-do can afford to have more than one wife. the muhammadans themselves are beginning to stem the evil and explain away the verses in the quran which permit it, by saying that there is the proviso that a man may only marry a plurality of wives if he can be quite impartial to all of them; and as that is not possible, monogamy must be considered the law for ordinary mortals. the following, which was enacted under my eyes, shows the evil that results from divorce and polygamy. there were three brothers, whom we will call abraham, sandullah, and fath, all happily married to one wife each. abraham, the eldest brother, died. the second brother was now entitled to marry the widow; but she did not like him, while she had a decided liking for the youngest brother, fath. she had, however, a hatred for fath's wife, and was determined not to be junior wife to her. fath, carried away by the charms and cajolings of the widow, consented to divorce his own wife on condition of the widow marrying him. she agreed, vowing she would never marry sandullah, and then fath divorced his wife. but meanwhile sandullah insisted on his rights, and forced the widow to marry him. she perforce submitted, but i think he got some lively times at home, and the woman took opportunities of meeting fath. then what does the insatiable and foolish sandullah do but marry the divorced wife of his younger brother. the widow was now furious: she had refused to marry the man she fancied unless he divorced that woman, and now she is married to the man she did not want, and has got the hated woman as co-wife into the bargain. there was a man of desperate character in the village who had been captivated by the widow's charms. she had so far refused his advances, but now, to have her way, she told him that if he desired to gain his end he must first dispose of her present husband. that was no obstacle to the lover, and, with the collusion of the woman, he enticed the man out into his cornfield one day, and there strangled him. the murder eventually was brought home to the unscrupulous lover, and he got penal servitude, while the foul enchantress was left free to marry the youngest brother, fath, whom she originally desired. very few of the afghan women can read the quran; for the rest they are absolutely ignorant of all learning, and often when we are trying to explain some directions for treatment in the hospital, they excuse their denseness by saying: "we are only cattle: how can we understand?" they know very little of their own religion beyond the prayers and a variety of charms and superstitions. some time ago we had a strange case in the women's (holtby) ward. she was a feeble old hindu woman who felt she had not long to live, and who had such a horror of her body being burnt to ashes after death, as is the custom with hindus, that to escape from her relatives she came into the hospital, saying, she wished to become a muhammadan, so that she might be buried. we began to explain to her the gospel of christ, but she appeared too old to take in something so novel, and finding we were not the muhammadans she took us for, she sent word to a muhammadan anjuman to have her taken away. we assured her that we would nurse and care for her, and not burn her body; but no! perhaps we might only be some kind of hindus in disguise! so she went off with her muhammadan friends, and in due time was buried. unlike this old lady, some of the cases that come into our women's ward are tragic beyond words. let me give one story as told us by the poor sufferer herself, and she is only one of many who are suffering, unknown and uncared for, in afghanistan at the present time. for, indeed--for the women especially--it is a country full of the habitations of cruelty. her name was dur jamala, or "beautiful pearl." she and her husband were both suffering from cataract, and lived near kabul. they were trying to resign themselves to lives of blindness and beggary when someone visited their village who told them of a doctor in bannu who cured all kinds of eye diseases. so, getting together all they could, which only came to about eighteen rupees, they started out on foot on their long and weary journey to bannu--one hundred and fifty miles of rough road, with two mountain passes to cross on the way! they took with them their only child, a girl of about ten, and travelled slowly, stage by stage, towards bannu. but before they had got far on their way, in a lonely part of the road, some cruel brigands robbed them of all their savings, beat her husband to death before her eyes, and tore away the weeping child, whom they would sell for a good price into some harim. poor dur jamala was left alone and helpless, crushed with grief. from that time it took her just ten months to get to bannu, having been helped first by one and then by another on the way. she reached bannu very worn and weary, and in rags, and was very grateful indeed to us for a comfortable bed and a good meal. the operation was successful, and resulted in her obtaining good sight in that eye. but meanwhile someone had frightened her, telling her that hell would be her punishment for listening to our teaching. she wept very much, and refused to allow us to operate on the other eye or listen to any more of our "wicked religion." we saw no more of her for about four months, when she appeared one day in our out-patient department in great pain from suppuration of the second eye. she had been to some charlatan, who, in operating on it, had completely destroyed the vision of that eye, and she had suffered so much that she was only too glad to put herself again under our treatment. the second eye had to be removed, but she is able to work, as the sight of the first is good, and she often comes to us now and listens to the teaching, although she still says: "your medicine is very good, but your religion is wicked." yet in listening to the gospel story she finds some solace in the great sorrow which has so clouded the life of poor "beautiful pearl." if some of our medical ladies and nurses in england saw how their poor afghan sisters suffered, often in silence and hopelessness, would not some of them come out to do the work of christ and bear his name among them? "i was sick, and ye visited me." though till now we have only had a man doctor in bannu, yet forty or fifty women attend the out-patients' department nearly every day, and many of these have undertaken long and wearisome journeys to reach us. there are the hindu women from bannu city collected together in one corner of the verandah, lest they should be polluted by contact with the muhammadan women from the villages. for the women are much greater sticklers for the observance of all the niceties of hindu ceremonial than their more westernized husbands, and would have to undergo the trouble of a complete bath on returning home if they had been in contact with anything ceremonially impure. one can recognize the hindu women at once by their clothes. they wear the same three garments winter and summer--a skirt reaching down to their ankles; a curious upper garment, like a waistcoat with no back to it; and a veil, which falls over and covers their otherwise bare back, and which they hurriedly pull over their faces when they see a man. the muhammadan women have indeed the veil, but the other garments are quite different. the upper garment is a full dress, coming down at least to the knees, and full of pleats and puckers, and ornamented by rows of silver and brass coins across the breast, while the nether garment is a pair of loose, baggy pyjamas of some dark-coloured material, usually blue or red, with very remarkable funnel-like extremities below the knees. at this point the baggy portion is succeeded by a tightly-fitting trouser, the piece about twice the length of the leg, and which is, therefore, crowded up above the ankle into a number of folds, which accumulate the dust and dirt, if nothing worse. the povindah women--strong, robust, and rosy from the bracing highlands of khorasan--are dressed almost entirely in black, the marwat women in blue veils and red-and-blue pyjamas, the bannuchi women in black veils and red pyjamas, and the women of other tribes each in their own characteristic dress. even the style in which the hair is plaited and worn is sufficient not only to indicate what tribe the woman belongs to, but also whether she is married or unmarried. the povindah women are very fond of blue tattoo marks over their foreheads, while all alike are proud of the row of silver coins which is worn hanging over the forehead. the hindu women plaster the hair of the forehead and temples with a vermilion paste, not merely for cosmetic reasons, but because it is sacred to their god vishnu. then, the sturdy, sunburnt faces of the wazir women tell tales of the hard, rough outdoor life they perforce lead, and contrast with the more delicate and gentler faces of the hindus. notwithstanding the careful way in which all except the hill women veil their faces from masculine gaze, they are very sensitive as to what is being thought of them, and sometimes an impudent man meets a woman who at once closely veils herself, and remarks to his companion: "ah! her nose has been cut off!" this imputation, not only on her looks, but on her character, is usually too much for her, and she indignantly unveils her face, to cover it up again at once in shame when she finds it was only a ruse! the hill women rarely, if ever, wash either their bodies or their clothes, and suffer much in the hot weather from skin troubles as a result. the hindu women, on the other hand, who appear to aim at doing in everything the exact opposite to their muhammadan sisters, bathe on the slightest pretext, summer and winter, and often women who carefully veil their faces when passing down the street bathe in the river and streams in a state of nudity, regardless of passers-by. most of the women have a great aversion to telling their own name, because it is considered a very indelicate thing for a married woman to mention her own name. it would be very difficult to make the necessary entries in the register were it not that there is usually some other woman with her, and etiquette does not prevent her friend telling what her name is. otherwise she will usually mention the name of her eldest son, who may be a baby in arms, or may be a grown man--never, of course, of a daughter: she must only be mentioned in a whisper, and with an apology, if at all--saying: "i am the mother of paira lai," or "i am the mother of muhammad ismaã¯l." notwithstanding the state of servitude in which the women are kept and their crass ignorance and superstition, they have great power in their home circles, and mould the characters of the rising generations more even than the fathers. this fact was brought home very forcibly to me one day in school. a subject had to be fixed on for the next meeting of the school debating society. various subjects had been proposed and negatived. i suggested: "who has most influence in moulding our characters--our fathers or our mothers?" "how could we have so one-sided a debate?" responded half a dozen boys at once. "who could be found to argue for the fathers? of course, our mothers have all the influence." how important, then, for the future of the nation that something should be done to raise, and elevate, and purify the mothers of the nation! chapter xvi the story of a convert a trans-frontier merchant--left an orphan--takes service--first contact with christians--interest aroused in an unexpected way--assaulted--baptism--a dangerous journey--taken for a spy--a mother's love--falls among thieves--choosing a wife--an afghan becomes a foreign missionary--a responsible post--saved by a grateful patient. in the highlands between kabul and jelalabad is a secluded valley, girt with pine-clad hills, and down which a tributary of the kabul river flows, fertilizing the rice crops which rise terrace above terrace on the slopes of the hills, and meandering in sparkling rivulets through the villages which lie nestling among orchards of peaches and apples, interspersed with fine walnut and plane trees. this is the valley of laghman, and, like the kabulis, the men are great merchants, and travel about between central asia and hindustan. one of these merchants took his young son, jahan khan, down with him to india on one of his journeys, in order that he might serve his apprenticeship in the trade of his father and see something of the wealthy cities and beautiful buildings of india, the fame of which had so often roused the boyish imaginations of the youth of laghman, and made it the desire of their lives to travel down once to india and see for themselves its glories and its wealth. father and son travelled about for two years, buying and selling and taking contracts for road-making, at which the afghans are great adepts, till one summer the father was stricken down with dysentery. the boy took him to a mission hospital, where for the first time he heard the story of the gospel; but he had been always taught to look upon the english as infidels, and he used to stop his ears, lest any of the words spoken by the mission doctor might defile his faith. the disease grew worse, and the father paid some men to carry him to the shrine of a noted saint in the neighbourhood, called sakhi sarwar, which was renowned for its power in healing diseases. he made a votive offering, but still the malady grew worse, and at last one morning jahan khan found himself an orphan hundreds of miles away from home and relations, with no friends and no money to help him home. it is the great desire of an afghan who dies away from his country to have his body embalmed and carried back, it may be, hundreds of miles on a camel, to be interred in his ancestral graveyard; but how could the poor boy, without money or friends, perform this duty? he had to be content with burying his father near the tomb of the famous saint, whose benign influence might be expected to serve him in good stead on the day of the resurrection. jahan khan then took service with some muhammadans of the country, and it was in this way that i first met him. soon after my arrival in india i wanted a body-servant who knew no language but pashtu, in order that i might the more easily gain proficiency in that language. the muhammadan gentleman to whom i applied recommended me jahan khan; but jahan khan himself resented the idea of becoming servant to a feringi and an infidel, which he thought would jeopardize his faith and his salvation. his muhammadan patron laughed at his scruples, and quoted the pashtu proverb, "the feringis in their religion, and we in ours," saying: "so long as you say your prayers regularly, and read the quran, and keep the fast, and do not eat their food, lest by any chance there should be swine's flesh in it, you have no reason to fear." for some time jahan khan served me well, but was evidently chary of too dangerous an intimacy. i had at that time an educated afghan who was teaching me pashtu, and he sometimes twitted jahan khan with his inability to read. this made the boy desirous of learning, and he persuaded the munshi to give him a lesson every day. when the alphabet had been mastered, the munshi was looking about for some simple book for reading-lessons, and he happened to take up a pashtu gospel which had been given him and laid aside, and from this jahan khan got his first reading-lessons. before long the teaching of the book he was reading riveted his attention. it was so different from the old muhammadan ideas with which he had been brought up. instead of the law of "eye for eye and tooth for tooth," was the almost incredible command to forgive your enemies. his reading-lesson became the event of the day for him, not merely on account of the advance in learning, but because of the new ideas which were stirring in his mind. when the munshi observed that a change had come over him, he became alarmed, and told jahan khan that he must have no more reading-lessons at all, and that he had better give up all idea of learning to read. the seed was, however, already sown, and despite the adjurations of the munshi, jahan khan astonished me one day by coming to ask that i should continue the reading-lessons with him. it was a delight to notice week by week the growth of the spirit in the boy's heart, but with all that there were many storms to brave and many seasons of darkness and unbelief, which threatened to crush the young seedling before it was yet able to weather the storm. the afghan nature is hot-tempered and reckless, and he found it difficult to curb his spirit under the taunts of those around him. one afternoon, as i was sitting in my room, i heard shouts from outside--"o daktar sahib! o daktar sahib!"--and on running out found that two muhammadans had seized him and were beating him, while they were trying to stifle his cries by twisting his turban round his neck. this was only the first of many times that the young convert was to bear the reproach of the cross, and he had not yet learnt to take the vindictiveness of his muhammadan compatriots with the forbearance which was a later growth of the spirit. this assault, however, resulted in a parting of the ways, and from that time jahan khan publicly avowed himself a christian. he had many a battle yet to fight--not so much with outward enemies as with his own pathan nature--but the spirit was to conquer. some time after his baptism jahan khan conceived a burning desire to revisit his childhood's home. his widowed mother was still living there with his brothers and cousins, and he wanted to tell them of his new-found faith. we pointed out to him the great dangers that attended his enterprise. in that country, to become a pervert from muhammadanism was a capital offence, and even the nearest relation could not be depended on to incur the odium and danger of protecting a relative who had brought disgrace on islam. jahan khan could not, however, be dissuaded, and at last the preparations were made. some copies of the gospels in the persian and pashtu languages were sewn inside his trousers, a baggy afghan garment, lending itself appropriately to this kind of secretion. on reaching jelalabad, some of the afghan police arrested him on suspicion of being a spy of the ex-amir, y'akub khan, and he was in imminent danger of discovery. a few rupees in the hands of the not too conscientious officials saved the situation, and after sundry other vicissitudes he reached his home. his mother and brothers received him with every token of delight, and for some days there were great rejoicings. then came the time when he had to make known his change of faith. at first, when the villagers missed him from the public prayers in the mosque, they thought it was merely the weariness of the journey; but as the days passed by, and he still did not appear, it became necessary to give explanations. no sooner was it known that he was a christian than the villagers clamoured for his life. an uncle of his, however, who was himself a mullah, managed to appease them on condition that he should leave the country at once; and that night there were great weepings in his house, for his mother felt that she was not only going to lose her newly returned son, but that he had sold his soul to the devil and disgraced her whole family. still, however, mother's love conquered, and she prepared him his food for the journey, and parted with many embraces. "o that you should have become a feringi! woe is me, but still you are my son!" he left the books with some mullahs there, who, though they would have been afraid to accept them openly, or let it be known that they were in the possession of such heretical literature, were nevertheless actuated by curiosity to hide the books away, that they might see, at some quiet opportunity, what the teaching of the book of the christians was. jahan khan's dangers were not yet, however, over. travellers from kabul to india could not venture through the passes in small parties, but joined one of those enormous caravans which pass twice weekly through the khaiber pass. in these caravans, besides the honest trader and bona-fide traveller, there are usually some unscrupulous robbers, who try by trickery or by force to get the property of their fellow-travellers. a common method with them is some evening, after the day's journey is over, to propose a convivial party. "we have just slain a kid," they will say to the unsuspecting traveller, "and we have cooked the most delicious soup. will you come and share it?" but in the soup they have mixed a quantity of a poisonous herb, which causes insensibility, or it may be madness, in those who partake of it. whether they knew of jahan khan's secret, or whether they thought that he might be carrying money with him, i cannot say; but he, all unsuspectingly, joined in one of these evening feasts, and remembered nothing more until, some days later, the caravan entered peshawur. with a great effort he struggled up to the mission bungalow, but it was some days before he was able to undertake the journey to bannu, and still longer before he regained his previous health. his visit to his home had not been without fruit, and about a year later a brother and two cousins journeyed down from laghman to bannu, and while there one at least was brought to ask for christian baptism, and is to this day working in one of our frontier medical missions. the others placed themselves under instruction, but they could not stand the heat of the indian summer, and became so homesick for their mountain village that they returned there. among the thousand and one duties that fall to the lot of a frontier missionary is that of becoming a matchmaker to some of the converts. it may be that in one station a number of young men are brought into the christian fold where there is no corresponding women's work, whereby they might be enabled to set up house for themselves, while it would be courting many dangers to expect them to live for an indefinite period in a state of single blessedness. thus it came about that i undertook a journey with jahan khan down to india, and in one of the zenana missions there we found a girl who was to become his helpmeet through life. she came of one of those afghan families which had long been domiciled in british india, and had been brought to the christian faith through the devoted efforts of some lady missionary. she had also received the training of a compounder and midwife from the lady doctor where she had been converted, and so was able to be, not only a light to his home, but also an efficient helper in the work of the mission. some time after the happy pair had made their home in bannu, and after on three successive occasions the arrival of a young afghan had brought still more happiness into their married life, a letter came from a devoted missionary working in a difficult outpost in the persian gulf. the letter set forth how the missionary had been left almost without a helper in one of the most difficult and fanatical fields of missionary effort among muhammadans, and ended by an appeal for some native worker to come out and help. it was difficult to resist such an appeal, and though loth to lose the services of jahan khan even for a time, one felt that one had no worker more eminently suited for stepping into the breach. the afghan makes an excellent pioneer. his pride of race and self-reliance enable him to work in an isolated and difficult field, where a convert from the plains of india would quickly lose heart. so it came about, in a few weeks' time, that we had a farewell meeting in bannu for bidding god-speed to jahan khan and family in their new sphere of missionary labour; and we felt what a privilege it was, for not only had we seen the first-fruits of the harvest of afghanistan, but had also seen an afghan convert going out as a missionary to what was as much a foreign country for him as india is for us. for some time he shared with the devoted american missionaries the vicissitudes of work among the fanatical arabs of bahrain, and here his eldest daughter was taken from him and laid to rest in the little christian cemetery. when some time later he could be spared to return to bannu, we put him to work in the mission hospital, where he was not only able to influence the numerous afghans who every week came from over the border as patients, but was able also to acquire great proficiency in medical and surgical practice. some years after this we had occasion to open fresh work in a village--kharrak--in the midst of the pathan population of the kohat district, and when we were in need of a thoroughly reliable man to place in this isolated outpost, we found no one better suited than jahan khan. kharrak is a chief salt mart in the kohat districts, and in the centre of a fertile valley, which, from the amount of grain it produces, has been called the "granary of the khattaks." hard by are salt-quarries, which employ a good number of labourers, and attract merchants with their caravans from distant parts. i first visited this town in 1895, in company with jahan khan, and found a rough and fanatical population, who refused to listen to our message, and even rejected our medical aid. as years passed by many of them had occasion to become patients in the bannu mission hospital, and they carried back good accounts to their fellow-townsmen of the benefits they had received and the sympathy that had been displayed towards them, with the result that before long our visits were welcomed, we were able to preach in their bazaars, and eventually they asked us to open permanent work there, gave us a suitable site close to the town, and raised subscriptions to help in the building. when first jahan khan and his devoted wife started work at kharrak, they had a great deal of prejudice and antagonism to overcome, owing to their being converts from muhammadanism; but, by patience and consistency of life, by uniform kindness to all the sick and needy who came for their aid, they gradually lived it down. i have now no greater pleasure in my work than to visit kharrak, and to see these two faithful workers in their hospital, surrounded by the sick and needy, telling them of the precious sacrifice of christ--the very muhammadans who were once, in their fanaticism, thirsting for his blood, now quietly sitting round and listening attentively while he recounts, day by day, the story of the cross. i will give an instance to show how a consistent christian life can influence even such wild, ferocious pathans as those of kharrak. some fanatical muhammadans, irritated at the preaching of the gospel in their town, hired a professional assassin to come to shoot jahan khan; but the man happened to be one who had been indebted to the young doctor for recovery from a severe illness, in which he had, by his unremitting attention, been the means of saving his life. when he found who it was he was required to kill, he returned the money and informed jahan khan, that he might be on his guard. jahan khan called for the men who had hired the assassin, expostulated with them for their ingratitude for the benefits they had received in the hospital, and, when they expressed their contrition, freely forgave them, and now they are his staunch partisans. chapter xvii the hindu ascetics the hindu sadhus more than two thousand years ago much as to-day--muhammadan faqirs much more recent--the indian ideal--this presents a difficulty to the missionary--becoming a sadhu--an afghan disciple--initiation and equipment--hardwar the holy--a religious settlement--natural beauties of the locality--only man is vile--individualism versus altruism--the water god--wanton monkeys--tendency to make anything unusual an object of worship--a brahman fellow-traveller--a night in a temple--waking the gods--a hindu sacrament--a religious bedlam--a ward for imbeciles--religious delusions--"all humbugs"--yogis and hypnotism--voluntary maniacs--the daily meal--feeding, flesh, fish, and fowl. all the travellers and tourists who have recorded their experiences of india mention the strange, fantastic, ochre-habited ascetics who are met with in town and village, by the roadside and at fairs--nay, even in the modern railway-station, where they seem strangely out of place. but few have cared to cultivate their more intimate acquaintance; they have little in them that is attractive to the western eye, and often appear absolutely repulsive. yet, to a missionary at least, there is a fascination about them. they embody the religious ideals of the east, and carry one back to the hoary past, long before alexander marched into india, when the same enigmas of life were puzzling the mystical mind of the east, and the same sadhus were seeking their solution in her trackless jungles and beside her mighty rivers. sadhus, i say, because then there were no faqirs. faqirs are of comparatively recent origin, dating from the time of the muhammadan invasions, about the tenth century of our era. now the distinction is often lost sight of. the word "faqir" is an arabic one, and denotes a muhammadan ascetic; while the word "sadhu" is sanskrit, and is best retained for the hindu ascetic. the muhammadan faqir is altogether different from the hindu sadhu in his motives, his ideals, his habits, his dress--in fact, in nearly everything; yet contact with the hindu sadhus has had a profound effect upon him, and their philosophies have coloured his religious ideas. the hindus have, on their part too, not been unaffected by the influx of muhammadans, bringing their new monotheistic ideas, and some of the hindu orders appear to be attempts to graft the muslim monotheism on to the mystical hindu pantheism. this is seen most developed in the kabir panthis and the various orders originating from guru nanak. a desire to propitiate and attract their muhammadan conquerors was probably not wanting in the moulding of these new orders; indeed, kabir and guru nanak seem to have had visions of elaborating a creed in which muhammadan and hindu could unite together. the indian religious ideal has always been ascetic and despondent: ascetic, perhaps, because life seemed sad and hopeless. on the other hand, the western ideal is an altruistic and optimistic one. the young missionary, who very likely appeared to his sympathetic friends in england to be making great sacrifices in order to go "to preach the gospel to the heathen," sometimes ignorantly imagines that the people round him in india will recognize what he has denied himself in order to come among them, and will respect him in due proportion. poor deluded man! the modern christian in england has not even learnt the alphabet of austerities and self-denials practised in the name of religion, of which the indians are past masters. he appears to them as one of the ruling race, surrounded by the comforts and luxuries of a house, many servants, books, flowers, photographs, pictures, and the various little creations of civilization, which custom has made the western no longer to look on as superfluous articles of luxury! their ideal has been nearer that of the swami, who had so overcome the bonds of the flesh that he required neither clothes nor viands, but sat nude and impassive, maintaining his vitality on an occasional banana or mango! should the missionary try to accommodate himself to the eastern ideal, and forego many things that are lawful to him in order to gain more influence with the people for his message? every indian missionary has probably asked himself this question at some period of his career. at one time such questionings forced themselves on me with great importunity. there seemed such a gulf between myself, in my comfortable house, surrounded by so many conveniences, and the poor people, around me. the multitudinous administrative duties of the missionary in charge of a station seemed to leave so little time for spiritual dealings with inquirers, and at the end of a long day weariness made it difficult to maintain that very essential equipment of every missionary--"a heart at leisure from itself to soothe and sympathize." then i had a desire to learn more about these men, who might be supposed to represent the embodiment of the religious ideals of the east. the best way seemed to be to adopt their dress and habits, and travel about among them for a time. a young afghan, who was a pupil of mine and a muhammadan student in the school, begged to be allowed to accompany me as a chela, or disciple. as the time at my disposal was limited, it would not have been possible to visit many of the places where sadhus most do congregate had we confined ourselves to the more orthodox method of progression on foot, so we decided to ride our bicycles. this did not seem to affect the reception we met with from the fraternity--in fact, it is not at all uncommon to see sadhus riding; often pious hindus seek to gain merit for themselves by providing them with the means for doing so. when we left bannu, we took no money with us; but we seldom were in want, as we received ungrudging hospitality from hindus, muhammadans, and christians alike. the ochre-coloured garments are sufficient passport all over india, and people give alms and offer hospitality without requiring further evidence of the genuineness of the claims of the applicant on their charity. in fact, unless the sadhu is of known bad character, the hindu would gain his end--that of acquiring merit by almsgiving--as much by giving to one as another; and he would be very unhappy were he not afforded these opportunities of keeping up the credit side of his account, all the more if his gains are ill-gotten, or he is conscious of some underhand dealings which require corresponding acts of merit to balance them. one of the most interesting places we visited was hardwar, the holy bathing-place on the ganges, which is visited by tens of thousands of hindu pilgrims from every part of india every year, and the neighbouring sadhu colony of rishikes. the latter is a village inhabited only by the sanzasis and other sadhus, who have built themselves grass huts in a very picturesque spot, where the ganges river emerges from the himalaya mountains, and commences its long course through the densely-populated plains of india. it is at hardwar that the great ganges canal, one of the great engineering feats of the british rule, has been taken from the river to vivify thousands of acres of good land in the united provinces to the south, and supply their teeming populations with bread. a little above the town of rurki a massive aqueduct carries the whole volume of the canal high above a river flowing beneath, and yet higher up two river-beds are conducted over the canal, which passes beneath them. the uniqueness of this piece of engineering is dependent on two other factors--the crystalline limpidity of the blue water and the glorious scenery which forms a setting to all. i no longer needed to inquire why the common consent of countless generations of hindus had made this neighbourhood their holy land; the appropriateness of it flashed on my mind the moment the glorious vista opened before me. there beyond me were the majestic himalayas, the higher ranges clothed in the purest dazzling white, emblem of the great eternal purity, looking down impassive on all the vicissitudes of puny man, enacting his drama of life with a selfish meanness so sordid in contrast with that spotless purity; and yet not unmoved, for is there not a stream of life-giving water ever issuing from those silent solitudes, without which the very springs of man's existence would dry up and wither? and then, in the nearer distance, the lower ranges clothed in the richest verdure of the primeval forest, vast tracts not yet subdued by the plough of man, where the religious devotee can strive to rise from nature to nature's god, amid those solitudes and recesses where no handiwork of man distracts the soul from the contemplation of the illimitable and mysterious first cause. while looking down from the elevation of the canal, there was spread out at our feet a bucolic scene of peace and plenty, where villages and hamlets, surrounded by green fields and cultivation, lay scattered among sylvan glades, drinking in vivifying streams which had journeyed down by chasm and defile, through valley and meadow, from those distant solitudes. how natural it seemed that in those early vedic ages, when the reverence for the forces of nature was still unsullied by the man-worship engendered by the development of his inventive genius, this vast cathedral of god's own architecture should have been made the chosen place of worship of the race, where the more devout spirits strove not only to worship and adore, but to shake off the trammels of a mere mundane corporal existence, till the spirit was as free as the birds in the air around, as clear from earthly dross as the limpid waters below, and as integral a part of the great eternal whole as nature around, so diverse in its manifestations, yet knitted together in one congruous whole by a pervading and uniform natural law. but facilis descensus averni! how often the most glorious inspirations are dragged down and down till they subserve the basest instincts of man! so here a little farther on--at hardwar--we were to have the spiritual elation engendered by the natural scene cruelly shattered by a sight of the vileness and sordidness of the most repulsive aspects of humanity, and by realizing how the most divine conceptions can be dragged down and abased to pander to all that is brutal and evil in man. not, of course, that all the sadhus at hardwar and rishikes have debased their holy profession. many among them, as i shall shortly describe, are as earnest seekers after divine illumination as could be met with in any country; but, by one of those strange paradoxes so common in the east, they live side by side with the basest charlatans and the most immoral caricatures of their own ideals without evincing any consciousness of the impropriety of it, or resentment at their profession being thus debased before the public eye. the individualistic idea eclipses that of the public weal, and each is so intent on perfecting his own salvation, and drawing himself nearer, step by step, to his goal of absorption in the eternal spirit, that he has come to forget that man has a duty to those around him from which he cannot absolve himself. st. paul tells us, "no man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." the sadhu says each unit is only concerned in building up its own karma, or balance of good and evil actions, whereby it must work out its own destiny regardless of the weal and woe of those around. the hindu idea connects the soul with those other souls before and behind it in a long concatenation of births; the christian idea connects the soul with the other souls around it, contemporaneous with its own corporeal existence, and linked with it by the good and evil vibrations of its own vitality. thus the vista of the sadhu is always introspective, even to a vesting of the natural vital functions of the body with spiritual significations, which require the most laborious practisings and purifications to make them all subserve his great ideal of absolute subjection of the body to the spirit. the vista of the christian missionary and philanthropist is extraspective, seeking to make his own life a means for elevating spiritually and materially the lives of those around him, and disciplining his own body and soul rather, that he may thereby more effectually further this end. "for their sakes i sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified." a constant stream of pilgrims is ever passing through the bazaar of hardwar to and from that particular part of the river, the water of which is supposed to possess a superlative sanctity. here they bring the calcined bones and ashes of their dead relations, and there is ever a stream of pious hindus bringing these doleful relics for consignment to the sacred stream. as i looked down into the crystal waters i could see the fragments of white bones lying about on the pebbles beneath, with the fish playing in and out among them. strange commingling of life and death! and this has been going on at this spot for three thousand years, for woe to the hindu who has no son to perform his funeral rites, no relative to bring his ashes to the cleansing waters of the mighty ganges! his soul will wander about restlessly, and the sequence of its reincarnations leading to its ultimate absorption in the eternal spirit, will be hampered and retarded! there they fill the glass bottles of all sizes, which they have brought for the purpose, and then place them in wicker baskets on the two ends of a bamboo pole, which is balanced over the shoulder, and with which they will often travel hundreds of miles on foot till they reach their destination. if the hindu for whom the water is being obtained is well-to-do, he will have the water fetched with great pomp and ceremony, ringing of bells, playing of instruments, and chanting of mantras, while the baskets containing the water are gorgeously decorated, and a servant is deputed to fan the aqueous god as he is borne along. probably the hindu would grudge a tenth part of the cost to purify or amplify the water-supply of his own village! naturally the town drives a thriving trade in the bamboo rods, baskets, bottles, and all appurtenances of the mighty pilgrimage. the bazaar is crowded with monkeys, the feeding of which affords boundless opportunities to pious hindus for accumulating merit. these favours the monkeys repay by surreptitiously snatching sweetmeats and fruits from the open shop-fronts and darting off with the booty to the roofs of the shops opposite, where they devour them in quiet with sly winks and leers at the luckless shopkeeper. though inwardly wrathful, he cannot retaliate on the sacred animals, lest he be dubbed a heretic and his trade depart. here, too, we see everywhere exemplified the irrepressible faculty of the hindu for worshipping anything which can possibly be made into an object of veneration. probably all the world through, no race is to be found so bent on turning all the events and circumstances of life into religious acts of worship. if anything or anyone is pre-eminently good or pre-eminently bad, or has any particular quality, good or evil, developed to excess, or is a monstrosity in any way, then he or it is sure to become an object of worship. a hindu addicted to wine-bibbing will sometimes turn his drinking orgy into an act of religious worship, in which the wine-bottle is set up on a pedestal and duly garlanded, apostrophized, and adored. a sadhu may be a notoriously bad man, but if his vices have given him a preeminence over his fellow-men, he will find multitudes of hindus, men and women, who will regard them only as so many proofs of his divinity, and worship him accordingly. it is not that the hindu does not recognize or reprobate vice--he does both; but, then, he holds the idea that spirit is eternally pure and good, and matter eternally gross and evil, and that if a sadhu attains the stage where spirit has triumphed over body, his actions become divorced from ethics, and are no longer to be judged as though his spirit was capable of contamination from the acts of its earthly tabernacle. hence it is that the stories of the hindu divinities, which seem to us distinctly immoral, do not strike the pantheistic hindu mind as such, for ethics have ceased to be a concern to one whose austerities have won for him union with the divine essence. here in hardwar was a weird collection of bovine monstrosities--cows with three horns, one eye, or a hideous tumour; calves with two heads or two bodies. these were paraded forth by their fortunate possessors, who reaped a good harvest of coins from the devout visitors, who worshipped them as illustrations of the vagaries of divinity, and hoped, by offering them alms, to propitiate their destinies. rishikes, the city of the sadhus, is eighteen miles higher up the river from hardwar, and the road lies through a dense forest. the road is only a rough track, but pious hindus have erected temples and rest-houses at short intervals, where travellers can spend the night and get refreshment. after proceeding some distance through the forest i met a brahman journeying the same way with a heavily-laden pony. the pony was obstreperous, and the luggage kept falling off, so the brahman gladly accepted the offer of my assistance, and after repacking the luggage in a securer manner we got along very well. the brahman beguiled the time by telling me histories of the past glories of the rishis of the himalayas, and how the spread of infidelity and cow-killing was undermining the fabric of hinduism. false sadhus and sanyasis from the lower non-brahman castes were crowding into their ranks for the sake of an easier living, till it was almost impossible to distinguish the true from the false, and a bad name was brought upon all. any hindu of the three upper castes may become a sadhu, and should, according to manu's code, become a sanyasi in his later years. but he does not thereby attain to the sanctity of a brahman, and the brahmans have many stories to relate to show how many have undergone extreme austerities and bodily afflictions in order to obtain spiritual power, and have thereby gained great gifts from the gods, but without attaining the coveted sanctity of the born brahman. the sun had already set, and the forest path was becoming difficult to follow in the gathering gloom when we reached a clearing with a temple and a few cottages built round it, so we decided to spend the night there. through the kind offices of the brahman, i was given a small room adjoining the temple, on the stone floor of which i spread my blanket, and prepared to make myself comfortable for the night. i had consumed my supper of bread and pulse, and given the remnants to the temple cow, and settled myself to sleep, when i was roused by a fearful din. the temple in which i had found refuge was dedicated to vishnu and lakshmi, and their full-size images, dressed up in gaudy tinsel, were within. the time for their evening meal had arrived, but the gods were asleep, and the violent tomtoming and clashing of cymbals which awoke me so suddenly was really intended to make the drowsy gods bestir themselves to partake of the supper which their worshippers had reverently brought them. when the gods were thoroughly roused, and the dainty food had been set before them, the priest proceeded to fan them with some peacocks' feathers while the meal might be imagined to be in course of consumption, and meanwhile the worshippers bowed themselves on the floor before them, prostrating themselves with arms and legs extended on the stones and foreheads in the dust, the more zealous continuing their prostrations as long as the meal lasted. in these prostrations eight parts of the body have to touch the ground--the forehead, breast, hands, knees, and insteps--and i have seen pilgrims travelling towards a holy place some hundreds of miles distant by continuous prostrations of this kind, the feet being brought up to where the hands were, and the prostration repeated, and thus the whole distance measured out by interminable prostrations. this formidable austerity may take years, but will gain the performer great sanctity and power with the gods whose shrine he thus visits. the meal over, the worshippers knelt reverently in line, and received a few drops each of the water left over, and a few grains of corn that had been sanctified by being part of the meal of the gods, taking them from the priest in their open palm, and drinking the water and eating the corn with raptures of pleasure and renewed prostrations. one could not but be forcibly reminded of a somewhat ceremonious celebration of the christian eucharist. this over, the worshippers departed, the gods were gently fanned to sleep, the priest and the most substantial part of the dinner were left alone, and i became oblivious. the next morning the brahman and i were up betimes, and girded ourselves for the accomplishment of the nine miles of forest which still lay between us and our destination, before reaching which we had to ford several small rivers. however, the rays of the sun had scarcely become pleasantly warm when we found ourselves elbowing our way through the sadhus and pilgrims who were crowding the small but striking bazaar of rishikes. this place has so little in common with the world in general, is so diverse from all one's preconceived notions and ideas, its mental atmosphere departs so far from the ordinary human standard, that it is hard to know whether to describe it in the ordinary terms of human experience, or whether to look on it as a weird dream of the bygone ages of another world. as for myself, i had not been wandering among its ochre-habited devotees for a quarter of an hour before my mind involuntarily reverted to a time, many years past, when i was a student of mental disease in bethlem hospital, and to a dream i had had at that time, when i imagined i found myself an inmate, no longer as a psychological student, but with the indescribably uncanny feeling, "i am one of them myself. now these madmen around me are only counterparts of myself." so now, as some of these forms of voluntary self-torture and eccentricity, nudity, or ash-besmeared bodies, aroused feelings of abhorrence, i had to check myself with the thought: "but you yourself are one of them too: these weird sadhus are your accepted brothers in uniform." and so the illusion continued so long as i moved among them, and when finally i left rishikes behind me, it was like waking from some nightmare. accompany me round the imaginary wards, and we will first visit that for imbeciles. we find most of them sitting out in the jungle under trees or mats, avoiding the proximity of their fellow-creatures, recoiling from any intrusion on their privacy, preserving a vacuous expression and an unbroken silence, resenting any effort to draw them into conversation or to break into the impassivity of their abstraction. they do not look up as you approach; they offer you no sign of recognition; whether you seat yourself or remain standing, they show no consciousness of your presence. flies may alight on their faces, but still their eyes remain fixed on the tip of their noses, and their hands remain clasping their crossed legs. they have sought to obtain fusion with the eternal spirit by cultivating an ecstatic vacuity of mind, and have fallen into the error of imagining that the material part of their nature can be etherealized by merely ignoring it, until the process of atrophy from disuse often proceeds so far that there is no mind left to be etherealized at all, and there is little left to distinguish them from one of those demented unfortunates who have been deprived by disease of that highest ornament of humanity. leaving these, let us proceed to the ward set apart for delusional insanity. the first sadhu tells you that he is possessed by a spirit which forbids him to eat except every third day. another avers that he is in reality a cow in human form, and therefore must eat nothing but grass and roots. a third i found sitting in nudity and arrogance on his grass mat, and repeating sententiously time after time: "i am god, i am god!" i remember a patient at bethlem whose delusion was that he was himself the superintendent of the asylum, the one sane man among all the mad, and he went round the ward pointing out to me each patient with the remark: "he is mad--quite mad. he, too, he also is mad," and so on. but i was much surprised to meet the same gentleman here. he was in the form of a bengali babu, a b.a. of the calcutta university, and had held high posts under government; but now, in later life, in dissatisfaction with the world at large, had thrown it all up and sought in the garb of a sanyasi recluse at rishikes for that peace which an office and babudom can never afford. recognizing me as a novice, he took me by the arm, saying in english (which in itself seemed strange and out of place amid these surroundings): "come along; i explain to you jolly well all the show." we strolled in and out among the various groups of sadhus, and at each new form of sadhuism he would deliver himself after this manner: "see this man--he is a humbug, pure humbug. see that man lying on all the sharp stones--he is a humbug. look at these here--humbugs! there, that man, reciting the mantras--he pure humbug. all these humbugs!" and so on. here is the section for the study and practice of hypnotism. these yogis maintain that by a knowledge of the spiritual states engendered by various samadhs or contorted positions of the body and legs, and by elaborate breathing exercises, they are able to subdue the unruly and material currents of the bodily senses and the brain, and tap that inner source of spiritual knowledge and divinity which makes them ipso facto masters of all knowledge, able to commune at will with the deity himself. the contortions into which they are able to thrust their limbs, and the length of time that they are able to sit impassive and imperturbable in what appear to be the most painfully constrained postures, show that years of practice, commenced when the joints and sinews are supple, must be required for the attainment of this ecstatic state. there can be no doubt, i think, that masters do exercise the power of hypnotism on their chelas, and are thereby able to perform painful operations on them (such as piercing various parts of their anatomy with iron skewers) without their wincing or showing visible signs of pain. other practices which these yogis have been carrying on for centuries in their haunts in the himalayas remind one forcibly of the modus operandi of the western hypnotist, and no doubt both attain success through a knowledge, empirical though it may be, of the same psycho-physiological laws. leaving these, let us examine some of the cases of mania--a few of them acute, others more or less chronic, or passing on into a drivelling dementia. here is a man quite naked, except for the white ashes rubbed over his dusky body, who, with long dishevelled locks and wild expression, hurries up and down the bazaar barking like a dog, and making it his boast never to use intelligible language. another, after painting his naked body partly white and partly black, has tied all the little bits of rag he has picked up in the road to various parts of his person. a third has adorned his filthy, mud-covered body with wild-flowers, whose varying beauty, now withering in the noonday sun, seems a picture of how his mind and conscience, once the glory of his manhood, have now faded into a shadow. another is lying by choice in the mud by the roadside, to be fouled by the dust of the passers-by, and almost trampled on by the cows, hoping by this abject affectation of humility to be thought the greater saint. for, by a curious paradox, it is often those who make the greatest display of humility and subjection of the passions who show the greatest sensitiveness to public opinion of their sanctity, and quite fail in concealing their jealousy when some other sadhu outdoes them, and gains the greater meed of public admiration. there is another man to be seen wandering aimlessly about and picking up bits of filth and ordure, and putting them in his mouth and chewing them. but to give a further account of these caricatures of humanity would be loathsome to the reader, as their contemplation became to me--the more so as the thought kept recurring to my mind, "and you are one of them, too, now"; and who knows to what point the imitative faculty of man, that contagion of the mind, may not raise or lower him? by this time, however, the long fast and the fresh, keen air from the ganges made me begin to wonder how i was going to satisfy a call from within. it was now close on midday, and i saw the sadhus collecting round certain houses with bowls, gourds, and other receptacles. these were the kitchens established by pious hindus of various parts of india with the object of acquiring sufficient merit to counterpoise their demerits--the bribery, chicanery, and lying of their offices, or the more covert sins of their private life. a rich hindu may establish a kitchen in his own name alone, but more often a number unite together to form a guild to keep the kitchen going, and the merit is portioned out like the dividends of a joint-stock company to its shareholders. there were some twenty or more of such kitchens here, in each of which three chapattis and a modicum of dal, potatoes, greens, or some other vegetable were given; and there was nothing to debar a sadhu from going to as many kitchens as he desired--in fact, he knew he was conferring a benefit on the shareholders by consuming their victuals and supplying them thereby with merit. the gnawing pangs of hunger made me mingle with the shoving, jostling throng, and hurry from kitchen to kitchen till i had accumulated nine chapattis, and vegetables in proportion. modesty then made me withdraw, but not so most of my companions. one of these who rejoined me a little later had been to eight kitchens, and brought a supply of twenty-four chapattis, and a large bowl of dal, potatoes, and other vegetables. the custom of the place then required me to descend to the margin of the ganges, and, squatting on a stone which was lapped by its pellucid waters, to consume my portion with draughts of the holy water. but not without a preliminary ceremony, for while the sadhus had been collecting round the kitchens, the cows and bulls had been collecting on the banks of the river, and it was de rigueur first to set aside three portions, and give one to these holy animals, a second portion to the birds in the air, and a third to the fish in the river, after which the remainder, whether one chapatti or twenty, might be consumed with an easy conscience and a courageous digestion. chapter xviii sadhus and faqirs buried gold--power of sympathy--a neglected field--a sadhu converted to christianity--his experiences--causes of the development of the ascetic idea in india--more unworthy motives common at the present time--the prime minister of a state becomes a recluse--a cavalry officer sadhu--dedicated from birth--experiences of a young sadhu--an unpleasant bed-fellow--honest toil--orders of muhammadan ascetics--their characteristics--a faqir's curse--women and faqirs--muhammadan faqirs usually unorthodox--sufistic tendencies--habits of inebriation--the sanctity and powers of a faqir's grave. there were, however, some bright spots even in rishikes, gems among the rubble, lumps of gold concealed among the mass of baser metals--minds earnestly seeking a higher spiritual life, losing themselves, wearying themselves in the quest after truth, intensely conscious of the vanity of this world and its pursuits and pleasures, and striving to obtain in a contemplation of the one only pure, the only unchangeable, the only true, that peace of mind which they instinctively felt and experimentally found was not to be realized in the pursuit of material objects. the painful mistake which made their quest so hopeless was the endeavour to divest themselves of the bonds of their bodily material tabernacle, which, if subjugated to the spirit, forms the basis on which that spirit can work healthily and naturally to its divinest development, but which, if altogether ignored and contemned, reduces that same spirit to a morbid fantasy. with regard to the learning of many of the sanyasis there is not a shadow of doubt. there are men there fit to be sanskrit professors in the universities, and who are deep in the lore of the ancient and voluminous literature of hinduism. yet who benefits by all their learning? they may transmit it to a few disciples, or it may live and die with them; they make no attempt to methodize it, to draw conclusions, to contrast the old order with the new, to summarize or to classify, but cultivate it purely as a mental exercise or religious duty, without apparently even the desire to benefit the world at large thereby. this self-centred individualism, each mind self-satisfied, self-contained, with the springs of sympathy and altruism hard frozen, ever revolving on itself, and evolving a maze of mysticism, at length becomes so entangled in its own introspection that other minds and the world outside cease to have any practical existence for it. this is at once the most salient and the saddest feature of the learned and meditative sadhu. but there they are--men who might have shone academically, who might have enriched the world with thought, research, and criticism, but who have chosen to live for and within themselves, careless whether others live or die, are instructed or remain ignorant. though they have categorically rejected altruism, and denied that they have a duty towards their neighbour, and done their best to shut up the doors of sympathy, yet even with them human nature refuses to be utterly crushed, and will assert itself. one can often discern a suppressed, yet insuppressible, hunger after sympathy, and one has no doubt but that the sympathy which finds its highest expression in the love of christ, whether acted or recounted, will penetrate their hearts, and find a response. unused, any organ will atrophy, and so their capacity for sympathy may be latent and not easily roused. let someone, however, go to them as a fellow-creature, full of love and sympathy--not to despise and to fault-find, but to take hand in hand and bring soul to soul--and he will find that the sadhus of rishikes are human, very human, with the same spiritual hungerings and thirstings, and able to realize and rejoice in the same salvation. it is a pity that more missionaries have not devoted themselves to working among these people. they would need to be men of great devotion and self-abnegation, but there have been many such in other spheres. they would be repelled and disappointed by the callousness and fraud of the majority, but there are the gems to be sought out, and how much hard granite is the miner willing laboriously to crush when he is sure of finding nuggets of gold here and there! and among these sadhus are men who, converted to christianity, would be apostolic in their zeal and devotion, and might, by travelling up and down india, not now in the vain accumulation of merit, but as heralds of the gospel of goodwill, become the wesleys and whitefields of a mighty mass movement of the people towards christ. as an example of such a one and the way in which he was converted from the life of a sadhu to that of a christian preacher, i will quote here the account that rev. b. b. roy gives of his conversion. it shows how strong a hold the ascetic sadhu idea has on a religiously-minded hindu, and how spontaneously his heart seeks in austerity and retirement for the peace which a growing sense of sin and of the evil of the world has taken away. at the same time it shows that, as in the case of buddha, asceticism fails to afford any lasting comfort or peace to the weary storm-tossed soul. he says: "constant starvation and exposure to all sorts of weather reduced my body to a living skeleton. "after a few months' travel i came to hardwar, and then proceeded to a place called rishikes, celebrated for its sadhus and sanyasis. my intention was to stay there and practise yoga [a kind of meditative asceticism], to attain to final beatitude; but a strange event took place, which entirely changed my purpose. the rainy season had already set in; the jungle path was muddy, and at places full of water, so when i reached rishikes i was almost covered with mud. leaving my things in a dharmsala, i was going to bring water from the ganges when i smelt a very bad odour. as i turned round i saw a dead body in the street, rotting in the mud. around the corpse were the huts of the sanyasis, who were performing tap-jap almost the whole day; but none of them had even enough of compassion to dispose of the body of the poor man who had died helpless on the street. i thought that if this was religion, then what was irreligion? my spirit revolted against these sadhus. "i perceived in my heart of hearts that yog-sadhan cannot create that love in man which makes a man feel for a fellow-man. where there is no such love there can be no religion from god." and then he goes on to relate how, leaving rishikes, he fell in with a christian preacher, and eventually found in christ that peace which all his voluntary hardship had failed to afford, and how he had been led on and on in his pilgrim walk, till he had now the blessed and responsible work of teaching others of his fellow-countrymen how best to bring the good news of the eternal love to all the hungry and thirsty souls around. (he was then principal of a theological seminary.) there have already been many such cases of sadhus and faqirs converted to christianity, and these men and women have, as might be expected, exerted an immense influence on their fellow-countrymen. they have presented them with a christianity in an eastern dress which they can recognize as congenial to the sentiments of their country, and exemplified in their own self-denying lives, full of the spirit of that austerity which the indian has long believed to be inseparable from religious zeal. devotion, austerity, and asceticism in the cause of religion have been characteristic of india as far back as history records. life has always been precarious for the majority of the population in the east, and plagues, famines and wars have familiarized them with the tragic spectacles of multitudes of young and old being suddenly carried off in the midst of business or enjoyment. consequently, their sages dwelt much on the uncertainty of life, and developed the doctrine that the world and its gay shows were only an illusion of the senses, and the goal of the spirit was to divest itself of this illusion and rise superior to the limitations of matter. by the practice of austerities, the grossness of the flesh, the demands of the body, and the storms of the passions, would be subdued, and the spirit gain freedom from the endless round of reincarnation, and ultimately join the illimitable sea whence it came, as the drop on the lotus-leaf falls back into the water and is lost therein. then, it is universally believed that by these austerities the ascetic gains power with the gods, and can bring down blessings from above for himself and his votaries. he can, in fact, extort favours from the unwilling gods if he only carry his self-torture and privations to the requisite extreme. we find much the same idea in the ascetic saints of the early christian era. thus tennyson, in his poem "st. simeon stylites," puts the following words into the mouth of the saint. he is addressing a crowd of people who have come to worship him, and who believe that, owing to his great austerities, he has the power of granting their requests. "speak! is there any of you halt or maim'd? i think you know i have some power with heaven from my long penance; let him speak his wish." the idea of merit is ever present to the hindu. by practising austerity himself, or by paying another to practise it for him, he can accumulate merit, which will render each succeeding birth more propitious, and bring him nearer his ideal of bliss, when his soul will be finally freed from the endless chain of reincarnations. it must, sad to say, be admitted that with the great majority of the sadhus of the present day the motives which actuate them are much more mundane and sordid than what i have described above. lazy good-for-nothings, too indolent to work, find that in the garb of a sadhu they can be assured of a living which, though it may not be a luxurious one, is yet one free from anxiety and toil. fraudulent scamps enrich themselves on the credulity of the people by counterfeiting austerities and miraculous powers, which successfully deceive the simple-minded, who, without even a desire to examine their claims and reputed performances too critically, freely bestow gifts of money and kind on them, in the hopes of gaining their favour for the attainment of some benefit or cure, or other object. then, there are the political faqirs, who use their position to disseminate political propaganda, usually of a seditious nature. from their habit of travelling all over the country they have special opportunities of becoming the channels for the transmission of news, and before the days of telegraph and post-office the people would get most of their news of the rest of the country through these pilgrims and ascetics; and even at the present day they are able to disseminate secret intelligence and transmit the orders of the organizing authorities in such a way as to be very difficult of detection. when i travelled as a faqir i was frequently shadowed by the police, and sometimes a talkative and inquisitive companion would join me who eventually proved to be a detective in his disguise. as examples of the superior sadhu--the man who from high aspirations has voluntarily given up position, honour, and wealth in the world for the life of a recluse--i will give the two following instances. i met a man at rishikes who had been the prime minister of a native state. while in that capacity he had to deal with bands of robbers who infested the highways, and had committed some cold-blooded murders for the sake of the money and goods of the travellers. when a number of these men had been caught and participation in murders proved against them, he found it his duty to condemn them to death by hanging. the sentence was duly executed, but from that day he got no rest at nights. visions of the culprits would rise before him as soon as he lay down on his couch, and they would appear to be pointing their fingers at him as the cause of their death. this so unnerved him that he could not get a night's rest, and dreaded going to sleep. want of rest and nervous perturbation prevented him from duly carrying on the work of the state, and he asked for leave, nominally to attend the funeral of his mother, but really to expiate his sin, and gain repose of mind by a pilgrimage to a noted holy place. but he failed to get ease of mind there, and had it impressed on him that only by leaving the world and spending the rest of his days in seclusion, meditating on god, would he find rest from the blood-guiltiness that was tormenting him. he forthwith resigned his position in the state, divided his property amongst his family, put on the garb of a sanyasi, and was spending the rest of his days in contemplation and religious exercises. the other case i met in a village on the pir pangal range, where he had built himself a cottage with a garden, in which he spent his days in religious studies and contemplation, and receiving the many people who used to come to him for advice, or to derive advantage from contact with his superior sanctity and wisdom. he had been risaldar-major in one of the regiments of bengal cavalry, and had fought under the british flag in several campaigns, and won wounds and medals. on retirement he forsook his home and relations and all worldly pursuits, and spent his time in the contemplation of the deity and such works of charity as came in his way. both these men were truly devout, unostentatious spirits, who had found that the delights of divine communion exceeded the pleasures of this transitory world. some sadhus are set aside from birth for this life by their parents, and as a good example of such a one i will tell the story of a man who joined company with me on the road near ludhiana. i will relate it in his own words: "my father is a small hindu farmer in the state of patiala, and when three sons had been born to him, he made a vow that he would consecrate the fourth to the service of god. when i was born he allowed me to stop with my mother only till i was four years old, and then he took me to a certain large city, where there is a famous shrine, and a very holy man who is renowned for his piety and deep learning. at first i wept much at being taken away from my brothers and sisters, but the swami treated me kindly and gave me sweetmeats, and i used to fetch his mat and books and put oil in his lamp and do other little services for him. then, as i got older, he taught me to read, first in bhasha and then in sanskrit, and he taught me all the laws of worship and guides to bhagti (devotion). when i became a lusty young man, he told me to make pilgrimages to various sacred places and to visit other sages and holy men, and i went forth on my first journey, taking with me only a staff, a gourd for drinking-water, a blanket, and a couple of shasters (holy books). "i had never been out in the world before, and at first i was very timid of asking people for food in new places that i had never hitherto seen; but people were nearly always kind to me and gave me food to eat and shelter at night, and so i got bolder, and i would recite to them verses out of the holy books in return for their kindness, for i had no money or anything else to give them. in this way i have travelled many hundreds of miles on foot, and seen many sacred places and holy men. after each journey i return to my preceptor, and tell him my experiences, receive fresh counsel and instruction from him, and now i am just starting on a fresh journey to dwarka." looking down at my bicycle, i felt quite a luxurious traveller compared with this brave fellow, starting off with no hesitation and no misgivings on a journey of hundreds of miles, with not a pice in his wallet, and a kit even more slender than my own. he had little idea as to where dwarka was, but was content to ask his way day by day, and trust to god and the hospitality of his co-religionists on the way for sustenance. "yes," he said, "sometimes i do want to see my family. my brothers are all gryasthas (married householders) now, and i sometimes take a few days' leave from my master to visit them and my parents. i am quite happy in this life, and do not desire money or service or children; for when my heart is lonely i read in my copy of the bhagvad gita and get consolation, and i like that better than any other book because it makes my heart glad. no, i have never met anyone who has spoken to me of christ, and i do not know anything about him; but i am quite happy because i am sure that if i continue a life of penury and celibacy and pilgrimage i shall attain salvation." to resume my own experiences at rishikes. when night came on i was given shelter in one of the monasteries, and though the floor was stone, and a chill wind blew through the cloisters, i should have slept soundly had not my next bed-fellow--or rather floor-fellow, for there were no beds--thought it incumbent on him to spend the night shouting out in varying cadence, "ram, ram, jai sita ram, ram, ram!" i suggested that keeping a weary fellow-pilgrim awake all night would detract from the merit he was acquiring, but only received the consolation that if he kept me awake i was thereby sharing, though in a minor degree, in that merit; so it perforce went on till, in the early morning hours, my ears grew duller to the "ram, ram," and my mind gradually shaped itself into an uneasy dream of ash-covered faqirs, chapattis, cows, and squatting sadhus. next day, in the forest road near rishikes, i came across a string of hillmen bowed down under heavy loads of firewood, which they had been cutting in the hills near to sell for a few pice in the bazaar. this was their daily lot, earning just sufficient by continuous hard labour to find for themselves and their families sufficient coarse food for a meagre sustenance. the question rose in my mind, who approached nearer the ideal?--the idle sadhu, who makes religion an excuse for living in greasy plenty on the hard-won earnings of others, while doing next to nothing himself, or these woodmen of the forest, and all the dusty toilers in the ranks of honest labour? and an answer came, clear and sure: "honest toil is holy service; faithful work is praise and prayer. they who tread the path of labour follow where my feet have trod; they that work without complaining do the holy will of god. where the many toil together, there am i among my own; where the tired labourer sleepeth, there am i with him alone." the ascetics of afghanistan are almost all muhammadans, and i shall therefore speak of them as faqirs, that being the counterpart of the hindu sadhu. these faqirs have started from an entirely different religious standpoint, and travelled along a very different experimental road to those of their hindu brethren; but the ultimate result is strikingly similar in many salient features, and hindu asceticism and pantheistic thought have deeply coloured their ideas and habits. there are endless different orders of muhammadan faqirs, most of which had their origin in central asia, bukhara and baghdad having contributed perhaps the largest share. each of these orders has its own method of initiation, its own habit of dress, set phrases and formulã¦, and other characteristics. except in a few cases in india, none of these orders of faqirs or dervishes adopt the ochre garments of the sadhus. the most characteristic garment of the faqir is known as the dilaq, which is a patchwork, particoloured cloak. the owner goes on adding patches of pieces of coloured cloth which take his fancy, but i have never seen him washing it, and as it gets old he stitches and patches it till very little of the original is left. the older and more patched it is, the greater is the pride he takes in it, and he would not part with it for love or money. the order which is most commonly seen in afghanistan is that known as malang, or wandering dervish. these men have a dilaq, a staff, and a begging-bowl, and travel all about the country begging. they are nearly all illiterate, and their knowledge of their own religion does not usually extend beyond certain chapters from the quran and stock formulã¦. but they have a wonderful vocabulary of words of abuse and curses, and the people are in great fear of being visited by some calamity if they offend one of them and incur his wrath, as they believe in their being able to blast the life of a child or the offspring of a pregnant woman, or to bring other calamities down from heaven on the heads of those with whom they are wroth. once while i was stopping in a village on the border one of these gentlemen came to say his prayers in the mosque, and had left his shoes at the entrance, as is the custom. after he had said his prayers with great sanctimoniousness he went to resume his foot-gear, but found, to his dismay, that some thief had gone off with them. then followed a torrent of curses on whoever the thief might be, in which all imaginable calamities and diseases were invoked on him and his relations, accompanied by every epithet of abuse in the pashtu vocabulary, and that is pretty rich in them! the very volubility and eloquence of his anathemas would have dismayed any ordinary thief had he been within earshot, but whether he ever got back his shoes or not i cannot say. women who are childless will visit various faqirs, whose prayers have a reputation for being efficacious for the removal of sterility. they write charms, and dictate elaborate instructions for the behaviour of the woman till her wish be fulfilled, and they take the gifts which the suppliant has brought with her. were this nothing more than a fraud dictated by avarice, it would be reprehensible, but worse things happen; and when a child is born after due time, the husband of the woman cannot always claim paternity. it is a strange thing that in a country where husbands so jealously guard their women from strangers they allow them so much freedom in their dealings with faqirs, whom they know to be morally corrupt. it recalls the hindu sadhu and divinity, who is popularly supposed to have attained an elevation where ethics are no longer taken account of. in a religion such as islam it is scarcely possible for an order of dervishes to be orthodox, and, as a matter of fact, most of them are extremely unorthodox, and there is often considerable disputing between them and the priesthood on this account. but the faqirs have such a hold over the people at large, and in many ways are so useful to the propagation of islam, that the mullah find it more politic to overlook their heresies and use them in the promotion of religious zeal and fanaticism. it will be found that the underlying current of religious thought in nearly all these orders is that of sufism, and sufism is the product of the aspiration of the mussalman soul, wearied with the endless repetition of forms and ceremonies, after something more spiritual; and in its search after this spirituality it has drawn most on the pantheistic philosophies of hinduism. pantheism is, of course, the antithesis of the judaic theocracy of islam, and we read of a faqir who went about calling out, "ana hu, ana el haqq" ("i am he, i am the truth"), being put to death for blasphemy; but all the same, these muhammadans, who feel most the aspirations of the soul for divine communion, find it in a greater or less assimilation of pantheistic doctrine. most of the faqirs one meets with in afghanistan are lazy fellows, who abhor hard work, and find they can make an easy living by begging, and acquire at the same time, what is so dear to many natures, the homage and respect of the credulous and superstitious. when one does meet with one who is willing and able to converse on spiritual topics, one usually finds that he is a disciple of hafiz, the great sufi poet of the persians. like the hindu sadhus, they are much addicted to the use of intoxicants (though rarely alcohol), and charras and bhang (indian hemp) are constantly smoked with tobacco in their chilams. when thus intoxicated they are known as mast, and are believed by the populace to be possessed by divinity, and to have miraculous powers of gaining favours from heaven for those who propitiate them. when such a faqir dies he is buried in some prominent place, often at the crossing of roads, and his tomb has even greater efficacy than he himself had when living; and those who wish to obtain his intercession with the almighty for themselves bring little earthen cups full of oil, with little cotton wicks, which they burn at his grave, as a roman catholic burns candles at the shrine of a saint. the most propitious time for doing this is on thursday night, and at such times one can see the tombs of most renowned sanctity a veritable illumination with the numbers of little lamps burning far into the night. at the same time offerings are given to the custodian of the shrine, who is himself a faqir, by preference a disciple of the one whose grave he tends. in one such shrine that i visited there were the remains of what must once have been a fine sycamore-tree, but which was then, with the exception of one branch, a mere withered shell, which had to be propped up to prevent its falling to the ground. the one green branch was said to be miraculously kept alive by the shadow of the tomb falling on it; and if any childless pilgrim would take home a few leaves and give a decoction of them to his wife, he would assuredly before long be the happy father of a son; while for the relief of the other ills to which flesh is heir there was a masonry tank outside, in which the sick, the halt, and the blind bathed, and were said to receive the healing they came for. many of our hospital patients have already been to this and similar faith-healing establishments, so they are not always efficacious. chapter xix my life as a mendicant dependent on the charitable--an incident on the bridge over the jhelum river--a rebuff on the feast-day--an indian railway-station--a churlish muhammadan--helped by a soldier--a partner in the concern--a friendly native christian--the prophet of qadian--a new muhammadan development--crossing the beas river--reception in a sikh village--recognized by his highness yakub khan, late amir--allahabad--encounter with a brahman at bombay--landing at karachi--value of native dress--relation to natives--need of sympathy--the effect of clothes--disabilities in railway travelling--english manners--reception of visitors. in this chapter i shall recount a few of the more interesting incidents that befell me and my disciple when on our pilgrimage as sadhus. as we were travelling without money, we were dependent on the offerings of the charitable not only for our daily food, but for such little items as the toll required for crossing the bridges over the five great rivers of the panjab. the first river we came to was the indus, and there being no bridge over that part of the river, it is crossed in ferry-boats. we had no difficulty here, for we were known; and one of my pupils was on duty at the ferry and assisted us over. it was not so easy, however, at the jhelum river. when we reached the western end of the bridge, the toll-keeper stopped us for payment. i told him that i was a christian sadhu journeying to hindustan, and that we had no money of any kind with us. he may have believed us, he may not; but from the way he eyed the bicycles, probably he did not. anyway, he told us plainly--no pice, no path; and no setting forth of the peculiar privileges of a sadhu could make him budge from the practical financial view of the question, so we had nothing for it but to sit quietly down by the roadside and await events. shortly afterwards a party of hindus, on their way to their morning ablutions in the river, sauntered up, and stopped to gaze at the novel combination of bicycles and sadhus. this soon led to conversation, in the course of which we told them the object of our journey and the cause of our detention. they then tried with no little earnestness to get us to relinquish the preaching of the gospel for the promulgation of the vedas, and even offered to pay the two annas required for our toll if we would accede to their plan. this gave me an opportunity for pointing out the attraction of christ, which made it impossible for one who had once tasted the sweets of following in his footsteps to desert him for another master. they clothed their contempt for the message of the cross in their compassion for our hopeless predicament, as they considered it; "for," they said, "there are no christians here to help you over, and it is not likely that hindus or mussulmans would help you on such a mission." i replied that i was content to wait by the roadside till help came, and that i felt sure we should not have long to wait. "go back into the town--there are christian missionaries there who will help you; but no one will be coming this way if you wait all day." i replied that if it was the will of allah that we should cross, he could send to us there the means requisite, as much as in the city. i had scarcely spoken when we saw an officer, attended by a sowar, riding up in the direction of the bridge. when he reached us we recognized an officer from the frontier, who had, as we learnt, just then been sent down to jhelum on special duty. he recognized me, and appeared amused and surprised at meeting me under such peculiar circumstances. when he learnt what was the cause of our detention, naturally the toll-keeper had not long to wait for his two annas, and i was able to point out to my hindu friends that it had not taken long for god to send us help from even so far as peshawur, and we went on with light and thankful hearts. truly, two annas is worth much more in some circumstances than one hundred rupees in others! we then wheeled comfortably along the interesting grand trunk road, now to the north and now to the south of the railway-line. the crisp morning air of a panjab winter has an exhilarating effect on the appetite, and we were only exceptional in that we had the appetite but no wherewithal in our wallets to satisfy the same. to tantalize us the more, it was the feast-day succeeding the great muhammadan fast, and in all the villages the men were feasting, and the children, gaily dressed in their gala clothes, were amusing themselves on numerous swings, hung up on the trees round the villages, or in playing about on the roads. my afghan companion, who had been having the fast without the feast, finally went up to a party of merrymakers, and, after saluting them with the customary "salaam alaikum," said that he was very hungry, and would be glad of a share of the 'id cakes. the man addressed surveyed us in a leisurely fashion from head to foot, and said: "you! you call yourselves faqirs, ride bicycles, and beg your bread! phew!" and turned his back on us. my companion turned to me with a very un-sadhu-like expression on his face, saying: "we afghans used always to say that panjabi muhammadans are only half mussulmans; but now i see we were wrong: they are not a quarter. in our country we call in every stranger and traveller to share our feast." the latter part of his statement was certainly true; as to the former, i must leave those who know them best to judge. shortly after midday we reached lala musa, and, visiting the station, found the train had just come in. we mingled with the bustling crowd, and watched the native sweetmeat and refreshment vendors going from carriage to carriage, calling out: "garm chapati! garm chapati awe dal!" (hot rolls! hot rolls and pulse!); "ghi ki pakorian!" (vegetable fritters fried in butter!); "garm dudh!" (hot milk!), and various other delicacies; and we watched the fortunate possessors of pice selecting some tempting sweetmeat or panake. then we passed on to the refreshment-rooms, where the european passengers were taking a hurried meal, and i remembered many occasions when i had been into that same refreshment-room without being a tithe as hungry, and now, how could i venture inside? should i not be greeted with: "now then, out of this; no faqirs wanted here!" so i wandered back among the third-class passengers. a sikh native officer spoke kindly to me and offered me some cardamoms, and then the whistle blew. the passengers hurried to their seats, and we were left alone. a railway porter entered into conversation, and, finding who we were, directed us to go to the village, where there was a christian preacher. we went to the caravanserai, where there were some afghan traders sitting on a bed. they seemed surprised at getting a greeting in pashtu, but returned it heartily. then i saw a well-dressed man walking off towards the bazaar, and something in his face and a book in his hand seemed to indicate him as the christian preacher, and, on introducing ourselves, we found we were not mistaken. he asked us into his house to rest, and informed us that he was an agent of the scotch mission at gujrat. after the rebuff of the morning we were loth to say that, though the sun was now declining towards the west, we were still awaiting our breakfast; so after a time i rose to go, when, to our no small satisfaction, the kind man asked us to stop till tea was ready. it was my custom at most of the towns to preach in the bazaar, and usually, during or after the preaching, someone in the audience would offer us hospitality. when we reached pind dadan khan, however, it was too late for this, darkness having set in; and after wandering about the bazaar for a time, and talking to a few people, none of whom offered us hospitality, we went to the public serai, or inn, known as "victoria ghar," where travellers can rest without payment, and spent the night there. someone had given us two pice, and with this we bought a pice chapati and a pice of sugarcane, and dined off this. being thirsty, i asked a respectable muhammadan who was dining on a bed hard by for a glass of water. he gave it; but when i raised the glass to my lips, he said: "i would like to know first what your religion is." i replied: "i am a christian." hearing this, the gentleman took the glass from me, saying: "i do not wish to sully my glass with your touch." this was a bigotry which i am glad to say i rarely met with, and is certainly not justified by the teaching of the quran, which permits commensality with christians and jews. after this rebuff we did not care to ask any other inhabitant of the place for water. the next day we travelled on to khewra, and, on passing through the bazaar, saw the government doctor, a hindu assistant-surgeon, sitting outside the dispensary seeing patients. he knew us, and in place of water brought us milk, and then got us a breakfast. welcome as this was, his kind greeting cheered us even more. the next river we had to cross was the chenab. on arriving at the bridge, i found a detachment of english soldiers on the march, and one of these gave the two annas required for our toll. about two years later, when visiting lahore, a missionary friend there said to me: "i met a friend of yours the other day." "indeed! who was that?" "i was travelling up to peshawur by rail, when some english soldiers got into the carriage, and one of them, looking at me, asked me if i was a padre. on my answering his question in the affirmative, he then said he was glad of that, because he took an interest in missions. i asked him why he did so. 'you see,' he said, 'some time ago we were on the march to lahore, and at the chenab bridge there was a missionary chap who hadn't the money for crossing the bridge, and so i paid it for him. i became a kind of partner in the concern; that is why i take an interest in missions.' this was your friend, was it not?" i, of course, recalled the incident at the chenab bridge, and hope my friend has continued his practical interest in mission work. the last day of the year 1903 found us at narowal, a village famed in the missionary annals of the panjab. leaving that, we soon reached the ravi river, which lower down flows by the walls of the capital of the panjab. here it was running clear and cold below a sandy cliff on its western bank. it had evidently been encroaching on the lands of the farmers, and engulfing many a fertile acre, and the houses of the village, too, the ruins of the latter showing some way along the bank. the east bank was a low, wide expanse of sand, which had long been left dry by the receding stream. seeing no other way of crossing, we were preparing to doff our clothes and ford, when a good soul of a zamindar came up. "peace be with you." "and on you be peace." "whither are you going, o sadhu-log, and what is your order and sect?" "we are christian sadhus travelling from afghanistan to india, and are seeking means to cross this river." "then you are my teacher," said the zamindar, brightening into a smile, "and i will get a boat and take you across." although the good fellow had been brought to the brink of ruin by the destruction of his lands and house by the rapacious river, he went and procured a boat and rowed us across, knowing that it was not in our power to give him any reward, except to pray for him that he might recover his lost land, and to give him some spiritual comfort. after the pleasure of meeting with this brother so opportunely, we went on encouraged, and soon reached dera baba nanak, the residence of the descendants of the famous guru and the seat of a darbar (sikh temple), the gilded dome of which we saw glittering in the sun. passing over our stay here and at other intervening places, i might mention our visit to gadian, rendered famous by being the headquarters of the muhammadan reformer mirza ghulam ahmad, who died in 1908. this man had collected round him a band of zealous followers, but, unfortunately, the good he might have done was nullified by his impious claim to be the returned messiah, in accordance with which he professed miraculous powers, and demanded a correspondingly abject obedience. heavy rain-clouds were overcasting the sky when we set out, and we had scarcely covered the eleven miles of unmade road that connects batala with gadian when the downpour commenced, and continued throughout the day. moulvi muhammad sadiq, the head-master of the mirza's high school, received us with the greatest courtesy, and gave us one of the schoolrooms to rest in, and shortly afterwards, as the mirza himself was indisposed and unable to see us, we were taken into the presence of his lieutenant, moulvi moha-ud-din. this moulvi is very learned, probably the most learned in gadian; he comes from the town of bhera, in the panjab, but has travelled a good deal. he was teaching theology to a large class of youths and men in eastern fashion, reclining on a simple mat and cushion himself, while his pupils sat on the ground round him. tea was brought in for us and him while he went on teaching. the hadis from which the pupils were reading was on the subject of prayer, and the moulvi explained the passages with great force and perspicuity as the pupils read them out turn by turn. after some dissertation on the correct intonation of prayers, he took up (probably for our benefit) a comparison of the texts of the quran and the bible, showing how the custom of committing the former to memory had resulted in its verbal correctness. following the same line, muhammad sadiq compared with this the recent criticisms on the bible by the christian expositors; and the "encyclopã¦dia biblica," which he seemed to have studied minutely, afforded him an inexhaustible store of argument. after this the midday meal was brought in, and then we were sent for by a relation of the nawab of maler-kotla, who had become a disciple of the mirza, and had devoted himself and his resources to his service, and was living in the village in a simple, almost spartan, manner. after conversation with him and others, i was shown the high school, college classes, and boarding-house. though the buildings for the latter were second-rate, yet the management seemed good, and the inmates orderly and well trained. in particular i noticed that, though the next morning was chilly and drizzly, yet all were up at the first streak of dawn, and turned methodically out of their warm beds into the cold yard, and proceeded to the mosque, where all united in morning prayers, after which most of them devoted themselves to reading the quran for half an hour to one hour. many of the masters, too, seemed very earnest in their work, and had given up much higher emoluments to work for quite normal salaries in the cause to which they had devoted themselves. we were fairly tired out with a long day of talking and interviewing, and slept soundly. we were disappointed, too, in receiving a message that the mirza was still too unwell to see us, but would do so in the morning. however, when morning dawned we heard with much regret that he had passed a bad night and was still unable to see anyone. as his attendants were unable to hold out any prospect of a speedy interview, and as, indeed, we felt doubtful whether the interview was desired, we prepared for an early start. we had been kindly and hospitably received, and there was something inspiriting in seeing a number of educated men thoroughly zealous and keen in the active pursuit of religion, though the strong spirit of antagonism to christianity was saddening. moreover, one could not but feel that, as in similar cases in england and america, here was a man of great ability who had effectually deceived himself, and had then been the means of deceiving a multitude of others into believing his false claims. as we read in matthew xxiv. 11, "false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many." the next river we came to was the beas, and when approaching it from the direction of gurdaspur, on a bright winter's morning, we were struck by the beauty of the landscape. on our left was a glorious panorama of the himalaya mountains, range surmounting range of glistening snow, a vision of dazzling white. all was set off by the varying greens and browns of the rich panjab plain to the east and south, the forests and fields of which lay mapped out before us, and the river beas a gleaming streak of silver meandering through its fertile tracts. reaching the river, we found that the toll-keeper was on the farther side and the river itself unfordable. asking the boatmen whether we could cross without paying toll, as we had no means of doing so, they said the only way was for one of us to cross over and ask. we thought on our part that it would be better for both of us to cross over and ask, and as the boatmen saw no objection to this, we heaved our machines on board one of the boats and crossed over with a number of camels and bullocks. safely arrived on the other side, we went to the toll-office and did what most easterns do when they are in a quandary--sat down and waited to see what would turn up. the official in a leisurely way took the toll of all the passengers, quadruped and biped alike, eyed us narrowly without speaking, and then, in still more leisurely fashion, began to smoke his hookah. as time passed we both became contemplative, he on the wreathing columns of smoke from his pipe, i on the bucolic landscape around me. his patience was the first to waver, and he broke the silence with: "now, sadhu-ji, your pice." "indeed, i carry no such mundane articles." "then what right had you to cross the sarkar's river in the sarkar's boat?" "indeed, our purpose was to crave a favour of your worthy self." "what do you desire of me, o sadhu-ji?" "merely that, as we are on a pilgrimage to india and have no money, you would allow us to cross without paying toll; and as you were on this side and we were on that, and nobody would take our message, there was nothing for it but to come in person to ask the favour." "very well, sadhu-ji, your request is granted, and may you remember me." as an instance of the reception we got in a hindu village, i may cite the case of one which we reached in the late afternoon in the sirhind district. most of the men must have been working out in the fields when we arrived, for we scarcely saw anyone as we wended our way to what seemed the principal house in the village, and, sitting down outside it, my companion began to sing a popular indian hymn: "zara tak soch ai ghafil kih kya dam ka thikana nai" (think a little, o careless one, how little certainty there is of this life.) first some children and then some men collected, chief among the latter being a venerable and stately old sikh, the owner of the house and the religious guru or sodhi of the place. the song ended, he inquired who we were, and what were our object and destination; and when he had been satisfied on all these points, he informed us that, though he had never entertained christian sadhus before, yet if we were ready to be treated like other sadhus, he would be very glad to offer us the hospitality of his house. we thankfully accepted his offer, and he prepared a room for us, and later on brought us a supper of rice and milk in his own vessels, which to us, after a long and tiring day, seemed quite a royal repast. it was not often that i was recognized as a european, until i had declared myself, but the following occasion was a notable exception. i was sitting in the little jungle station of raval, and a party of gentlemen in semi-indian costume arrived from a hunting expedition. the chief was an elderly thick-set man with an iron-grey beard, dark piercing eyes and gold spectacles. he eyed me narrowly a short time, and then said to one of those with him in the persian language: "that man is an englishman." i replied, "i recognize you gentlemen as afghans." he assented, and i entered into conversation with one of the afghans with him, who told me that it was his highness yakub khan, ex-amir of afghanistan, who had thus recognized me. on the other hand, at allahabad i was going on my bicycle along a road which was slippery from a recent shower of rain. in turning a corner the machine skidded and i fell, and as i was picking myself up, an english girl who was passing, called out: "o sadhu! you must have stolen that bicycle, and that is why you do not know how to ride." finally we made our way to bombay, having been helped the last part of our journey by a friend who bought us our railway-tickets. here we desired to return homewards by taking the steamer to karachi. we then had no money, but i was asked to give a lecture on my travels, and after the lecture several of the audience gave me sums amounting altogether to eleven rupees. when, however, we went down to the docks to take passage, we found that our steerage fare cost ten rupees, and five rupees was demanded for each of the bicycles too! we purchased our tickets and stood on the quay awaiting developments. among the crowd was a brahman holy man, who was sprinkling the passengers with holy water and receiving a harvest of coppers in return. he came to sprinkle us, but we declined the honour. he then asked why we were waiting instead of going aboard with the other passengers. i told him that we were waiting because we could not pay the fare of our bicycles. he retorted that unless we invoked his blessing (for a remuneration) we should assuredly never start, but that, having done so, everything would turn out well. when we still declined, he went away prophesying that all sorts of misfortunes would befall us. the last of the passengers had gone aboard, the appointed time for starting had arrived, but no friend had appeared to help us out of the difficulty. the brahman came back and taunted us with our position, and what it might have been had we but accepted his offer. all i could say was, "wait and see." just as the steamer was about to start a ship's officer called to us and said that the captain was willing to take our bicycles free of charge. with a friendly nod to the brahman, we crossed the drawbridge and in a minute more were under way. we had now one rupee left for food, but still we were not left in want, for when that was finished the goanese cooks came and inquired about us and gave us a share of their own dinner. at karachi the steamers anchor out in the harbour a considerable distance from the landing wharves, and passengers are taken ashore in native boats, a number of which crowd alongside the moment the ship is moored. but these boatmen naturally require remuneration, and we had none to give, so that it now seemed as though we should have greater difficulty in getting off the steamer than we had in getting on. just then a launch came alongside for the mails, and a ship's officer came up and asked if we would like to go ashore on it. of course we accepted the offer with alacrity, had our machines on board in a trice, and were safely on terra firma again before the native boats had got away from the steamer. this pilgrimage gave me many opportunities for philosophizing on the rã´le that a man's clothes play in gaining him a reception or a rejection. my missionary brethren took various views on the subject. most exhibited incredulity as to the expediency of donning native garb, while showing some sympathetic interest; few were antagonistic on principle, though one missionary brother, indeed, weighed the matter a long time before admitting us into his house. he thought that the gulf between east and west was a priori unbridgeable; therefore no attempt should be made to bridge it, and that the relation between a missionary and his native associates should be sympathetic (patronizing?), but not familiar. to go about with an indian brother, sharing the same plate and same lodging, seemed to him the height of unwisdom, even to shake hands being to go beyond the bounds of propriety; while as for an englishman donning native clothes, he was dimming the glamour of the british name in india, which in his eyes was next door to undermining the british rule itself. my mind had been made up on this subject before i had been very long in india, and on no occasion did circumstances tend to weaken my own opinion that the gulf is by no means unbridgeable, and that the sooner and the more heartily we set about bridging it, the better it will be for the promotion of the kingdom of christ in this land. sympathy cannot be wholly made to order: it is largely dependent on extraneous and adventitious circumstances, and i believe that the adoption of native dress increases that sympathy on both sides--on the side of the missionary, because it enables him to realize more vividly what treatment is often meted out to our native brethren and how they feel under it, and on the part of the indians because the restraint which they usually feel--at least, in country districts--in approaching a sahib is removed. no doubt one reason why indian christians are so largely adopting western dress is that they receive much more courtesy, conspicuously so when travelling on the railway. i had occasion to make some inquiries in batala station office. i might have drummed my heels on the threshold till i was tired had i not been fortunate in meeting an indian brother wearing english dress, who walked in without diffidence, though when i attempted to follow him, i was met with a push and a "nikal jao!" (get out!). on another occasion, travelling by the night mail from lahore, i was anxious to get some sleep, and i saw that the native compartment was crowded, while in the european compartment there was only a single english soldier. he barred my entrance with a "can't you see this is only for europeans?" i humbly suggested that i belonged to that category, but his prompt "don't tell me any blooming lies!" made me think it better to seek my night's rest in another compartment. while at lucknow i essayed to visit the european cemetery at the old residency, but the custodian would not hear of admitting me, utterly discrediting my statement that i was a european. surely this unnecessary and most offensive restriction might be removed. i can readily judge from my own feelings at the time how naturally and greatly self-respecting indians would resent this piece of racial antipathy, which permits a common gate-keeper to subject any indian to indignity. one naturally associates with those who give the heartiest welcome, and when in native garb the attraction is to those for the sake of whom we have come out to this land, while, on the other hand, there is danger that, when dressed for the drawing-room or the tennis-courts, we may spend too much of our time on that side of the gulf. if we english realized how much pain we often cause our indian brethren, not so much by what we say or do as by the way we say or do it and the way we act towards them, a great cause of racial misunderstanding and ill-feeling would be removed. suppose a sahib is seated in his study, and the bearer announces "a sahib has come to call," the answer is given at once: "ask him into the drawing-room." a moment after an indian gentleman arrives, and the bearer is told to give him a chair in the verandah, or he may be even left standing in the sun, as happened to me more than once, till the sahib had finished eating his lunch or writing his letters. at more than one bungalow, whether it belonged to a missionary or an official, the bearer would not even report my presence till he had catechized me as to who i was and what i wanted. i have had to wait as long as two hours before the sahib found leisure to see me, being left meanwhile without a seat except god's good earth, in the wind and cold, or in the heat and sun, as the case might be. a missionary, of all people, should not have a room set apart and tacitly understood to be "for english visitors only," or make a habit of receiving the two kinds of visitors in altogether different style, or allow his menial servants to hustle and hector the already diffident and nervous native visitor. when i was on my pilgrimage with my disciple, how our hearts opened to those true friends who received both of us alike, and did not chill us at the outset with the suggestion, "i suppose your friend would like to be taken to the house of the catechist." why, forsooth? many a time we were both the guests of the humblest of our indian brothers, and perfectly happy in unrestrained communion with them; others, too, of stations high above our own received us both with an unreserved hospitality, in which nothing was allowed to show that any difference was made between english and indian, and we honoured and loved them for it. why, then, should others be at pains to show that they had one treatment for the englishman and another for the indian, or perhaps conceal that feeling so poorly that we were never able to feel at ease with them? which, i ask, is more likely to remove racial antipathy and unrest, and to make our indian brethren feel that the christianity which we preach is really genuine and means what it says? chapter xx a frontier episode a merchant caravan in the tochi pass--manak khan--a sudden onslaught--first aid--native remedies--a desperate case--a last resort--the feringi doctor--setting out on the journey--arrival at bannu--refuses amputation--returns to afghanistan--his wife and children frightened away. it is evening, and a party of lohani merchants are slowly defiling with their camels through the tochi pass, one of the mountain gorges which connect our indian empire with afghanistan, and its last beams are shining in the faces of a dozen stalwart men now returning to their homes near ghuzni, with the proceeds of their winter's trading on the plains of india. the men and some five or six women are on foot, while their children and two or three more women are mounted on some of the camels, which would otherwise be returning unladen, their loads having been sold in multan. the women, veiled as usual, show little more to the passer-by than one eye and a small triangular piece of cheek; while the men are either holding the nose-strings of the camels, or walking beside them with their guns over their shoulders, and a pistol and long knife or sword peeping out from their open cloak; for the weather is getting hot now with approaching summer, and they are passing through the hostile country of the wazirs, that wild border mountain tribe who think it their ancestral right to harass and plunder the merchant caravans passing through their district as much as opportunity allows. among the merchants we are struck by one fine, tall, broad-shouldered fellow, stalking along by the side of the foremost of his three camels, his gun and sword ready for use, but, in the absence of any sign of an enemy, walking at ease, humming quietly to himself a native ditty, in expectation of speedily seeing his home again, and rejoining his wife and three children, who have not accompanied him on this journey. these three camels form his wealth and the centre of his hopes and prospects, for by means of them does he yearly take down his merchandise of skins and fruit to the markets of india, and return in early summer--it is now the month of may--with the proceeds to his home. manak khan--for that is his name--has been down many a winter now with his three camels to the derajat, or that part of india nearest afghanistan, and has had more than one scuffle with the wazirs, while passing through their land, in defence of his little stock-in-trade. his fellow-travellers evidently consider him one of their boldest and best men, for it requires no little knowledge of the country, and courage, too, to lead a party composed largely of women and children, and encumbered by a lot of baggage, through mountain passes, where they are daily and nightly exposed to the attacks of the mountaineers hiding behind the rocks, or crowning the heights on either side, and thirsting for their small possessions. the sun has now disappeared behind the hill before them, and, like good muhammadans, they make a brief halt for the evening prayers. the men cleanse their hands and feet with sand--for there is no water to be had here--and, selecting a smooth piece of ground, spread their shawl and, facing the holy city, perform the requisite number of genuflections and calls on god. suddenly there is the loud report of several guns; the bullets whistle through the midst of the party, and in a moment all is confusion and uproar. the camels start up and try to escape; the women seize their children or the camel-ropes; while the men snatch their guns, which had been just now put down, and hastily take aim at some dozen men running down the mountain-side in the direction of the camels, with their long knives ready for action. but the first volley had not been without effect: manak khan is lying on the ground, blood flowing fast from a wound in his left leg just above the knee, and anxiously is he watching what is now a hand-to-hand conflict close by him. the wazirs have rushed among the camels and have cut their cords, and are attempting to drive them off; while the other merchants, having discharged their matchlocks, attack them with their swords, and camels and men are mingled in one shouting, slashing mãªlã©e. fortunately for the lohanis, two of the leading wazirs fall quickly with fatal sword wounds, and the remainder, seeing that the lohanis have not been caught napping, and that the tide is turning against them, make off as quickly as they appeared, and the merchants have far too much to do in quieting their frightened camels to think of a pursuit. a hasty council is held. it is found that one man has his arm broken by a sword cut, and manak khan has his leg broken, the ball having passed through the bone and opened the knee-joint, while most of the remainder can show smaller cuts. the women now come to the rescue. a veil is torn up and the wounds bound, some being stitched by the women pulling hairs out of their own heads, and using their ordinary sewing-needles on their husbands' skin. an immediate march is resolved upon, but then comes the difficulty about manak khan. moving him causes him great pain and the blood to gush forth afresh, while to leave him is out of the question, for his throat would be cut long before morning. whatever may be the faults of an afghan, he is not one to forsake a friend in the hour of need, and so it proves here. a piece of cloth is half burnt, and the blackened shreds, soaked with oil, rubbed over the wound, and the leg then bound to a musket with the ample folds of a shawl, and, lastly, our hero is tied on a rough bed, and mounted high on the back of a camel. great were the lamentations when manak khan reached his village home; and instead of his strong step and hearty greeting consoling his wife for her long winter of separation, she came forth only to see the pain-marked face and helpless form carried in on a bed, and to hear the account of the night attack in the dread tochi pass. "bismillah! let the will of god be done," consoles the village mullah, while some practical friend starts off for the nearest hakim, or doctor. the latter shortly arrives; and the wife retires into the cottage, while the greybeards assemble in the courtyard to offer their bits of experience and advice, and vow vengeance over the quran on the luckless wazirs who committed the deed. after no little ceremony and interchange of ideas, the doctor decides on a combination of two remedies, for the case is a serious one: the leg is greatly swollen from the groin to the calf, and unhealthy matter is issuing from both the apertures of entry and exit of the bullet, while the shattered bones grate on each other, and cause the man to bite convulsively the rolled-up end of his turban, on the slightest movement. for the first remedy a fat sheep is bought and slain and immediately skinned, the reeking skin being applied at once to the bare leg, with the bloody side next the skin, from groin to heel, and the whole bound up and placed in the hollow formed by burning out the central core from the half of a three-foot length of tree-trunk. for the second remedy a message is sent to a certain religious devotee, who has an asylum in the neighbourhood and a great reputation for charms which will cure all manner of diseases (when it is the will of god that they shall be cured). next day he arrives, clad in simple goatskin, with the hair outside, and a cap of similar material. many long prayers are gone through with the help of the mullah, and at last a small piece of printed paper torn from an arabic tract is produced, and carefully sewn up in a small piece of leather, and tied in the name of god round the man's ankle. then comes the last ceremony, and one not to be overlooked on any account--that of providing a feast at the sick man's expense for all parties concerned. his little store of rupees is fetched out, and returns lighter by a third to the folds of the old turban in which it was carefully hoarded, while the charm-maker is seen leading away a fine milch goat. day follows day, and night follows night, but still manak khan lies tossing feverish on a bed of pain, and still is the patient sadura watching by his bedside, and daily bringing in fresh milk and butter and sugar, and making tempting pancakes, only to be left half tasted by the fever-stricken frame of her loved one. at last the tenth day comes, on which the sheepskin is to be removed, and the hakim comes, and the mullah comes, and the greybeards come, and prayers are read, and money is given; but, to the disappointment of all, the limb is found no better, swollen as before, and bathed in evil-smelling matter, which makes his friends, all but his faithful wife, bind a fold or two of their turbans over their noses and mouths. so week follows week. one herb is tried after another; the last of his rupees disappears among the hakims, for, peradventure, think they, the doctor did not heal it at once because his fee was not high enough, so a larger fee is given, and a hint that if only he will say for what price he will speedily heal it, they will go all lengths to pay him; for it must be unwillingness, not incapability, that prevents his doing so. so two months passed away, but still the limb was swollen and sore, still was he unable to rise from his bed of pain. then they determined to send a messenger to the neighbouring town of ghuzni, and call in a doctor of great repute from there. true, his charge was high--one of the three camels must be sold to defray it--but what hope was there for them with the breadwinner hopelessly crippled? so the messenger went and the doctor came, and his remedy was tried. two bunches of wool were thoroughly soaked in oil and then set fire to, and fastened on the skin near the knee; the pain was great, but manak khan stood it bravely, tightly biting his turban-end and grasping his friend's arm in a spasmodic grip. when the burnt flesh separated after a few days the ulcers left were dressed with some leaves from a plant growing on the shrine of a noted saint, and renewed every two or three days. still there was no improvement, though charms and amulets were bought at high prices from many a saint, and the ghuzni doctor came again and took away his second camel. manak khan and sadura were beginning to lose all hope, when one day a traveller was passing through their village on the road to kabul, and as he was sitting with the villagers, telling them the latest news from india, one of them asked him about a scar on his left arm. "ah," he said, "when i was in dera ismaã¯l khan i had a terrible abscess; but there was an english doctor there, and he lanced it, and got it quite well in a couple of weeks; and," he went on, "numbers of people have been going to him, and i have seen some wonderful cures." "really!" say they; "and had you to pay him a great deal?" "no; that is the strange part: he will not take any money from anyone, but sees all the people that go to him, be they ever so poor, for nothing." "that cannot be; he must have a reason behind it all." "no, not unless it be this--that you know he is a feringi, and, like all other feringis, an unbeliever; but, more than that, he seems to want all the people to believe on hazrat 'esa" (lord jesus) "as being the son of god" (here the mullah and several of the men spit on the ground and say, "tauba, tauba"), "and to this end he has got an assistant who preaches to all the people who go to him, and tells them about hazrat 'esa, and how he was a hakim and cured people." "well, this is strange, but i wonder if he could cure manak khan." and so all particulars are asked, and the advice of all the greybeards, while manak khan catches at the idea as a dying man at a straw. sadura, however, is not so easily convinced. she did not relish the idea of her husband being separated from her once more, and moreover, said she, where the doctor of ghuzni had failed, how was it likely that another doctor, and he a blasphemer of their prophet, would succeed? so the idea was waived for a time, and things went on as before, while their last camel was sold to pay their increasing debts, and gloom settled on the little circle. but as the september days were lengthening and still no hope appeared, they settled that they would try the feringi's medicine. but then came the difficulty as to ways and means; their last camel had been sold, and manak had no friends who would take him down to the plains free of expense. at last a bright idea struck them: their little daughter, gul bibi, was now seven years old, and many a man would be willing to lend eighty or ninety rupees on condition of her being kept for his wife. and so it was settled: the bargain was struck, and with the proceeds a man was engaged to take him on camel-back down to the derajat plains. the village carpenter made a kind of litter, which could be fastened on the back of a camel, and as his wife must stop for the children, his old mother volunteered to take the journey with him and tend him through it. it was a sad farewell this time, and long did sadura stand at the outskirts of the village watching the camel and its precious burden, with the old mother and sturdy camel-driver trudging by the side, gradually disappear round a corner of the defile. on the seventh day they emerged from the gomal pass on to the plain of tank, and here they stayed a little to recuperate with the kind dr. john williams, of the christian hospital there; then going on till the trees and mudhouses of dera ismaã¯l khan came in sight. here a fresh disappointment awaited them: the feringi doctor had left dera, and gone to carry on his work in bannu, one hundred miles farther. but what cannot be cured must be endured, and so the camel's head is turned towards bannu, and the weary march resumed once more. five days later, as the evening was drawing on--it was now late in november--bannu was reached, and the new feringi doctor inquired for; and a few minutes later the camel, with its strange burden, came through the gates of the mission compound, and the long tedium of the three hundred miles' journey was brought to a close. such was the story with which manak khan came to me, and which he gradually unfolded to me some two months later, as confidence had increased, and i used to sit by his bedside hearing tales of his mountain home. great was the sorrow with which i had to tell him that his case was incurable, that his leg had become thoroughly disorganized, and amputation was necessary; but, like most of his race, his aversion to the loss of a limb made him prefer the long months of a bed of sickness and the tedious and repeated operations performed in an endeavour to save the limb in a usable condition. in this way he and his mother remained with us till the middle of april, when, as the heat of the plain began to be felt, they were compelled to return to their mountain home, with little or no improvement. yet with one great difference, which lightened up the sadness of his departure: he had learnt to believe on christ jesus as his own saviour, and to look up to him as the one who carries us safely through sickness and trial, and is preparing a home for us at last; and very earnestly did he assure me that during the long days of patient suffering in our little mission hospital he had learnt to lift his heart in prayer to him who hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and look up to him as his saviour. "and," said he, "if god spares my life, i will tell my people of him, and come back with my family to be received into the christian church." so he left us, and our prayers followed him on his long and painful journey home; and may it not be that he is a light shining in a dark place, and witnessing in that little afghan village of how he went for bodily healing, but god saw fit to pour light into his soul instead, and make the very tedium of a protracted illness in the bannu mission hospital the guiding light to heaven? every now and again we got news of manak khan. he had taken with him some books in the pashtu language, a new testament and some others, and these used to be read by a mullah in his village and some other friends of his who could read. his leg, however, never got well, and was the cause of his death some three years later. when on his death-bed, he directed his wife to go to bannu with her children and place herself under my protection, and one autumn morning she arrived, with three children. before she had been with us many days, however, others of her tribe came and warned her that if she stopped with us she would lose her religion, sell herself to the evil one, and be lost for ever, and they accompanied these admonitions with threats, so that ultimately she left us, and we have not seen her since. but who knows? sometimes after the lapse of years these people return to us, and the thread of circumstance is picked up again where it had been cut, as though there had never been any breach of continuity at all! or it may be the seed goes on growing in some distant afghan village unknown to us, but known to and tenderly cared for by him who will not let even a sparrow fall to the ground without his will, and who has counted among his own many a one now resting in a muhammadan graveyard against that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed. chapter xxi frontier campaigning the pathan warrior--a christian native officer--a secret mission--a victim of treachery--a soldier convert--influence of a christian officer--crude ideas and strange motives of pathan soldiers--camaraderie in frontier regiments--example of sympathy between students of different religions in mission school--a famous sikh regiment--sikh soldiers and religion--fort lockhart--saraghari--the last man--a rifle thief--caught red-handed. some of the finest fighting material of the indian army comes from the pathan tribes, both on the british side of the border and across it in tirah and waziristan, and very pleasant fellows some of these pathan warriors are. often when wandering about the frontier have i received the hospitality of some outpost or stayed with the native officer in some blockhouse, and listened to them recounting tales of active service or of their mountain homes. many of these native officers are old students of the frontier mission schools, and these extend a doubly hearty welcome. some are serious religious inquirers, and, from having travelled and mixed with all kinds of men, are able to examine the claims of christianity with less prejudice than the priestly class. a notable instance is that of delawar khan, who was a subadar of the famed corps of guides. he was at one time a notorious robber on the peshawur frontier, and a price had been set on his head. the rev. r. clark relates of this man [2] that once a government officer met him in a frontier village beyond the border, and offered him service in the guide corps if he would lead an honest life, or the gallows the first time he was caught within our territory if he refused. the excitement of his adventurous career had a great charm for him, and the teaching of the priests had persuaded him that he was doing god's service in his lawless course. he, therefore, scornfully refused the englishman's offer, saying he would continue his lawless life, in spite of whatever the sahibs could do. after a time, however, he thought better of it, and as a price was set on his head, he determined to apply for it in person, thinking he might as well have it himself as anyone else, and so, taking his own head on his shoulders, he went and claimed the reward. the officer, knowing the kind of man he was, again offered him service, which he then accepted, and enlisted as a soldier in the guide corps, in which, by his bravery and fidelity, he rapidly rose to be a native officer. ultimately he became convinced of the truth of the christian doctrine which he had heard the missionaries preach in the peshawur bazaar, and, with his characteristic bravery, did not hesitate publicly to acknowledge himself a christian and receive christian baptism. through his example and under his protection some other soldiers in the same corps also became christians. his death is thus related by the rev. r. clark in his account of his life: "a few months ago he was sent by government on a secret mission into central asia. he was a christian, and government trusted him. he passed safely through kabul on his way to badakhshan. as he was travelling in disguise, a man who had heard him preach in the peshawur bazaar betrayed him to the judge, who condemned him to be blown away from a cannon as an apostate. during the trial a copy of one of dr. pfander's works dropped from his bosom. the judge took it and tore it in two. the king of the country, however, heard of it, and asked to see the book, and, having read a part of it, pronounced it to be a good book, and set delawar khan at liberty. soon after, however, he died in the snow on the mountains, a victim to the treachery of the king of chitral." a native officer in the native levies of the kurram valley was converted through reading a pashtu testament which an officer gave him, and when i visited him in his home in shlozan, in the kurram valley, i found that he was in the habit of reading the book to some of his neighbours who came together to listen; and although up to that time he had never met a missionary, he had made much progress in christian experience and knowledge of the bible. i had a pupil in the mission school who enlisted in one of the frontier regiments. he was the son of a mullah of the khattak tribe. after he had been in the regiment about a year he wrote me a letter saying that he desired christian baptism, and was looking forward to the day when he would be standing by my side preaching the gospel to his fellow-countrymen. this was through the influence of a christian officer in his regiment. not that the officer tried to convert his men--far from it--but the beautiful transparency of his character and the sincerity of his religion drew his men irresistibly to him, and several desired to become christians. a pathan becomes very much attached to an officer whom he admires, and will bear any hardship or danger for him, and therefore it is not surprising that some have become desirous of adopting his religion. for a long time there was a sect on the frontier called the nikal sains, who formed a kind of schismatic christian sect owing to their devotion to nicholson, of delhi fame, which amounted in their case almost to a worship of him. on one occasion a pathan soldier in a frontier regiment came to me, urgently begging me "to make him a christian." he was so ignorant of what christianity meant that i could only offer to give him instruction, but he was so much on outpost duty that this was very difficult. he knew that in order to become a mussulman it was sufficient to repeat the kalimah in a mosque, and he thought that there must be some corresponding christian formula, and that by repeating it in our church he might become a christian. he thought, further, to prove his sincerity to me by saying he was ready to wear a topi (hat) instead of a turban. his desire apparently rose merely from an admiration of his christian regimental officers. in the tochi militia there was a wazir subadar, a fine fellow, who had seen much active service, and would soon be retiring. one day he was murdered, possibly by a sepoy whom he had been obliged to punish. shortly afterwards his son came to me, earnestly begging me to admit him to the christian church. apparently it was to escape from the duty that devolved on him as a muhammadan of revenging his father's death by another murder. he was not a coward by any means, but knew he would be killing an innocent person, for the real murderer was beyond his reach, and he recoiled from committing such a crime, and he knew that our teaching was against revenge, and therefore desired to become a christian. as he was a soldier, i would not act without a reference to his commanding officer, and as he was excited and suffering from much mental tension, i thought it better to wait. ultimately he did shoot a man, who may have been his father's murderer or not, and i believe was sentenced to penal servitude for life in consequence. there is something peculiarly attractive, i think, about the frontier regiments. they have very hard service, constant outpost duty, few nights in bed, with ever the danger of the pathan rifle thief and ambuscades. and yet officers and men are always cheerful, hospitable, and full of the spirit of camaraderie. even the sikhs and pathans seem to lay aside their hereditary feuds, and fight and work heartily together, shoulder to shoulder. some of the most striking tributes to the influence of the christian rule of england are seen in this fellowship between different races and religions. in the little frontier wars one sees pathan soldiers side by side with the stalwart sikhs, or, it may be, the little gurkhas with the tall panjabi muhammadans. much the same is seen in the playing-fields of our mission schools, where christians, muhammadans, hindus, and sikhs are as loyal to one another as if they had never had a religious difference. a scene i shall always remember was the funeral of a young sikh student, who was a brilliant member of the school football eleven, and was carried off one summer recently by sudden illness. his muhammadan, christian, and hindu fellow-students vied with each other in showing honour to his memory, and accompanied the body to the burning-ground on the banks of the kurram river. for the muhammadans at least this would have at one time been considered as most inconsonant with their religion. the fine, tall sikh soldiery of the frontier regiments are some of the nicest men one could have to deal with; the native officers are such perfect gentlemen, and so gentle and docile when conversing about their sikh religion or the christian scriptures, that it is difficult to realize what lions they are in the fight, and how they are the heroes of so many a frontier epic. a sikh soldier is always ready to talk on religious matters, and delights in singing the beautiful theistic hymns of kabir and nanak and others of his countrymen; and they will sit round untiringly, listening with unflagging interest for hours, while i talk or read to them from the christian scriptures. in the frontier war of 1897 no sikh regiment covered itself with greater glory than the 36th, which was quartered at fort lockhart when the afridi rising first broke out. i was in camp on the samana range, outside fort lockhart, that august just before the outbreak, and these fine soldiers used to sit round me on the rocks outside the fort while we talked of the teachings of our lord jesus christ, and of those of guru nanak, which present so many points of resemblance to them. a few weeks later, and many of those very men had died fighting bravely on the rugged mountains and defiles of tirah, on which we were then looking down. one incident will bear repetition, as possibly some of the very men to whom i was then speaking were the heroes of it. a few hundred yards from fort lockhart is a small fort called saraghari, which commands one of the eminences of the samana range. this was occupied by a handful of these sikhs under a native officer. looking down westward from the samana range are the terraced valleys and a labyrinth of the rugged mountain ranges of the afridis; and so suddenly did these tribes respond to the tocsin of war when seyyid akbar and his associate mullahs sounded it all through tirah that the various forts on the samana were surrounded by the lashkars before it was possible to reinforce or withdraw the little garrison of saraghari. the garrisons of forts lockhart and gulistan had, in fact, their hands full with the tribesmen who had entrenched themselves in sangars all around, from which they kept up such a fire that no one could show himself. the afridis saw that the post of saraghari was the most easily won; the fort itself was smaller and less strongly built, and contained only a small garrison of their hereditary enemies, the sikhs. there was a signaller in the little garrison, and he signalled over their dire straits to fort lockhart, but from there the answer was returned to them that it was impossible to send reinforcements--they must fight to the end. for them to retreat was impossible, for the few hundred yards between the two forts was swept by the pathan bullets, while their riflemen swarmed in the sangars and behind the rocks all along. not a man could have lived to reach a distance of twenty yards from the fort. the sikhs knew that the pathans would give them no quarter, so they prepared to sell their lives dearly. the afridis worked nearer and nearer, and many of the brave defenders fell. the signaller signalled to fort lockhart, "five of us have fallen"--ten, twelve, and finally there was only the signaller left. the pathans swarmed over the walls with their exulting "allahu akbar!" and the throat of the last wounded sikh was cut; so the noble garrison fell at their posts to a man. the fort has never been rebuilt, but there is a monument at the place to record this gallant bit of frontier warfare, and another monument to them was erected in the centre of their holy city, amritsar, not far from the golden temple, their chief place of worship. here i made the acquaintance of the gallant officers of this regiment, who were in a few weeks to bear the brunt of the severest of the fighting and hardships of that campaign. i read service on the last sunday before hostilities commenced, and among the officers who attended was their brave commander, colonel haughton, whose commanding presence and bravery made him an easy target later on for the tribesman's bullet, but not before he had covered himself and his regiment with glory. i will here record two little episodes, which are of common enough occurrence on the frontier, but illustrate the dangers that the sentries run when on duty among such cunning and stealthy rifle thieves as the pathans; and show also that, wily though he is, the pathan is not infrequently caught by an equally wily native police or levy officer. a regiment had marched into bannu, and, there being no quarters available, were encamped on the parade ground. the night being dark and rainy, sentries had been doubled, and were much on the alert. suddenly two of them were stabbed from behind by pathans who had crept into the lines unnoticed, and watched their opportunity for running their long afghan knives into the chest of the unsuspecting soldiers. the thieves got off with both rifles, and, though a hue and cry was raised, no trace of them was found. once i was spending a night in a levy post on the frontier, when the native officer in the command of the post got information through a spy that an afridi was about to cross the frontier, having in his possession a number of cartridges that had been stolen from the lines of a british regiment in peshawur. a train was just about to arrive from kohat, and the officer went down to meet it. all the passengers seemed quite innocent; some traders returning from market, a few soldiers going on leave, and some camp followers, appeared to be all who had arrived. there was, however, a mullah with a quran, which he was carrying rather ostentatiously, and a wallet, which was less obvious, under the folds of his shawl. here was his man. he went up to him. the mullah was indignant at the supposition--he had merely been into kohat to buy a few household trinkets. he was marched off to the levy post all the same, and, on turning out the contents of his wallet, eighty-one lee-metford cartridges were disclosed. that night the mullah spent in the cells reciting passages in the quran with a long and monotonous intonation which kept me awake a long time with its weirdness. i suppose, however, it may have been meant to procure some indulgence for his offences, or to serve as a proof of his sanctity; but it certainly did not soften the heart of his captor, the native officer, himself a muhammadan and a pathan; nor, i trow, did it mitigate his subsequent punishment. i was once travelling in the garb of a mullah from kohat to peshawur. i had walked through the kohat pass, and reached a village called mitanni, about sixteen miles from peshawur. i was tired, and finding here a tumtum about to start for peshawur, i obtained a seat therein for one rupee. two other peshawuris were fellow-passengers, but were not present when i paid the driver my fare. on the road the driver stopped at a village, and his place was taken by another man. the first driver omitted to tell him that i had already paid my fare, so when we got near peshawur he demanded it. i told him i had already paid the other driver, but he would not believe it. unluckily the other passengers were unable to corroborate my statement; an altercation ensued in the bazaar at peshawur, and he wanted to keep my bedding in lieu of the fare. as a crowd was collecting, it was decided to settle the case by driving me to the police-station. the driver began volubly to tell the police inspector how "this bannu mullah has got into the tumtum at mitanni, and now refuses to pay his fare." the inspector asked me a question or two, and took in the situation, and then told the driver to take me to my destination, and the case would be seen into, if necessary, when the other driver arrived. before alighting i told the driver who i was, and that i was sorry he seemed to put so little faith in the word of a mullah. "ah, sahib," said he, "this is an evil age, and even if the mullah swears on the quran, we can only believe what we see." when travelling in native garb one often sees the reverse of the picture, and is able to see common events in new lights. officers of the government while on tour are often quite unconsciously a great tax on the village where their camp is pitched. their servants take provisions from the people at merely nominal prices, or even without payment at all. many officers, knowing how villainously some native underlings will extort when they get the opportunity, often insist on all payments being made before them according to a fixed scale. even then the men find other ways of living in clover at the expense of the villagers. this was brought home to me one night when i was stopping at a village called moach. the police officer of the district was in camp there, but i arrived late, and went to the house of a native, where an old patient of mine visited me, and, finding me hungry and tired, went off to get me some milk. he sent it me by the hand of a young boy, who had to pass by the camp of the police officer, where his cook was preparing his dinner. by his side was a saucepan containing several pints of milk which had been ordered for the great man's supper, each house bringing its share according to a roster kept for the purpose at the police-station. the cook saw the boy coming with the milk, and said to him: "come along; pour it in here." "but i have not brought this for the police sahib. i have brought it for---" "nonsense! who else here wants milk? all the milk has been ordered for the sahib. pour it in, or i will send you to the lock-up." i got no milk for my supper, and i do not suppose the officer had more than would go into a custard-pudding and a cup of cocoa; but his myrmidons--they knew how to look after themselves, and enjoyed a good time. chapter xxii chikki, the freebooter the mountains of tirah--work as a miller's labourer--joins fortune with a thief--a night raid--the value of a disguise--the thief caught--the cattle "lifter"--murder by proxy--the price of blood--tribal factions--becomes chieftain of the tribe--the zenith of power--characteristics--precautionary measures--journey to chinarak--a remarkable fort--a curious congregation--punctiliousness in prayers--changed attitude--refrains from hostilities--meets his death. between the khaibar pass on the north and the kurram valley on the south lies a tangled mass of mountains and valleys called tirah. here almost inaccessible escarpments, on which the wary goatherd leads his surefooted flock, alternate with delightful little green glens, where rivulets of clear water dance down to the rice-fields, and hamlets nestle among the walnut and plane trees. in one of these villages was a poor country lad called muhammad sarwar. his father was too poor to own flocks, and, having no land of his own, sarwar took work with a miller. it was one of those picturesque little mills which you see in the valleys of the afridis, where a mountain-stream comes dashing down the side of a hill, and is then trained aside to where the simple building of stones and mud covers in the mill-stones, while two or three mulberry-trees round give such delightful shade that the mill becomes a rendezvous for the idle men and gossips of the village to wile away the hot summer noons. but sarwar was of a restless disposition, and the pittance of flour which, together with a kid and a new turban on the feast-days, was all he got for his labours, did not satisfy his ambition. then there was his friend abdul asghar, who, though as poor as himself to start with, now had four kanals of land of his own and a flock of some forty sheep and goats browsing on the mountain-side. it would not do to inquire too closely how abdul asghar came by this wealth, but he used to be out a good deal of nights, and he was one of those who was "wanted" at the border military police-station at thal for his part in several recent cases of highway robbery with violence. this kind of life was more to the taste of sarwar than the drudgery of mill-grinding, and before long he and asghar had joined hands. once, indeed, they were fairly caught, though they escaped the penalty of their misdeeds. they were on the prowl one dark night, when they saw a shrouded figure creeping along by a farm wall. they had scarcely hid behind a bush when the unknown man turned and came directly towards them. thinking they had been observed, asghar called out: "who are you? stand, or i fire." the figure halted, and said in a low tone: "it is well; i am your own." the man then came up and suggested that they should spend that night together and share their luck. he told them, too, that there was a fine fat dumba in the farmyard hard by that they might begin upon. asghar slipped over the wall, while sarwar and the stranger kept guard, and soon returned with the sheep across his shoulders, its head wrapped up in his chadar to stop its cries. they took it off into the jungle, and as the stranger said he wished to be home early that night, they decided to stay and divide it there and then. the stranger surprised them by saying that he would be content with merely the head as his share, so the "allahu akbar" was pronounced, the throat cut, and the head given to the stranger, who went off with their parting greeting, "may it be well before you," which he returned by saying, "in the safety of god." next morning they were astonished by the sudden appearance of a posse of the border military police, who, before they were able to escape or offer resistance, handcuffed them and led them off, vouchsafing no more explanation than that the chhota sahib had ordered it. they were much mystified, and could not think which of their enemies had got up a case against them; but they could learn nothing from the police, who either could or would tell nothing more. when, finally, they were taken before the sahib, and he started away with, "so, you have been after your old game again, and stole a sheep last night from the farm of nuruddin" (the light of religion), it was with difficulty they could conceal their astonishment and compose themselves quickly enough to reply that they were honest men, had never stolen anything all their lives, and could bring witnesses to prove that last night they never stirred from the chauk of fath muhammad of dilrogha village. the sahib had a twinkle in his eye as he led them on with further questions to forswear themselves still more hopelessly, and then finally turned to a sepoy by his side and simply said, "bring it in." the sepoy saluted, went out, and in a moment returned bringing something wrapped up in a chadar, which he placed on the table before him. the sahib unrolled it, and exposed to their astonished gaze the very sheep's head they had given to the stranger the night before. he had been none other than the sahib himself! they could no longer hide their confusion, and could say nothing more than "la haula wala kowata ilia bi 'llah" (there is no majesty or power but in god; he only is great). they were treated to a very pointed lecture, and told that none of their movements could remain concealed from the eyes of the sarkar, and that next time they were caught they would be lodged in the hawalat (gaol). though sarwar and his friend gained hereby a wholesome dread of the ubiquity of their ruler, yet the lesson did not restrain them from carrying on their depredations. not long after asghar was killed in a cattle-lifting raid on a neighbouring tribe. the villagers were aroused by the barking of the village dogs, started a chigah in pursuit, and, though sarwar escaped, a stray shot hit asghar in the chest and put an end to his career. sarwar made such progress in the art, and carried his depredations so far afield, that he became known on all the hills round by the sobriquet of "chikki," or the "lifter." one day a chance circumstance gave a fresh turn to his career. mullah darweza, of saman village, had a bitter grudge against a malik of the village because he had enticed away one of his talibs, a beautiful boy of thirteen, and now, instead of the boy spending his days over the quran and sheikh sadi, the persian poet, he was walking about the village with his eyebrows blackened with antimony and a gold-braided turban on his head, and danced in the malik's chauk while the village dum played a rebab. mullah darweza would dearly have liked the luxury of stabbing the malik himself some dark night, but his profession had to be considered, and what would become of his reputation for sanctity if the story got about, let alone the danger of retaliation, which would mean that he would be a prisoner in his house after dark, and would not be able to go to the mosque to say the night prayers, even if he had not to leave the village altogether? the mullah was leading prayers in the mosque that day when his eye fell on chikki among the worshippers, and as they were leaving the mosque he whispered to him to come to his house that night after the night prayers had been said. what passed there is known only to those two, but chikki bore away a bag of rupees, and a few nights later, as the malik had gone down to a stream to perform his ablutions before evening prayers, a shot rung out from no one knows where, and the malik, without a cry, fell forward into the stream, and when the villagers arrived and picked him up they found he had been shot through the heart, and no one ever knew who had done it. this windfall whetted chikki's appetite, and he soon found this occupation even more lucrative than that of cattle lifting. as his fame increased, secret commissions came to him from many quarters--from men who had life enemies, but who feared to risk their own lives in ridding themselves of them. with success, however, came danger. chikki was a marked man, and had to take unusually strict precautions for the preservation of his own life; his repeating rifle was never out of his hand, and no one ever saw him off his guard. he built himself a strong tower, and at night-time retired into this by means of a rope ladder to the upper window (it had no lower windows), then, drawing up the ladder after him, he secured the window. then came the opportunity of his life. there were two factions in the tribe, the gur and the samil, and these had been on bad terms for a long time, but hostilities had so far been confined to a few murders and thefts. then one day a prominent malik of the gur faction was shot while on a visit to a samil village. this could not be atoned for without war, and within twenty-four hours the tocsin of war was beating in every gur village all over the hills. the samil replied by burning a gur village, and soon the whole mountain-side was in arms on one side or the other; desultory warfare was carried on for some time, and much blood had been shed on both sides, but the samil party lacked a leader. then they bethought them of chikki, and sent a deputation, asking him to take their lead. he consented on condition of their recognizing him as paramount chief of the zaimukhts in the event of success attending his arms. they agreed, and he, collecting together some other soldiers of fortune who had thrown in their lot with him, took the field against the gur faction. the latter were defeated in several engagements, and finally both sides tired of the fray, and they were all the more ready to come to terms as the harvest was ripe and would spoil if not rapidly gathered in. both sides agreed to call a jirgah, which met, drew up conditions of peace acceptable to both sides, and smoked the pipe of peace. the agreement was ratified by a big feast, in which twenty fat dumbas were slain and cooked, with immeasurable quantities of ghi, and a dance, in which the men of the two sides, which had so recently been moving heaven and earth to shoot each other, danced together as though they had never been anything but the greatest of friends all their lives. chikki was now at the zenith of his power. eight thousand riflemen, all armed with weapons of precision and all good shots, obeyed his call, and he was able to build a strong fort at chinarak, in the zaimukht mountains, which he garrisoned with his bodyguard of outlaws, while acres of rich land all round brought him supplies of grain and other produce, which enabled him to offer to all who came that open-handed, unstinting hospitality which is the surest path to popularity in afghanistan. yet withal he maintained his simple mode of life and plain hillman's costume; and once when he came down into sadda, a town in british territory, to meet the great political officer there, he formed a marked contrast to the gay clothes and coloured shawls and gold-banded turbans of the sahib's satellites. he wore simply shirt and trousers of plain homespun, and a black turban, ornamented only by a fringe with a few beads on, and had on his feet a pair of palm-leaf sandals, such as could be bought in any bazaar for the sum of one anna. but his rifle was the best there, and the well-filled cartridge-belt and the six-chambered revolver buckled on excited the envy of many a man round him, while the firm tread and the thick-set frame and the determined features displayed the commanding and reckless character of the man. yet in society that he cared for he would unbend and display a boisterous good-humour, though of a kind which would make a jest of acts of cruelty involving human suffering and even death. as may be supposed, chikki had many enemies who were seeking his life, and he would not allow anyone not known to him to approach him at night or even in the day, and rarely had his fingers off his revolver or the trigger of his rifle. once he was being shaved by his barber when the foolish man said to him: "muhammad anim" (one of chikki's sworn enemies) "offered me five hundred rupees the other day if, while i was shaving you, i should slip the razor and cut your throat; but ma'uzbillah! i seek refuge in god; i am your sacrifice, and refused the son of a pig." chikki said nothing then, but when the shaving was over he whipped out his revolver, and said to the luckless barber: "you refused this time, but next time the temptation may be too great for you, so i had better be first in." the tongue of that barber wagged no more, and chikki got a new and probably more discreet practitioner. it fell on a day that there was illness in chikki's household, and someone brought him word that the bannu doctor was in camp not far off at thal; so it came about that while i was seeing patients by my tent that afternoon four of chikki's stalwarts, armed cap-ã -pie, appeared with a polite and urgent request that i would accompany them back to his stronghold, chinarak, and use my medical skill on the sick ones. as soon as the day's work was over we started off. there was a thunderstorm on the mountains above us, and a mountain-torrent had to be crossed which would not be fordable in flood, so we urged on to a point whence a view could be got of the river-bed. on reaching it we saw the turbid waters of the flood sweeping down about a mile higher up the valley from the place where we had to cross, while we had considerably over a mile of rough ground to traverse before we could reach the ford. all pressed forward, the footmen running at the horses' stirrups, and we just managed to get through the rising stream before the flood reached us, thus saving what would have been some hours of waiting for the flood to subside. chinarak is a mud fort, with towers and an intricate maze of yards, houses, and passages within; but its strength lies more in its inaccessibility, for the narrow gorge, with high, overhanging cliffs, by which we approached might easily be defended by a few marksmen. on the north side, however, the approach to it is easier. after the sick had been seen, chikki informed me that, as he had heard that i was a preacher of the injil, he wished to hear me, so that he might judge of the comparative merits of christianity and muhammadanism; and to that purpose he had called his mullah, and we two should sit on either side and speak in turn, while he judged. his men collected round us, truly a motley crew, nearly all of them men who had fled across the border from british justice for some murder or other crime, and had found congenial employment in his bodyguard. i had just been visiting some of their houses professionally, and found representatives of all the tribes down the frontier, and even a few hindustanis. there they were, with a devil-may-care look in their truculent faces, which made you feel that they would take half a dozen lives, to rob a cottage, with as little compunction as if they were cutting sugar-cane. perhaps chikki thought i was eyeing my congregation suspiciously, for he turned to me with a twinkle, and said: "do not alarm yourself about all these fellows round. they may be all rascals, no doubt; but i have my martini-henry here, and if anyone molests you, i will send a bullet through him." no doubt with a good aim, too, for he was reputed the best marksman in the tribe, a fact which i may illustrate by an anecdote. like most afghans, he was very punctilious in the performance of the prescribed muhammadan prayers, and beyond the regular five times used to indulge in those prayers of supererogation which muhammad appointed for the devout, or for those who had sins which might be expiated by their performance. chikki, too, appeared to believe that he kept a credit and debit account of this kind, and that some particularly unwarranted murder would be suitably balanced by the repetition of a number of extra prayers. he had a little book of arabic prayers called the "ganj-el-arus" hung round his neck, and, when at leisure from his more warlike pursuits, would employ himself in the repletion of his credit account therefrom. he handed the book to me, and showed me with some little pride a prayer in it which he said he had composed himself, and which he said was always heard. it was in his own vernacular pashtu, for he did not know arabic; and the prayer was that, whenever he raised his rifle to his shoulder to shoot, the bullet might not miss its mark. before i came away i left some pashtu testaments and other literature with chikki, and i have reason to believe that he studied them with interest. he, at least, gave up some of his predatory and warlike habits, and devoted himself to more peaceful avocations. when the frontier war of 1897 broke out, not long after, and the tribes all round him were flocking round the standards of jehad, and the tocsin of war resounded from the valleys of swat in the north to the suliman mountains of waziristan in the south, he resisted all the allurements of the mullahs to take part in the campaign against the kafirs, the english, and restrained the men of his own tribe from any participation in the warfare. it can be seen by a reference to the map that this abstention of the zaimukht tribe, which numbers about eight thousand fighting men, made a considerable difference to the troops acting in the miranzai and kurram valleys, in the angle between which their territory is situate. he pressed me to begin medical mission work in his own territory, and promised me support, both material and influential, if i would do so. it was a tempting field, and, no doubt, it would have exerted a widespread influence for peace on the neighbourhood; but there were insurmountable difficulties of another nature, and the project had to be abandoned. a few years ago i heard with regret that my old friend chikki had been ambuscaded by a section of the khujjal khel wazirs, with whom he had an old-standing quarrel. he and the men with him fell riddled with bullets, and the victors exultingly cut out his heart and bore it off in triumph, boasting that it weighed ten seers (twenty pounds). chapter xxiii rough diamonds a novel inquirer--attends the bazaar preaching--attacked by his countrymen--in the police-station--before the english magistrate--declares he is a christian--arrival of his mother--tied up in his village--escape--takes refuge in the hills--a murder case--circumstantial evidence--condemned--a last struggle for liberty--qazi abdul karim--his origin--eccentricities--enthusiasm--crosses the frontier--captured--confesses his faith--torture--martyrdom. i will recount shortly in this chapter the stories of two afghan converts, to show what strange cases we have to deal with, and how difficult it is to discover the motives at work, even if we ever do discover them. seronai was one of the marwat clan of pathans, which inhabits the southern part of the bannu district. one afternoon in the year 1899 i had been conducting the open-air preaching in the bannu bazaar, and was returning home, when i noticed that i was being followed by a stalwart afghan, over six feet high and broad in proportion. i had noticed him among the crowd at the preaching, as he was quite the biggest man there. "what is it i can do for you?" i said to him. "i am going to join your religion," was the reply. i took him home, found that he was a farmer in a small way, possessed a few acres of land in a very criminal village right at the base of the frontier hills, could not read or write, and knew very little indeed of the muhammadan religion beyond the prayers. yet when i asked him, "why do you wish to join our religion?" the only answer i could obtain was, "because it is my wish." "but you do not know anything about either religion." "you can teach me; i will learn." so importunate a pupil it was impossible to refuse. he was willing enough to learn, but proved very slow of comprehension. it is our rule not to let inquirers idle away their time, but to give them work, whereby they may at least prove that they do not intend to become burdens on the mission. seronai was willing enough to work, and had the appetite of an ox; but, unless watched, his strength was far in excess of his discrimination. given a field to dig up, and he dug up the flower-beds round, too. given a tree to cut down, and he brought it down quick enough, crashing through a verandah, till finally we found that if we kept him at all it was most economical not to let him do anything. about his zeal there was no doubt. not only did he attend all the christian services, but insisted on accompanying us to the bazaar preaching, and letting all and sundry know that he intended to--in fact, had already--become a christian. this naturally roused the ire of the people in the bazaar, and when one day there were some of his fellow-countrymen in the audience, i could see that they meant ill, though, from seronai's great size and strength, they would no doubt be careful in their tactics. the next day, the bazaar preaching being over, seronai returned towards the mission, while i stopped behind a few moments conversing with a questioner in the crowd. i had gone a little way up the street when i saw an excited mob and heard much shouting, and out of the crowd burst seronai, tearing himself away from his captors with clothes torn, turban off, and his long locks dishevelled about his face. he ran towards me, calling out, "save me from these men!" it did not seem likely when he had been unable to save himself. however, i did my best to enable him to escape, but we were at once surrounded by the crowd, and though no violence was intentionally done to me, seronai was torn away and mercilessly beaten. before long, however, the police appeared and dispersed the crowd, and marched off seronai to the lock-up. as that seemed the safest place for the time being, i told him to keep up his spirits, and that the next day arrangements would be made for him. the next day he was brought before the civil officer of the district, who also called for the chief man of the section of the tribe which had been creating the disturbance the day before. seronai was then asked whether he wished to be a muhammadan or christian. "i wish to become a christian and to remain with the padre sahib," he said decidedly. "very well, you shall," said the officer, and told the chief to explain to his people that they must not resort to further violence. the next week an old lady in a great state of excitement appeared in the mission compound. with her was a lad of about fourteen summers. they were seronai's mother and younger brother. she had been told that her son had become a hindu. as to what a christian was, she had no idea. she had never heard of such a thing. all she knew was that her son had disgraced her, and when seronai came she wept on him, and called him reproachful names, and caressed him, all in turns and all together. seronai was very quiet, and he was genuinely sorry for the old lady's trouble, and came to me and said: "i must go back to my village with my mother to comfort her, and then i will return to you." it was about a week later. we were sitting in church at evening service, when in came seronai, looking very hot and dishevelled. he said that the people in his village had seized him, and tied him down to a bed, and set a guard over him night and day. it was impossible to escape till one day a raiding party of wazirs came down suddenly on the village grazing grounds and carried off about twenty camels. a chigah was sounded, and all the able-bodied men of the village started off in pursuit. his mother came and untied him, and he had escaped to us, doing the forty-five miles that lay between his village and the mission without a stop. seronai's condition pointed to the truth of his story, which was, indeed, a very credible one. we heard afterwards that the camel raid had taken place in the way he related. seronai went on now learning about the christian religion, but making very little visible progress. he was zealous, and did not for a moment try to avoid persecution by hiding his light--in fact, he seemed to delight in courting it. some suggested that he was becoming a christian in order to spite some relation. this does occasionally happen; but there were no grounds for supposing it to be the case here. others suggested that he had made a bet that he would become one, but this would hardly account for his carrying the rã´le so far at such great personal suffering. in short, though his spiritual aspirations were not, as far as we could see, sufficient to account for it, we were quite at a loss to find any other satisfactory explanation. about a month later he disappeared once again, and then i did not hear of him for two years. at the end of that time, i was seated one day in school teaching one of the classes, when i got a message from the head of the gaol saying there was a prisoner who professed to be a christian, and desired to see me. on responding to the call, imagine my surprise to find seronai. he said that on leaving us he had intended to work his land, but, owing to the enmity of the people, had been obliged to seek refuge in the mountains, where a certain malik had befriended him and given him shelter. he had remained there till a few weeks back, when he wished to pay a visit to his mother and his village. on arrival there, he found that a tragedy had just been enacted. he had a sister there married to a farmer in the village; this lady had accepted the advances of another swain from the next village, and had prepared to elope with him. they had, however, been frustrated in their intentions, for the corpses of the two had been found--the woman shot through the head, her lover through the heart. suspicion would most naturally fall on the husband, but the arrival of seronai at this moment suggested an alternative: the people of the village would be glad to get an apostate, such as they considered him to be, into trouble; circumstantial evidence was not difficult to arrange, and witnesses in support might be had for the asking. besides, by making a scapegoat of seronai, the rest of the village would escape the harrying of the police myrmidons, who might otherwise settle on their village like a swarm of locusts, for no one knew how long. thus it came about that seronai was in gaol on the charge of double murder. it was not much that i could do for him beyond giving him the consolations of religion; circumstantial evidence was very black against him, and it was not a matter of surprise when the judge found him guilty and awarded him the extreme penalty of hanging. two days yet remained to the carrying out of the sentence, when there was a great uproar in the gaol. seronai and another prisoner, also under sentence of death, had broken loose from cells, but, unable to scale the outer wall of the prison, had clambered on to the roof of one of the buildings, from which they bade defiance to all who ventured near. they tore up the cornice, and if anyone came near he ran the risk of having his head smashed with a well-directed brick. this siege went on for two and a half hours; the two defenders were so alert that if a ladder was put up at one side while a feint was made at the other, they ran from side to side, aiming bricks at anyone within reach. this could not be allowed to go on, so the superintendent of police made the guard fall in with loaded rifles, and then took out his watch, and, addressing the two men, told them that if they did not surrender in four minutes the guard would fire. there was breathless suspense among the spectators, who by this time numbered several hundreds, as the minutes passed and the men were still defiant. half a minute remained when the two men surrendered to the guard, and were marched back to the cells. two days later the extreme penalty of the law was enforced. qazi abdul karim was altogether a different type of man to seronai; he came of a good afghan family and was a very learned man, being, as his name denotes, a qazi, or one entitled to adjudicate muhammadan law. he was well versed in the quran, the hadis, and muhammadan theology and literature, and held a position of honour in the towns of quetta and kandahar. he was a man of property, too, so that no one could taunt him with having become a christian for the sake of bread. he was converted many years ago at quetta, where he was baptized by the medical missionary, dr. sutton; he passed through many dangers and privations, but i go on at once to speak of my first acquaintance with him at bannu. he had worked for a time at most of the frontier mission stations, but did not seem able to settle down anywhere. the missionary society requires those who desire to become its recognized agents to pass certain examinations, and examinations were not in his line, and he would not present himself for one; thus he never became a recognized agent of the society. he had a repugnance to doing work in the hospital wards, so it was difficult to know how he was to gain his support. his habits, too, were rather expensive, as he had been accustomed to entertain freely in his muhammadan days, and could not realize that he must not ask all and any into meals when he had not the wherewithal to pay for them. he had given up almost everything to become a christian, and he could not understand why the society would not support him to work on his own lines, without the trammels of rules and regulations. he was very sensitive in his nature, and ready to think that he was being slighted or not wanted, so he seldom stopped long in any one station. he did not get on well, as a rule, with the other native christians, and often imagined that schemes were being laid for poisoning his food. this led to bickerings, which the missionary often had trouble in allaying. thus, notwithstanding his great gifts, abdul karim was not a persona grata in any of the missions, and the missionary was often glad when he realized that he had outstayed his welcome and passed on to another station. yet, though certainly not popular with the native christians, they all admired him for the troubles he had undergone for the sake of christ, and for his pluck in confessing his faith before all audiences, and regardless of consequences. the last time he visited bannu he had been undergoing great hardships in a voluntary tramp through the country, literally "despised and rejected of men," because of his uncompromising advocacy of christianity. he was worn quite thin, and looked so haggard that i did not at first recognize him, and his clothes were reduced to a few rags. we fed him up and got him some new clothes; but even then he could not rid himself of the idea that some people were trying to poison him. this gave rise to the report that he was mad, and certainly his eccentricity in this respect was sufficient to give colour to the report. i feel sure, however--and i knew him well--that his devotion to christ was very real, and amounted to a real passion to suffer for his sake. in the summer of 1907 he was taken with an intense desire to enter afghanistan, and preach the gospel there. he crossed over the frontier at chaman, and was seized by some afghan soldiers. these finally brought him before the governor of kandahar. he was offered rewards and honours if he would recant and accept muhammadanism, and, when he refused, he was cast into prison loaded with eighty pounds of chains. he was examined by h. m. the amir and the amir's brother, nasirullah, but remained firm in his confession of christianity. finally, he was marched off to kabul under very painful conditions. as far as could be gathered from the reports that filtered down to india, he had to walk loaded with chains and with a bit and bridle in his mouth from kandahar to kabul, while any muhammadan who met him on the way was to smite him on the cheek and pull a hair from his beard. after reaching kabul, it was reported that he died in prison there; but another report, which purported to be that of an eyewitness, and seemed worthy of credence, related that he had been set at liberty in kabul, and had set out alone for india. on the way the people in a village where he was resting found out who he was--probably one of them had heard him preaching in india--and they carried him off to their mosque to force him to repeat the muhammadan kalimah, "there is no god but god, and muhammad is the prophet of god." this is the accepted formula of accepting islam, and if a convert can be persuaded to say this publicly, it is regarded as his recantation. abdul karim refused. a sword was then produced, and his right arm cut off, and he was again ordered to repeat it, but again refused. the left arm was then severed in the same way, and, on his refusing the third time, his throat was cut. there is no doubt that, whatever the details of his martyrdom may be, abdul karim witnessed faithfully up to the last for his saviour christ, and died because he would not deny him. there are many secret disciples in afghanistan who honour christ as we do, and make his teachings their daily guide, but are not yet prepared to follow him even to the death; and there is no doubt that, at the present time, a public acknowledgment of christianity would mean death, and probably a cruel death. at the same time, i believe that the church in afghanistan will not be established till there have been many such martyrs, who will seal their faith with their blood. when the news of the death of abdul karim reached bannu, more than one of our afghan christians offered to go over into afghanistan and take his place as herald of the cross, and bear the consequences, but i pointed out to them that the time was not yet. chapter xxiv deductions number of converts not a reliable estimate of mission work--spurious converts versus indigenous christianity--latitude should be allowed to the indian church--we should introduce christ to india rather than occidental christianity--christianizing sects among hindus and muhammadans--missionary work not restricted to missionaries--influence of the best of hindu and muhammadan thought should be welcomed--the conversion of the nation requires our attention more than that of the individual--christian friars adapted to modern missions--a true representation of christ to india--misconceptions that must be removed. i have completed these sketches of mission work, and i wish to summarize in this chapter some of the conclusions that i have been led to draw from the experiences of the last sixteen years, and then in a concluding chapter to point out what i think to be the most promising lines of advance. it has too long been the habit to gauge the results of mission work by the number of converts or baptisms, but this is wrong both by omission and by commission: by omission, because it takes no count of what is the larger portion of mission work--the gradual permeation of the country with the teachings and example of christ; by commission, because it encourages missionaries to baptize and register numbers, chiefly of the lower classes, who have no right to it, because they come from egregiously unworthy motives. such converts not only are a dead weight on the mission to which they are attached, but too often utterly discredit christianity in the eyes of the non-christians around them by their greed and unworthy conduct. it is well that we should sometimes stop and think what it is that we are desirous of doing, and then face the question: "are we really accomplishing that, or doing something altogether different?" are we desirous of planting in india a christian church on the lines which we see developed in england or america? if so, i sincerely hope that we shall never succeed. are we desirous of binding on eastern converts the same burden of dogmas which has disrupted and still distresses the western church? again, i sincerely hope not. are we desirous of giving india the life and teaching of our lord jesus christ, and of living him before the people? there we have a worthy object--to compass which no sacrifice is too great--worthy of the best and most devoted of our men and women, and claiming the spiritual and material support of the whole western church. now, it is quite possible--in fact, we have seen it enacted before our eyes--that, having given india christ and the bible, india's sons and sages may not interpret everything as we have done, but may do so in their own mystical and transcendental way. we may not always be able to admit such by baptism into the fold of the christian church--they may not themselves desire it--but are we to say that our mission has not been accomplished? accomplished it assuredly has been, but perhaps not on the lines which we desired or imagined. if, again, after studying the life and words of christ, and comparing them with the christianity which they see practised in the west, or in the westerns who reside among them, they are not drawn to western christianity while yet having a devotion to christ; if they do not feel they can consistently join any of our western churches; and if they form a church of india, are we then to be disappointed and think we have failed of our mission? a thousand times, no! let us rather praise god that, instead of a number of hothouse plants requiring careful watering and tending lest they sicken and wither, we have a harvest of indigenous growth nurtured on the native soil of india, and ripening to a fruitful maturity under its own sun, and fed by the natural showers of heaven without the aid of the missionaries of a foreign clime. we see, therefore, that the gathering in of converts is not the first or most important work of the missionary. his work is rather, first, to live christ before the people of the country; secondly, to give them the teachings of christ by giving them the scriptures in their own tongue, and preaching and explaining the same to them. we often find in practice that when some indian has been captivated by the gospel, he is hurried on to baptism, and thereby cut off prematurely from his old stock and grafted on the new--prematurely because he is often insufficiently grounded in the christian faith to withstand the torrent of persecution which is his lot the moment he is baptized, and because the leavening influence which he would otherwise be exerting on a wide circle of his relations and acquaintances is at once destroyed. christians at home encourage the missionary to think that nothing has been accomplished till the inquirer is baptized, and that, once baptized and recorded in the church register and the mission report, the work, as far as that individual is concerned, is completed, and the missionary may leave him and turn his attention to someone else. fatal mistake! injurious to the convert because, left only half grounded in the faith, he falls into worldly and covetous habits, or may even apostatize outright; injurious to the unevangelized remainder because, instead of being attracted for a time longer to the study of christianity by the influence of the inquirer, they are thrown into a position of violent antagonism by the secession of the convert, and are no longer willing to give the claims of christ any hearing at all. herein lies the inestimable value of the much-maligned mission schools and colleges. they do not produce a great crop of immediate baptisms, and so are belittled by some as barren agencies; but nothing else is more surely permeating the great mass of muhammadan and hindu thought with christian thoughts, christian ideals, and christian aspirations. we see all around us in present-day india attempts to reclothe islam and hinduism in christian habiliments, or else ardent reformers, hopeless of that augean task, creating new little sects and offshoots, in which christian ideas are served up for muhammadan and hindu consumers thinly disguised in a dressing of their own religions. these sects sometimes affect a display of hostility to christianity, lest those whom they wish to draw should mistake them for being only missionary ruses for catching them with guile; but, all the same, they are steps, and i think inevitable steps, in the gradual permeation of the country with the religion of christ. india has been surfeited with philosophies and dogmas and rites and ceremonies from the hoary vedic ages down, but she is hungering and thirsting for a living power to draw her god-ward, and such a power is christ. she cannot have too much of him, whether this life be set forth in the devoted service of christian men and women, in hospitals, and schools, and zenanas, and plague camps, and leper asylums, or in the daily preaching and teaching of him in town and village, in the crowded bazaars, or in the hermitages of the sadhus and faqirs. this is not a work restricted to those who have been set apart as missionaries, but one which claims every professed christian in the land. every european christian, be he in civil or military service, in trade or profession, or merely a temporary visitant for pleasure-seeking, can and should be doing this essentially christian missionary work if he is living honestly and purely up to the tenets of his religion; and many of the best converts in the land have been first drawn to christ by watching the consistent private and public christian life of some such unobtrusive englishman or englishwoman, who never was or tried to be a missionary in the usual sense of the term. on the other hand, the christianizing of the country has been made all the more remote and difficult by those englishmen who contemn or discredit the religion they profess, or live lives openly and flagrantly at variance with its ethics. we do not gain anything from a missionary point of view, and we dishonour god, when we speak of everything in islam or hinduism as evil. the mussulman has given a witness to the unity of god and the folly of idolatry which has been unsurpassed in the religious history of the world, and he has qualities of devotion and self-abnegation which the christian church may well desire to enlist in her service rather than to ignore or decry. the hindu has evolved philosophies on the enigmas of life, and sin, and pain, and death, which have for ages been the solace and guide of the myriad inhabitants of india, and he has attained heights of self-abnegation and austerity in the pursuit of his religious ideals which would have made the christian ascetics of the early centuries of our era envious. religion has been to them a pervading force which has coloured the most commonplace acts of daily life. here we have qualities which have prepared the soil for the implanting of the christian faith, and which, when imbued and enlightened with the love of christ, will reach a luxuriance of christian energy worthy of the religious east, in which so many of the religions of the world have had their birth. india, indeed, wants christ, but the future christianity of india will not be that occidental form which we have been accustomed to, but something that will have incorporated all the best god-given qualities and capacities and thoughts of the muhammadans and hindus. it is a great pity that missionary energy is still largely destructive rather than constructive. in the earlier days of mission work it was popularly supposed that missionaries were to attack the citadels of islam and hinduism, which were considered to be the great obstacles to the acceptance of christianity by the people of india, and it was thought that, those once overthrown, we should find a christian country. much more probably we should find an atheistic and materialistic india, in which mammon, wealth, industrial success, and worldliness had become the new gods. the real and most deadly enemies with which the missionary has to contend are infidelity and mammon worship. we may well try to enlist the religious spirit of all the indian creeds in the struggle against these, the common enemies of all faiths, or we may find, when too late, that we have destroyed the fabric of faith, and set up nothing in its place. the old islam, the old hinduism, are already doomed, not by the efforts of the missionaries, but by the contact with the west, by the growth of commerce, by the spread of education, by the thirst for wealth and luxury which the west has implanted in the east. all the power of christianity is required to give india a new and living and robust faith, which shall be able to withstand these disrupting forces. some of the christian attacks on eastern religions are painful to read, because one cannot help seeing that the same weapons have been used in the west, and often with success, against belief in the christian scriptures, and the missionaries are only preparing tools which will one day be used against themselves. they may for the moment win a pyrrhic victory against the forces of islam and hinduism, but they are at the same time undermining the religious spirit, the ardent faith, the unquestioning devotion, which have been the crown and glory of india for ages. let it rather be their endeavour to present a real, living, pulsating christianity, capable of enlisting all these divine forces in its own service without weakening or destroying one of them, and all that is best in islam and hinduism will be drawn into it. the product will be nearer to the mind of christ than much that passes by the name of christianity in the west, yet has lost the power of the living christ. do not destroy, but give something worthy of acceptance, and be careful of the type. converts will come right enough when we work on these lines, but they will not so often be the man-made converts which have been drawn by the outward attractions which missions sometimes offer. they will more often be those who have been drawn of the spirit, and become converts in spite of us and our little faith. and they will inherit the blessing of isaac as assuredly as the first class partake of the waywardness of ishmael. the east has long possessed and developed in a myriad different ways the idea of sacrifice, while the more practical west has been tending more and more towards a philanthropic christianity which makes a life of service its ideal. the best will be when we bring about a union of the religious devotion of the east with the altruism of the west. so far the asceticism and devotion of the orient has been rendered nugatory and disappointing by its uselessness--by, if we may use a paradoxical expression, its very selfishness--for it was directed to the emancipation of the individual soul rather than to the salvation of the race. but when the sacrifice of the orient and the service of the occident join hands and go forth in the name of christ to mitigate and remove the ills and sorrows of this sad, sad world, then indeed will the spirit of christ be fulfilled in his church. a recent writer, whose missionary enthusiasm had caught a spark from the mystic fires of the east, writes: "the thing which is lacking (in mission work) i believe to be the vision of the homeless, suffering, serving jesus--the jesus who came to serve, and laid down his life for the sheep." [3] he then goes on to enunciate the need for christian friars, who may bring a knowledge of christ to india in the only way to which her people have ever been accustomed. from time immemorial all the religions that have occupied the arena of the indian stage, and compelled the adherence and devotion of her people, have been promulgated by peripatetic ascetics, who have shown by their devotion to their ideals the intensity of their convictions, and have not wearied of journeying from end to end of the land, through heat and through cold, through privations and hunger and nakedness, that they might make known to the people how they were to obtain salvation. the friars suggested by the above writer would therefore be such as india is already familiar with, and would work on a prepared soil. he writes: "the part of the friars is to live christ so literally before the church and the world, that both may become conscious of him. the church is lacking in ideal and devotion; the friars must, therefore, lead lives of such heroism and devoted service in the face of every danger that the church may be fired by their example.... if such a body of men were to act in this way, none would be so quick to cast themselves at the master's feet as the people of india, and the high castes would lead the way." but it must be clearly understood that these friars are not to replace or render unnecessary any section of the existing missionary body. every one of the various activities of the present mission work is wanted, urgently wanted. they will, however, fire their energies, enlarge their scope, and increase their usefulness. two misconceptions require to be removed from the indian mind. one is, that missionary activity is a political activity, a department of the government artfully disguised. the other is, that the english are, after all, only lukewarm about their religion, and do not hesitate to disregard it if it clashes with their comfort or interest. to combat these ideas it is the lives of the missionaries that are of more importance than the organization, and the more christ is lived and exemplified, the more spiritual and lasting will be the result. chapter xxv a forward policy frontier medical missions--their value as outposts--ancient christianity in central asia--kafiristan: a lost opportunity of the christian church--forcible conversion to islam--fields for missionary enterprise beyond the north-west frontier--the first missionaries should be medical men--an example of the power of a medical mission to overcome opposition--the need for branch dispensaries--scheme of advance--needs. down the north-west frontier is the long line of mission outposts: srinagar, mardan, peshawur, karak, and thal, in the kohat district; bannu, tank, dera ismaã¯l khan, dera ghazi khan, quetta. all of these comprise medical mission work as part of their activities. several have educational work as well. yet we regard them as something more than outposts: they are bases. the strength of the british military stations on that frontier is far in excess of the requirements of their immediate surroundings, because under conceivable conditions they have to act as the bases of an army acting beyond them, or they might have to stem the advance of an invading force. in a precisely similar way we must regard our frontier missions, not merely in relation to their environments, but as the means whereby we shall be able to go forward and evangelize the yet unoccupied lands to the west and the north. they should be sufficiently well equipped in both personnel and material, so that when need arises they might be able to supply the men and means for occupying mission stations farther on. the countries of central asia to the west and north of india are a challenge and a reproach to the christian church--a reproach because in the early centuries of the christian era the zeal of the first missionaries carried the gospel right across turkestan and tibet to china, and christian churches flourished from asia minor to mongolia. dr. stein, in his recent work, "buried cities of khotan," tells us how in those days there were fair towns and running streams and orchards, where now is only a sandy, waterless waste. the rains ceased, the water channels dried up, the people had to leave their towns and villages, and the sand was blown in and covered houses and trees and everything deep in its drifting dunes, where they have been unvisited and forgotten till the present traveller unearthed them. a similar spiritual drought seems to have fallen on the armenian and nestorian churches of those parts, and, deadened and retrograde, they were unable to withstand the great muhammadan invasions of the sixth and succeeding centuries, which swept like tornadoes right across asia into china. in again proclaiming the gospel in turkestan the christian church will only be reoccupying her lost territories, where at one time christian congregations gathered in their churches, but for centuries only the muhammadan call to prayer has been permitted to be heard. it is a reproach, again, because on our north-west frontier, only separated from chitral by a range of mountains, is the interesting land known as kafiristan. there is reason to believe that the inhabitants of this land, known as the kafirs, are the descendants of some of the greeks whom alexander of macedon brought over in his train three hundred years before christ. two stories are current among the kafirs regarding their origin, but both point to their arrival about the third century before christ. one is that a number of greeks, expelled from the lowlands by the advance of surrounding and more powerful tribes, took refuge in these mountain fastnesses; and the other is that they are the descendants of wounded soldiers left by alexander the great in the neighbouring region of bajour. they still practised till a few years ago pagan idolatrous rites, which had probably changed little for two thousand years, and they resisted the inroads of the muhammadans, who were obliged to recoil before their inaccessible mountain fastnesses. they welcomed some christian missionaries who visited their valleys at different times in the last century, and there is every reason to believe that, had the christian church accepted the task, the whole of that nation would have adopted the christian religion. but though these travellers urged on the church her opportunity and her responsibility, no step was taken. colonel wingate, a retired frontier officer, writes: [4] "i had gone for a stroll one day in the summer of 1895 with another officer for a short distance outside the military camp. though we were wearing the uniform of officers, we were without arms, when suddenly we saw a party of natives approaching. they were travelling at a rapid rate, and as they drew near we observed that they were armed with bows and arrows and spears, each carrying a coloured blanket in a roll over the shoulder, their food of dried meat and rice tied on to their girdles. the whole party were warriors, as indicated by the rows of shells sewn on to the kilts worn round their waists. they proved to be an influential deputation from kafiristan to the headquarters camp to obtain the assurance of the british nation that they would still enjoy their protection. from time to time, commencing with the mission of major biddulph, interviews between headmen of the kafiri tribes and officers of the british government had taken place, resulting in the belief that the independence of kafiristan would be preserved. but the unexpected and ominous answer came over the field telegraph wires: 'tell them they are now the subjects of the amir.' while waiting for the answer i had some conversation with them. they were wonderfully bright and generous-hearted, and fond of a joke. when i asked them if they were ready to embrace the christian religion, they replied: 'we do not want to change the religion of our fathers; but if we must change, then we would far rather become christians than muhammadans, because we should still be kafirs,' alluding to the common application of this word by muhammadans to all unbelievers.... the unsparing proselytism of muhammadan conquest has done its worst. hearths and homes in their mountain fastnesses, which had been preserved inviolate for one thousand years against the hated mussulman foe, have been ruthlessly invaded and spoiled. the bravest of their defenders have been forcibly made into muhammadans, and the fairest of their daughters have been torn from the arms of their natural protectors and carried off as new supplies for the harims of their conquerors." another lost opportunity to add to the account of the christian church! but there are lands now in that historic region "where three empires meet" which may yet be occupied by the messengers of "peace and goodwill towards men." is the church going to rise to the present opportunities or let them, too, slip by? swat, chitral, baltistan, hunza, astor, chilas, are each of them the home of a nation. then the great historic cities of bukhara, samarcand, tashkend, merv, kokan, kashgar, have some of them been in their time the capitals of great kingdoms. in some of these places there are already missionaries at work, most of them belonging to swedish and german societies; but how utterly inadequate these few scattered workers are to the great problem which they have to face! what is needed at the present are medical missions. a medical man would be welcomed by the people in all these places. the time for the preacher has yet to come. it would not be wise, even were it possible, to send up clerical missionaries and evangelists into these parts at present. but the doctor will find his sphere everywhere, and will find his hands full of work as soon as he arrives. he will be able to overcome suspicion and prejudice, and his timely aid and sympathetic treatment will disarm opposition, and his life will be a better setting forth of christianity than his words. there is a door everywhere that can be opened by love and sympathy and practical service, and no one is more in a position to have a key for every door than the doctor. i have already said much to show how powerful an agency medical work is for overcoming prejudice, but i will cite one instance more, where the doctor was the son of a convert of the very place where he was working, and had succeeded by his loving and skilful attentions in overcoming the opposition and much of the prejudice of the people. the first branch dispensary in connection with the bannu medical mission was opened at shekh mahmud in 1895. this is a large village near the tahsil town of isa khel, on the right bank of the indus river. about thirty-five years ago a landowner of this place was converted to christianity, and, together with his family, received into the christian church. at first he passed through great vicissitudes: his house was burnt over his head by his fellow-villagers, and he and his family barely escaped with their lives. his enemies then tried to expatriate him by erasing his name from the village registers, and swearing in court that he was a stranger to the district. eventually, however, their perjury was found out, and the court restored him his lands and had a new house built for him in the place of the one that had been burnt down. this man passed to his rest trusting in our lord jesus christ, leaving three sons, who were all following in their father's footsteps, and have been privileged to see many of their former enemies brought to christ themselves. the eldest son has also died, but leaving two sons, of whom the elder has obtained the government qualification of doctor, and is destined to take charge of the branch dispensary which we are about to open at thal. the second and third sons have received a medical training in the mission hospital, and are both engaged in medical mission work--the second at the bannu headquarters hospital, and the youngest is in charge of a branch dispensary built on the very land that his muhammadan countrymen tried to wrest from his father. on the last occasion of my visiting this branch, just before leaving india for my visit to england in 1908, this young doctor--fazl khan by name--had made a dinner for the poor of the village, and nearly two hundred must have come to partake of his hospitality. this custom of feeding the poor is often done in india by those undertaking a long journey or some other enterprise, so that the prayers of the poor may be a blessing on the work. well, after all the guests had partaken, the christian doctor offered prayers for my safe journey to england, and for the medical mission work at bannu and at sheikh mahmud, and after each petition all present raised the cry of "allah," being their way of saying "amen." now, these were the sons and relatives of the very men who had burnt the house of the christian doctor's father, and tried to oust him from his lands. this is an example of what may be accomplished in a fanatical frontier district through the agency of medical mission work carried on by an indian christian. i am constantly getting requests from maliks (chiefs) of these trans-frontier tribes to visit them in their mountain homes, and when i have accepted i have received a cordial welcome, and been well treated, while i have had abundant opportunities of medical mission work. there is great scope for the itinerant medical missionary among them, but he requires a base to which he can send cases requiring severe operations or ward treatment. small branch dispensaries in charge of indian hospital assistants are of the greatest value, and there are many suitable places for such along our indian frontier. the advantages of such dispensaries i believe to be as follows; (1) they exert an extraordinary christianizing, civilizing, and pacifying influence on the tribes in their immediate vicinity. (2) they form subsidiary bases for the medical missionary, not only enabling him to work up that particular district, but relieving the pressure on the headquarters hospital. the assistant-in-charge sifts the cases that come to him, tells some that their disease is irremediable, thereby saving them the expense and weariness of a long journey, and recommending others to go up to headquarters for operations. (3) they form training-schools for our indian helpers, whereby they are prepared for taking posts of even greater responsibility. this matter of efficient training of our indian helpers is, i believe, a matter of paramount importance. my hope is, then, in the near future to see a number of new centres of medical mission work opened in these hitherto almost untouched lands of central asia, and, associated with these centres, a number of village dispensaries for the more remote tracks. the central missions would have a staff of at least two european medical men, and the branches would be in the charge of indian assistants. there is no reason, however, why an indian of sufficient qualifications and experience should not take the place of one of the european staff when circumstances admit of it. the central hospital should be well equipped in both outand in-patient departments, and have sanitary wards accommodating from thirty to eighty in-patients. the branches should also be able to take in from six to ten in-patients, as not only will the assistant in charge often get cases of urgency, which require immediate indoor treatment, and cannot be forwarded to the base hospital, but when the head medical missionary visits these out-stations he will be glad to be able to accommodate a few operation cases which may be waiting for him there. this scheme would not clash with government medical aid, because in most of these regions there are very few, if any, government hospitals or dispensaries, and those places which already have sufficient government medical aid might well be passed over in favour of the numberless places that have none. here is a grand field for young medical men who are anxious to consecrate their abilities to the service of god and man. they are not offered tempting salaries or honours, but they will have the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping to lighten the burden of mankind where that burden was weighing most heavily, and to bring the light and love of christ into some of the darkest abodes of cruelty and superstition to be met with on the face of god's earth. those who help this work with the gifts in money or kind, without which it would be impossible of execution can have the satisfaction of knowing that they are not only relieving bodily suffering which would otherwise be unrelieved, and carrying the evangel to those who have never heard of it, but they are drawing nations together in bonds of service and sympathy, and diminishing the danger of racial conflict and devastating war. glossary of words not generally used outside india a. ahl-el-kitã¡b = the people of the book: a term applied by muhammadans to jews, and christians whose scriptures they accept as the word of god. b. banaprastha = the third stage of the life of a devout hindu, when he retires from trade or office, and lives in some forest or jungle. ber = a tree, very common in afghanistã¡n--zisyphus jujuba and z. vulgaris. its fruit is largely eaten by the people. bhagti = devotion, faith. the hindus contrast salvation by bhagti to that by karma, or works. chaitanza and others were the apostles of bhagti. bhã¡sha = the script in which the hindi language is usually written; the language itself. brahmachã¡ri = the first stage of the life of a devout hindu, when he is a celibate student under some teacher or guru. c. chã¡dar = a cotton or woollen shawl, used as a wrap in the day and a sheet by night. chapã¡ti = flat cakes of unleavened bread, cooked over a tauwa, or flat piece of iron. chã¡rpã¡r = "the four-legged," the plain native wooden bedstead. chauk = the room which the headman of a village sets apart for the use of the public. village business and gossip is carried on here, and travellers accommodated. chigah = an alarm, sounded by beating a drum in a village, for the arm-bearing population to come out in pursuit of raiders or robbers. chilam = the afghã¡n term for the indian hookah, or hubble-bubble pipe. the kind used in afghanistã¡n is simpler in construction, and has a shorter tube. d. dã¡ktar = the native corruption of "doctor." dharmsã¡la = a hindu temple and rest-house for travellers, these two institutions being almost invariably combined. dilaq = the patchwork cloak which is characteristic of the muhammadan faqir. dãºm = the village barber and musician, these two offices being usually combined; he also does most of the minor surgery of the village. dãºmba = the fat-tailed afghã¡n sheep. f. fatwã¡ = a religious decree, promulgated by a court of mullahs, or by one mullah of authority. feringi = the name universally accorded in afghanistã¡n to europeans (the franks). in british india it has a prejudicial signification, but not so in afghanistã¡n. g. ghazã¡ = a religious murder, when a muhammadan fanatic kills a christian or hindu for the sake of religion. ghã¡zi = the fanatic who commits ghazã¡. grihasta = the second stage in the life of a devout hindu, when he marries a wife, begets children, and carries on his profession or trade. guru = a religious preceptor or guide among hindus or sikhs. h. hã¡kim = a ruler, an executive officer. hakã­m = a native doctor, who practises on western or hippocratic lines. halwa = a kind of sweet pudding, very popular with the afghã¡ns. hazrat 'esa = the muhammadan appellation for our lord jesus christ. hujra = a guest-house, where travellers are accommodated in afghã¡n villages. it differs from chauk in that it is more specialized for the use of travellers, while the latter is more for the use of the village folk. i. 'ã�d = a muhammadan feast-day. there are two chief feasts--the "'id-el-fitr," or day following the fast-month of ramazã¡n, and the "'id-el-zoha" or "'id-el-bakr," which is the feast of sacrifice, in memory of abraham's would-be sacrifice of his son. izzat = honour: a word constantly in an afghã¡n's thoughts and conversation, but which even he is not always able to define. j. jirgah = a council of the tribal elders. this may be appointed by the tribesmen themselves to settle some dispute, or in british india it may be appointed by the civil officer to help in deciding some judicial case. k. kã¡fir = an infidel. strictly, only one who does not believe in god and the prophets, but loosely applied to all non-muslims. kalã¡mullã¡h = the word of god. comprises, according to muhammadan teaching, four books--the law (tauret), the psalms (zabãºr), the gospel (injil), and the qurã¡n. kalima = the muhammadan creed: "there is no god but god, and muhammad is the prophet of god." the recitation of this is the recognized way of declaring one's self a muhammadan. kanal = a measure of land--one-eighth of an acre. karmã¡ = works. according to hindu philosophy, a man's reincarnation depends on the character and amount of his karmã¡. karnal = the afghã¡n corruption of "colonel." khã¡n = a lord, a chief; an honorific title in afghanistã¡n, or merely part of a man's name. l. lashkar = an army; often applied in afghanistã¡n to a small body of men going out from a tribe for warlike purposes, but they may be going for peaceful purposes--hence the english "lascar." m. mã¡lik = in afghanistã¡n the headman of a village or tribe. mã¡'uzbã­llã¡h = a muhammadan exclamation on hearing bad news or a calamity: "may god protect us!" muharram = a yearly muhammadan feast held on the 10th of the month of muharram. mullah = a muhammadan preacher. munshi = a clerk or preceptor. p. pagari = the eastern head-dress or turban. patwã¡ri = a village bailiff, who keeps the accounts of the village lands. patwarkhã¡na = the office of the bailiff. parda = the eastern custom of secluding women from the public gaze. pulã¡o = a popular dish in afghanistã¡n, consisting of meat cooked with rice, with spices, nuts, raisins, and sweetenings. q. qurbã¡n = lit., sacrifice; also used as an expression of devotion by an inferior to a superior. qismet = fate, destiny; an ever-present idea in the muhammadan mind. r. rebã¡b = an afghã¡n stringed instrument, resembling a guitar. s. sã¡hib = lit., gentleman; the term of respect usually applied to englishmen. samã¡dh = the posture assumed by an ascetic for contemplation of the deity. there are a great variety of these, each possessing its own peculiar merit. sangar = an entrenchment. in the mountain warfare of afghanistã¡n these are made of short walls of stones on the hillside. sanyã¡si = the fourth stage in the life of a devout hindu, when he retires from the world, and gives himself up entirely to religious meditation. sardã¡r = a chief, an afghã¡n nobleman. sarkã¡r = the usual term for the british government. sharm = shame. the afghã¡n idea underlying this word is a complex, in which shame, public disgrace, modesty, delicacy, sense of honour, all share in varying degree. he is always talking of it. shã¡ster = a religious book of the hindus. shesham = a common tree on the frontier that yields an excellent hard wood for various articles of household use--dalbergia sisso. sowã¡r = a horseman. sura = a chapter of the qurã¡n. t. tahsã­l = the subdivision of an administrative district; the centre for the collection of the revenue. tã¡lib = a muhammadan religious student; a pupil in a mosque. tap-jap = a recitation of religious formulã¦ by a hindu. tauba = lit., repentance; an exclamation denoting abhorrence or contrition. u. ustã¡d = a master or preceptor; a religious teacher (among muhammadans). w. wilã¡yati = belonging to europe; especially applied to merchandise of european origin. y. yogsadhan = a system of contemplation, combined with religious exercises, whereby occult power is acquired. yunã¡ni = pertaining to greece. this is the word usually applied to that system of native medicine which was derived from the greeks; in europe it is spoken of in connection with the name of hippocrates, who formulated it. the other, or hindu system, is the vedic; those who practise the former are called hakã­ms, the latter baids. z. zamindã¡r = a farmer, a landowner. zyã¡rat = a shrine; the grave of a holy man; a place of pilgrimage. notes [1] more probably from the greek kofinos.--j. c. [2] in a booklet published by the church missionary society, entitled "delawar khan." [3] s. e. stokes in the east and the west for april, 1908. [4] "across our indian frontier," by colonel g. wingate, c.i.e. [transcriber's note] page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers enclosed in curly braces, e.g. {99}. they have been located where page breaks occurred in the original book. section titles which appear with the odd page numbers in the original text have been placed before the referenced paragraph in square brackets. [end transcriber's notes] travels in central asia london printed by spottiswoode and co. new-street square [illustration] dervishes at bokhara. travels in central asia being the account of a journey from teheran across the turkoman desert on the eastern shore of the caspian to khiva, bokhara, and samarcand performed in the year 1863 by arminius vámbéry member of the hungarian academy of pesth, by whom he was sent on this scientific mission london john murray, albemarle street 1864 to major-general sir henry rawlinson, k.c.b. the investigator of the ancient history of the east, and yielding to none in his knowledge of the present condition of central asia, _in token of admiration and gratitude_ the following pages are dedicated a. vámbéry. preface. i was born in hungary in 1832, in the small town of duna szerdahely, situated on one of the largest islands in the danube. impelled by a particular inclination to linguistic science, i had in early youth occupied myself with several languages of europe and asia. the various stores of oriental and western literature were in the first instance the object of my eager study. at a later period i began to interest myself in the reciprocal relations of the languages themselves; and here it is not surprising if i, in applying the proverb 'nosce teipsum,' directed my principal attention to the affinities and to the origin of my own mother-tongue. that the hungarian language belongs to the stock called altaic is well known, but whether it is to be referred to the finnish or the tartaric branch is a question that still awaits decision. this enquiry, interesting [footnote 1] to us hungarians both in a scientific and {viii} a national point of view, was the principal and the moving cause of my journey to the east. i was desirous of ascertaining, by the practical study of the living languages, the positive degree of affinity which had at once struck me as existing between the hungarian and the turco-tartaric dialects when contemplating them by the feeble light which theory supplied. i went first to constantinople. several years' residence in turkish houses, and frequent visits to islamite schools and libraries, soon transformed me into a turk--nay, into an efendi. the progress of my linguistic researches impelled me further towards the remote east; and when i proposed to carry out my views by actually undertaking a journey to central asia, i found it advisable to retain this character of efendi, and to visit the east as an oriental. [footnote 1: the opinion consequently that we hungarians go to asia to seek there those of our race who were left behind, is erroneous. such an object, the carrying out of which, both from ethnographical as well as philological reasons, would be an impossibility, would render a man amenable to the charge of gross ignorance. we are desirous of knowing the etymological construction of our language, and therefore seek exact information from cognate idioms.] the foregoing observations will explain the object which i proposed to myself in my wanderings from the bosphorus to samarcand. geological or astronomical researches were out of my province, and had even become an impossibility from my assumption of the character of a dervish. my attention was for the most part directed to the races inhabiting central asia, of whose social and political relations, character, usages, and customs i have striven, however imperfectly, to give a sketch in the following {ix} pages. although, as far as circumstances and my previous avocations permitted, i allowed nothing that concerned geography and statistics to escape me, still i must regard the results of my philological researches as the principal fruits of my journey. these i am desirous, after maturer preparation, to lay before the scientific world. these researches, and not the facts recorded in the present pages, must ever be regarded by me as the real reward of a journey in which i wandered about for months and months with only a few rags as my covering, without necessary food, and in constant peril of perishing by a death of cruelty, if not of torture. i may be reproached with too much limiting my views, but where a certain object is proposed we should not lose sight of the principle, 'non omnia possumus omnes.' a stranger on the field to which the publication of this narrative has introduced me, i feel my task doubly difficult in a land like england, where literature is so rich in books of travels. my design was to record plainly and simply what i heard and saw, whilst the impression still remained fresh on my mind. i doubt much whether i have succeeded, and beg the kind indulgence of the public. readers and critics may find many errors, and the light that i may throw upon particular points may be accounted too small a compensation for the hardships i actually encountered; but i entreat them not to forget that i return from a country where to hear is regarded as impudence, to ask as crime, and to take notes as a deadly sin. {x} so much for the grounds and purposes of my journey. with respect to the arrangement of these pages, in order that there may be no interruption, i have divided the book into two parts; the first containing the description of my journey from teheran to samarcand and back, the second devoted to notices concerning the geography, statistics, politics, and social relations of central asia. i hope that both will prove of equal interest to the reader; for whilst on the one hand i pursued routes hitherto untrodden by any european, my notices relate to subjects hitherto scarcely, if at all, touched on by writers upon central asia. and now let me perform the more pleasing task of expressing my warm acknowledgments to all those whose kind reception of me when i arrived in london has been a great furtherance and encouragement to the publication of the following narrative. before all let me mention the names of sir justin and lady sheil. in their house i found english open-heartedness associated with oriental hospitality; their kindness will never be forgotten by me. nor are my obligations less to the nestor of geological science, the president of the royal geographical society, sir roderick murchison; to that great oriental scholar, viscount strangford; and to mr. layard, m.p., under-secretary of state. in central asia i bestowed blessing for kindness received; here i have but words, they are sincere and come from the heart. a. vámbéry. london: september 28, 1864. {xi} contents. part i. chapter i.--page 1 travelling in persia sleep on horseback teheran reception at the turkish embassy turkey and persia ferrukh khan's visit to europe war between dost mohammed khan and sultan ahmed khan excursion to shiraz chapter ii. page 9 return to teheran relief of sunnites, dervishes, and hadjis at the turkish embassy author becomes acquainted with a karavan of tartar hadjis returning from mecca the different routes the author determines to join the hadjis hadji bilal introduction of author to his future travelling companions route through the yomuts and the great desert decided upon chapter iii.--page 20 departure from teheran in north-easterly direction the component members of karavan described ill-feeling of shiites towards the sunnite hadjis mazendran zirab heften tigers and jackals sari karatepe {xii} chapter iv.--page 30 karatepe author entertained by an afghan, nur-ullah suspicions as to his dervish character hadjis provision themselves for journey through desert afghan colony nadir shah first view of the caspian yacoub the turkoman boatman love talisman embarkation for ashourada voyage on the caspian russian part of ashourada russian war steamers in the caspian turkoman chief, in the service of russia apprehension of discovery on the author's part arrival at gömüshtepe and at the mouth of the gorghen. chapter v.--page 45 arrival at gömüshtepe, hospitable reception of the hadjis khandjan ancient greek wall influence of the ulemas first brick mosque of the nomads tartar raids persian slaves excursion to the north-east of gömüshtepe tartar fiancée and banquet, etc. preparation of the khan of khiva's kervanbashi for the journey through the desert line of camels ilias beg, the hirer of camels arrangements with khulkhan turkoman expedition to steal horses in persia its return. chapter vi.--page 70 departure from gömüshtepe character of our late host turkoman mounds or tombs disagreeable adventure with wild boars plateau to the north of gömüshtepe nomad habits turkoman hospitality the last goat persian slave commencement of the desert a turkoman wife and slave etrek persian slaves russian sailor slave proposed alliance between yomuts and tekke rendezvous with the kervanbashi tribe kem adieu to etrek afghan makes mischief description of karavan. {xiii} chapter vii.--page 90 kervanbashi insists that author should take no notes eid mehemmed and his brother's noble conduct guide loses his way körentaghi, ancient ruins, probably greek little and great balkan ancient bed of the oxus vendetta sufferings from thirst. chapter viii.--page 113 thunder gazelles and wild asses arrival at the plateau kaftankir ancient bed of oxus friendly encampment approach of horsemen gazavat entry into khiva malicious charge by afghan interview with khan author required to give specimen of turkish penmanship robes of honour estimated by human heads horrible execution of prisoners peculiar execution of women kungrat author's last benediction of the khan. chapter ix.--page 144 from khiva to bokhara. departure from khiva for bokhara ferry across the oxus great heat shurakhan market singular dialogue with kirghis woman on nomadic life tünüklü alaman of the tekke karavan alarmed returns to tünüklü forced to throw itself into the desert, 'destroyer of life' thirst death of camels death of a hadji stormy wind precarious state of author hospitable reception amongst persian slaves first impression of bokhara the noble. chapter x.--page 167 bokhara reception at the tekkie, the chief nest of islamism rahmet bi bazaars baha-ed-din, great saint of turkestan spies set upon author fate of recent travellers in bokhara book bazaar the worm (rishte) water supply late and present emirs harem, government, family of reigning emir slave depot and trade departure from bokhara, and visit to the tomb of baha-ed-din. {xiv} chapter xi.--page 197 bokhara to samarcand little desert of chöl melik animation of road owing to war first view of samarcand haszreti shah zinde mosque of timour citadel (ark) reception hall of timour köktash or timour's throne singular footstool timour's sepulchre and that of his preceptor author visits the actual tomb of timour in the souterrain folio koran ascribed to osman, mohammed's secretary colleges ancient observatory greek armenian library not, as pretended, carried off by timour architecture of public buildings not chinese but persian modern samarcand its population dehbid author decides to return arrival of emir author's interview with him parting from the hadjis, and departure from samarcand. chapter xii.--page 222 samarcand to karshi through desert nomads karshi, the ancient nakhseb trade and manufacture kerki oxus author charged with being runaway slave ersari turkomans mezari sherif belkh author joins karavan from bokhara slavery zeid andkhuy yeketut khairabad maymene akkale. chapter xiii.--page 244 maymene its political position and importance reigning prince rivalry of bokhara and kabul dost mohammed khan ishan eyub and mollah khalmurad khanat and fortress of maymene escaped russian offenders murgab river and bala murgab djemshidi and afghan ruinous taxes on merchandise kalè no hezare afghan exactions and maladministration. {xv} chapter xiv.--page 269 herat. herat its ruinous state bazaar author's destitute condition the serdar mehemmed yakoub khan parade of afghan troops interview with serdar conduct of afghans on storming herat nazir naim the vizir embarrassed state of revenue major todd mosalla, and tomb of sultan husein mirza tomb of khodja abdullah ansari, and of dost mohammed khan. chapter xv.--page 286 from herat to london. author joins karavan for meshed kuhsun, last afghan town false alarm from wild asses debatable ground between afghan and persian territory bifurcation of route yusuf khan hezareh ferimon colonel dolmage prince sultan murad mirza author avows who he is to the serdar of herat shahrud teheran, and welcome there by the turkish charge d' affaires, ismael efendi kind reception by mr. alison and the english embassy interview with the shah the kavvan ud dowlet and the defeat at merv return by trebisond and constantinople to pesth author leaves the khiva mollah behind him at pesth and proceeds to london his welcome in the last-named city. part ii. chapter xvi.--page 301 the turkomans. boundaries and division of tribes neither rulers nor subjects deb islam change introduced by latter only external influence of mollahs construction of nomad tents alaman, how conducted persian cowardice turkoman poets troubadours simple marriage ceremonies horses mounds, how and when formed mourning for dead turkoman descent general points connected with the history of the turkomans their present political and geographical importance. {xvi} chapter xvii.--page 329 the city of khiva. khiva, the capital principal divisions, gates, and quarters of the city bazaars mosques medresse or colleges; how founded, organised, and endowed police khan and his government taxes tribunals khanat canals political divisions produce manufactures and trade particular routes khanat, how peopled ozbegs turkomans karakalpak kasak (kirghis) sart persians history of khiva in fifteenth century khans and their genealogy. chapter xviii.--page 362 the city of bokhara. city of bokhara, its gates, quarters, mosques, colleges one founded by czarina catherine founded as seminaries not of learning but fanaticism bazaars police system severer than elsewhere in asia the khanat of bokhara inhabitants: ozbegs, tadjiks, kirghis, arabs, mervi, persians, hindoos, jews government different officials political divisions army summary of the history of bokhara. chapter xix.--page 380 khanat of khokand. inhabitants division khokand tashkend khodjend morgolan endidjan hazreti turkestana oosh political position recent wars. chapter xx.--page 397 chinese tartary. approach from west administration inhabitants--cities. chapter xxi.--page 407 communication of central asia with russia, persia, and india routes in the three khanats and chinese tartary. {xvii} chapter xxii.--page 419 general view of agriculture, manufactures, and trade. agriculture different kinds of horses sheep camels asses manufactures, principal seats of trade commercial ascendancy of russia in central asia. chapter xxiii.--page 430 internal and external political relations of central asia. internal relations between bokhara, khiva, and khokand external relations with turkey, persia, china, and russia. chapter xxiv.--page 439 the rivalry of the russians and english in central asia. attitude of russia and england towards central asia progress of russia on the jaxartes. {xviii} list of illustrations. dervishes at bokhara--frontispiece reception by turkoman chief on the caspian shore--45 intruding upon the haunts of the wild boar--72 wild man in the desert--108 receiving payment for human heads--khiva--140 the ferry across the oxus--149 tebbad--sand storm in the desert--161 entry of the emir into samarcand--216 'i swear you are an englishman!'--278 tent in central asia--316 tartar horse race--pursuit of a bride (kokburi)--323 market on horseback--amongst the özbegs--345 map of central asia, showing author's route--at the end {1} travels in central asia chapter i. travelling in persia sleep on horseback teheran reception at the turkish embassy turkey and persia ferrukh khan's visit to europe war between dost mohammed khan and sultan ahmed khan excursion to shiraz. _je marchais, et mes compagnons flottaient comme des branches par l'effet du sommeil.--victor hugo, from omaïah ben aiëdz_. [travelling in persia] whoever has travelled through persia in the middle of july will sympathise with me when i say how glad i felt at having got through the district that extends from tabris to teheran. it is a distance of only fifteen, or perhaps we may rather say of only thirteen karavan stations: still, it is fearfully fatiguing, when circumstances compel one to toil slowly from station to station under a scorching sun, mounted upon a laden mule, and condemned to see nothing but such drought and barrenness as characterise almost the whole of persia. how bitter the disappointment to him who has studied persia only in saadi, khakani, and hafiz; {2} or, still worse, who has received his dreamy impressions of the east from the beautiful imaginings of goethe's 'ost-westlicher divan,' or victor hugo's 'orientales,' or the magnificent picturings of tom moore! [sleep on horseback; teheran] it was not until we were about two stations from teheran, that the idea struck our djilodar [footnote 2] to change our march by day into night marches. but even this expedient had its inconveniences: for the coolness of the night in persia is a great disposer to slumber; the slow pace of the animals has a composing effect, and one must really firmly cling to them, or sometimes even suffer oneself to be bound on by cords, to avoid being precipitated during one's sleep down upon the sharp flint stones below. the oriental, habituated to this constant torment, sleeps sweetly enough, whatever may be the kind of saddle, whether it be upon horse, camel, mule, or ass; and it gave me many a moment of merry enjoyment, as i contemplated the tall, lanky, long-robed persians, lying outstretched with their feet nearly touching the ground, and their heads supported upon the necks of the patient beasts. in this position the persians take their nap quite tranquilly, whilst they unconsciously pass many stations. but, at that time, necessity, the mother of invention, had not yet imparted to me the necessary experience; and whilst the greater part of my travelling companions near me, in spite of their soft slumbers, were still riding on, i was left undisturbed to the studious contemplation of the kervankusch and pervins (pleïades); and i looked with inexpressible longing to that quarter where the suheil (canopus) {3} and the sitarei subh (morning star) emerging, should announce the dawn of day, the proximity of the station, and the end of our torments. what wonder that i was somewhat in the condition of a half-boiled fish, when on the 13th july, 1862, i approached the capital of persia? we stopped at a distance of a couple of english miles on the banks of a stream, to let our beasts drink. the halt awakened my companions, who, still sleepily rubbing their eyes, pointed out to me how teheran was there lying before us to the north-east. i looked about me, and perceived in that direction a blue smoke rising and lengthening in long columns upwards, permitting me, however, here and there to distinguish the outline of a glittering dome, till at last, the vaporous veil having gradually disappeared, i had the enjoyment, as persians express themselves, of beholding before me, in all her naked wretchedness, the darül khilafe, or seat of sovereignty. [footnote 2: the same as kervanbashi; one who hires the camels, mules, asses, etc.] i made my entry through the dervaze (gate) no, and shall certainly not soon forget the obstacles amidst which i had to force my way. asses, camels, and mules laden with barley straw, and bales of persian or european merchandise, were all pressing on in the most fearful confusion, at the very entrance of the gate. drawing up my legs under me upon the saddle, and screaming out as lustily as my neighbours, 'khaberdar, khaberdar' (take care), i at last succeeded in getting into the city, though with no little trouble. i traversed the bazaar, and finally reached the palace of the turkish embassy, without having received any serious wound either by squeeze, blow, or cut. {4} [reception at the turkish embassy] a native of hungary, sent by the hungarian academy upon a scientific mission to central asia, what had i to do at the turkish embassy? this will appear from the preface, to which i respectfully request my readers' attention, in spite of the prejudice condemning such introductions as tiresome and unnecessary. with haydar efendi, who then represented the porte at the persian court, i had been already acquainted at constantinople. he had previously filled similar functions at st. petersburg and at paris. but, notwithstanding my being personally known to him, i was bearer also of letters from his most esteemed friends; and, counting upon the oft-proved hospitality of the turks, i felt sure of meeting with a good reception. i consequently regarded the residence of the turkish embassy as my future abode; and as these gentlemen had resorted already to their yailar or summer seat at djizer (eight english miles from teheran), i only changed my clothes, and after indulging in a few hours' repose to atone for my recent sleepless nights, i mounted an ass, hired for an excursion into the country, and in two hours found myself in the presence of the efendis, who, in a magnificent tent of silk, were just about to commence a dinner possessing in my eyes still superior magnificence and attraction. my reception, both by the ambassador and the secretaries, was of the most friendly description: room was soon found for me at the table, and in a few moments we were in deep conversation, respecting stamboul and her beautiful views, the sultan and his mode of government. ah! how refreshing in teheran is the recollection of the bosphorus! {5} [turkey and persia] what wonder if, in the course of the conversation, frequent comparisons were instituted between the persian and the turkish manner of living? if one too hastily gives way to first impressions, iran, the theme of so much poetic enthusiasm, is, after all, nothing but a frightful waste; whereas turkey is really an earthly paradise. i accord to the persian all the politeness of manners, and all the readiness and vivacity of wit, that are wanting to the osmanli; but in the latter the absence of these qualities is more than compensated by an integrity and an honourable frankness not possessed by his rival. the persian can boast a poetic organisation and an ancient civilisation. the superiority of the osmanli results from the attention he is paying to the languages of europe, and his disposition gradually to acquaint himself with the progress that european savans have made in chemistry, physics, and history. our conversation was prolonged far into night. the following days were devoted to my presentation at the other european embassies. i found count gobineau, the imperial ambassador, under a small tent in a garden like a caldron, where the heat was awful. mr. alison was more comfortably quartered in his garden at gulahek, purchased for him by his government. he was very friendly. i had often the opportunity, at his hospitable table, of studying the question why the english envoys everywhere distinguish themselves amongst their diplomatic brethren, by the comfortableness as well as the splendour of their establishments. in addition to the diplomatic corps of europe, i found at that time at teheran many officers, french or italian; an austrian officer, too, of the engineers, r. von gasteiger; all of them in the service of the shah, with liberal allowances. {6} these gentlemen, as i heard, were disposed to render themselves very serviceable, possessing all the requisite qualifications; but any benefit that might have resulted was entirely neutralised by the systematic want of system that existed in persia, and by the low intrigues of the persians. [ferrukh khan's visit to europe] the object of ferrukh khan's diplomatic journeys in europe was in reality to show our cabinets how much iran had it at heart to obtain admittance into the comity of states. he begged aid everywhere, that his country might have the wondrous elixir of civilisation imparted to it as rapidly as possible. all europe thought that persia was really upon the point of adopting every european custom and principle. as ferrukh khan has a long beard, wears long robes and a high hat, which give him a very earnest look, our ministers were kind enough to attach to him unlimited credit. wishing to honour a regular government in persia, troops of officers, artists, and artisans flocked to him. they went still further, and hastened to return the visits of the envoy extraordinary of the shah. in consequence we saw belgium, at no small expense, forwarding an ambassador to persia to study commercial relations, to make treaties of commerce, and to give effect to numberless other strokes of policy. he arrived, and i can scarcely imagine that his first report home could have begun with 'veni, vidi, vici,' or that he could have felt the slightest desire to pay a second visit to 'la belle perse.' next to belgium came prussia. the learned diplomatist baron von minutoli, to whom the mission was entrusted, devoted his life to it. his thirst after science impelled him to proceed to south persia; and at only two days' journey from 'heavenly shiraz,' as the persians call it, he fell a sacrifice to the pestilential air, and now {7} reposes in the place last mentioned, a few paces from hafiz, and behind the baghi takht. a few days after i came, the embassy of the new kingdom of italy arrived also, consisting of twenty persons, divided into diplomatic, military, and scientific sections. the object they had in view has remained always a mystery to me. i have much to recount respecting their reception, but prefer to keep these details for a better occasion, and to busy myself more especially with the preparations i then made for my own journey. [war between dost mohammed khan and sultan ahmed khan; excursion to shiraz] by the kind offices of my friends at the turkish embassy, i was in a condition very little suited to the character of a mendicant dervish which i was about to assume: the comforts i was enjoying were heartily distasteful to me, and i should have preferred, after my ten days' repose at teheran, to proceed at once to meshed and herat, had not obstacles, long dreaded, interfered with my design. even before the date of my leaving constantinople, i had heard, by the daily press, of the war declared by dost mohammed khan against his son-in-law and former vassal at herat, sultan ahmed khan, because the latter had broken his fealty to him, and had placed himself under the suzerainty of the shah of persia. our european papers seemed to me to exaggerate the whole matter, and the story failed to excite in me the apprehensions it really ought to have done. i regarded the difficulties as unreal, and began my journey. nevertheless, here in teheran, at a distance of only thirty-two days' journey from the seat of war, i learnt from undeniable sources, to my very great regret, that the war in those parts had really broken off all communications, and that since the siege had begun, no karavan, still less any solitary {8} traveller, could pass either from or to herat. persians themselves dared not venture their wares or their lives; but there would have been far more cause for apprehension in the case of a european whose foreign lineaments would, in those savage asiatic districts, even in periods of peace, be regarded by an oriental with mistrust, and must singularly displease him in time of war. the chances, indeed, seemed to be, if i ventured thither, that i should be unceremoniously massacred by the afghans. i began to realise my actual position, and convinced myself of the impossibility, for the moment, of prosecuting my journey under such circumstances; and in order not to reach, during the wintry season, bokhara, in the wastes of central asia, i immediately determined to postpone my journey till next march, when i should have the finest season of the year before me; and, perhaps, in the meantime the existing political relations, which barricaded herat, the gate of central asia, from all approach, might have ceased. it was not till the beginning of september that i became reconciled to this necessity. it will be readily understood how unpleasant it was for me to have to spend five or six months in a country possessing for me only secondary interest, and respecting which so many excellent accounts have already appeared. not, then, with any serious intention of studying persia, but rather to withdraw myself from a state of inactivity calculated to be prejudicial to my future purposes, i quitted, in a semi-dervish character, my hospitable turkish friends, and proceeded at once by ispahan to shiraz, and so obtained the enjoyment of visiting the oft-described monuments of ancient iran civilisation. {9} chapter ii. return to teheran relief of sunnites, dervishes, and hadjis at the turkish embassy author becomes acquainted with a karavan of tartar hadjis returning from mecca the different routes the author determines to join the hadjis hadji bilal introduction of author to his future travelling companions route through the yomuts and the great desert decided upon. _the parthians held it as a maxim to accord no passage over their territory to any stranger_.--heeren, _manual of ancient history_. [return to teheran; relief of sunnites, dervishes, and hadjis at the turkish embassy] towards the middle of january 1863, i found myself back in teheran, and again sharing the hospitality of my turkish benefactors. a change came over me; my hesitation was at an end, my decision was made, my preparations hastened. i resolved, even at the greatest sacrifice, to carry out my design. it is an old custom of the turkish embassy to accord a small subsidy to the hadjis and dervishes, who every year are in the habit of passing in considerable numbers through persia towards the turkish empire. this is a real act of benevolence for the poor sunnitish mendicants in persia, who do not obtain a farthing from the shiitish persians. the consequence was, that the hotel of the embassy received guests from the most remote parts of turkestan. i felt the greatest pleasure whenever i saw these ragged wild tartars enter my apartment. they had it in their power to give {10} much real information respecting their country, and their conversations were of extreme importance for my philological studies. they, on their part, were astonished at my affability, having naturally no idea of the objects which i had in view. the report was soon circulated in the karavanserai, to which they resorted in their passage through, that haydar efendi, the ambassador of the sultan, has a generous heart; that reshid efendi (this was the name i had assumed) treats the dervishes as his brethren; that he is probably himself a dervish in disguise. as people entertained those notions, it was no matter of surprise to me that the dervishes who reached teheran came first to me, and then to the minister; for access to the latter was not always attainable, and now, through me, they found a ready means of obtaining their obolus, or the satisfaction of their other wishes. it was thus that in the morning of the 20th march four hadjis came to me with the request that i would present them to the sultan's envoy, as they wished to prefer a complaint against the persians who, on their return from mecca, at hamadan, had exacted from them the sunni tribute--an exaction not only displeasing to the shah of persia, but long since forbidden by the sultan. for here it must be remarked, that the good tartars think that the whole world ought to obey the chief of their religion, the sultan. [footnote 3] [footnote 3: in the eyes of all the sunnites, the lawful khalife (successor) of mahomet is he who is in possession of the precious heritage, which comprises--1st, all the relics preserved in stamboul, in the hirkai seadet, e.g. the cloak, beard, and teeth of the prophet, lost by him in a combat; articles of clothing, korans, and weapons which belonged to the first four khalifs, 2ndly, the possession of mecca and medina, jerusalem, and other places of pilgrimage resorted to by the islamite.] {11} [author becomes acquainted with a karavan of tartar hadjis returning from mecca; the different routes] 'we desire,' they say, 'from his excellency the ambassador, no money: we pray only, that for the future our sunnitish brethren may visit the holy places without molestation.' words so unselfish proceeding from the mouth of an oriental much surprised me. i scrutinised the wild features of my guests, and must avow that, barbarous as they seemed, wretched as was their clothing, i was yet able to discover in them a something of nobility, and from the first moment was prepossessed in their favour. i had a long conversation with them, to inform myself more fully respecting their companions, and the route which they had selected to go to mecca, and the one which they thought of taking after leaving teheran. the spokesman of the party was, for the most part, a hadji from chinese tartary (called also little bokhara), who had concealed his ragged dress under a new green djubbe (over-dress), and wore on his head a colossal white turban, and, by his fiery glance and quick eye, showed his superiority over the whole body of his associates. after having represented himself as the court imam of the vang (chinese governor) of aksu (a province in chinese tartary), who had twice visited the holy sepulchre--hence being twofold a hadji--he made me acquainted with his friend seated near him, and gave me to understand that the persons present were to be regarded as the chiefs of the small hadji karavan, amounting to twenty-four in all. 'our company,' said their orator, 'consists of young and old, rich and poor, men of piety, learned men and laity; still we live together with the greatest simplicity, since we are all from khokand and kashgar, and have amongst us no bokhariot, no viper of that race.' the hostility of the özbeg (tartar) tribes of central {12} asia to the tadjiks (the ancient persian inhabitants) had been long previously known to me: i listened, therefore, without making any comment, and preferred informing myself of the plan of their journey onwards. 'from teheran to our homes,' the tartars explained, 'we have four roads: viz., first, by astrakhan, orenburg, and bokhara; secondly, by meshed, herat, and bokhara; thirdly, by meshed, merv, and bokhara; fourthly, through the turkoman wilderness, khiva, and bokhara. the first two are too costly, and the war at herat is also a great obstacle; the last two, it is true, are very dangerous routes. we must, nevertheless, select one of these, and we wish, therefore, to ask your friendly counsel.' [the author determines to join the hadjis] we had now been nearly an hour in conversation. it was impossible not to like their frankness, and in spite of the singular lineaments marking their foreign origin, their wretched clothing, and the numerous traces left behind by their long and fatiguing journeys--all which lent a something forbidding to their appearance--i could not refrain from the thought. what if i journeyed with these pilgrims into central asia? as natives, they might prove my best mentors: besides, they already know me as the dervish reshid efendi, and have seen me playing that part at the turkish embassy, and are themselves on the best understanding with bokhara, the only city in central asia that i really feared from having learnt the unhappy lot of the travellers who had preceded me thither. without much hesitation, my resolution was formed. i knew i should be questioned as to the motives that actuated me in undertaking such a journey. i knew that to an oriental 'pure sang' it was impossible to assign a scientific {13} object. they would have considered it ridiculous, perhaps even suspicious, for an efendi--that is, for a gentleman with a mere abstract object in view--to expose himself to so many dangers and annoyances. the oriental does not understand the thirst for knowledge, and does not believe much in its existence. it would have been the height of impolicy to shock these fanatical musselmans in their ideas. the necessity of my position, therefore, obliged me to resort to a measure of policy, of deception, which i should otherwise have scrupled to adopt. it was at once flattering to my companions, and calculated to promote the design i had in view. i told them, for instance, that i had long silently, but earnestly, desired to visit turkestan (central asia), not merely to see the only source of islamite virtue that still remained undefiled, but to behold the saints of khiva, bokhara, and samarcand. it was this idea, i assured them, that had brought me hither out of roum (turkey). i had now been waiting a year in persia, and i thanked god for having at last granted me fellow-travellers, such as they were (and i here pointed to the tartars), with whom i might proceed on my way and accomplish my wish.' [hadji bilal] when i had finished my speech, the good tartars seemed really surprised, but they soon recovered from their amazement, and remarked that they were now perfectly certain of what they before only suspected, my being a dervish. it gave them, they said, infinite pleasure that i should regard them as worthy of the friendship that the undertaking so distant and perilous a journey in their company implied. 'we are all ready not only to become your friends, but your servants,' said hadji bilal (such was the name of their {14} orator above mentioned); 'but we must still draw your attention to the fact that the routes in turkestan are not as commodious nor as safe as those in persia and in turkey. on that which we shall take, travellers meet often for weeks with no house, no bread, not even a drop of water to drink; they incur, besides, the risk of being killed, or taken prisoners and sold, or of being buried alive under storms of sand. ponder well, efendi, the step! you may have occasion later to rue it, and we would by no means wish to be regarded as the cause of your misfortune. before all things, you must not forget that our countrymen at home are far behind us in experience and worldly knowledge, and that, in spite of all their hospitality, they invariably regard strangers from afar with suspicion: and how, besides, will you be able without us and alone to perform that great return journey?' that these words produced a great impression it is easy to imagine, but they did not shake me in my purpose. i made light of the apprehensions of my friends, recounted to them how i had borne former fatigues, how i felt averse to all earthly comforts, and particularly to those frankish articles of attire of which we would have to make a sacrifice. 'i know,' i said, 'that this world on earth resembles an hotel, [footnote 4] in which we merely take up our quarters for a few days, and whence we soon move away to make room for others, and i laugh at the musselmans of the present time who take heed not merely for the moment but for ten years of onward existence. yes, dear friend, take me with you; i must hasten away from this horrid kingdom of error, for i am too weary of it.' [footnote 4: mihmankhanei pendjruzi, 'a five days' hostelry,' is the name employed by the philosophers of the east to signify this earthly abode.] {15} my entreaties prevailed; they could not resist me: i was consequently immediately chosen by the chiefs of the dervish karavan as a fellow-traveller: we embraced and kissed. in performing this ceremony, i had, it is true, some feeling of aversion to struggle against. i did not like such close contact with those clothes and bodies impregnated with all kinds of odours. still, my affair was settled. it only now remained for me to see my benefactor, haydar efendi, to communicate to him my intentions, ask him for his recommendation to the hadjis, whom i proposed immediately to present to him. i counted, of course, at first upon meeting with great opposition, and accordingly i was styled a lunatic who wanted to journey to a place from which few who had preceded me had returned; nor was i, they said, content with that, but i must take for my guides men who for the smallest coin would destroy me. then they drew me the most terrifying pictures; but, seeing that all efforts to divert me from my plans were fruitless, they began to counsel me, and in earnest to consider how they could be of service in my enterprise. haydar efendi received the hadjis, spoke to them of my design in the same style as i had used, and recommended me to their hospitality, with the remark that they might look for a return for any service rendered by them to an efendi, a servant of the sultan, now entrusted to their charge. at this interview i was not present, but i was informed that they promised the faithful performance of their engagement. {16} the reader will see how well my worthy friends kept their promise, and how the protection of the excellent envoy of turkey was the means of saving my life so often threatened, and that it was always the good faith of my pilgrim companions that rescued me from the most critical positions. in the course of conversation, i was told that haydar efendi, when bokhara came under discussion, expressed his disapprobation of the policy of the emir. [footnote 5] he afterwards demanded the entire list of all the poor travellers, to whom he gave about fifteen ducats--a magnificent donation to these people, who sought no greater luxury in the world than bread and water. [footnote 5: emir is a title given to the sovereign of bokhara, whereas the princes of khiva and khokand are styled khans. ] [introduction of author to his future travelling companions] it was fixed that we should begin our journey a week later. in the interval, hadji bilal alone visited me, which he did very frequently, presenting to me his countrymen from aksu yarkend and kashgar. they looked to me, indeed, rather like adventurers, dreadfully disfigured, than pious pilgrims. he expressed especial interest in his adopted son, abdul kadér, a bumpkin of the age of twenty-five years, whom he recommended to me as 'famulus.' 'he is,' said hadji bilal, 'a faithful fellow: although awkward, he may learn much from you; make use of him during your journey; he will bake bread and make tea for you, occupations that he very well understands.' hadji bilal's real object, however, was not merely that he should bake my bread, but help me to eat it; for he had with him a second adopted son on the journey, and the two, with appetites sharpened by their wanderings on foot, were too heavy a burthen upon the resources of my friend. i promised to accede to their request, and they were accordingly delighted. to {17} say the truth, the frequent visits of hadji bilal had made me a little suspicious: for i readily thought this man supposes that in me he has had a good catch, he takes a great deal of trouble to get me with him; he dreads my not carrying out my intentions. but no, i dare not, i will not think ill of him; and so to convince him of my unbounded confidence, i showed the little sum of money that i was taking with me for the expenses of the journey, and begged him to instruct me as to what mien, dress, and manners i ought to assume to make myself as much as possible like my travelling companions, in order that by doing so i might escape unceasing observation. this request of mine was very agreeable to him, and it is easy to conceive how singular a schooling i then received. before all things he counselled me to shave my head, and exchange my then turkish-european costume for one of bokhara; as far as possible to dispense with bedclothes, linen, and all such articles of luxury. i followed exactly his direction, and my equipment, being of a very modest nature, was very soon made; and three days before the appointed day i stood ready prepared for my great adventure. in the meantime i went one day to the karavanserai, where my travelling companions were quartered, to return their visit. they occupied two little cells; in one were fourteen, in the other ten persons. they seemed to me dens filled with filth and misery. that impression will never leave me. few had adequate means to proceed with their journey; for the majority their beggar's staff was the sole resource. i found them engaged in an occupation of the toilette which i will not offend the reader by recording, although {18} the necessity of the case obliged me myself later to resort to it. [route through the yomuts and the great desert decided upon.] they gave me the heartiest reception, offered me green tea, and i had to go through the torture of drinking without sugar a large bokhariot bowl of the greenish water. worse still, they wished to insist upon my swallowing a second; but i begged to be excused. i was now permitted even to embrace my new associates; by each i was saluted as a brother; and after having broken bread with them individually, we sat down in a circle in order to take counsel as to the route to be chosen. as i before remarked, we had the choice between two; both perilous, and traversing the desert home of the turkomans, the only difference being that of the tribes through which they pass. the way by meshed, merv, and bokhara was the shortest, but would entail the necessity of proceeding through the midst of the tekke tribes, the most savage of all the turkomans, who spare no man, and who would not hesitate to sell into slavery the prophet himself, did he fall into their hands. on the other route are the yomut turkomans, an honest, hospitable people. still that would necessitate a passage of forty stations through the desert, without a single spring of sweet drinking water. after some observations had been made, the route through the yomuts, the great desert, khiva, and bokhara was selected. 'it is better, my friends, to battle against the wickedness of the elements than against that of men. god is gracious, we are on his way; he will certainly not abandon us.' to seal their determination, hadji bilal invoked a blessing, and whilst he was speaking we all raised our hands in the air, and when he came to an end every one seized his beard and said aloud, 'amen!' we rose from {19} our seats, and they told me to make my appearance there two days after, early in the morning, to take our departure together. i returned home, and during these two days i had a severe and a violent struggle with myself. i thought of the dangers that encircled my way, of the fruits that my travels might produce. i sought to probe the motives that actuated me, and to judge whether they justified my daring; but i was like one bewitched and incapable of reflection. in vain did men try to persuade me that the mask they bore alone prevented me from perceiving the real depravity of my new associates; in vain did they seek to deter me by the unfortunate fate of conolly, stoddart, and moorcroft, with the more recent mishaps of blôcqueville, who fell into the hands of the turkomans, and who was only redeemed from slavery by the payment of 10,000 ducats: their cases i only regarded as accidental, and they inspired me with little apprehension. i had only one misgiving, whether i had enough physical strength to endure the hardships arising from the elements, unaccustomed food, bad clothing, without the shelter of a roof, and without any change of attire by night; and how then should i with my lameness be able to journey on foot, i, who was liable to be tired so soon? and here for me was the chief hazard and risk of my adventure. need i say which side in this mental struggle gained the victory? the evening previous i bade adieu to my friends at the turkish embassy; the secret of the journey was entrusted but to two; and whereas the european residents believed i was going to meshed, i left teheran to continue my course in the direction of astrabad and the caspian sea. {20} chapter iii. departure from teheran in north-easterly direction the component members of karavan described ill-feeling of shiites towards the sunnitish hadjis mazendran zirab heften tigers and jackals sari karatepe. _beyond the caspian's iron gates._--moore. [ departure from teheran in north-easterly direction] on the morning of the 28th march, 1863, at an early hour, i proceeded to our appointed rendezvous, the karavanserai. those of my friends whose means permitted them to hire a mule or an ass as far as the persian frontiers were ready booted and spurred for their journey; those who had to toil forwards on foot had on already their jaruk (a covering for the feet appropriate for infantry), and seemed, with their date-wood staves in their hands, to await with great impatience the signal for departure. to my great amazement, i saw that the wretched clothing which they wore at teheran was really their city, that is, their best holiday costume. this they did not use on ordinary occasions; every one had now substituted his real travelling dress, consisting of a thousand rags fastened round the loins by a cord. yesterday i regarded myself in my clothing as a beggar; to-day, in the midst of them, i was a king in his royal robes. at last hadji bilal raised his hand for the parting benediction; {21} and hardly had every one seized his beard to say 'amen,' when the pedestrians rushed out of the gate, hastening with rapid strides to get the start of us who were mounted. our march was directed towards the north-east from teheran to sari, which we were to reach in eight stations. we turned therefore towards djadjerud and firuzkuh, leaving taushantepe, the little hunting-seat of the king, on our left; and were, in an hour, at the entrance of the mountainous pass where one loses sight of the plain and city of teheran. by an irresistible impulse i turned round. the sun was already, to use an oriental expression, a lance high; and its beams illuminated, not teheran alone, but the distant gilded dome of shah abdul azim. at this season of the year, nature in teheran already assumes all her green luxuriance; and i must confess that the city, which the year before had made so disagreeable an impression upon me, appeared to me now dazzlingly beautiful. this glance of mine was an adieu to the last outpost of european civilisation. i had now to confront the extremes of savageness and barbarism. i felt deeply moved; and that my companions might not remark my emotion, i turned my horse aside into the mountainous defile. in the meantime my companions were beginning to recite aloud passages from the koran, and to chant telkins (hymns), as is seemly for genuine pilgrims to do. they excused me from taking part in these, as they knew that the roumis (osmanli) were not so strictly and religiously educated as the people in turkestan; and they besides hoped that i should receive the necessary inspiration by contact with their society. i followed them at a slow pace, and will {22} now endeavour to give a description of them, for the double motive that we are to travel so long together and that they are in reality the most honest people i shall ever meet with in those parts. there were, then, [the component members of karavan described] 1. _hadji bilal_, from aksu (chinese tartary), and court iman of the chinese musselman governor of the same province: with him were his adopted sons, 2. _hadji isa_, a lad in his sixteenth year; and 3. _hadji abdul kader_, before mentioned, in the company, and so to say under the protection, of hadji bilal. there were besides, 4. _hadji yusuf_, a rich chinese tartar peasant; with his nephew, 5. _hadji ali_, a lad in his tenth year, with little, diminutive, kirghish eyes. the last two had eighty ducats for their travelling expenses, and, therefore, were styled rich; still this was kept a secret: they hired a horse for joint use, and when one was riding the other walked. 6. _hadji amed_, a poor mollah, who performed his pilgrimage leaning upon his beggar's staff. similar in character and position was 7. _hadji hasan_, whose father had died on the journey, and who was returning home an orphan; 8. _hadji yakoub_, a mendicant by profession, a profession inherited by him from his father; 9. _hadji kurban_ (senior), a peasant by birth, who as a knife-grinder had traversed the whole of asia, had been as far as constantinople and mecca, had visited upon occasions thibet and calcutta, and twice the kirghish steppes, to orenburg and taganrok; 10. _hadji kurban_, who also had lost his father and brother on the journey; {23} 11. _hadji said_; and 12. _hadji abdur rahman_, an infirm lad of the age of fourteen years, whose feet were badly frozen in the snow of hamadan, and who suffered fearfully the whole way to samarcand. the above-named pilgrims were from khokand, yarkend, and aksu, two adjacent districts; consequently they were chinese tartars, belonging to the suite of hadji bilal, who was besides upon friendly terms with 13. _hadji sheikh sultan mahmoud_ from kashgar, a young enthusiastic tartar, belonging to the family of a renowned saint, hazreti afak, whose tomb is in kashgar. the father of my friend sheikh sultan mahmoud was a poet; mecca was in imagination his child: after the sufferings of long years he reached the holy city, where he died. his son had consequently a double object in his pilgrimage: he proceeded as pilgrim alike to the tombs of his prophet and his father. with him were 14. _hadji husein_, his relative; and 15. _hadji ahmed_, formerly a chinese soldier belonging to the regiment shiiva that bears muskets and consists of musselmans. from the khanat khokand were 16. _hadji salih khalifed_, candidate for the ishan, which signifies the title of sheikh, consequently belonging to a semi-religious order; an excellent man of whom we shall have often occasion to speak. he was attended by his son, 17. _hadji abdul baki_, and his brother 18. _hadji abdul kader_ the _medjzub_, which means, 'impelled by the love of god,' and who, whenever he has shouted two thousand times 'allah,' foams at the mouth and falls into a state of ecstatic blessedness (europeans name this state epilepsy). {24} 19. _hadji kari messud_ (kari has the same signification in turkey as hafiz, one who knows the whole koran by heart). he was with his son, 20. _hadji gayaseddin_; 21. _hadji mirza ali_; and 22._hadji ahrarkuli_; the bags of the two last-named pilgrims still contained some of their travelling provision in money, and they had a beast hired between them. 23. _hadji nur mohammed_, a merchant who had been twice to mecca; but not on his own account, only as representing another. [ill-feeling of shiites towards the sunnite hadjis] we advanced up the slopes of the chain of the elburs mountains, which rose higher and higher. the depression of spirits in which i was, was remarked by my friends, who did all in their power to comfort me. it was, however, particularly hadji salih who encouraged me with the assurance that 'they would all feel for me the love of brothers, and the hope that, by the aid of god, we should soon be at liberty beyond the limits of the shiite heretics, and be able to live comfortably in lands subject to the sunnite turkomans, who are followers of the same faith.' a pleasant prospect certainly, thought i; and i rode more quickly on in order to mix with the poor travellers who were preceding us on foot. half an hour later i came up with them. i noticed how cheerfully they wended their way; men who had journeyed on foot from the remotest turkestan to mecca, and back again on foot. whilst many were singing merry songs, which had great resemblance to those of hungary, others were recounting the adventures they had gone through in the course of their wanderings; a conversation which occasioned {25} me great pleasure, as it served to make me acquainted with the modes of thought of those distant tribes, so that at the very moment of my departure from teheran i found myself, so to say, in the midst of central asiatic life. during the daytime it was tolerably warm, but it froze hard in the early morning hours, particularly in the mountainous districts. i could not support the cold in my thin clothing on horseback, so i was forced to dismount to warm myself. i handed my horse over to one of the pedestrian pilgrims. he gave me his stick in exchange, and so i accompanied them a long way on foot, hearing the most animated descriptions of their homes; and when their enthusiasm had been sufficiently stimulated by reminiscences of the gardens of mergolan, namengan, and khokand, they all began with one accord to sing a telkin (hymn), in which i myself took part by screaming out as loud as i was able, 'allah, ya allah!' every such approximation to their sentiments and actions on my part was recounted by the young travellers to the older pilgrims, to the great delight of the latter, who never ceased repeating 'hadji reshid (my name amongst my companions) is a genuine dervish; one can make anything out of him.' [mazendran] after a rather long day's march, on the fourth day we reached firuzkuh, which hes rather high, and is approached by a very bad road. the city is at the foot of a mountain, which is crowned by an ancient fortification, now in ruins; a city of some importance from the fact that there the province arak adjemi ends, and mazendran begins. the next morning our way passed in quite a northerly direction, and we had scarcely proceeded three or four hours when we {26} reached the mouth of the great defile, properly called mazendran, which extends as far as the shores of the caspian. scarcely does the traveller move a few steps forwards from the karavanserai on the top of the mountain, when the bare dry district changes, as by enchantment, into a country of extraordinary richness and luxuriance. one forgets that one is in persia, on seeing around everywhere the splendour of those primaeval forests and that magnificent green. but why linger over mazendran and all its beauties, rendered so familiar to us by the masterly sketches of frazer, conolly, and burnes? on our passage mazendran was in its gala attire of spring. its witchery made the last spark of trouble disappear from my thoughts. i reflected no more on the perils of my undertaking, but allowed imagination to dwell only upon sweet dreams of the regions through which lay my onward path, visions of the various races of men, customs, and usages which i was now to see. i must expect to behold, it is true, scenes a perfect contrast to these; i must anticipate immense and fearful deserts--plains whose limits are not distinguishable to the human eye, and where i should have for days long to suffer from want of water. the enjoyment of that spot was doubly agreeable, as i was so soon to bid adieu to all sylvan scenes. mazendran had its charms even for my companions. their feelings found expression in regrets that this lovely djennet (paradise) should have become the possession of the heretical shiites. 'how singular,' said hadji bilal, 'that all the beautiful spots in nature should have fallen into the hands of the unbelievers! the prophet had reason to say, "this world is the prison of the believers, and the paradise of the unbelievers.'" [footnote 6] [footnote 6: 'ed dünya sidjn ül mumenin, ve djennet ül kafirin.'] {27} in proof, he cited hindoostan, where the 'inghiliz' reign, the beauties of russia which he had seen, and frenghistan, that had been described to him as an earthly paradise. hadji sultan sought to console the company by a reference to the mountainous districts that lie between oosh (boundaries of khokand) and kashgar. he represented that place to me as far more lovely than mazendran, but i can hardly believe it. [zirab; heften; tigers and jackals] at the station zirab we came to the northern extremity of the mountainous pass of mazendran. here the immense woods begin, which mark the limits of the shore of the caspian sea. we pass along a causeway made by shah abbas, but which is fast decaying. our night quarters--we reached them betimes--was heften, in the middle of a beautiful forest of boxwood. our young people started off in quest of a good spring of water for our tea; but all at once we heard a fearful cry of distress. they came flying back, and recounted to us that they had seen animals at the source, which sprang away with long bounds when they approached them. at first i thought they must be lions, and i seized a rusty sword, and found, in the direction they had described, but at a good distance off, two splendid tigers, whose beautifully-striped forms made themselves visible occasionally from the thickets. in this forest the peasants told me that there were numbers of wild beasts, but they very rarely attacked human beings. at all events, we were not molested by the jackals, who even dread a stick, but which are here so numerous that we cannot drive them away. there are jackals throughout {28} all persia; they are not uncommon even in teheran, where their howling is heard in the evenings. but still, they did not there approach men, as they did here. they disturbed me the whole night long. i was obliged, in self-defence, to use both hands and feet to prevent their making off with bread-sack or a shoe. [sari] the next day we had to reach sari, the capital of mazendran. not far from the wayside lies sheikh tabersi, a place long defended by the babis (religious enthusiasts who denied mohammed and preached socialism). they made themselves the terror of the neighbourhood. here also are beautiful gardens, producing in exuberance crops of oranges and lemons. their fruit, tinted with yellow and red, presented an enchanting contrast with the green of the trees. sari itself has no beauty to recommend it, but is said to carry on an important trade. as we traversed the bazaar of this last persian city, we received also the last flood of every possible imprecation and abuse; nor did i leave their insolence without rebuke, although i judged it better not to repeat my threatening movements of stick or sword in the centre of a bazaar and amid hundreds of shiites. [karatepe] we only remained in sari long enough to find horses to hire for a day's journey to the sea-shore. the road passes through many marshes and morasses. it is impossible to perform the journey here on foot. from this point there are many ways by which we can reach the shore of the caspian, e. g. by ferahabad (parabad, as it is called by the turkomans), gez, and karatepe. we preferred, however, the last route, because it would lead us to a sunnite colony, where we were certain of a hospitable reception, having already had opportunities of becoming acquainted with many of these colonists at sari, and having found them good people. {29} after a rest of two days in sari we started for karatepe. it was not until evening, after a laborious journey of nine hours, that we arrived. here it is that the turkomans first become objects of terror. piratical hordes of them hide their vessels along the coast, whence extending their expeditions to a distance of a few leagues into the interior, they often return to the shore, dragging a persian or so in bonds. {30} chapter iv. kaeatepe author entertained by an afghan, nur-ullah suspicions as to his dervish character hadjis provision themselves for journey through desert afghan colony nadir shah first view of the caspian yacoub the turkoman boatman love talisman embarkation for ashodrada voyage on the caspian russian part of ashourada russian war steamers in the caspian turkoman chief, in the service of russia apprehension of discovery on the author's part arrival at gömüshtepe and at the mouth of the gorghen. _ultra caspium sinum quidnam esset, ambiguum aliquamcliu fuit._--pomponius mela, _de situ orbis_. [karatepe; author entertained by an afghan, nur-ullah] nur-ullah, an afghan of distinction, whose acquaintance i had already formed at sari, conducted me to his house on my arrival at karatepe; and as i objected to be separated from all my friends, he included hadji bilal also in his invitation, and did not rest until i had accepted his hospitality. at first i could not divine the motive of his extraordinary kindness, but i observed a little later that he had heard of the footing upon which i stood at the turkish embassy in teheran, and he wished me to repay his kindness by a letter of recommendation, which i promised, and very willingly gave him before we parted. {31} [suspicions as to his dervish character] i had hardly taken possession of my new abode when the room filled with visitors, who squatted down in a row all round against the walls, first staring at me with their eyes wide open, then communicating to each other the results of their observations, and then uttering aloud their judgment upon the object of my travelling. 'a dervish,' said the majority, 'he is not, his appearance is anything but that of a dervish; for the wretchedness of his dress contrasts too plainly with his features and his complexion. as the hadjis told us, he must be a relative of the ambassador, who represents our sultan at teheran,' and here all stood up. 'allah only knows what a man who issues from so high an origin has to do amongst the turkomans in khiva and bokhara.' this impudence amazed me not a little. at the first glance they wanted to tear the mask from my face; in the meantime i was acting the genuine part of an oriental, sat seemingly buried in thought, with the air of one who heard nothing. as i took no part in the conversation, they turned to hadji bilal, who told them i was really an efendi, a functionary of the sultan, but had withdrawn myself, in pursuance of a divine inspiration, from the deceptions of the world, and was now engaged with ziaret (a pilgrimage to the tombs of the saints); whereupon many shook their heads, nor could this subject any more be broached. the true musselman must never express a doubt when he is told of divine inspiration (ilham); and however speaker or listener may be convinced that there is imposture, they are still bound to express their admiration by a 'mashallah! mashallah! 'this first scene had, however, clearly unfolded to me that, although still on persian soil, i had nevertheless at last gained the frontiers of central asia; for on hearing the distrustful enquiries of these few sunnites-enquiries never made in any part of persia--i could {32} easily picture to myself the splendid future in store for me further on in the very nest of this people. it was not until two hours had elapsed, spent in chattering and questioning, that these visitors retired and we prepared tea, and then betook ourselves to repose. i was trying to sleep when a man in a turkoman dress, whom i regarded as a member of the family, came near me, and began to tell me, in strict confidence, that he had travelled the last fifteen years on business matters to and from khiva; that he was born at khandahar; but that he had a perfect knowledge of the country of özbeg and bokhara; and then proposed that we should be friends, and make the journey together through the great desert. i replied, 'all believers are brethren,' [footnote 7] and thanked him for his friendliness, with the observation that as a dervish i was very much attached to my travelling companions. he seemed desirous to continue the conversation; but as i let him perceive how inclined i was to sleep, he left me to my slumbers. [footnote 7: 'kulli mumenin ihvetun.' ] [hadjis provision themselves for journey through desert; afghan colony; nadir shah] next morning nur-ullah informed me that this man was a tiryaki (opium-eater), a scapegrace, whom i should, as much as possible, avoid. at the same time he warned me that karatepe was the only place for procuring our stock of flour for a journey of two months, as even the turkomans themselves got their provisions in this place; and that at all events we must furnish ourselves with bread to last as far as khiva. i left this to hadji bilal to manage for me, and ascended in the meantime the black hill which is situated in the village, and from which it derives its name, karatepe. one side is peopled by persians, {33} the other by 125 or 150 afghan families. it is said that this afghan colony was at the beginning of this century of far more importance than at present, and was founded by the last great conqueror of the asiatic world, nadir shah, who, as is well known, accomplished his most heroic actions at the head of the afghans and turkomans. here also was pointed out to me the spot on the hill where he sat when he passed in review the thousands of wild horsemen who flocked from the farthest recesses of the desert, with their good horses and thirsty swords, under his banners. on these occasions nadir is described as always having been in a good humour; so karatepe had its holidays. the precise object of the transplantation of this sunnite colony is unknown to me, but its existence has been found to be of the greatest service, as the afghans serve as negotiators between turkomans and persians, and without them many a persian would languish for months in turkoman bonds, without any medium existing by which his ransom could be effected. on the east of persia similar services are rendered by the sunnites of khaf, djam, and bakhyrz, but these have to deal with the tekke, a far more dangerous tribe than the yomuts. [first view of the caspian; yacoub the turkoman boatman; love talisman] from the summit of the black hill i was able to gain a view of the caspian sea. it is not the main sea which is here visible, but rather that portion of it shut in by the tongue of land which ends at ashourada: it is termed the dead sea. this tongue of land looks at a distance like a thin strip on the water, whence shoots up a single line of trees, which the eye can follow a long, long way. the sight of this, with its bleak solitary beach, was anything but inspiriting. i burnt with desire to behold its eastern shore, and i {34} hurried back to my abode to ascertain how far our preparations were in a forward state for any embarkation in quest of the turkoman coast. nur-ullah had taken upon himself to make all necessary preparations. the evening before we had been told that for a kran (franc) per head we might be taken to ashourada by an afghan vessel employed in supplying the russians with provisions, and that thence we might, with the aid of turkomans, reach gömüshtepe in a few hours. 'in ashourada itself,' they said, 'there is khidr khan, a turkoman chieftain in the service of russia, who gives assistance to poor hadjis, and whom we may also visit.' we were all delighted to learn this, and greeted the intelligence with acclamation. how great then was my astonishment when i learnt that this afghan was ready for the voyage, that he would allow the hadjis to accompany him, but that he objected to my highness, whom he regarded as a secret emissary of the sultan; fearing lest he might lose his means of subsistence from the russians should he venture to take such an individual on board his vessel. his resolution surprised me not a little. i was glad to hear my companions declare that if he did not take me they would not go, but would prefer to wait another occasion. so i heard, in an accent of peculiar emphasis, from the opium-smoker, emir mehemmed. later, however, came the afghan himself (his name was anakhan), expressing his regret, promising secresy, and begging me to give him a letter of recommendation to haydar efendi. i considered it good policy not to say a syllable calculated to quiet his apprehensions, laughed heartily at his ideas, and promised to leave for him with nur-ullah some lines for teheran, a promise {35} which i did not forget. i felt it quite necessary to leave my real character enveloped in a veil of doubt or mystery. the oriental, and particularly the islamite, bred up in lies and treachery, always believes the very contrary of what a man shows particular earnestness in convincing him of, and the slightest protestation on my part would have served to confirm their suspicions. no further allusion was made to the subject, and that very evening we heard that a turkoman who plies to gömüshtepe was prepared, from feelings of mere piety, without remuneration, to take all the hadjis with him; that we had but to station ourselves early in the morning on the seashore, to profit by a tolerably favourable wind. hadji bilal, hadji salih, and myself, the recognised triumvirate of the mendicant karavan, immediately paid a visit to the turkoman, whose name was yakoub; he was a young man, with an uncommonly bold look; he embraced each of us, and did not object to wait a day that we might complete our provisioning. he received beforehand his benediction from hadji bilal and hadji salih. we had already risen to go, when he called me aside, and tried to get me to tarry a few moments with him. i remained behind. he then, with a certain timidity, told me that he had long entertained an unhappy unreturned affection for a girl of his own race, and that a jew, an accomplished magician, who for the moment was staying in karatepe, had promised to prepare an efficacious nuskha (talisman) if he would but procure thirty drops of attar of roses fresh from mecca, as this could not be dispensed with in the formula. 'we know,' said yakoub, 'that the hadjis bring back with them out of the holy city essences of roses {36} and other sweet perfumes; and as you are the youngest of their chiefs, i apply to you, and hope you will listen to my entreaty.' the superstition of this son of the desert did not so much astonish me as the trust he had reposed in the words of the cunning israelite, and as my travelling friends had really brought with them such attar of roses his wish was soon gratified. the joy that he displayed was almost childish. the second day afterwards, early in the morning, we all assembled on the sea-shore, each furnished, besides his mendicant equipment, with a sack of flour. we lost considerable time before the boat (called teïmil), which was formed out of a hollow tree, set us alongside the little vessel, or skiff, called by turks 'mauna.' this, on account of the shallowness of the water near the shore, was lying out at sea at a distance of about an english mile. never shall i forget the mode in which we embarked. the small tree, in the hollow of which passengers were stowed away, together with flour and other effects, in the most diversified confusion, threatened each instant to go to the bottom. we had to bless our good fortune that we arrived on board all dry. the turkomans have three kinds of vessels-(1) keseboy, furnished with a mast and two sails, one large and one small, principally for carrying cargoes; (2) kayuk, with a simple sail, generally used on their predatory expeditions; and (3) the teïmil, or skiff, already mentioned. {37} [embarkation for ashourada; voyage on the caspian] the vessel provided for our use by yakoub was a keseboy, that had conveyed a cargo of naphtha, pitch, and salt to the persian coast from the island tchereken, and was now homeward-bound with corn on board. as the vessel had no deck, and consequently had no distinction of place, every one suited himself, and sat down where he wished as he entered. yakoub, however, observing that this would disturb the trim and management of the vessel, we each seized our bundle and our provisions, and were closely packed in two rows near each other like salted herrings, so that the centre of the boat remained free for the crew to pass backwards and forwards. our position then was none of the most agreeable. during the daytime it was supportable, but at night it was awful, when sleep threw the sitters from their perpendicular position to the right and left, and i was forced to submit for hours to the sweet burthen of a snoring hadji. frequently a sleeper on my right and another on my left fell one over the other upon me: i dared not wake them, for that would have been a heinous sin, to be atoned by never-ending suffering. it was mid-day on the 10th april, 1863, when a favourable wind distended our sails, driving the little vessel before it like an arrow. on the left side we had the small tongue of land; on the right, thickly covered with wood, extending down to the very sea, stood the mountain upon which rose the palace eshref, built by shah abbas, the greatest of the persian kings. the charm of our argonautic expedition was augmented by the beautiful spring weather; and in spite of the small space within which i was pent up, i was in very good spirits. the thought might have suggested itself to me that i had to-day left the persian coast; that at last i had reached a point from which there was no drawing back, and {38} where regrets were useless. but no! at that moment no such idea occurred to me. i was firmly convinced that my travelling friends, whose wild appearance had at first rendered them objects of alarm, were really faithful to me, and that under their guidance i might face the greatest dangers. towards evening there was a calm; we cast anchor near the shore, and were allowed in turn to make our tea on the little hearth of the vessel. having stored away some pieces of sugar in my girdle, i invited yakoub and honoured him with a bowl of tea. hadji salih and sultan mahmoud were of the party; the young turkoman was the great talker, and began to recount stories of the alaman (as the turkomans name their marauding expeditions), a favourite topic with this people. his eye, always fiery, now vied with the stars of his own heaven, for his vein was stimulated by the desire to win golden opinions from the sunnite mollahs (we passed for such) by details of the conflicts in which he had engaged with the shiite heretics, and of the numbers of the heretics that he had made prisoners. my friends soon began to slumber around me; still i did not tire of listening to him, and it was not until midnight that he thought of retiring. before he withdrew he told me that nur-ullah had directed him to take me as a guest to the tent of khandjan, a turkoman chieftain; and he added that nur-ullah was right, for i was not like the rest of the hadjis, and deserved better treatment. 'khandjan,' said yakoub, 'is the aksakal (chief) of a mighty race, and even in the time of his father, no dervish, hadji, or other stranger ever dared to pass through gömüshtepe without having tasted his bread and drunk his water. he will, as you come out of {39} foreign roum (turkey), certainly give you a good reception, and you will be grateful to me.' [russian war steamers in the caspian] the following morning, the weather being unfavourable, we could only move slowly; it was already evening when we reached ashourada, the most southerly point of the russian possessions in asia. it fell definitively into the hands of the czar twenty-five years ago: perhaps it would be better to express ourselves thus, that it became subject to russia from the time when, with their steamers, they began to strike the necessary degree of terror into the daring alaman cruisers of the turkoman pirates. the name ashourada is of turkoman origin; it was inhabited, but served them rather as a station for their then frequent and unchecked piratical expeditions. the ashourada of the present day produces upon the traveller arriving from persia an agreeable impression. small, it is true, is the number of houses built at the east end of the tongue of land; but the european fashion of the buildings, as well as the church that the eye encounters, were not indifferent objects for me. the war steamers more particularly reminded me of european modes of existence; and i cannot say how inspiriting it was to see towards evening a steamer from gez (a place that serves as the port for astrabad) gliding proudly by. the russians here maintain three war steamers (two large and one small), without the protection of which neither the russian settlers nor the sailing vessels proceeding from astrakhan would be safe from the attacks of the turkomans. so long indeed as the merchantman remains out at sea, it has no cause for alarm; and it rarely ventures to approach the coast without being in the escort of a steamer, whose {40} protection is also necessary for the voyage back. the russian government makes, naturally, the greatest exertions, and at the greatest cost, to paralyse the predatory habits of the turkomans. this plague has, in effect, somewhat diminished; still to establish security is an impossibility, and many unhappy persians, and even occasionally russian, sailors are hurried away in chains to gömüshtepe. the russian ships cruise incessantly day and night in the turkoman waters; and every turkoman vessel that is about to proceed from the east coast to the persian shore on the south, must be provided with a pass, for which the owner has to pay yearly 8, 10, or 15 ducats. this pass is renewable at the end of each year, and must be exhibited every time the vessel passes ashourada, when it is visited by the russian functionaries to ascertain if it has on board prisoners, arms, or other contraband merchandise. the consequence of this salutary regulation is that a great part of the turkoman merchant shipping has been overhauled and registered, and the rest mostly navigate in indirect courses, and if encountered by the russian cruisers are taken, or, in case of resistance, sunk. whilst thus on the one side steps of necessary vigour have been taken, on the other a policy has been adopted of establishing friendly relations with one tribe so as to make use of it against another. [turkoman chief, in the service of russia] at the time when i passed by ashourada, khidr khan, sprung from the race of the gazili kör, had already borne the title of derya bêghi (admiral) thirty years in the russian service, and had a salary of about forty ducats per month, out of which he gave ten to his mirza or writer. khidr khan still continued to live in a tent in the middle of the semi-european {41} colony; his functions consisted in using his influence with the turkomans generally to prevent their piracies, or at least in conveying to the russians intelligence of any intended expedition, for his clansmen, as eye-witnesses, were well able to perform the duty of spies. but this he could not effect. this khidr khan, though once so good a musselman, had formed at an early date acquaintance with the generous vodki (russian brandy): the consequence was that, day and night, he was intoxicated; and his sons, who were to be his successors, had come to an understanding with the karaktchi (robbers), and were very careful not to give intelligence to the russians of any projected marauding expedition. [apprehension of discovery on the author's part] our friend yakoub was bound to produce his pass, and our little vessel could not proceed without having been first searched. as night had commenced when we neared ashourada, we found that the visit of the authorities was postponed till an early hour in the morning. we cast anchor a short distance from land. my friends seemed greatly to regret their being prevented from waiting upon khidr khan, the ill-famed maecenas of dervishes and hadjis. the circumstance was, however, to me a cause of unmingled satisfaction; for i could not have remained behind, and khidr's experience in european countenances would have easily detected me; or, at all events, would have left me ill at ease. i was, however, somewhat disturbed by the reflection that, as an examination of the vessel must ensue in the morning, my european features, in strange contrast with those of my companions, and my complexion not yet brought to an asiatic hue, might still play me false, and make the russians alive to the real facts of the case. far from {42} apprehending any inhumane treatment at their hands, my principal dread was their discovering me, and endeavouring to dissuade me from persisting in my adventure; and besides i feared still more that the affair might be noised abroad, and that the turkomans might get wind of my incognito. i thought of how much more ransom i should have to pay than blôcqueville, to rescue me from such cruel slavery! these ideas occasioned me the deepest anxiety, and i felt so troubled that i could not gaze with pleasure upon this last picture reflected from western life. next morning i awoke in the greatest agitation; the sound of a bell was heard from ashourada; my fellow-travellers said that this was sunday, the holiday of the unbelievers. i knew not which sunday [footnote 8] it was. we were close to a ship of war that had all its colours flying; suddenly we saw sailors in full uniform in a boat approach the shore with regular measured strokes of their oars; an officer in full dress then stepped in, and was soon taken on board the ship of war. ten minutes had hardly elapsed when they called to us to approach, and i then saw on their deck near the gangway several fair-haired officers standing together. my heart began to beat violently; we approached nearer and nearer; all my effort now was to maintain such an attitude as might least attract attention, and avoid as far as possible the dreaded _tête-à-tête_. as fortune willed, our vessel on approaching the russians presented to it first that side upon which i was seated, so that the assembled officers were only able to see my neck. [footnote 8: during my journey i often lost sight of dates, and it was only later that i learned that this was easter sunday (russian style).] {43} on account of the day, the examination was but slight and formal. the dollmetsh exchanged a few words with yakoub; our mendicant company fixed the attention of the officers. amongst other things i heard one say, 'see how white this hadji is.' [footnote 9] [footnote 9: 'smotrite kakoi bieloï etot hadji.'] this allusion was probably made to me, whose complexion had not yet assumed the hue of uncivilised life. if so, it was the only observation they made upon me; for they had soon done with yakoub, and in a moment we were far away from the side of the russian vessel. i now raised myself from my stooping and half-sleeping position, and took a long breath, for my anxiety was at an end. soon afterwards the wind began to blow strongly from the west. now was the time to get up our sails and make all haste for gömüshtepe, which was but three leagues off; but yakoub kept his eye fixed on a white point in the distance, and held a council with his crew: nor was it until this dreaded object had entirely vanished, that our large sail was unfurled, and we darted with the swiftness of an arrow towards the east. at about half a league distance from ashourada, we passed several sea-marks, consisting of long painted poles. i was told by yakoub that they had been placed there by the 'inghiliz,' to mark the limits of the russian waters, the other side belonging to the turkomans, whom the 'inghiliz 'would always protect against the attack of the russians. it was always a riddle to me to discover who had instilled into these wild sons of the desert such far-reaching ideas of policy. it is not for me to discriminate these {44} sea-marks; still less to weigh the amount of sympathy felt by england for the turkomans. [arrival at gömüshtepe and at the mouth of the gorghen.] in less than an hour the turkoman coast lay well defined before us, appearing as a long tract of land with elevated ground here and there. we followed the direction indicated by other craft which were running in before us: the sails were soon lowered, for we had reached the end of the navigable waters, and lay off about a mile and a half from the mouth of the görghen. on both of its banks we saw the encampment of gömüshtepe, in form like a hundred beehives lying close together. as it had been at karatepe, so was it also here, on account of the shallowness: even boats that draw little water cannot approach the shore, or run into the river görghen, which is itself tolerably deep and never wants water. we were therefore obliged to wait at a considerable distance off shore until yakoub should have disembarked, reported his arrival, and sent back to us several teïmils to aid us in our disembarkation. after some delay, three of these very original transports came; they were to perform their little voyages as often as our numbers rendered it necessary, until all should be landed. hadji bilal and i were the last to land, and i was really delighted when, on touching shore, i heard that khandjan, informed of my arrival by my honest friend yakoub, had hastened down to receive me. there i found him on landing, a few paces behind, in the attitude necessitated by the repetition of the afternoon prayer (aszr-namazi). [illustration] reception by turkoman chief on the caspian shore. {45} chapter v. arrival at gömüshtepe, hospitable reception of the hadjis khandjan ancient greek wall influence of the ulemas first brick mosque of the nomads tartar raids persian slaves excursion to the north-east of gömüshtepe tartar fiancée and banquet, etc. preparation of the khan of khiva's kervanbashi for the journey through the desert line of camels ilias beg, the hirer of camels arrangements with khulkhan turkoman expedition to steal horses in persia its return. _ad introeuntium dextram scythae nomades, freti litoribus, insident_.- pompon. mela,_de situ orbis_, 1. iii. c. v. [arrival at gömüshtepe, hospitable reception of the hadjis; khandjan] after his prayer was ended, khandjan arose, and as i perceived him standing before me, he was a handsome, tall, and slender man, about forty years of age, dressed in extremely modest attire, with a long beard descending to his breast. he at once approached me, hastily embraced, and gave me a hearty welcome; in doing so he greeted me by my name. he received the hadjis bilal and salih in a similar manner; and after the karavan had stowed away their sacks, and was once more afoot, we closed the procession, all taking the road towards the tents. the report of our arrival had spread everywhere: our numbers were exaggerated: women, children, and dogs all hastened in strange confusion out of the tents, to gaze upon the approaching pilgrims, and by an embrace (as the {46} mollahs pretend) to acquire, in obedience to the divine command respecting pilgrimage, a participation in the merit and rewards of pilgrims. this first picture of central asiatic life had so taken me by surprise, that i was puzzled whether i should pause first to admire the singular construction of the tents, formed of felt, and the women with their silk shifts extending to the ankles, or at once gratify the wish implied by their outstretched hands and arms. strange! young and old, without distinction of sex or family, all wished to touch the hadjis on whom the holy dust of mecca and medina still rested. judge, too, of my amazement when women of the greatest beauty, some girls even, hurried up to embrace me. we were tired, worn out by these demonstrations of respect arising from blended feelings of religion and hospitality, when we arrived before the tent of the chief ishan (priest), where our little karavan was concentrated: then began one of the most interesting spectacles that my eyes have ever witnessed. here were to begin the arrangements for quartering the guests that had just arrived. the passion and warmth with which all disputed the honour and right of harbouring one or more of these poor strangers astounded me. i had heard, it is true, the hospitality of the nomads spoken of, but never dreamed that it could have risen to such a point. khandjan quieted the quarrels which had commenced among the women; he restored order, and assigned the different guests to each, retaining as his own peculiar guests hadji bilal and myself, with all that belonged to us: he took us with him to his ova (tent). [footnote 10] [footnote 10: ova, properly translated _tent_, is used here by the turkomans to indicate a house and court.] {47} as he lived quite at the extremity of gömüshtepe, we had to pass through the whole encampment, which extended on both banks of the gorghen, [footnote 11] and consisted of tents standing close together. it was near sunset when, quite worn out, we reached his dwelling, in the fond hope of being able at last to find some repose; but a sad disappointment awaited us. our new abode consisted, it is true, of a separate tent, pitched two paces from the river; but we had hardly taken possession of it, with the customary ceremonials (twice performing its circuit and peeping in the four corners), when it was filled with visitors, who lingered till a late hour at night, and so wearied us by their thousands of questions, that even hadji bilal, the oriental _par excellence_, began gradually to lose patience. in the evening supper was served by baba djan, [footnote 12] the son of khandjan, a lad twelve years old. it consisted of boiled fish and sour milk, and was served up in a large wooden dish. this, a persian slave, heavily laden with chains, in the first instance brought near to us, when it was received by baba djan, who, after having set it before us, went and took his {48} seat close to his father, at a little distance from us; and then both looked on with visible pleasure as they saw us attacking the provisions with the appetites of giants. supper at an end, the prayer was said, hadji bilal raising his hands, in which gesture he was imitated by all present, as he was again when, in conclusion, after saying 'bismillah, allah ekber,' every one stroked his beard, and offered their felicitations to khandjan upon his guests. [footnote 11: this river, whose remotest springs rise in the mountains of khurdistan, traverses the greater part of the district peopled by the yomuts, in an extent of nearly thirty german geographical miles (120 miles). a man on horseback can ford it to a point far below pisarak; and even below the atabegs its depth is not considerable until it comes within eight geographical miles of gömüshtepe, where its two banks are mere morasses. it is everywhere narrow. it is fabulously rich in fish at about four or five geographical miles from its mouth, so that its waters appeared almost coloured by them, and are in summer hardly drinkable. after i had only twice used it for washing, my hands and face acquired a strong fishy smell.] [footnote 12: baba djan, _father's soul,_ is merely a term of endearment given by the turkomans to their eldest sons.] _13th april_.--i awoke for the first time in a turkoman tent, which among the yomuts receives the appellation of tchatma, but amongst other tribes is called aladja. the sweet sleep that i had enjoyed, and the light construction in which i found myself, had made me feel fresh and light of heart: the charm of novelty transported me, and my delight was without bounds. this did not escape the notice of hadji bilal, who invited me to take a short walk with him, and when we had got to a short distance from the tchatma, he observed to me that it was now high time to lay aside entirely my efendi character, and become body and soul a dervish. 'you must have already remarked,' said my good friend, 'that both i and my associates bestow upon the public fatiha (blessings): this you must do also. i know that this is not the custom in roum, but people here will expect and demand it. it will occasion great surprise, if, representing yourself to be a dervish, you do not carry out the character to its full extent. you know the form of benediction: assume, therefore, a serious face, and distribute your fatiha (blessings); you can also give the nefes (holy breath) when you are summoned to the sick, only never forget to extend your hand at the same time, for it is a matter of notoriety that we {49} dervishes subsist by such acts of piety, and they are always ready with some little present or other.' hadji bilal apologised for presuming to school me; still, he said that it was for my benefit, and that i must have heard of the story of the traveller who, when he reached the land of the one-eyed nation, to put himself upon an equality with them, kept one of his eyes closed. after i had warmly thanked him for his counsel, he told me also that khandjan, and many other turkomans, had made particular enquiries respecting me, and that it had cost him much trouble and strong protestations to convince them that my journey had not in the slightest degree an official character. the turkomans naturally inclined to the idea that i had been sent by the sultan to khiva and bokhara on some anti-russian mission; that he was not disposed to disturb their belief, as they had the greatest respect for the sultan. the result of all was that i should never for a moment throw aside my dervish character, for that enigmas and ambiguities were what best suited this people. having said this, we returned to our quarters, where our host was waiting for us, with many of his friends and relatives. first he presented his wife and aged mother, whom he commended to our powerful intercession and blessings; then we were made acquainted with other near members of his family. after we had rendered to all the expected services, khandjan remarked that it was the custom of the turkomans to regard a guest as the dearest member of the family; that we might without obstacle move about, not only amongst his own clan, but amongst the whole tribe of the yomuts, and should anyone dare to touch a hair of his guest's head, the kelte (that was the name of his clan) would {50} exact satisfaction. 'you will have to remain here, and wait at least two weeks till a caravan is ready to start for khiva; repose a little, and then pay a visit to the more distant ovas. the turkoman never permits the dervish to proceed empty-handed from his tent. it will do you no harm to fill your bread-sack--you have a long way before you ere you can get any supply--since it is your purpose to go as far as khiva and bokhara.' as i wished so much to move about at my ease, the reader may judge how these words delighted me. it was my desire to remain in gömüshtepe only so long as was necessary to extend my acquaintance a little with the people, and to acquire greater fluency in their dialect. during the first few days i accompanied khandjan, his brother, or other intimate friend of his family, in their round of visits. a little later i attended the hadji bilal in his tour of religious benedictions, or went with hadji salih, who was actively engaged in his medical capacity. upon the latter occasions, whilst he was administering the medicine, i repeated aloud the blessing: this finished, i received a present of a little mat of felt, or a dried fish, or some other trifle. whether it was owing to good luck attending our joint treatment, or a motive of mere curiosity with respect to the turkish hadji (hadji roumi)--that was my title amongst them--i was never able to unriddle; but my friends were much amazed that, after having only been five days in gömüshtepe, i had a numerous levée of sick persons, or at least of men who pretended to be such, to whom i administered blessings and 'breath,' or for whom i wrote little sentences to serve as talismans, but never did this take place without my receiving {51} afterwards the proper 'honorarium.' now and then i fell in with a stiff-necked politician, who, regarding me as a mere political emissary, questioned my dervish character. this, however, troubled me but little, for at least the original mask that i had assumed remained unsuspected: no one thought of discovering me to be an european. judge, then, how pleased i was to think that i could now undisturbedly move about on a soil hitherto so little known to europeans. [influence of the ulemas] the number of my acquaintances increased rapidly. i soon counted amongst them the most powerful and influential. i found particular advantage in the friendship of kizil akhond (his proper name was molla murad), a turkoman 'savant' of high distinction, with whom i was upon the best footing, and whose recommendation procured access for me everywhere. kizil akhond had in his time, when studying in bokhara, fallen upon a work in the osmanli turkish language, a sort of comment or explanation of sentences and expressions in the koran. this he did not exactly understand. i possessed the necessary key. my cooperation consequently gave him the greatest delight: he spoke everywhere in the highest terms of my acquaintance with the literature of islam. i entered into friendly relations with satlig akhond also, who was a highly-esteemed priest and a man of no little learning. when i first met him, he returned formal thanks to providence for permitting him to behold, face to face, a musselman from roum, from that pure source of faith; and some one in the company having made a remark respecting my white complexion, he said that that was the true light of islam (nur ül islam) that {52} beamed from my countenance, of which divine blessing only the believers of the west could boast. i was also in the habit of sedulously cultivating the acquaintance of molla durdis, who was invested with the rank of a kazi kelan (superior judge); for i had soon acquired the conviction that it was only the class of the ulemas that would exercise any influence upon these wild people, and that the ascendency of the (aksakal) grey beards, regarded in europe as predominant, was really of very little moment. [first brick mosque of the nomads] the increasing confidence evinced for me by the turkomans showed me that the line of conduct i had adopted was a prudent one; and when the intention was entertained of building a mosque with the bricks from the old grecian ruins which have given name to gömüshtepe, it was i who was requested to indicate the mihrab (altar), as kizil akhond had pointed me out as the best informed and most experienced dervish for the purpose. [ancient greek wall] in the whole district of gömüshtepe there had never been till now, with the exception of the construction in its vicinity attributed to the greeks, which was now in ruins, anything in the shape of a wall; and certainly it is to be regarded as some indication of a progress in civilisation that the idea of erecting an edifice for divine worship in this spot, which is regarded as the principal seat of the yomuts, had been even broached. each pious turkoman had imposed it upon himself as a duty to bring to the same place a few hundreds of the beautiful square bricks from the fortified works built by alexander; and as the materials were now regarded as sufficient, a turkoman was expressly engaged as architect. his business had often carried him to {53} astrakhan, and he passed for a man of experience in such matters. he was entrusted with the execution of the entire building. after i had, by means of my compass, indicated to them the direction in which mecca lies, they began to build the walls without laying any foundations: a forgetfulness affording very little guarantee for the solidity of the whole construction, and yet so much the better for them, perhaps; for, should it last long enough, the russians may, possibly, some day or other, make use of it as the advanced works of a fort, and the vast designs of the great macedonian may be turned to account by the rival ambition of a romanoff. i had hardly spent a week in gömüshtepe when, through the protection above mentioned, i had made acquaintances everywhere. i was now able to penetrate the secrets of their social relations, to learn the numerous ramifications and families into which the tribe is divided, and, if possible, form an idea concerning the bond that holds together elements apparently so discordant and confused. the task was somewhat more difficult than i had supposed. i had only to touch upon a question relating to ordinary life, or to show a curiosity for some matter or other, to make men wonderingly ask what a dervish, whose proper business was only god and religion, had to do with the affairs of this transitory world. my enquiries, therefore, on these heads cost me great trouble, for direct questions i never dared to put. most fortunately, however, the turkomans, who pass all their lives, with the exception of that part devoted to marauding expeditions, in the greatest indolence, are prone to indulge for hours and hours in conversations on political matters, to which i only listened in {54} silence; and sitting there thus dreamily, with my beads in my hands, it has been permitted to me to study the history of their raids (alaman), of their relations with vilayet (persia), with the khan of khiva, and with other nomad nations. [excursion to the north-east of gömüshtepe] during that time i had an opportunity, under the conduct of kizil akhond, of making an excursion to the atabeg, the tribe of the yomuts which dwells furthest to the east, and the göklen turkomans--an excursion to me of the highest interest, as it gave me an opportunity of seeing a great part of the wall built by alexander to serve as a bulwark against the much-dreaded tribe that peopled the wilderness. the object of kizil akhond's journey was connected with the administration of justice: he had to make investigation in a lawsuit. we consequently made halts in several places, and took four days for a tour which might have been accomplished in two. the direction in which we journeyed was easterly; but we were frequently obliged to take circuitous ways to avoid morasses covered with reeds, and to keep clear of the hundreds of wild boars which were roaming about. the morasses are caused by the inundations of the görghen, which swells in spring, and often overflows its banks for miles and miles. this must also have been the case in ancient times, for it was considered advisable to build the great wall before mentioned, as a defence, at a distance of from four to six english miles from the north bank of the river; and as this was always on one of the highest parts which could be found in the plain, the parts adjoining the wall, now in ruins, constitute at the present day the safest route in all seasons of the year. and for a like reason we find {55} in the same vicinity the majority of the tents: we had seldom to walk an hour without falling in with these in either greater or smaller groups. i did not see the west end of this ancient construction, and am not, therefore, inclined to accord any credit to the fabulous accounts with which i was favoured. on the east end i think i really discovered where the wall began in two points; one to the north-east of gömüshtepe, where larger accumulations of ruins, close upon the sea-shore, mark the commencement; and the second about twenty english miles to the south of the river etrek, also near to the sea, which two lines unite a little higher above the altin tokmak. as for the line that takes its departure from gömüshtepe, i was able to follow it up during two days to a distance of ten geographical miles from the west to the north-east. it is easy to distinguish it by its elevation of two or three feet above the surface of the surrounding earth. in its entirety the work presents rather the appearance of a long line of intrenchments, from the midst of which, at intervals of a thousand paces, rise the ruins of ancient towers; the dimensions of these seem to have been alike throughout. in the direction of these walls, there are also visible other great mounds, the investigation of which i would rather leave to others, not feeling myself competent to give any satisfactory explanation or even reasonable surmise about them. some of the smaller ones have been opened by the turkomans, and, as i was told, there was found in the interior of a four-sided building a colossal pot, of the thinness of paper, containing blue-coloured ashes, a few gold coins, and other precious objects. hence the wall is styled, throughout the whole country, the _gold receiver_ (kizil alan). {56} the mounds of which i here speak must, however, be distinguished from the yoska elevations, raised by the turkomans in commemoration of great departed ones of their nation whom they so wish to honour. my learned guide, kizil akhond, was amazed at my showing so much interest in the wall of alexander (seddi iskender). [footnote 13] [footnote 13: the history of the great macedonian is invested by the orientals with all the characteristics of a religious myth; and although some of their writers are anxious to distinguish iskender zul karnein (the two-horned alexander), the hero of their fable, from iskenderi roumi (the greek alexander), i have yet everywhere found that these two persons were regarded as one and the same.] according to khizil, the wall had been erected by the genii (djins), at the command of the mighty sovereign alexander. 'alexander,' he said, 'was a more pious musselman than we are, and therefore all subterranean spirits, whether they would or no, owed him allegiance.' he was about to proceed with the well-known fable of alexander's descent into the realms of darkness, when he became dumb on seeing that i was absorbed in the occupation of forcibly detaching one of the bricks: and really these bright red bricks do seem as it were fused together into one material, for it is easier to break them into two than to separate them from the entire mass. the whole neighbourhood cannot fail to be of the highest interest to archaeologists, as there are to be found in it, not only many remains of the greek domination, but also hidden monuments of ancient iran civilisation; for the arabian historians relate much to us concerning the importance of the lower görghen, the existing ruins of shehri djordjan. even the kumbezi-kaus (the dome of khaus), a ruin which i only heard spoken of without actually seeing it, would also, in all probability, merit more attention than rapidly-travelling englishmen have hitherto been able to devote to it. {57} i was very much surprised to see that kizil akhond, whom i had regarded merely as a 'savant' and not as a rich man, possessed in different spots tents, wives, and children, the different component parts of a family, the issue of three marriages. it was not until i had thus, in different places, had the honour of being introduced to fresh wives and children, that i began to understand that his little tour might possibly have other ends in view than those of a simple juridical circuit. nor was the difference great between the manner in which he was received in his own tents and in those of strangers; the mollah, as he was styled _par excellence_, was in the tents of the turkomans everywhere at home, everywhere master. even in the settlements of hostile tribes, he was not only treated with honourable distinction, but laden with presents: nor was i, who was here playing the part of his disciple, forgotten in the award of favour, but was presented with namdzdjï (mats for kneeling upon when at prayer), made of felt, a turkoman over-cloak, and a large felt cap, the ordinary headdress of these nomad tribes. setting this upon my head, and winding around it the scarf to form the light turban, behold me now for the moment metamorphosed into a turkoman mollah! when i returned to gömüshtepe i found my fellow-hadjis, who had not approved of my excursion, very anxious on account of my prolonged absence. i enquired respecting the health of each of them. i learnt that hadji salih had carried on a brilliant trade with his physic; that a theft had been committed upon hadji kari meszud in a mosque, that is, in a {58} tent that served as such, in which he had taken up his quarters. after a long search in every direction, as no discovery was made, the ishan (priest) declared that he would at once utter his malediction upon the thief, should he not restore the stolen property. before twenty-four hours had expired, the conscience-stricken criminal came forward, bringing with him not only the stolen property, but a present as atonement. i venture to recommend this practice to the london detectives, as a substitute for their present system. [tartar raids; persian slaves] i now learnt, also, satisfactory intelligence respecting a karavan proceeding to khiva. my friends told me that the khan of khiva, who had been recommended by the physicians the use of the milk of the buffalo for his health, had sent express to gömüshtepe his kervanbashi [footnote 14] to purchase for him two pair of these animals, which were not to be met with in his own country. this official had proceeded to astrabad, and on his return the journey was to be at once made with every guarantee of success, as it would be under the immediate guidance of a man whose experience of the desert was unrivalled. i was astonished to find how many of my fellow-travellers, the poorest of the poor, in spite of the noble hospitality of which they had been partakers, were already weary of the turkomans; for it would be, they said, impossible for men having the least sentiment of humanity to be eye-witnesses any longer of the cruel treatment to which the wretched persian slaves had to submit. {59} 'true, the persians are heretics, and they tormented us terribly in our journey through their country; but what the poor wretches here suffer is really too much.' the compassion evinced by my fellow-travellers, in whose own country the slave-trade is not carried on, and the imprecations they used against the karaktchi (robbers) for their inhumanity, convey the best impression of the sufferings to which the poor captives are exposed. let us only picture to ourselves the feelings of a persian, even admitting that he is the poorest of his race, who is surprised by a night attack, hurried away from his family, and brought hither a prisoner, and often wounded. he has to exchange his dress for old turkoman rags that only scantily cover parts of his body, and is heavily laden with chains that gall his ancles, and occasion him great and unceasing pain every step he takes; he is forced upon the poorest diet to linger the first days, often weeks of his captivity. that he may make no attempt at flight, he has also during the night a karabogra (iron ring) attached to his neck and fastened to a peg, so that the rattle betrays even his slightest movements. no other termination to his sufferings than the payment of a ransom by his friends; and, failing this, he is liable to be sold, and perhaps hurried off to khiva and bokhara! [footnote 14: kervanbashi, leader or chief of karavans. he receives his appointment from the khan, and is generally a person of great experience in the different routes. each karavan route has its own kervanbashi, who is distinguished by the name of his particular route.] to the rattle of those chains i could never habituate my ears; it is heard in the tent of every turkoman who has any pretensions to respectability or position. even our friend khandjan had two slaves, lads, only in their eighteenth and twentieth year; and to behold these unfortunates, in the bloom of their youth, in fetters made me feel indescribable emotion, repeated every day. in addition, i was forced to {60} listen in silence to the abuse and curses with which these poor wretches were loaded. the smallest demonstration of compassion would have awakened suspicions, as, on account of my knowledge of persian, i was most frequently addressed by them. the youngest of our domestic slaves, a handsome black-haired irani, begged of me to be so good as to write a letter for him to his relatives, praying them for god's sake to sell sheep and house in order to ransom him, which letter i accordingly wrote. upon one occasion i thought, without being perceived, i might give him a cup of tea, but unluckily at the moment when he extended his hand to receive it some one entered the tent. i pretended to be only beckoning to him, and, instead of presenting him the tea, i felt constrained to give him a few slight blows. during my stay in gömüshtepe no night passed without a shot echoing from the sea-shore to announce the arrival of some piratical vessel laden with booty. the next morning i went to demand from the heroes the tithes due to the dervishes, or rather, let me say, to behold the poor persians in the first moments of their misfortune. my heart bled at the horrid sight; and so i had to harden myself to these most striking contrasts of virtue and vice, of humanity and tyranny, of scrupulous honesty and the very scum of knavery. i had stayed only a fortnight when, like my companions, i began to weary of the place, my eves feeding with inexpressible longing upon the frontiers of persia. only a few leagues separate the two countries, and yet the manners, customs, and modes of thinking amongst the turkomans are just as different as if the two nations were a thousand miles asunder. how wonderful the influence of religion {61} and of historical tradition upon mankind! i cannot refrain from laughing when i think that these turkomans, in some particulars so cruel and so inhuman, were at this very time constantly giving entertainments, 'lillah' (for pious ends), at which it was necessary that our entire company of pilgrims should be present. these invitations were repeated several times during the day. it was only the first and second that i was disposed to accept; from the third i showed by my manner that i wished to be excused; but my would-be host forced me by many pushes in the ribs to leave my tent. according to the rule of turkoman etiquette, 'the harder the push, the more hearty the invitation.' on such festal occasions the amphytrion threw down before the tent some pieces of felt--or, if it were his humour to be sumptuous, a carpet--whereupon the guests seated themselves in groups of five or six in a circle, and each group received a large wooden dish proportioned in size and contents to the number and ages of those who were to share it. into the dish every guest plunged his half-open fist, until emptied to the very bottom. the quality and dressing of the meats which were served to us are not calculated to interest much our 'gastronomes.' i merely remark, therefore, in passing, that horse-flesh and camel-flesh were the order of the day: what other dishes represented our venison, i must decline mentioning. [tartar fiancée and banquet, etc.] during my sojourn with khandjan, he affianced his son (twelve years old, as before mentioned) to a maiden in her tenth year. this event was accompanied by a festival, from which, as his guests, we could not absent ourselves. on entering the tent of the 'fiancee,' we found her completely occupied with {62} working a shawl. her maimer was that of one unconscious of the presence of others; and during our stay, which lasted two hours, i only once remarked from her furtive glance that she took any interest in our company. during the banquet, which, in my honour, consisted of rice boiled in milk, khandjan observed that this festival had been fixed for the next autumn; but he had wished to turn to account the occasion of our presence, that the event might take place under our auspices and benedictions. let me not here forget to mention that we were entertained also on this occasion by a karaktchi, who had, alone on foot, not only made three persians prisoners, but had also by himself driven them before him into captivity for a distance of eight miles. he gave us the tithes of the spoil due to the church, consisting of a small sum of two krans; and how happy he was when we with one voice intoned a fatiha to bless him! [preparation of the khan of khiva's kervanbashi for the journey through the desert; line of camels; ilias beg, the hirer of camels] after having lingered, very much against my will, three weeks in gömüshtepe, the hospitable khandjan at last showed a disposition to aid our preparations for departure. we considered that the purchase of camels would entail too much expense; we consequently determined to hire one for every two of us to carry our water and our flour. this might have been very difficult, had we not been so fortunate as to possess in our cattle-dealer, ilias beg, a proper adviser for the purpose. he was not, perhaps, a religious person, nor had he much reverence for our hadji character; but he only showed the more exactitude to fulfil the law of hospitality, and the more disposition to make the greatest sacrifices to give us satisfaction. ilias is properly a turkoman from khiva, and {63} of the tribe of the yomuts; he makes a journey of business every year through the desert to gömüshtepe, and during his stay is under the protection of khandjan, without which his position is as insecure as that of any other stranger. he comes generally in autumn, and returns in spring, with twenty or thirty camels loaded with his own merchandise, or that of strangers. having been induced this year to take back with him some extra camels, the small additional sum for hire of these camels was, as it were, a god-send. khandjan had recommended us in the warmest manner, and the words, 'ilias, you will answer with your life,' had clearly shown him in what degree of estimation we stood with our host. ilias cast his eyes down to the ground, as the nomads are in the habit of doing when they appear most in earnest; and his answer, in a low tone, which seemed to issue from him without any movement of the lips, was, 'you surely do not know me.' the singular _sang-froid_ of the two turkomans, as they dealt together, began to irritate my still half-european character, and forgetting that hadji bilal and my other companions were also present, and yet remained motionless, i made some remarks; but i soon had occasion to regret it, for even after having addressed them several times, my words remained without notice. without, therefore, venturing to mix in the negotiation, it was determined that we should hire a camel for two ducats to go as far as khiva; and as for our flour and water, ilias declared that he would take it with him without compensation. the small sum of money belonging to me, which i had sewn and hidden in different parts of my mendicant attire, together with the tolerably rich harvest of my hadji dealings amongst the turkomans, had {64} abundantly provided for me, so that i was in a position to hire a camel for myself alone; but i was dissuaded by hadji bilal and sultan mahmoud, who remarked that an appearance of wretchedness calculated to excite compassion was the best guarantee for safety amongst these nomads; while their covetousness was sure to be excited by the slightest sign of affluence. a suspicion of wealth might convert the best friend into a foe. they named several of the hadjis who were well provided with means, and who, nevertheless, for the sake of prudence, were obliged to wander on in rags and on foot. i admitted the necessity, and secured a joint share in a camel, only stipulating for permission to make use of a kedjeve (pair of wooden baskets, hanging down from the two sides of the camel), as i should find it very fatiguing, with my lame foot and without cessation, to ride day and night forty stations, squeezed with another into the same wooden saddle. at first, ilias objected, because, according to him (and he was indeed right), the kedjeve in the desert would have been a double burden for the poor beast. khandjan, however, at last persuaded him, and he consented. on the journey to khiva, which we were to perform in twenty days, and of which everyone spoke in a manner to make us feel fearful misgivings, i should at least have the consolation of being able now and then to sleep a little; but what pleased me most in the whole arrangement was, that i should have for my _vis-à-vis_ and 'equipoise,' as the two kedjeve were termed, my bosom friend hadji bilal, whose society began by degrees to become indispensable for me. after the dialogue was over, we paid, as is the custom, the hire beforehand. hadji bilal said a fatiha; and after ilias {65} had passed his fingers through his beard, consisting, it is true, of only a few straggling hairs, we had no occasion to take any other steps, and we but begged that the departure might be hastened as much as possible. this, however, he could not promise, as it depended upon the kervanbashi of the khan, who, with his buffaloes, was to place himself at the head of our karavan. in a few days we were ready to start for etrek, our rendezvous. after the preparations had been completed i burnt with twofold ardour to quit gömüshtepe: for, first, we had lost time here, and i perceived that the hot season was more and more advancing, and we feared that the rain-water, still to be found in the desert, would become scarcer; and secondly, i began to grow uneasy at the ridiculous reports which were in circulation respecting me. whilst many saw in me merely a pious dervish, others could not rid themselves of the idea that i was a man of influence, an envoy of the sultan, in correspondence with the turkish ambassador in teheran, who was bringing a thousand muskets with him, and was engaged in a plot against russia and persia. had this come to the ears of the russians in ashourada, they would have certainly laughed at it, but still it might have led to enquiries respecting the singular stranger; and the discovery of my disguise might have involved a cruel, perhaps a life-long captivity. i therefore begged hadji bilal repeatedly at least to leave gömüshtepe, but his previous impatience had given way to absolute indifference as soon as ilias had engaged with us; on my urging him, he even answered how ridiculously childish it was for me to seek to anticipate the decrees of destiny. 'thy haste,' said he to me, 'is all thrown away; thou must perforce {66} remain on the görghen's banks until the nasib (fate) has decreed that thou shouldst drink water in another place; and no one knows whether this will occur at an early or a late period.' only imagine what effect an answer so oriental was calculated to produce upon a mind that had just cause to feel impatience! i saw, however, but too well, the impossibility of escape, and so submitted to my fate. about this time, it happened that some karaktchi had, by treachery, in one of their depredatory expeditions, seized upon five persians. one of these was a man of property. the robbers had sailed in a vessel up beyond karatepe, under the pretence of purchasing a cargo from the village of the persians. the bargain was soon made; and scarcely had the unsuspicious persians appeared with their goods upon the sea-shore, than they were seized, bound hand and foot, buried up to their necks in their own wheat, and forcibly carried off to gömüshtepe. i was present when these unfortunates were unpacked, so to say. one of them was also dangerously wounded; and i heard the turkomans themselves characterise the act as a deed of shame. even the russians in ashourada interested themselves in the affair, and threatened a landing if the prisoners were not immediately set at liberty. as the robbers resolutely refused to let their prize go, i thought that now the rest of the turkomans, who run common risk from the russians, would compel their countrymen to give way. not at all; they ran up and down, distributing arms, in order, should the russians land, to give them a warm reception. it may be interesting to know that i was also appointed to shoulder a musket, and great was my embarrassment when i reflected upon whom i should be expected to fire. {67} happily, no attempt was made to carry out the threat. [footnote 15] [footnote 15: let not the reader be surprised by the equivocal attitude of the russian authorities. persia regards every landing of the russian forces on the coasts as a hostile invasion of its own soil, and prefers to endure the depredations of the turkomans rather than avail itself of the russian arms, which might, it is true, in particular cases, be of service to them, but would not fail, on the whole, to be most detrimental.] [arrangements with khulkhan; turkoman expedition to steal horses in persia; its return.] next morning a russian steamer came quite close to the shore, but the matter was disposed of by a political manoeuvre; that is to say, the turkomans gave hostages for the future, but the persians remained in chains. the wealthy prisoner paid a ransom of 100 ducats; another, who was crippled in both hands and feet, and was not worth the sum of four ducats, was set free in honour of the russians; but the three others--strong men--were loaded with still heavier chains, and led away to the usual place of torture for the slaves, at etrek. the name of etrek, which is given both to a river and the inhabited district in its vicinity, is a word of terror and a curse for the unfortunate inhabitants of mazendran and taberistan. the persian must be very incensed when he allows the words 'etrek biufti!' (may you be driven to etrek!) to escape his lips. as it was fixed for the rendezvous of our karavan, i was soon to have the opportunity of seeing closely into this nest of horror. khandjan had also had the goodness to recommend me as guest to kulkhan the pir (grey-beard) of the karaktchi. he came to us very opportunely. the old sinner had a sombre repulsive physiognomy. he did not by any means meet me in a friendly manner when i was transferred to his hospitality. he examined my {68} features a long time, occasionally whispering something in the ear of khandjan, and seemed determined to discover in me more than other people had seen. the cause of this distrust i soon detected. kulkhan had in his youth travelled through the southern parts of russia, in company with khidr khan, who was in the service of the czar. he had also long lived at tiflis, and was pretty familiar with our european modes of existence. he remarked that he had seen many nations, but never the osmanlis. he had heard it said of them that they had sprung from a tribe of turkomans, whom besides they resembled in every respect; and that his astonishment was great to distinguish in me quite opposite characteristics. hadji bilal remarked that his own information upon the subject was not good, and that he had actually lived several years in roum, without having occasion to make any similar observation; whereupon kulkhan told us he would return two days afterwards, early in the morning, to his ova in etrek, recommended us to make ourselves ready for our journey, inasmuch as without his conduct we should be unable to travel hence to etrek, although only a distance of twelve miles; and, in short, that he was only waiting the return of his son kolman [footnote 16] from the alaman (predatory expedition) to the persian frontiers, in quest of some fine mares. [footnote 16: properly kulumali.] the return of his son from this piratical adventure was awaited by kulkhan with almost the same feelings as those with which a father amongst us would expect his son coming home from an heroic expedition, or other honourable enterprise. he also informed us that we might walk forwards a little way down the banks of the görghen, for his son {69} was to return about this time, and we should then see something worth seeing. as i had nothing at that moment else to do, i was not displeased to comply with the invitation. i mixed with the crowd which was looking, with the greatest impatience, for the first sight of the party. at last eight mounted turkomans appeared on the opposite bank, bringing ten led horses with them. i thought that now the expectant multitude would give vent to their enthusiasm in hurrahs, but they uttered no sound; all measured with greedy eyes and speechless admiration those who were approaching. the latter dashed into the görghen, across which in an instant they swam to the bank on our side, where, dismounting, they extended their hands with indescribable earnestness to their relatives. whilst the seniors were passing the spoil in review with the greatest attention, the young heroes were occupied in arranging their dress. lifting their heavy fur caps, they wiped the sweat from head and forehead. the whole spectacle was splendid. whatever my contempt for the robbers and their abominable doings, my eye fell still with particular pleasure upon these young men, who, in their short riding dresses, with their bold looks, and hair falling to their breasts in curly locks as they laid aside their weapons, were the admiration of all. even the gloomy kulkhan seemed cheerful: he introduced his son to us, and after hadji bilal had bestowed his benediction upon him, we separated. the next morning we were to proceed from gömüshtepe, accompanied by kulkhan, his son, and stolen horses, to etrek. {70} chapter vi. departure from gömüshtepe character of our late host turkoman mounds or tombs disagreeable adventure with wild boars plateau to the north of gömüshtepe nomad habits turkoman hospitality the last goat persian slave commencement of the desert a turkoman wife and slave etrek persian slaves russian sailor slave proposed alliance between yomuts and tekke rendezvous with the kervanbashi tribe kem adieu to etrek afghan makes mischief description of karavan. _gens confinis hyrcaniae, cultu vitae aspera et latrociniis assueta_.- q. curtii ruf. lib. vi. cap. 5. [departure from gömüshtepe; character of our late host] at noon the following day i left gömüshtepe with my most intimate fellow-travellers, accompanied for some time by khandjan and all my other friends. kandjan went on foot with us nearly a league on our way, as is the custom amongst the nomads in the case of very esteemed guests. i entreated him several times to return, but fruitlessly; he insisted upon punctually fulfilling all the rules of ancient turkoman hospitality, that i might never afterwards have any ground of complaint against him. to say the truth, my heart was very heavy when i extricated myself from his last embrace, for i had known in him one of the most honourable of men. without any interested motive, he had not only for a long time entertained me and five other pilgrims in his own {71} house, but had given me every explanation that i had required. i feel even now pained that i cannot make him any return for his kindness, but still more that i was forced to deceive so sincere a friend by any mystery. [turkoman mounds or tombs; disagreeable adventure with wild boars] our path was north-easterly, departing more and more from the sea-shore, in the direction of the two great mounds, of which one bears the name of köresofi, the other that of altin tokmak. besides these mounds, one discovers here and there numerous joszka (turkoman barrows); with these exceptions, the district is one boundless flat. scarcely a quarter of a league from gömüshtepe, we found ourselves proceeding through splendid meadows, where the grass was as high as the knee, and of a delicious odour. it all withers away without being of service to any one, for the inhabitants of gömüshtepe are tchomru (that is, not cattle-breeders). what lovely villages might flourish in this well-watered district; what animated life might here reign, instead of the stillness of death! our small karavan, consisting of the camels belonging to ilias and of six horses, kept close together, for kulkhan affirmed that there were hereabouts karaktchis who were not under his orders, and who would assail him if they felt themselves strong enough to do so. ilias, this once, was pleased to spare me my ride upon the camel; he took from kulkhan one of the stolen horses, upon which i was to ride as far as etrek. unfortunately, as it happened, emir mehemmed, the afghan opium-eater from karatepe, who had already fastened himself upon our karavan, had remained on foot, and whenever we had to traverse any puddle or other wet ground, i could not refuse to take him on my saddle, and then he grasped my clothes so tightly that i often {72} thought i should be thrown down. this partnership ride made me run much risk when we were obliged to cut our way through the great marshes, covered with reeds, which swarmed with herds of wild boars, numerous beyond conception. kulkhan and ilias rode before, to find a circuitous way, to enable us to avoid hundreds of these animals, whose proximity we perceived, not only by their incessant grunting, but more especially by the cracking sound caused by their movements amongst the reeds. whilst i was riding on with attentive ear, my horse suddenly shied and took a great bound sideways. i had hardly time to look round to ascertain the cause, when i and my comrade lay stretched upon the ground. the loud laughter of my companions, who were a few paces from us, mingled with a strange howling. i turned myself round, and found that i had been thrown upon two wild boars of tender age; it was their mother that had caused our horse to shy, but now, rendered savage by the cry of her young ones, she stood showing her tusks at no great distance from us, and would most certainly have charged us, had not shirdjan, the cousin of ilias, come to our aid, and barred the way with his extended lance. whether it was owing to the bravery of the young turkoman, or the silence of the young pigs--now liberated from their constrained position--i cannot say, but the incensed mother beat a retreat, and, with her face still to the foe, hastened back to her lair, which we had not been slow to abandon. kulkhan's son had in the meantime secured our horse, that had escaped. he restored him to me with the remark that 'i might regard myself as lucky, for that a death by the wound of a wild boar would send even the most pious musselman nedjis (unclean) {73} into the next world, where a hundred years' burning in purgatorial fire would not purge away his uncleanness.' [illustration] intruding upon the haunts of the wild boar. [plateau to the north of gömüshtepe; nomad habits] after having continued our way for about four hours in the above-named direction, amidst marshes and meadows, i noticed that we had gained the sloping sides of the plateau that extends north from gömüshtepe, for not only the elevations, but the persian mountains on the frontiers themselves, began gradually to disappear; only a few groups of tents, in the vicinity of which camels were grazing, were visible at a great distance, and although, on all the four sides, the most lovely verdure enchanted the eye, the eastern district which i had visited before with kizil akhond, is far more thickly peopled. there being no river like the görghen, the well-water, of which the people make use, is exhausted by the time the rich meadows have sufficiently fattened their sheep. tents, consequently, are only to be seen here in may and in june. one of these groups of tents, peopled by the dependents of kulkhan, was to give us shelter this night, as etrek was still six miles [footnote 17] distant--a whole day's journey for our heavily-laden camels. due notice had been given of our approach, and my hungry fellow-travellers soon saw in the rising smoke the prospect of a good supper. although gömüshtepe is only four miles distant from this spot, the journey took us nearly eight hours, and this first ride had tolerably wearied both man and beast. [footnote 17: the reader is requested to understand, here and elsewhere, german miles.] [turkoman hospitality; the last goat] the young nephew of kulkhan advanced ten paces before the tents to welcome us; and, whilst ilias and the afghan were the special guests of kulkhan, i was quartered with the hadjis in the small tent of allah nazr. {74} this old turkoman was beside himself from joy that heaven had sent him guests; the recollection of that scene will never pass from my mind. in spite of our protestations to the contrary, he killed a goat, the only one which he possessed, to contribute to our entertainment. at a second meal, which we partook with him next day, he found means to procure bread also, an article that had not been seen for weeks in his dwelling. whilst we attacked the dish of meat, he seated himself opposite to us, and wept, in the exactest sense of the expression, tears of joy. allah nazr would not retain any part of the goat he had killed in honour of us. the horns and hoofs, which were burned to ashes, and were to be employed for the galled places on the camels, he gave to ilias; but the skin, stripped off in one piece, he destined to serve as my water-vessel, and after having well rubbed it with salt, and dried it in the sun, he handed it over to me. [persian slave] the arrival of a slave, one of the five of whom i spoke in the last chapter, who had fallen into the snare so treacherously laid for them, detained kulkhan and our party a day. this poor persian was transferred, for chastisement, to kulkhan, who had the peculiar reputation of being able most easily to ascertain from a captive whether he possessed sufficient means to enable his relatives to ransom him, or whether, being without relatives or property, he ought to be sent on to khiva for sale. the former alternative is much the more agreeable one to the turkomans, as they may demand any sum they please. the persian, who is cunning even in his misfortune, always contrives to conceal his real position; he is therefore subjected to much ill-treatment, {75} until by the lamentations which he forwards to his home his captors have squeezed from his friends the highest possible ransom, and it is only when that arrives that his torment ceases. the other alternative is worse for both parties; the robber, after much expenditure, only gets at last the current price in the slave-market, and the unfortunate persian is removed to a distance of some hundreds of miles from his country, which he very rarely sees again. kulkhan has, as before mentioned, great experience in this department; his latest victim arrived before evening, and the next day the journey was continued, after i had been warmly embraced by allah nazr, who was just as much a turkoman as kulkhan. [commencement of the desert] this day i took my seat for the first time in my wooden basket on the camel, having, however, some sacks of flour for my equipoise, as hadji bilal wished on this occasion to deprive himself of the pleasure. our route was always in a northerly direction, and we had scarcely advanced two leagues, when the verdure ceased, and for the first time we found ourselves in the dismal strong-smelling salt ground of the wilderness. what our eyes encountered here was a good specimen; a low foreland called kara sengher (black wall) elevated itself at a distance of about eight miles to the north of gömüshtepe. the nearer we approached this hill, the looser the soil became; near to its foot we fell upon a real morass, and our march was attended by increasing difficulties in the slippery mud, in which the camels, with their spongy feet, slid at each step--indeed, mine threatened to upset both myself and my basket into the dirt. i preferred dismounting _proprio motu_, and after tramping an hour and a half through the mud, arrived at last at {76} kara sengher, whence we soon reached the ova of kulkhan. on arriving, i was greatly surprised by kulkhan's immediately leading me into his tent, and charging me earnestly not to quit it, until he should call me. i began to suspect something wrong, when i heard how he was cursing his women, accusing them of always mislaying the chains, and ordering them to bring them to him immediately. searching gloomily for them he returned frequently to the tent without addressing a word to me: moreover hadji bilal did not show himself--he who so seldom left me to myself. sunk in the most anxious reflections, i at last heard the rattling sound of fetters approaching, and saw the persian who had come with us enter the tent dragging with his wounded feet the heavy chains after him; for he was the party on whose account kulkhan was making these preparations. he was not long in making his appearance. he ordered tea to be prepared, and after we had partaken of it, he directed me to rise, and led me to a tent which had been in the meantime set up; he wished it to be a surprise for me. such was the object he had in view in his whole conduct. notwithstanding this, i could never feel any attachment to him, for how great the difference between him and khandjan clearly appeared from this, that during the ten days i was his guest, this tea was the only repast kulkhan's hospitality accorded me. i was afterwards informed of his treacherous plans, to which he would most certainly have given effect, had not kizil akhond, whom he particularly dreaded, charged him to treat me with every possible respect. {77} [a turkoman wife and slave] the tent which i now occupied, in company with ten of my travelling companions, did not belong to kulkhan, but was the property of another turkoman who, with his wife--formerly his slave, sprung from the tribe of the karakalpak--joined our party for khiva. i learnt that their object in proceeding to khiva was that this woman, who had been carried off in a surprise by night and brought hither, might ascertain whether her former husband, whom she had left severely wounded, had afterwards perished; who had purchased her children, and where they now were; and--which she was particularly anxious to know--what had become of her daughter, a girl in her twelfth year, whose beauty she described to me with tears in her eyes. the poor woman, by extraordinary fidelity and laboriousness, had so enchained her new master, that he consented to accompany her on her sorrowful journey of enquiry. i was always asking him what he would do if her former husband were forthcoming, but his mind on that point was made up--the law guaranteed him his possession. 'the nassib (fate),' said he, 'intended to bestow on me heidgul' (properly eidgul, 'rose of the festival'), 'and none can withstand nassib.' there was besides, amongst the other travellers freshly arrived, who were to journey with ilias, a dervish named hadji siddik, a consummate hypocrite, who went about half naked, and acted as groom to the camels in the desert; it was not until after we had arrived in bokhara that we learnt that he had sixty ducats sewn up in his rags. [etrek; persian slaves] the whole company inhabited the tents in common, expecting that the khan's kervanbashi would come up as soon as possible, and that we should commence our journey through the desert. the delay was painful to us all. i became alarmed on account {78} of the decrease of my stock of flour, and i began at once to diminish my daily allowance by two handfuls. i also baked it without leaven in the hot ashes; for the produce is greater, it remains longer on the stomach, and hunger torments one less. fortunately we could make short mendicant excursions; nor had we the least reason to complain of any lack of charity on the part of the turkomans of etrek, who are notwithstanding the most notorious robbers. we passed, indeed, very few of their tents without seeing in them two or three persians heavily laden with chains. [russian sailor slave] it was also here in etrek, in the tent of a distinguished turkoman named kotchak khan, that i encountered a russian, formerly a sailor in the naval station at ashourada. we entered the above-named chief's abode, to take our mid-day repose; and scarcely had i been presented to him as a roumi (osmanli), when our host remarked; 'now i will give thee a treat. we know the relation in which the osmanlis stand with the russians: thou shalt behold one of thy arch-enemies in chains.' i was forced to behave as if i was highly delighted. the poor russian was led in, heavily chained: his countenance was sickly, and very sorrowful. i felt deeply moved, but was careful not to betray my feelings by any expression. 'what would you do with this efendi,' said kotchak khan, 'if you encountered him in russia? go and kiss his feet.' the unfortunate russian was about to approach me, but i forbade, making at the same time the observation, i had only to-day begun my gusl (great purification), and that i did not want to render myself unclean by my contact with this unbeliever; that it would even be more agreeable to me if he disappeared immediately from before my eyes, for that _this_ nation {79} was my greatest aversion. they motioned him to withdraw, which he accordingly did, throwing at me a sharp look. as i learnt later, he was one of two sailors from the new station at ashourada; the other had died in captivity about a year before. they had fallen into the hands of the karaktchis some years previously, in one of their night expeditions. their government offered to ransom them, but the turkomans demanded an exorbitant sum (five hundred ducats for one); and as during the negotiation tcherkes bay, the brother of kotshak khan, was sent by the russians to siberia, where he died, the liberation of the unfortunate christians became matter of still greater difficulty; and now the survivor will soon succumb under the hardships of his captivity, as his comrade has done before him. [footnote 18] [footnote 18: when i afterwards drew the attention of the russians to the occurrence, they laboured to excuse themselves, saying that they did not desire to accustom the turkomans to such large ransoms, for that with any encouragement these bold robbers would devote themselves night and day to their profitable depredations.] such are the ever-fluctuating impressions of hospitable virtues and unheard-of barbarisms produced by these nomads upon the minds of travellers! sated and overflowing with their kindness and charity, i often returned to our abode, when kulkhan's persian slave, already mentioned, would perhaps implore me for a drop of water, as, according to his tale, they had for two entire days given him dried salt fish instead of bread, and although he had been forced to work the whole day in the melon fields, they had denied him even a drop of water. luckily i was alone in the tent; the sight of the bearded man bathed in tears made me forget all risks: i handed him my water-skin, and he {80} satisfied his thirst whilst i kept watch at the door. then thanking me warmly, he hastened away. this unfortunate man, maltreated by every one, was especially tormented by kulkhan's second wife, herself once a persian slave, who was desirous of showing how zealous a convert she had become. even in gömüshtepe these cruel scenes were loathsome to me: judge, then, how my feelings must have revolted when i learnt to regard the last-named place as the extreme of humanity and civilisation! tents and dwellers therein became objects of loathing to me. [proposed alliance between yomuts and tekke] still no news came of the arrival of the kervanbashi, although all who had desired to join our karavan were already assembled. new friends were greeted and reciprocal acquaintances formed; and very often did i hear the question mooted as to the route likely to be selected by the kervanbashi. we were engaged in one of these conversations, when one of the etrekites brought us the cheering intelligence that the tekke, whose hostility is the dread of the karavans during the greatest part of their journey to khiva, had sent a peaceful embassy to the yomuts, proposing, at length, a reconciliation, and an attack with combined forces, upon their common enemy, the persians. as i propose to touch upon this political transaction in the next chapter, suffice it here to say, that the occurrence was incidentally of the greatest advantage to us. they explained to me that there were from etrek to khiva three different ways, the choice between them being determined by considerations as to the numbers forming the karavan. {81} [rendezvous with the kervanbashi] the routes are as follows:-1. the first, close along the shore of the caspian, behind the greater balkan, which direction it follows for a two days' journey towards the north from these mountains, and then, after proceeding ten days, the traveller has to turn to the east, in which quarter khiva lies. this way is only accessible for the smaller karavans, as it affords but little water, but presents as little danger from attacks, except in times of extraordinary revolutions, when the kasaks (kirghis) or the karakalpaks send hither their alaman. 2. the middle route, which follows a northerly direction only as far as the original ancient channel of the oxus, and then, passing between the great and the little balkhan, turns to the north-east towards khiva. 3. the third is the straight route and the shortest; for while we require twenty-four days for the first, and twenty for the second, this one may be performed in fourteen. immediately on leaving etrek one takes a north-easterly direction, through the göklen and tekke turkomans. at every station wells of sweet drinkable water occur. of course a karavan must be on good terms with the tribes above named, and must count from two to three thousand men, otherwise the passage is impossible. how great then was my joy, when one evening a messenger from ata-bay brought us the intelligence that the kervanbashi would leave his encampment early the following morning, and would give us rendezvous the day after at noon, on the opposite bank of the etrek, whence we were to proceed all together upon our great journey through the desert! ilias issued orders for us all to complete our preparations as speedily as possible. we therefore that very same evening got our bread ready; we once more salted our large pieces of camel-flesh, which we had received from the nomads in payment for the benedictions we had lavished on them. who then was {82} happier than i, when the next day i mounted the kedjeve with hadji bilal, and in my creaking seat slowly left etrek, borne forwards by the wave-like pace of the camel? for the sake of security, kulkhan was pleased to regard it as necessary to give us his escort for this day; for although we numbered from fifteen to twenty muskets, it was yet very possible that we might have to encounter a superior force of robbers, in which case the presence of kulkhan might prove of the most important service, as the greater part of the etrek bandits were under his spiritual guidance, and followed his orders blindfold. i had almost forgotten to mention that our kulkhan was renowned, not only as the grey-beard of the karaktchi, but also as sofi (ascetic), a title he bore upon his seal: of the pious appellation he was not a little proud. i had indeed before my eyes one of the best-defined pictures of hypocrisy when i saw kulkhan, the author of so many cruelties, sitting there amongst his spiritual disciples: he who had ruined the happiness of so many families, expounding what was prescribed respecting the holy purifications, and the ordinances directing the close cutting of the moustache! teacher and scholar seemed alike inspired. in the confident assurances of their own piety, how many of these robbers were already dreaming of their sweet rewards in paradise! [tribe kem] to avoid the marshes formed by the overflowing of the etrek, our route turned now to the north-west, now to the north-east, for the most part over a sandy district on which very few tents were visible; on the edge of the desert we observed about 150 tents of the turkoman clan kem. i was told that this race had time out of mind separated itself from the yomut {83} turkomans, to whom they properly belonged, and had inhabited the edge of the desert; their great propensity to thieving is the cause why all the other tribes make war upon them and treat them as enemies, so that their numbers never increase. near their resorts we came upon many stragglers from our karavan, who did not dare to pass on without our company; and according to all appearances the kemites would have assailed us, had they not seen at our head kulkhan, the mighty scarecrow. a quarter of an hour's journey from their encampment farther to the north, we crossed a little arm of the etrek, whose waters had already begun to have a very salt taste, a sign that its bed would soon be dry. the interval between its farther bank and a second and still smaller arm of the same river is alternately a salt bottom and a fine meadow, thickly overgrown with monstrous fennel, which took us a whole hour to traverse. this deep stream was like a ditch, and on account of its stiff loamy bank presented considerable impediments to our progress; several camels fell with their loads into the water: it was shallow, but still the wetting they received rendered the packs heavier and added greatly to our labour in reaching the hill on the opposite side, named delili burun. by two o'clock in the afternoon we had only advanced four miles on our way, notwithstanding our early start in the morning; nevertheless the resolution was taken to make a halt here, as it was only the next morning at mid-day that we were to meet the kervanbashi on the other side of the etrek. {84} the hill above named, which is but a sort of promontory jutting out from a long chain of inconsiderable hills stretching to the south-east, affords an extensive and fine view. to the west we discover the caspian sea like a range of blue clouds; the mountains of persia are also distinguishable: but the greatest interest attaches to the mountain plain to our south, whose limit the eye cannot discern, on which the scattered groups of tents in many places have the appearance of mole-hills. almost the whole of etrek, with the river flowing through it, lies before us, and the places where the river spreads over both banks produce upon the eye the effect of lakes. as we were near the encampment of the kem, we were counselled by kulkhan, who thought proper to tarry with us this one more night, to keep a sharp look-out; and evening had not closed in before we posted watches, which, relieved from time to time, observed every movement around us. understanding that this station formed the last outpost towards the great desert, i profited by the opportunity which the return of our escort afforded, and spent the afternoon in writing letters whilst my companions were sleeping. besides the small pieces of paper concealed in the wool of my bokhariot dress for the purpose of notes, i had two sheets of blank paper in the koran which was suspended from my neck in a little bag: upon these i wrote two letters, one to haydar effendi, addressed to teheran, and the second to khandjan, requesting him to forward the former. [footnote 19] [footnote 19: upon my return i found at the turkish embassy this letter, acquainting my friends with my being about to commence my journey in the desert, as well as other communications which i had sent on from gömüshtepe. my good friend khandjan had forwarded them with the greatest zeal and exactitude.] {85} the next morning a four hours' march brought us to the banks of the etrek, properly so called. a good deal of time was devoted to finding the shallowest points where the river could be most readily forded, a task by no means easy, for although the usual breadth of the river is only from twelve to fifteen paces, this was now doubled by the water having overflowed its banks, and the softened loamy ground caused a real martyrdom to the poor camels, so that our turkomans were justified in their long hesitation. the current, indeed, was not very strong, still the water came up to the bellies of the camels; and the uncertain wavering steps of our labouring, wading animals dipped our kedjeve now on the right side, now on the left, into the troubled waters of the etrek: one false step and i should have been plunged into mud and dirt, and at no small risk have had to make my way by swimming to the opposite bank. happily all crossed in good order, and scarcely had we come to a halt when the anxiously-expected karavan of the kervanbashi came in sight, having in its van three buffaloes (two cows and a bull), to whose health-promising advent the sick lord of khiva could hardly look forward with greater impatience than we had done. the reader will remember that hadji bilal, yusuf, some foot travellers and myself, had been obliged to separate from the main body of our dervish karavan, because the others had found greater difficulties than myself in finding camels to hire. as we had heard no tidings of them in etrek, we began to be anxious lest these poor people might have no opportunity of following us. we were, therefore, greatly rejoiced to see them all coming up in good condition in the karavan that now joined us. we kissed and hugged one another with the heartiness of brethren who meet {86} after a long separation. my emotion was great when i once more saw around me the hadji salih and sultan mahmoud, and all the others too; yes, all my mendicant companions; for, although i regarded hadji bilal as my dearest friend, i was compelled to avow to myself my warm attachment to them all, without distinction. [adieu to etrek] as the river etrek afforded us the last opportunity of sweet water until, after twenty days' journey, we should refresh ourselves on the banks of the oxus, i counselled my companions not to let the opportunity slip, but at least, this last time, to drink our fill of tea. we therefore brought forward the tea-vessels, i proffered my fresh-baked bread, and long afterwards did we remember the luxury and abundance of this festival held in honour of our meeting. [afghan makes mischief] in the meantime also arrived the kervanbashi who was to be our leader and protector in the desert. as i attached great importance to being presented to him under good auspices, i went amongst the others accompanied by hadji salih and messud, who had mentioned me to him on the way. let the reader then picture to himself my wonder and alarm when amandurdi (such was his name), a corpulent and good-tempered turkoman, although he greeted my friends with great distinction, received me with striking coldness; and the more hadji salih was disposed to turn the conversation upon me, the more indifferent he became: he confined himself to saying, 'i know this hadji already.' i made an effort not to betray my embarrassment. i was about to withdraw, when i noticed the angry glances that ilias, who was present, darted at the emir mehemmed, the crazy opium-eater, whom he thus signalised as the cause of what had just occurred. {87} we withdrew, and hardly had the occurrence been recounted to hadji bilal, when he grew angry and exclaimed, 'this wretched sot of an afghan has already expressed himself in etrek to the effect that our hadji reshid, who was able to give him instructions in the koran and in arabic, was only a frenghi in disguise' (thereupon adding, three different times, the phrase estag farullah! 'god pardon me my sins'); 'and in spite of my assuring him that we had received him from the hands of the ambassador of our great sultan, and that he had with him a pass sealed with the seal of the khalife, [footnote 20] he still refuses to believe and persists in his defamation. as i remark, he has gained the ear of the kervanbashi, but he shall repent it on our arrival in khiva, where there are kadis and ulemas; we shall teach him there what the consequence is of representing a pious musselman as an unbeliever.' [footnote 20: follower of mahomed, that is, the sultan of constantinople.] i now began to understand the whole mystery. emir mehemmed, born at kandahar, had, after the occupation of his native city by the english, been compelled to fly on account of some crime he had committed. he had had frequent opportunities of seeing europeans, and had recognised me as a european by my features. consequently, from the very first moment he regarded me as a secret emissary travelling with hidden treasures under my mendicant disguise, one whom he might succeed in plundering at any time he wished, as he would always have at his service a formidable menace, namely, 'denunciation.' often had he counselled me to separate from those mendicants, and to join his own society; but i never omitted replying that dervish and merchant were elements too {88} heterogeneous to offer any prospect of a suitable partnership; that it would be impossible to speak of sincere friendship until he had given up his vicious habit of opium-eating, and devoted himself to pious purifications and prayers. the resolute stand i took--and indeed i had no other course--made him furious; and as from his impiety he was the object of the hadjis' aversion, i can only regard his notorious enmity as a particular instance of good fortune. [description of karavan.] about two hours after this occurrence, the kervanbashi, who now assumed the command over the whole karavan, pointed out to us that everyone ought to fill his water-skin with water, as we should not come to another well for three days. i therefore took my goat-skin and went with the rest to the stream. never having hitherto suffered much from the torment of thirst, i was filling it carelessly, when my colleagues repaired my error with the remark that in the desert every drop of water had life in it, and that this fount of existence should be kept by everyone as the 'apple of his eye.' the preparations completed, the camels were packed, the kervanbashi had them counted, and we found that we possessed eighty camels, that we were forty travellers in all, amongst whom twenty-six were hadjis without weapons, and the rest tolerably armed turkomans of the tribe yomut, with one özbeg and one afghan. consequently we formed one of those small karavans, that set out on their way in right oriental fashion, leaving everything to fate. when we had all seated ourselves, we had still to take leave of our turkoman escort, who had led us to the margin of the desert. the fatiha of the farewell was intoned on the one side by hadji bilal, and on the other by kulkhan. {89} after the last amen had been said, and had been followed by the inseparable stroking of the beard, the two parties divided in contrary directions; and when our late escort had recrossed the etrek and lost sight of us, they sent a few shots after us as a farewell. from this point we proceeded in a straight direction towards the north. for further information on the political and social relations of the turkomans, i beg to refer the reader to the second part of this volume. {90} chapter vii. kervanbashi insists that author should take no notes eid mehemmed and his brother's noble conduct guide loses his way körentaghi, ancient ruins, probably greek little and great balkan ancient bed of the oxus vendetta sufferings from thirst. _c'était une obscurité vaste comme la mer, au sein de laquelle le guide s'égarait . . . où périt le voyageur effrayé_.--victor hugo, from _omaiah hen aiedz_. [kervanbashi insists that author should take no notes] without being able to discover the slightest trace of a path indicated by foot of camel or hoof of other animal, our karavan proceeded towards the north, directing its course in the day by the sun, and at night by the pole star. the latter is called by the turkomans, from its immovability, temir kazik (the iron peg). the camels were attached to one another in a long row, and led by a man on foot; and, although there was no positive place of honour, it was regarded as a certain sort of distinction to be placed near the kervanbashi. the districts on the further side of etrek, which form the foreground of the great desert, are indicated by the name of bogdayla. we proceeded for two hours after sunset over a sandy bottom, which was not however particularly loose, and which presented an undulating, wavy surface, in no place of much elevation. by degrees the sand disappeared, and about midnight we had so firm a clayey soil under us, {91} that the regulated tread of the distant camels echoed as if some one was beating time in the still night. the turkomans name such spots takir; and as the one on which we were had a reddish colour, it bore the name kizil-takir. we marched uninterruptedly till it was nearly dawn of day; altogether we had hardly advanced six miles, as they did not wish at the outset to distress the camels, but especially because the greatest personages in our company of travellers were unquestionably the buffaloes, of which one was in an interesting situation, and could not with her unwieldy body keep up even with the ordinary step of the camel,--consequently there was a halt for repose until eight o'clock in the morning; and whilst the camels were eating their fill of thistles and other plants of the desert, we had time to take our breakfast, which had not yet ceased to be luxurious, as our skins were still richly stored with fresh water, and so our heavy unleavened bread slipped down aided by its sweet draughts. as we had encamped close together, i remarked that the kervanbashi, ilias, and the chiefs of my companions, were conversing, and, as they did so, kept casting glances at me. it was easy for me to divine the subject of their conversation. i pretended, however, to pay no attention; and after having for some time fervently turned over the leaves of the koran, i made a movement as if i had proposed to take part in the conversation. when i had approached a few steps, i was met by honest ilias and hadji salih, who called me aside and told me that the kervanbashi was making many objections to my joining him on the journey to khiva, my appearance seeming suspicious to him; and he particularly feared the anger of the khan, as he had some years before {92} conducted a frenghi envoy to khiva, who, in that single journey, took off a faithful copy of the whole route, and with his diabolical art had not forgotten to delineate any well or any hill on the paper. this had very much incensed the khan; he had had two men executed who had betrayed information, and the kervanbashi himself had only escaped with his life owing to the intercession of influential persons. 'after many objections,' said my friends, 'that we could not leave thee here behind in the desert, we have so far prevailed with him that he will take thee with him on the condition that thou wilt, first, permit thyself to be searched to see if thou hast any drawings or wooden pens (lead pencils), as the frenghis generally have; and secondly that thou promise to take away with thee no secret notes respecting the hills and routes, for in the contrary case thou must remain behind, were we even in the midst of the desert.' i heard all with the greatest patience, and, when they had finished, i played the part of one very angry, turned round to hadji salih, and, speaking so loud that the kervanbashi could not fail to hear, said: 'hadji, thou sawest me in teheran and knowest who i am; tell amandurdi (the name of the chief of our karavan) that it was by no means becoming in him as an honest man to lend ear to a drunken binamaz (one who does not repeat his prayers) like the afghan. we must not jest with religion, and he shall never again have an opportunity to assail one in so dangerous a particular; for he shall learn in khiva to know with whom he has to deal.' the last words uttered with great violence, so as to be heard through the whole karavan, caused my colleagues, particularly the poorer ones, to grow very warm, and had i {93} not restrained them they would have assailed emir mehemmed, the malicious afghan. the person most surprised by this zeal of theirs was the kervanbashi himself; and i heard how he always contrived to repeat, in answer to the very different representations that were made to him, the same words, 'khudaïm bilir!' (god knows!) he was an extremely honest, good-humoured man, an oriental however, disposed, not so much out of malice as fondness for mysteries, to discover in me, any how and at all events, a stranger in disguise; and this, although he allowed himself on the one side to receive instruction from me in many a point of religion, and even in gömüshtepe had heard that i was acquainted with many books. my artful manoeuvre had, as i have said, diminished my danger; but i still saw to my great regret that the injurious suspicion increased with every step, and that i should have the greatest difficulty in talking even the shortest notes of my journey. i was very much annoyed at not daring to put any questions as to the names of the different stations; for however immense the desert, the nomads inhabiting the various oases have affixed a specific designation to every place, every hill, and every valley, so that if exactly informed i might have marked each place on the map of central asia. cunning has to be employed against cunning, and the scanty notices which i have been able to collect respecting the route is the fruit of an artifice with which i will not weary the reader. what bitter disappointment, what annoyance, must not the traveller feel who, after having through long struggles and great perils reached at length the fountain he longs for, cannot even then slake his thirst! {94} [eid mehemmed and his brother's noble conduct] after the lapse of eight hours, we again set out; but our march, after having proceeded without interruption for two hours, gradually slackened. some of the turkomans dismounted, and occupied themselves busily to the right and to the left in carefully examining the smaller hills. as i learnt afterwards, one of our travelling companions, eid mehemmed, was desirous of discovering the tomb of his brother, who had fallen here in a combat the previous year. he had also brought a coffin with him to transport the corpse to khiva. it may have been about two o'clock in the afternoon when we stopped. they found the grave, and applied themselves to the task of opening it. after having laid the half-putrid body in the coffin and packed it in felt, accompanying the operation with recitations of the usual prayers and citations from the koran, in which i also had to take my part, we were treated with the details of the combat by an eye-witness. the intention of this man was to do honour to the departed, for praise such as he bestowed none but the noblest of men could deserve. 'we had in our karavan,' said the speaker, 'several persians, journeying from khiva to astrabad, and amongst them there was a very wealthy merchant, named mollah kaszim, from the city last named. he had for years been engaged in the traffic carried on between persia and khiva, and, having constant occasion to visit the latter country, was the guest of the deceased, and consequently under the safeguard of his hospitality, both in khiva and in the desert. it so happened that last year he was returning home with a large sum of money, and although dressed as a turkoman, and perfectly familiar with our language, his presence amongst us was detected by the haramzadeh (bastards) of etrek. they hastened to meet {95} and assail us. in number they were superior, but in spite of that we maintained a combat that lasted eight hours. after we had killed two of their number, they called to us to surrender the fat persian dog, thereby meaning mollah kaszim, and that the fight would be at an end, for that they wanted nothing from us. that no one of us, still less the departed one, was disposed to consent to this, may readily be imagined; and although the persian himself, who feared the balls hissing about in all directions, begged that the fighting might be put an end to, and was desirous of surrendering himself as a prisoner, the battle had to be fought out. soon afterwards _he_' (and he pointed to the corpse) 'was pierced by a bullet. he fell from his horse, and the few words that he was able to utter were to the effect that he commended his guest, the persian, who was sobbing all the time like a child with terror, to his brother eid mehemmed. under the leadership of the latter we continued the contest till the morning, when the robbers retreated, with loss. after having buried the deceased here, we travelled on, and three days afterwards the persian was conducted to astrabad.' [guide loses his way] in commemoration of the sad event, eid mehemmed had bread baked here also, which he shared amongst us. we then started, keeping to the north, and proceeding through a great sterile plain. to make up for our loss of time we were obliged to journey the whole night without interruption. the weather was lovely, and, cowering in my basket, i long amused myself with the beautiful starry heavens, more beautiful and more sublime in the desert than anywhere else. i was at last overcome by sleep. perhaps i had scarcely reposed an hour, when i was harshly roused {96} from my slumber, and heard on all sides the cry, 'hadji, look to thy kiblenuma (compass), we seem to have lost our way.' i awoke, and saw by the light of a piece of burning tinder that we were going in an easterly direction, instead of a northerly. the kervanbashi, alarmed, fearing our vicinity to the dangerous marshes, issued the command that we should not stir from the spot till the dawn of day. luckily we had only swerved from the right course about half-an-hour previously, at a moment when the sky was overcast. in despite of the delay we reached the appointed station, and our wearied beasts were let loose to make their meal upon the thorns and thistles. in the spot where we were encamped i saw with astonishment that my companions collected a great number of carrots, half a foot long, of the thickness of the thumb, and particularly well-flavoured and sweet. the inner part, however, was as hard as wood, and was uneatable, as was also the wild garlic, which we found here in large quantities. i seized the opportunity of giving myself a feast, boiling a good portion of carrots for my breakfast, and storing away a quantity in my girdle. to-day (may 15) our way passed through a wild district cut up with ditches. i heard it said that each journey it assumes a different form, and presents different difficulties from the numerous steep places. the poor camels, some of them laden with very heavy burdens, suffered exceedingly--the dry sand giving way under their feet; so that having continually to mount and descend, they could hardly get a firm footing. it is remarkable that it is the custom here to fasten their annuals with a cord, one end of which is attached to the tail of the creature that precedes, the other to the {97} perforated nose of the one that follows; and it is very painful to see how, as they are all so bound together, if one of the beasts in the line stands still a moment, the line in front continues to move on till the cord is torn away from the animal behind, who suffers thereby dreadful torture. to spare the poor animals we all dismounted where the route was bad, as to-day; and although my sufferings were great in the deep sand, i was forced to walk on foot four hours, although slowly, still without a halt. plodding on thus, i several times came in contact with the kervanbashi, who, after my last spirited conduct, loaded me with politeness; his nephew, a young frank-hearted turkoman from khiva, seemed to be particularly fond of my society. he had not seen his young wife since the year before, and his conversation always turned upon his ova (tent), as the rules of islamite politeness obliged him to name the object of his affections. [footnote 21] khali mollah (this was his name) reposed the fullest confidence in my character as a dervish. i was very much surprised when he requested me to search in my koran a fal or prognostic regarding his family. i made the usual hocus pocus, shut my eyes, and fortunately opened the book at a place where women are spoken of (for the passages mumenin and mumenat frequently recur), in which my explanation of the arabian text--for here is the whole art--enchanted the young turkoman. he thanked me, and i was delighted to find that i had won his friendship. [footnote 21: according to the precepts of islam, it is very unbecoming to speak of one's wife, metaphors are used to express the idea, where the whole is taken to designate the part (_totum pro parte_). accordingly, the turk in society names his wife harem, _familia_; tcholuk tschodjuck; the persian terms her khane or ayal ü avlad, the former expression meaning house, the latter wife's child; the turkoman, ova; the central asiatic, balachaka, meaning children.] {98} up to the present moment it was not clear which of the three ways the karavan would follow. the concealment of plan is in this country especially necessary, as one is never a single moment safe from surprise; and although nothing was said, it was still plain to all that the middle way would be chosen, for our water supply was running short, and necessity would force us, on the morrow at latest, to make for a well, which is only accessible provided peaceable relations permit the yomut shepherd to penetrate thither from ataboz. our evening march was a successful one; the camel-chain was not often rent asunder, or if any such accident occurred it was observed before the lapse of many minutes, and men were sent back to look up the missing animals. the karavan continued its march; and in order that the individual sent out in the dark night might not lose his way, one of the followers of the karavan had the particular duty assigned to him of holding with the other a dialogue at a distance, so that the words, which echoed sadly in the gloomy night, served as a guide; and yet woe to the wretch in case a contrary wind renders the sound inaudible! [körentaghi, ancient ruins, probably greek.] the next morning (may 16) we discovered, in a north-easterly direction, the mountainous chain called the körentaghi. the buffalo-cow, near her time, compelled us all to adopt a slow pace, and it was afternoon before we approached close enough to be able to distinguish the outline of the lower part of the mountain. when in etrek, we had heard that this was the spot where, on account of the prevailing sentiments in favour of peace, we should meet yomuts; still they {99} were not perfectly assured, and the greatest anxiety existed to know whether the news of a peace would be confirmed, or whether, in case the mountains were abandoned, we might not be surprised by some hostile horde. a courageous turkoman was sent on to ascertain how matters stood, and his progress was watched by all with anxious eyes. fortunately, as we approached, the different tents were distinguished, the alarm was dissipated, and the only desire was, to learn to what tribe the encampment belonged. whilst my fellow-travellers amused themselves with the view of the körentaghi and its green valleys, my heart beat within me for joy, as i believed that i was approaching ruins, probably of greek origin, which extended in a westerly direction from the above-named mountain. at the moment when the latter became visible, i had remarked to the south-west a single pillar, which from the distance produced upon the eye the effect of an animated colossal figure. as we mounted the plateau higher and higher i discerned, in the same direction, a second column, somewhat thicker than the former, but not so elevated, and now close to the mountain. i had the ruins, known as the meshedi misriyan, so near to me on the left that i was able even to distinguish the particular parts with precision. as none but yomuts were encamped here, it was resolved to make it a rest-day, and to employ it for the purchase of some camels. this accorded fully with my own wish, as it afforded me the opportunity of beholding the ruins from a closer proximity. the next morning (may 17) i started, accompanied by ilias and some of the pilgrims. i was obliged to use many pretexts to induce the latter to visit a spot which they would have preferred avoiding {100} as the abode of djins (genii). it was distant about half a league from our encampment, although the high walls of the square building, as well as the two entire and the two half-ruined towers in form of domes, seemed to be nearer to us. around these, and encircling the high wall, from six to eight feet broad and from forty to fifty high, there is a lower one, on the south side, quite in ruins, which must have served as an outwork to the fort, still erect; i regard the entire construction, as it rises amongst the other heaps of dilapidation, as a fortress of ancient date; and i think, to complete its system of defence, its builders must have formed the aqueduct, which runs in a south-westerly direction as far as the persian chain of mountains, whence it brought hither to the fortress water, for drinking purposes, a distance of 150 english miles. my acquaintance with archaeology and architecture being limited, i admit my incompetency to form any precise judgment respecting ruins, certainly of high interest, except that i believe myself justified in affirming them to be of greek origin, because i have found the square bricks which compose them to resemble exactly, in quality, size, and colour, those of gömüshtepe, and the kizil alan (alexander's wall). [footnote 22] [footnote 22: the turkomans recounted, with respect to the ruins, that god, from especial love to the brave turkomans, had placed the kaaba first here instead of transporting it to arabia, but that a green devil, who was at the same time lame, named gökleng (green hobbler) from whom the göklens were descended, had destroyed it. 'the insolent act of their ancestor is the reason,' added the savage etymologist, 'why we live in hostility with that tribe.'] {101} besides these, i remarked a group of other ruins on the north summit of the körentaghi. we passed them by night, and as far as i could distinguish in the obscurity, there are six separate dome-like chapels still standing. to-day our karavan was visited by crowds of the nomads dwelling on the spot. some business was transacted, and bargains struck between the merchants and cattle-dealers of our karavan, and upon credit, too. they applied to me to draw up in writing their cheques. i was surprised to find that the debtor, instead of handing over his signature to tranquillise his creditor, put it into his own pocket; and this was the turkoman way of arranging the whole business. when i questioned the creditor as to this remarkable manner of procedure, his answer was, 'what have i to do with the writing? the debtor must keep it by him as a reminder of his debt.' in the evening, when we were ready to start, an event took place, for madame buffalo did us the honour of increasing our number by the addition of a healthy little calf, a subject of supreme delight to the kervanbashi; and not until we were actually on the route, did it occur to him that the poor little calf was not strong enough to accompany our march on foot, and that he must search for a more commodious place for it on one of the camels. as the only kedjeve was the one occupied by hadji bilal and myself, all eyes were directed to us. we were asked to cede our place to the new-born calf. my friend was cunning enough at once to evince his readiness to be of service, with the observation that he would, out of friendship to me, whose lameness rendered me less easy to accommodate with a seat, vacate his own, and content himself with any exchange. hardly had he surrendered his place to the young calf, than the extremely disagreeable smell of my new _vis-à-vis_ betrayed to me the real {102} motive of my friend. by night it was endurable, as my slumbers were only disturbed by the frequent bleating of the calf; but in the daytime, particularly when the heat was very great, my situation became intolerable. happily my torments did not last long, for the calf succumbed the second day of its ride through the desert. [little and great balkan] from this day (may 18) we reckoned two days to the great balkan, and thence twelve days to khiva (altogether fourteen days). during the whole time we should come to only four wells of bitter salt water, and should not encounter a single living human being. as we were still in the middle of may, our leader hoped to find in the lone places some rain-water (called kák). we had filled our skins with dirty water from the miserable cistern at körentaghi. the jolting on the backs of the camels had changed it into something very like mud, having a most nauseous taste, and yet we were obliged to make a very sparing use of it, for there was no hope of finding kák until we reached a station on the other side of the great balkan. our march, as we were now every day more inured to its hardships, began to assume great regularity. we made usually every day three halts, each of an hour and a half or two hours: the first before sunrise, when we made our bread for the whole day; the second at noon, to give man and beast the indulgence of a little repose from the scorching heat; and the third before sunset, to devour our scanty supper, consisting of the oft-mentioned bread and water, every drop of which we had to count. my friends, as well as the turkomans, had with them supplies of sheep-fat. this they ate with their bread, and offered to me, but i was {103} careful not to partake of it, from the conviction that nothing but the greatest moderation could diminish the torments of thirst, and harden one to endure fatigue. the district we were now traversing consisted of a firm clay bottom, only producing here and there a few wretched plants, and forming for the most part barren ground, in which crevices, like veins, extended beyond the reach of the eye, and offered the most variegated picture. and yet how this eternal sadness of plain, from which every trace of life is banished, wearies the traveller; and what an agreeable change he finds when, arriving at the station, he is permitted to rest a few minutes from the wave-like movements of the camel! the next morning (may 19) we discovered something like a dark blue cloud towards the north. it was the little balkan, which we were to reach the next day, of the height, beauty, and mineral wealth of which the turkomans gave me such long accounts. unfortunately, this very night, our generally so wakeful kervanbashi was overtaken with sleep, and the guide at the head of the line of camels brought us into a position of such jeopardy that it nearly cost us all our lives. for it is necessary to mention that at the foot of the little balkan there are many of those dangerous salt morasses, covered with a thick white crust, which are not distinguishable from the firm ground in their vicinity, as all is covered in the same proportion with layers of salt of the thickness of a finger. we had advanced in that direction until the camels, by their footing giving way under them, in spite of all encouragement, were brought to a standstill. we sprang down, and judge of my alarm when i felt, although standing upon the earth, as if i were {104} in a moving boat. the consternation was general. the kervanbashi shouted out that every one should stop where he was, for it was idle to think of extricating ourselves until daybreak. the strong smell of soda was insupportable; and we were forced to wait three hours, till the first beams of the 'aurora liberatrix' should shine forth. the movement in the backward direction was attended with many difficulties; but we were all glad, for heaven had been gracious to us, as, had we only advanced a little farther, we might have reached a place where the earth had no consistence, and might have swallowed up a part or perhaps the whole karavan. such, at all events, was the expressed opinion of the turkomans. it was ten o'clock on the morning of the 20th of may when we reached the little balkan. it stretched from the south-west to the north-east. we discovered also the feebly-defined promontory belonging to the great balkan, running parallel with the former range. the little balkan, at the foot of which we encamped, forms an almost uninterrupted chain of mountains of equal elevation, for a distance of about twelve miles. it is not perhaps so barren and naked as those in persia, it yields grass in some places, and in the rest has a bluish-green colour. its height, measured by the eye, seems about 3,000 feet. our route this day and the next morning (may 21) continued to pass along its side; about evening we reached the foot of the promontory of the great balkan. although i could only see a part of this close, i yet perceived the propriety of the appellation that distinguished it; for on an average, as far as the eye can reach, it has greater circumference and greater height. we found ourselves on a branch stretching {105} in an easterly direction. the great balkan, properly so called, runs towards the shore of the caspian, having nearly a north-easterly direction. according to what i heard in khiva and amongst the turkomans, it must be rich in precious minerals; but the fact cannot be relied upon without the opinion of competent judges. taken altogether, the spot where we encamped this evening was not without its charms; for, as the setting sun projected its rays upon the lovely valleys of the little balkan, one could almost fancy oneself actually in a mountainous district. the view might even be characterised as beautiful; but then the idea of a fearful desolation, the immense abandonment, which covers the whole, as it were, with a veil of mourning! we turn fearfully to see whether the next moment our eye may not encounter some strange human face that will oblige us to grasp our weapon, for every human being encountered in the desert must be met with ready arms. an hour after sunset the start was determined upon. the kervanbashi pointed out to us that from this point the true desert began; that, although we had all the appearance of being experienced travellers, still he considered it not unprofitable to remark that, as far as possible, we should avoid speaking loudly, or uttering any cry by day or night; and that henceforth we should each bake his bread before sunset, as no one here ought to light a fire by night for fear of betraying his position to an enemy; and finally that we should, in our prayers, constantly implore amandjilik for security, and in the hour of danger we should not behave like women. {106} some swords, a lance, and two guns were divided amongst us; and as i was regarded as one having most heart, i received fire-arms and a tolerable provision of powder and bail. i must openly avow that all these preparations did not seem to me calculated to inspire much confidence. [ancient bed of the oxus] after leaving the balkan my compass permitted me no longer to doubt, in spite of all attempts at concealment, our having taken the middle route. in körentaghi we had received intelligence that fifty karaktchi, of the tribe of tekke, were prowling about in the vicinity of the mountains; but the kervanbashi seemed only so far influenced by the information as to give a wide berth to the wells and station called djenak kuyusu, the water of which is besides very salt, so that no camel would touch it unless it had been without water for three days. it may have been about midnight--we had gone about two miles, and had reached a steep declivity--when the word was given that we should all dismount, for we were in the döden (as the nomads of the district name the ancient bed of the oxus), and the storms and the rains of the last winter had now entirely washed away all traces of the route which had been tolerably well defined the year before. we cut across the ancient channel of the river in a crooked line, in order to find a way out on to the opposite bank, the steeper one; it was not till break of day that we contrived, with great fatigue, to reach the high plateau. the nomads in their fables seek to connect the ancient bed of the oxus with the ruins of meshedi misriyan, and declare that the oxus formerly flowed near the walls of the edifice designed for the kaaba, and that, at a later period, incensed at the sins of the göklens, the river turned to the north. {107} the more the balkan disappeared in the blue clouds in our rear, the greater and more awful became the majesty of the boundless desert. i had before been of opinion that the desert can only impress the mind with an idea of sublimity where both fancy and enthusiasm concur to give colouring and definiteness to the picture. but i was wrong. i have seen in the lowlands of my own beloved country a miniature picture of the desert; a sketch of it, too, on a larger scale, later, when i traversed, in persia, a part of the salt desert (deschti kuvir): but how different the feelings which i here experienced! no; it is not the imagination, as men falsely suppose, it is nature itself, that lights the torch of inspiration. i often tried to brighten the dark hues of the wilderness by picturing, in its immediate vicinity, cities and stirring life, but in vain; the interminable hills of sand, the dreadful stillness of death, the yellowish-red hue of the sun at rising and setting, yes, everything tells us that we are here in a great, perhaps in the greatest, desert on the surface of our globe! about mid-day (may 22) we encamped near yeti siri, so named from the seven wells formerly existing here; from three of these a very salt bad-smelling water can still be obtained, but the other four are entirely dried up. as the kervanbashi expressed a hope of our finding this evening some rain-water--although what remained in my skin was more like mud, i would not exchange it for the bitter, nauseous fluid of these wells, out of which the camels were made to drink and some of my fellow-travellers made their provisions. i was astonished to see how the latter vied with their four-footed brethren in drinking; they laughed at my counsels to be abstemious, but had later occasion to rue their having slighted them. {108} [vendetta] after a short halt we again started, passing by a hill higher than the rest of the sand-hills; upon the former we saw two empty kedjeve. i was told that the travellers who had been seated therein had perished in the desert, and that everything that had held men was respected amongst the turkomans, and its destruction regarded as a sin. singular superstition! men sold to slavery and lands laid waste regarded as acts of virtue, and a wooden basket held in honour because men have once been seated in it! the desert and its inhabitants are really singular and extraordinary. the reader will be still more surprised when i relate to him what we witnessed this same evening. when it became cooler i dismounted with the kervanbashi and some other turkomans, in search of some rain-water that we hoped to find. we were all armed, and each went in a different direction. i followed the kervanbashi; and we had advanced perhaps forty steps, when the latter observed some traces in the sand, and in great astonishment exclaimed, 'here there must be men.' we got our muskets ready, and, guided by the track, that became clearer and clearer, we at last reached the mouth of a cave. as from the prints in the sand we could infer that there was but a single man, we soon penetrated into the place, and i saw, with indescribable horror, a man--half a savage, with long hair and beard, clad in the skin of a gazelle--who, no less astonished, sprang up and with levelled lance rushed upon us. whilst i was contemplating the whole scene with the greatest impatience, the features of my guide showed the most imperturbable composure. when he distinguished the half-savage man, he dropped the end of his weapon, and murmuring in a low voice, 'amanbol' (peace be unto thee!) he {109} quitted the horrible place. 'kanli dir, he is one who has blood upon his head,' exclaimed the kervanbashi, without my having ventured to question him. it was not till later that i learnt that this unhappy man, fleeing from a righteous _vendetta_, had been for years and years, summer and winter, wandering round the desert; man's face he must not, he dares not, behold! [footnote 23] [footnote 23: the 'vendetta' is here even tolerated by religion! and i was eye-witness in etrek to an occurrence where a son, in the presence of his mother, avenged the death of his father, that had taken place eight years before, by shooting his step-father, who had married her, and who it appeared had been an accomplice. it was very characteristic that the people who were present at his interment condoled with the mother, and at the same time felicitated the son on the act of piety which he had accomplished.] [illustration] wild man in the desert. [sufferings from thirst.] troubled at the sight of this poor sinner, i sighed to think that, in the search after sweet water, we had discovered only traces of blood. my companions returned also without having been successful, and the thought made me shudder that this evening i should swallow the last dregs of the 'sweet slime.' oh! (thought i) water, dearest of all elements, why did i not earlier appreciate thy worth? man uses thy blessing like a spendthrift! yes, in my country man fears thee even; and now what would i give could i only obtain thirty or twenty drops of thy divine moisture! i ate only a few bits of bread, which i moistened in hot water, for i heard that in boiling it loses its bitter flavour. i was prepared to endure all until we could meet with a little rain-water--i was terrified by the condition of my companions all suffering from violent diarrhoea. some turkomans, especially the kervanbashi, were much suspected of having concealed some of the necessary liquid; but who dared to speak out his thought when every design upon his {110} water-skin would be considered as a design upon the life of its owner, and when a man would have been regarded as out of his senses who should have asked another for a loan of water or present of water? this evening my appetite left me. i had not the slightest craving even for the smallest piece of bread: my sensations were those of extreme debility; the heat of the day was indescribable. my strength was gone, and i was lying there extended, when i perceived that all were pressing round the kervanbashi; they made a sign to me also to approach. the words 'water, water,' gave me fresh vigour. i sprang up; how overjoyed and how surprised i was when i saw the kervanbashi dealing out to each member of the karavan about two glasses of the precious liquid. the honest turkoman told us that for years it had been his practice in the desert to keep concealed a considerable quantity, and this he doled out when he knew that it would be most acceptable; that this would be a great sevab (act of piety), for a turkoman proverb says, 'that a drop of water to the man thirsty in the wilderness washes away a hundred years' sins.' it is as impossible to measure the degree of the benefit as to describe the enjoyment of such a draught! i felt myself fully satisfied, and imagined that i could again hold out three days! the water had been replenished, but not my bread. debility and want of appetite had rendered me somewhat careless, and i thought that i could employ for firing, not the wood which was at a little distance, but the camels' dung. i had not collected enough. i placed the dough in the hot ashes, and it was not till after half an hour that i discovered the insufficiency of the heat. i hastened {111} to fetch wood, which i set on fire; it was now dark, and the kervanbashi called out to me, demanding, 'if i wanted to betray the karavan to the robbers.' so i was obliged to extinguish the fire, and to remove my bread, which was not only not leavened, but was only half baked. the next morning, may 23, our station was koymat ata. it had formerly a well, now dried up; no great loss, for the water, like that from all the other wells in the district, was undrinkable. unfortunately the heat, particularly in the forenoon, was really unendurable. the rays of the sun often warm the dry sand to the depth of a foot, and the ground becomes so hot, that even the wildest inhabitant of central asia, whose habits make him scorn all covering for the feet, is forced to bind a piece of leather under his soles, in the form of a sandal. what wonder if my refreshing draught of yesterday was forgotten, and i saw myself again a prey to the most fearful torments of thirst! at mid-day the kervanbashi informed us that we were now near the renowned place of pilgrimage and station named kahriman ata, and that to fulfil our pious duty we should dismount and walk on foot a quarter of an hour to the tomb of the saint. let the reader picture to himself my sufferings. weak and enfeebled from heat and thirst, i was forced to quit my seat, and join the procession of pilgrims, to march to a tomb situated on an elevation, at a distance of fifteen minutes' walk, where, with parched throat, i was expected to bellow forth telkin and passages from the koran, like one possessed. 'oh! (thought i) thou cruel saint, couldst thou not have got thyself interred elsewhere, to spare me the terrible martyrdom of this pilgrimage?' quite out of {112} breath, i fell down before the tomb, which was thirty feet long, and ornamented with rams' horns, the signs of supremacy in central asia. the kervanbashi recounted to us that the saint who therein reposed was a giant as tall as his grave was long; [footnote 24] that he had for countless years past defended the wells around from the attacks of evil spirits that sought to fill them up with stones. in the vicinity, several small graves are visible, the last resting-places of poor travellers, who in different parts of the desert have perished from the hands of robbers or from the fury of the elements. the news of wells under the protection of the saint overjoyed me. i hoped to find water that i could drink. i hastened so much that i really was the first to reach the place indicated. i soon perceived the well, which was like a brown puddle. i filled my hands; it was as if i had laid hold of ice. i raised the moisture to my lips. oh! what a martyrdom! not a drop could i swallow--so bitter, so salt, so stinking, was the ice-cold draught. my despair knew no bounds: it was the first time that i really felt anxiety for the result. [footnote 24: the orientals love to dignify their saints also with the attribute of bodily size. in persia i have remarked several giant graves; and even in constantinople, on the asiatic shore of the bosphorus, on the so-called mount of joshua, exists a long tomb which the turks venerate as that of the joshua of the bible, but the greeks as that of hercules.] {113} chapter viii. thunder gazelles and wild asses arrival at the plateau kaftankir ancient bed of oxus friendly encampment approach of horsemen gazavat entry into khiva malicious charge by afghan interview with khan author required to give specimen of turkish penmanship robes of honour estimated by human heads horrible execution of prisoners peculiar execution of women kungrat author's last benediction of the khan. _on n'y verra jamais que l'heroisme et la servitude_.--montesq., _esprit des lois_, 1. xvii. c. 6. _chiefs of the uzbek race waving their heron crests with martial grace_. moore, _veiled prophet_. [thunder; gazelles and wild asses] thunder, heard for hours at a distance, not coming near to us till midnight, and then only bringing a few heavy drops of rain, was the herald that announced to us the end of our torments. towards the morning of the 24th may we had reached the extreme boundary of the sand through which we had toiled during three days; we were now certain to find this day rain-water wherever we should meet a sub-soil of clay. the kervanbashi had found a confirmation of this hope in the traces of numbers of gazelles and wild asses; he did not betray his thoughts but hastened on, and was in effect the first happy one to discover with his ferret eyes, and to point out to the karavan, a little lake of rain-water. 'su! su!' (water, water) shouted all {114} for joy; and the mere sight, without wetting the lips, satisfied the craving and quieted our uneasiness. at noon we reached the spot. we afterwards found, in addition to our previous discovery, other pits filled with the sweetest water. i was one of the first to hurry thither with my skin and vessels--not to drink, but rather to collect the water before it was disturbed and converted into mire by the crowd. in half-an-hour everybody in a rapture was seated at his breakfast; it is quite impossible to convey an idea of the general delight. from this station, called deli ata, all the way to khiva our skins were constantly full, and henceforth our journey in the desert may be styled, if not an agreeable, at least free from uneasiness. in the evening we reached a spot where spring reigned in all its glory. we encamped in the midst of countless little lakes, surrounded as it were by garlands of meadows; it seemed a dream when i compared it with our encampment of the previous day. to complete our delight, we were here informed that all fear of a surprise, that we most dreaded, was at an end, but it was recommended that for this night we should still abstain from lighting fires. it must not be omitted that the sons of the desert ascribed the unexpected abundance of water solely to our pious hadji character. we filled our skins and started again in excellent spirits. [arrival at the plateau kaftankir] this evening we reached the trench for which we had so longed. on the further side of it is the plateau kaflankir (tiger field). it marks the commencement of the territory forming the khanat of khiva. {115} [ancient bed of oxus] a wearisome task for man and beast was the ascent, nearly 300 feet long, that led up to the plateau. i was told that its north side had an approach equally steep and high. the whole presents an extraordinary spectacle; the land on which we stand, as far as the eye can reach, seems to raise itself like an island out of the sea of sand. one cannot discern the limit either of the deep trench here or of that on the north-east; and if we can credit the assertion of the turkomans, both are _old channels of the oxus_, and kaflankir itself was formerly an island surrounded on all sides by these cuttings. certain, however, it is that the entire district is very distinguishable from the rest of the desert by its soil and vegetation, and the number of animals with which it abounds. we had before occasionally met with gazelles and wild asses, single and separate, but how astounded i was to find them here by hundreds and grazing in large herds. i think it was during the second day passed by us on the kaflankir, that we perceived, about noon, an immense cloud of dust rising toward the north. the kervanbashi and the turkomans all grasped their arms; the nearer it approached, the greater grew our anxiety. at last we could distinguish the whole moving mass; it seemed like a rank or column of squadrons on the point of charging. our guides lowered the points of their weapons. i strove to remain faithful to my oriental character and not to betray my curiosity, but my impatience knew no bounds; the cloud came nearer and nearer: at a distance of about fifty paces we heard a clatter as if a thousand practised horsemen had halted at the word of command. we saw a countless number of wild asses, animals in good condition and full of life, standing still, ranged in a well-formed line. they gazed intently at us a few moments, and then, probably discovering of how heterogeneous a character we were, they again betook themselves to their flight, hurrying with the swiftness of arrows towards the west. {116} observed from the side towards khiva, the elevated ground of the kaflankir has the appearance of a regular wall; its margin is parallel with the horizon, and as level as if it were only yesterday that the water had retired. from this point a day's march brought us, on the morning of may 28, to a lake named shor göl (salt sea), which forms a rectangle, and is twelve english miles in circumference. it was resolved that we should here make a halt of six hours to complete the gusl [footnote 25] prescribed to mahommedans, especially as this day was the festival of eidi kurban, one of the most famous holidays of islam. my companions loosed their knapsacks: each had his fresh shirt to put on; i alone was unprovided. hadji bilal wanted to lend me one, but i declined the proffered kindness, being firmly convinced that the greater my apparent poverty the less risk i should run. i could not refrain from laughing when for the first time i gazed upon myself in a glass, and contemplated my face covered with a thick crust of dirt and sand. true, i might have washed in many places in the desert, but i had purposely forborne in order that the coating might defend me from the burning sun; but the expedient had not altogether produced the desired effect, and many marks i shall retain all my life long to remind me of my sufferings. not i alone, but all {117} my comrades were disfigured by the teyemmün, [footnote 26] for believers are required to wash themselves with dust and sand, and so render themselves dirtier. after i had completed my toilette, i observed that my friends in comparison with me looked really like gentlemen. they compassionated me, and insisted upon lending me some articles of attire; thanking them i declined with the remark, that i should wait until the khan of khiva himself should dress me. [footnote 25: gusl is the ablution of the whole body, only in exceptional cases necessary. the ordinary washings before each of the five prayers of the day are called abdest in turkish, vudhu in arabic, and teharet in central asia.] [footnote 26: a substitute abdest prescribed by the prophet for use in the dry desert when no water can be obtained.] we passed now for four hours through a little thicket, called here yilghin, where we met an özbeg coming from khiva, who informed us as to the actual position of affairs there. however agreeable a surprise the sight of this horseman to us all, it was as nothing compared with the feeling experienced in beholding in the afternoon a few abandoned mud houses; for since quitting karatepe, on the frontiers of persia, i had not seen so much as a wall or other indication of a house. these had been inhabited a few years before, and were reckoned a portion of medemin, a village which stretches off in an easterly direction. this district had never been put under cultivation until mehemmed emin took it in hand fifteen years ago; on which account it bears its present designation, an abbreviation of his name. since the last war this village had lain waste and desolate, as we shall observe to be the case with many others in turkestan. this morning (29th may) it seemed to me that instead of following the direction to the north-east, in which khiva lies, we had changed our course directly to the north. i made enquiries and found that we {118} were taking a circuitous way for the sake of security. the özbeg, met yesterday, had warned us to be on our guard, for that the tchaudors were in open rebellion against the khan, and that their alamans were often making forays on these frontiers. [friendly encampment] this evening we continued our onward march, not without caution, and who happier than i when we next morning saw on our right hand and on our left groups of tents, and everywhere as we passed we were greeted with the most friendly cry of 'aman geldingiz' (welcome)! our comrade ilias, having friends amongst those encamped here, proceeded at once to fetch some warm bread and other kurban presents (holiday dainties). he came back richly laden, and shared amongst us flesh, bread, and kimis (a sharp acid drink made with mare's milk). although we only passed here one brief hour of repose, many god-fearing nomads approached us to realise by the pressure of our hands their holy aspirations. in return for four or five formulae i received a quantity of bread and several pieces of flesh of camel, horse, and sheep. [approach of horsemen] we crossed many yap (artificial trenches for irrigation), and arrived by midday at a deserted citadel named khanabad, whose high square walls had been visible at a distance of three miles. we passed there the afternoon and evening. the sun was glowing hot. how refreshing was it to slumber under the shade of the wall, although the bare earth was my bed, and a stone my pillow! we left khanabad, which is distant twenty-five miles from khiva, before daybreak, and were surprised during the whole day's march that we did not perceive a single tent. we even found ourselves in the evening below large hills of sand, and i fancied myself once more transported to the desert. {119} we were occupied taking our tea, when the camels sent to pasture began to run wildly about; we suspected some one was chasing them, when five horsemen came in sight, who proceeded immediately at a gallop towards our encampment. to exchange the tea-things for muskets, and to present a line of fire, was the work of an instant; the horsemen in the meantime approached slowly, and we discerned by the pace of the horses that fortunately we had mistaken, and that instead of having to deal with enemies we should have a friendly escort to accompany us as far as khiva. the next morning (30th may) we reached an özbeg village, belonging to akyap. and here the desert between gömüshtepe and khiva terminated entirely. the inhabitants of this village were the first ozbegs that i had an opportunity of seeing; we found them excellent people. in accordance with the practice of the country we visited their houses and reaped a rich harvest with our fatihas. i now again saw, after a long interval, some articles coming from the beloved west, and my heart leapt within me for joy. we might still have reached this day the habitation of ilias, for here begins a village [footnote 27] peopled by khivan yomuts, and called akyap, but our friend the cattle-dealer was a little indolent, or did not wish us to arrive unexpected guests; we consequently passed the night two leagues from his house at his uncle's, allahnazr bay, [footnote 28] who was a man in opulent circumstances, and gave {120} us a most hospitable and distinguished reception. this afforded an opportunity for ilias to inform his wife of our arrival. we made our formal entry next morning (1st june), a countless host of members of his family and relatives having first hastened to meet and welcome us. he offered me a neat tent for my habitation, but i preferred his garden, for there were trees, and for shade my soul pined! long was it since i had seen any! [footnote 27: village is here called aul or oram; it does not correspond with our idea of a number of continuous houses, but a district where the people belonging to one aul encamp and dwell in a scattered manner about their meadows and lands.] [footnote 28: bay or bi; in turkey, bey means a personage of distinction.] during my two days' sojourn amongst the half-civilised turkomans--by which i mean those who were only half settled, half fixed in their abodes--what most surprised me was the aversion these nomads have to everything in the form either of house or government. although they have dwelt now several centuries side by side with the ozbegs, they detest the manners and customs of the latter, avoid their company, and, although of kindred origin and tongue, an özbeg is as much a stranger in their eyes as a hottentot is in ours. [gazavat; entry into khiva] after we had taken a little repose, the karavan proceeded on its way to the capital. we traversed gazavat, where the weekly market was being held, and had a first glimpse at the khivan mode of living. we passed the night in a meadow, before sheikhlar kalesi. here i encountered a species of gnat, larger and more impudent than any i ever met with. we were plagued to death, both man and beast, the whole night long, and i was not therefore in the best of spirits when i was forced again to mount my camel in the morning without having for so many hours closed an eye. happily, we soon forgot what we had suffered from sleeplessness in the impression derived from the magnificent productions of spring. the vegetation {121} became more and more luxuriant and abundant the nearer we approached khiva. i, at first, thought that the only reason why khiva seemed so very beautiful was the contrast it presented with the desert, of which the terrible form still floated before my eyes. but, ah! the environs of khiva with its small havlis, [footnote 29] in the form of strongholds shaded by lofty poplars, with its fine meadows and rich fields, seem to me still, after i have visited the most charming countries of europe, as beautiful as ever. had the eastern poets tuned their lyres here, they would have found a more worthy theme than in the horrid wastes of persia! [footnote 29: havli means literally radius, but here taken in the sense of our word court. it contains the tents, the stalls, store-room for produce, and such like things which pertain to the homestead of an özbeg countryman.] even its capital, khiva, as it rises in the midst of these gardens, with its domes and minarets, makes a tolerably favourable impression when seen at a distance. a prominent feature is the projection of a tongue of barren earth belonging to the sandy desert of merv: it stretches to within a league of the city, as if to mark completely here, too, the sharply-defined contrast between life and death. this tongue of earth is known under the name of töyesitchti, and we were already before the gate of the city, and yet those sand-hills were still in sight. the reader will easily imagine in what a state my spirits were when i found myself before the walls of khiva, if he reflects on the risks to which any suspicion of my disguise would expose me, as soon as a first introduction should discover my european features. i was well aware that the khan of khiva, whose cruelty was displeasing to the tartars {122} themselves, would, in case he felt any distrust, become far severer to me than the other turkomans. i had heard that the khan was in the habit of at once making slaves of all strangers of doubtful character; that he had, not long before, so treated a hindustani, who claimed to be of princely origin, and who was now, like the other slaves, employed in dragging along the artillery carriages. my nerves were all strung to the highest point, but i was not intimidated. i had, from constant risk, become inured to it. death, the least serious result of my enterprise, had now been floating continually before my eyes for three months, and instead of trembling i considered how, on any pressing emergency, i might by some expedient get the better of the watchfulness of the superstitious tyrant. on the journey i had acquired exact information respecting all the distinguished khivites who had been in constantinople. they named to me oftenest a certain shükrullah bay, who had been in residence ten years at the court of the sultan. of his person i had a half recollection, for i had seen him several times at the house of ali pasha, the present minister of foreign affairs. this shükrullah bay, thought i, only knows stamboul and its language, its manners and its great personages: whether he will or not, i must compel him to admit a previous knowledge of me, and as i can deceive, personating the stambouli, the stambouli himself, the ex-ambassador of the khan of khiva, will never be able to disavow me, and must serve my purpose. [malicious charge by afghan] at the very entrance of the gate we were met by several pious khivites, who handed up to us bread and dried fruits as we sat upon our camels. for years so numerous a troop of hadjis had not arrived {123} in khiva. all stared at us in astonishment, and the exclamations 'aman eszen geldin ghiz' (welcome)! 'ha shah bazim! ha arszlanim!' (ah, my falcon, my lion!) resounded on all sides in our ears. on entering the bazaar, hadji bilal intoned a telkin. my voice was heard above them all, and i felt real emotion when the people impressed their kisses upon my hands and feet--yes, upon the very rags which hung from me. in accordance with the custom of the country we dismounted at the karavanserai. this served also as a custom-house, where the new arrivals of men and merchandise are subjected to severe examination. the testimony of the chiefs of the karavans have, as is natural, the greatest weight in the balance. the functions of chief of the customs are filled in khiva by the principal mehrem (a sort of chamberlain and confidant of the khan). scarcely had this official addressed the ordinary questions to our kervanbashi, when the afghan pressed forward and called out aloud, 'we have brought to khiva three interesting quadrupeds and a no less interesting biped.' the first part of this pleasantry was, of course, applied to the buffaloes, animals not before seen in khiva; but as the second part was pointed at me, it was no wonder that many eyes were immediately turned upon me, and amidst the whispering it was not difficult to distinguish the words 'djansiz' [footnote 30] (spy), 'frenghi,' and 'urus' (russian). [footnote 30: from the arabic word djasus (spy).] i made an effort to prevent the blood rising to my cheeks, and was upon the point of withdrawing when the mehrem ordered me to remain. he applied himself to my case, using exceedingly uncivil expressions. i was about to reply, when hadji salih, whose exterior {124} inspired respect, came in, and, entirely ignorant of what had passed, represented me in the most flattering colours to my inquisitor, who, surprised, told me, smiling as he did so, to take a seat by his side. hadji salih made a sign to me to accept the invitation, but, assuming the air of one highly offended, and throwing an angry look upon the mehrem, i retired. my first step was to go to shükrullah bay, who, without filling any functions, occupied a cell at that time in the medresse of mehemmed emin-khan, the finest edifice in khiva. i announced myself to him as an efendi arrived from stamboul, with the observation that i had made his acquaintance there, and had wished, in passing, to wait upon him. the arrival of an efendi in khiva, an occurrence so unprecedented, occasioned the old man some surprise. he came forward himself to meet me, and his wonder increased when he saw a mendicant, terribly disfigured and in rags, standing before him: not that this prevented him from admitting me. i had only interchanged a few words with him, in the dialect of stamboul, when, with ever-increasing eagerness, he put question upon question concerning his numerous friends in the turkish capital, and the recent doings and position of the ottoman empire since the accession of the present sultan. as i before said, i was fully confident in the part i was playing. on his side, shükrullah bay could not contain himself for joy when i gave him news of his acquaintances there in detail. still he felt not the less astonishment. 'in god's name, efendi, what induced you to come to this fearful country, and to come to us too from that paradise on earth, from stamboul?' sighing, i exclaimed, 'ah, pir!' (spiritual chief), laid one hand on my {125} eyes, a sign of obedience, and the excellent old man, a musselman of tolerably good education, could not misapprehend my meaning, i.e. that i belonged to some order of dervishes, and had been sent by my pir (chief of my order) upon a journey, which is a duty that every murid (disciple of an order of dervishes) must fulfil at the hazard of his life. my explanation rejoiced him; he but asked the name of the order. on my mentioning the nakishbendi, he at once understood that bokhara was the aim of my journey. he wished immediately to obtain for me quarters in the medresse before named, but i mentioned at the same time my situation with respect to my companions. i then almost immediately withdrew, with the promise soon to repeat my visit. on returning to the karavanserai, i was told that my fellow-travellers had already found lodgings in a tekkie, a sort of convent where travelling dervishes put up, called töshebaz. [footnote 31] i proceeded thither, and found that they had also reserved and got ready a cell for me. scarcely was i again in their midst when they questioned me as to the cause of my delaying to rejoin them; all expressed their regret at my not having been present when the wretched afghan, who had wished so to compromise me, had been obliged to beat a retreat, loaded with curses and reproaches, not only by them, but by the khivites. 'very good,' thought i, 'the popular suspicion removed, it will be easy enough to deal with the khan, for he will be immediately informed of my arrival by shükrullah bay; and as the rulers of khiva have ever evinced the {126} greatest respect for the sultan, the present sovereign will certainly venture a step towards an efendi; nay, it is not impossible that the first man from constantinople who has come to kharezm (the political name of khiva) may even be treated with particular distinction. [footnote 31: so called from tört shahbaz, which means the four falcons or heroes, as the four kings are designated whose tomb is here, and who gave rise to the pious establishment.] my anticipations did not deceive me. the next day there came a yasaul (officer of the court), bringing to me a small present from the khan, with the order that i should in the evening go to the ark (palace), 'as the hazret' (a title of sovereignty in central asia, corresponding with our expression, majesty) 'attached great importance to receiving the blessing from a dervish born in the holy land.' i promised compliance, betook myself an hour previously to shükrullah bay; and as he was desirous of being himself present at the interview, he accompanied me to the palace of the king, which was in his immediate vicinity, giving me, on the way, counsel as to the ceremonies to be observed in my interview. he also told me of the bad footing in which he himself stood with the mehter (a sort of minister of the home department), who feared him as a rival, and neglected nothing to do him an injury, and who, owing to my being introduced by him, would not perhaps give me the most friendly reception. as the kushbeghi and the elder brother of the king were commanding in the field against the tchaudors, the mehter was provisionally the first official minister of the khan. both usage and necessity forced me to begin by paying him my respects, for his office was in a hall in a forecourt at the very gate that leads directly to the khan's apartments. {127} [interview with khan] as at this hour there was almost every day an arz (public audience), the principal entrance, as well as all the other chambers of the royal residence traversed by us, were crowded with petitioners of every class, sex, and age. they were attired in their ordinary dresses, and many women had even children in their arms, waiting to obtain a hearing; for no one is required to inscribe his name, and he who has managed to force his way first is first admitted. the crowd, however, gave way for us on all sides; and it was a source of great satisfaction to hear the women, whilst pointing to me, saying to one another, 'behold the dervish from constantinople, who is to give his blessing to our khan. may god give ear to his words!' i found the mehter, as i had been told, in a hall surrounded by his officers, who accompanied every word of their lord with approving smiles. it was easy to distinguish, by his brown complexion and his long thick beard falling down to his breast, that he was sart (of persian origin). his clumsy dress and his great fur cap especially suited his rough features admirably. as he saw me approach he spoke a few words laughingly to those around him. i went straight up, saluted him with a serious expression of countenance, and assumed at once the place of honour in the company, belonging of right to the dervishes. i uttered the usual prayers, and after all had added the amen with the ordinary stroking of the beard, the customary civilities were interchanged with the mehter. the minister was desirous of showing his wit, and remarked that even dervishes in constantinople were well educated, and spoke arabic (although i had only made use of the stambouli dialect). he proceeded to say that the hazret (his majesty)--and here every {128} one rose from his seat--desired to see me, and that 'he would be glad to hear that i had brought with me a few lines from the sultan or his ambassador in teheran.' whereupon i observed that my journey had no secular object, that i wanted nothing from any one; but that for my personal security i had with me a firman, bearing at the top the tugra (seal of the sultan). i then handed to him my printed pass. on receiving this sign of paramount sovereignty, he kissed it reverently, rubbed it on his forehead, rose to place it in the hands of the khan, and, returning almost immediately, told me to step into the hall of audience. i was preceded by shükrullah, and was constrained to wait a few moments until the necessary preparations had been made; for although i was announced as a dervish, my introducer had not neglected to draw attention to the fact that i was acquainted with all the pashas of distinction in constantinople, and that it was desirable to leave upon me as imposing an impression as possible. after the lapse of a few moments my arms were held with every demonstration of respect by two yasaul. the curtain was rolled up, and i saw before me seid mehemmed khan, padishahi kharezm, or, as he would be styled in ordinary prose, the khan of khiva, on a sort of elevation, or dais, with his left arm supported upon a round silk velvet pillow, and his right holding a short golden sceptre. according to the ceremonial prescribed, i raised my hands, being imitated in the act by the khan and the others present, recited a short sura from the koran; then two allahumu sella, and a usual prayer beginning with the words 'allahumu rabbena,' and concluding with a loud amen and stroking of the beard. whilst the khan was still stroking his beard, each of {129} the rest exclaimed, 'kabul bolgay!' (may thy prayer be heard). i approached the sovereign, who extended his hands to me, and after we had duly executed our musafeha, [footnote 32] i retired a few paces and the ceremonial was at an end. the khan now began to question me respecting the object of my journey, and the impression made upon me by the desert, the turkomans, and khiva. i replied that i had suffered much, but that my sufferings were now richly rewarded by the sight of the hazrets djemal (beauty of his majesty). 'i thank allah,' i said, 'that i have been allowed to partake this high happiness, and discern in this special favour of kismet (fate) a good prognostic for my journey to come.' although i laboured to make use of the özbeg dialect instead of that of stamboul, which was not understood here, the king was, nevertheless, obliged to have much translated for him. he asked me how long i proposed to stay, and if i was provided with the necessary journey expenses. i replied that i wished first to visit the sunnite saints who repose in the soil of the khanat, and that i should then prepare for my journey further on. with respect to my means, i said, 'we dervishes do not trouble ourselves with such trifles. the holy nefes (breath) which my pir (chief of my order) had imparted to me for my journey can support me four or five days without any nourishment,' and that i had no other wish than that god would permit his majesty to live a hundred and twenty years! [footnote 32: musafeha is the greeting prescribed by the koran, accompanied by the reciprocal extension of the open hands.] {130} my words seemed to have given satisfaction, for his royal highness was pleased to order that i should be presented with twenty ducats and a stout ass. i declined the ducats with the remark that for a dervish it was a sin to keep money; thanked him, however, warmly for the second part of his most gracious favour, but begged permission to draw his attention to the holy commandment which prescribed a white ass for pilgrimages, and entreated him therefore to vouchsafe me such a one. i was on the point of withdrawing when the khan desired that, at least during my short stay in the capital, i should be his guest, and consent to take for my daily board two tenghe (about one franc and fifty centimes) from his haznadar. i thanked him heartily, concluded by giving my blessing, and withdrew. i hurried home through the waving crowds in the forecourt and the bazaar, whilst all encountered me with the respectful 'selam aleïkum.' when i found myself again alone within the four walls of my cell i drew a long breath, not a little pleased to find that the khan, who in appearance was so fearfully dissolute, and who presents in every feature of his countenance the real picture of an enervated, imbecile, and savage tyrant, had behaved to me in a manner so unexceptionable; and that, so long as my time permitted, i could now traverse the khanat in all directions unmolested. during the whole evening i had floating before me the picture of the khan with his deep-set eyes, with his chin thinly covered with hair, his white lips, and trembling voice. 'what a happy fatality,' i repeated to myself, 'that gloomy superstition often imposes limits to the might and blood-thirstiness of such tyrants!' as i proposed making extensive excursions into the interior, i was desirous as far as possible to shorten my stay in the capital. what was most worth seeing {131} might quickly be despatched, had not repeated invitations of the khan, of the officials, and of the most distinguished of the mercantile community, robbed me of so much time. after it was known that i shared the favour of royalty, everybody wanted to have me as guest, and with me all the other hadjis. what a torture this to me, to have daily to accept six, seven, or eight invitations, and to comply with the usage by taking something in every house. my hair stands on end at the recollection how often i was forced to seat myself, between three and four o'clock in the morning, before sunrise, opposite a colossal dish of rice swimming in the fat of the sheep tail, which i was to assail as if my stomach was empty. how, upon such occasions, i again longed for the dry unleavened bread of the desert, and how willingly i would have exchanged this deadly luxury for wholesome poverty! in central asia it is the practice, even on the occasion of an ordinary visit, to set before you the desturkhan (a napkin of coarse linen and of a variety of colours, for the most part dirty). in this enough bread is generally placed for two persons, and the guest is to eat some pieces of this. 'to be able to eat no more,' is an expression regarded by the central asiatic as incredible, or, at least, as indicating low breeding. my pilgrim brethren always gave brilliant proofs of their _bon ton_. my only wonder is that they could support the heavy pilow, for upon one occasion i reckoned that each of them had devoured one pound of fat from the tail of the sheep, two pounds of rice, without taking any account of bread, carrots, turnips, and radishes; and all this washed down, without any exaggeration, by from fifteen to twenty large soup plates full of green tea. in such heroic feats i {132} was naturally a coward; and it was the astonishment of every one that i, so well versed in books, should have acquired only a half acquaintance with the requisites of polite breeding! another source of torment to me not less considerable was that of the _beaux-esprits_ of the ulemas of the city of khiva. these gentlemen, who give the preference to turkey and constantinople beyond all other places, were desirous of receiving from me, the standard of turkish islamite learning, an explanation of many mesele (religious questions). oh! how warm those thick-headed ozbegs made me, with their colossal turbans, when they opened a conversation concerning the prescriptions as to the mode of washing hands, feet, face, and occiput; and how a man should, in obedience to his holy religion, sit, walk, lie, and sleep, etc. the sultan (a recognised successor of mohammed) and his grandees are accounted in khiva the practical examples of all these important laws. his majesty the emperor of turkey is here designated as a musselman, whose turban is at least 50 ells in length, whose beard extends below his breast, and his robe to his toes. a man might place his life in jeopardy who should assert the fact that the sultan has head and beard shaved _à la_ fiesko, and clothes made for him at paris by dusetoye. i was often really sorry to be unable to give to these people, often persons very amiable, the satisfactory explanation they seemed to require; and how, indeed, could i have ventured upon such explanation, standing, as we do, in such direct contrast and opposition! the töshebaz or convent that gave us shelter, from the great reservoir of water and mosque which it encloses, was looked upon in the light of a public place: {133} the court consequently swarmed always with visitors of both sexes. the özbeg in his high round fur hat, great thick boots of leather, walks about merely in a long shirt, in summer a favourite undress. this i myself adopted afterwards, as i found it was not regarded as indecent, so long as the shirt retained its whiteness, even to appear with it in the bazaar. the women wear lofty globular turbans, consisting of from fifteen to twenty russian kerchiefs. they are forced, striding along, in spite of all the overpowering heat, muffled in large gowns, and with their coarse boots, to drag to their houses heavy pitchers full of water. ah, i see them now! many a time one remains standing at my door, entreating for a little khaki shifa (health dust [footnote 33]), or a nefes (holy breath) for the real or feigned ill of which she complains. i have it not in my heart to refuse these poor creatures, many of whom bear a striking resemblance to the daughters of germany. she cowers before my door: i touch, moving my lips at the same time as if in prayer, the suffering part of the body; and after having thrice breathed hard upon her, a deep sigh is uttered, and my part is done. many in these cases persist that they perceive an instantaneous alleviation of their malady! [footnote 33: this the pilgrims bring back with them from a house in medina, affirmed to have been the prophet's. it is used by the believers of the true faith as a medicine for many different maladies.] what in europe idlers seek in coffee-houses they find in khiva in the courts of the mosques. these have in most cases a reservoir of water, and are shaded by the finest palms and elm-trees. although at the beginning of june the heat was here unusually oppressive, {134} i was nevertheless forced to keep my cell, although it was without windows, for immediately i issued forth and betook myself to the inviting shade, i was surrounded by a crowd, and plagued to death with the most stupid enquiries. one wanted religious instruction; another asked if the world offered elsewhere places as beautiful as khiva; a third wished, once for all, to receive authentic information whether the great sultan really had his each day's dinner and supper forwarded to him from mecca, and whether they passed to his palace from the kaaba in one minute. ah! if the good ozbegs only knew how much chateau lafitte and margot garnished the sovereign's table in the reign of abdul medjid! amongst the acquaintance made by me here, under the elm trees, an interesting one resulted from my meeting with hadji ismael, represented to me as a stambouli; and, indeed, so like one in speech, demeanour, and dress, that i was obliged to accept and tenderly embrace him as my countryman! hadji ismael had, it seems, passed twenty-five years in the turkish capital, was intimate in many good houses, and asserted that he had seen me in such and such a house, and at such and such a time. he even insisted that it was no effort for him to remember my father, who was a mollah, he said, in topkhane. [footnote 34] far from charging him with impudent mendacity, i assured him, on the contrary, that he had himself left a good name behind him in stamboul, and that every one awaited his return with impatience. according to his account, hadji ismael had carried on, on the shore of the bosphorus, the business of tutor, proprietor of baths, leather-cutter, caligraphist, chemist, and, {135} consequently, also of conjuror. in his native city, they had a high opinion of him, particularly with reference to his last-named capacity; he had in his house several little apparatuses for distillation, and as he was in the habit of pressing out the oil from leaves, fruits, and other similar substances, it is easy to conceive that his countrymen applied to him for a variety of elixirs. the maadjun (decoctions) used in case of 'impuissance,' and favourite remedies in turkey and persia, are here in the highest consideration. hadji ismael had long placed his art at the disposal of the khan, but his majesty had neglected the requisite diet, for the simple reason that he was too weak to resist the darts of the boy god. debility and gout naturally ensued. the khan grew angry with the court physician, gave him his dismissal, and named in his place a matron renowned for her marvellous success with her patients. [footnote 34: one of the quarters of constantinople. ] the good woman had the happy idea to prescribe to the sick khan five hundred doses of that medicine said to have worked such beneficial effect upon the renowned poet-monarch of ancient history. the making up of such a prescription would not be found so easy in europe, but the provisions of the khivan constitution afforded facilities, and the poor patient, after having taken from fifty to sixty of these pills, began to observe that they produced a directly contrary effect. the evil counsel cost the counsellor her head. this had occurred not long before our arrival. the last medical prescription had been the buffalo milk already mentioned. during my stay in khiva, the khan wanted to reinstate hadji ismael in his functions of conjuror, doctor, and powder-maker; the latter, however, declined to resume them, an audacity {136} which he would have certainly paid for with his life, had the superstitious monarch been courageous enough to go near his wonder-working subject. in khiva, in the meantime, my hadji business throve, both with me and my colleagues. in this place alone i collected fifteen ducats. the khivan özbeg, although but rough-hewn, is the finest character of central asia, and i may style my sojourn amongst his race here as most agreeable, were it not that the rivalry between the mehter and shükrullah made me incur some danger, the former being always disposed, from hostility to my introducer, to do me harm; and as he could no longer question the genuineness of my turkish character, he began to insinuate to the khan that i was only a sham dervish, probably sent upon some secret mission by the sultan to bokhara. [author required to give specimen of turkish penmanship.] informed of the progress of this intrigue, i was not at all astonished, soon after my first audience with the khan, to receive a second invitation. the weather was intensely hot. i did not like to be disturbed in my hour of repose, but what i liked least of all was to be obliged to cross the square of the castle, whither the prisoners taken in the campaign against the tchaudors had been sent, and where they were to be executed. the khan, who was numerously attended, told me that he had heard i was also versed in worldly sciences, and possessed a beautiful florid insha (style); he added that i must write him a few lines in stambouli fashion, which he would like much to see. knowing that this had been suggested by the mehter, who enjoyed himself the reputation of being a caligraphist, and had elicited the fact of my accomplishment from the hadjis, i took the proffered writing materials and wrote the following lines:-{137} _literally translated._ most majestic, mighty, dread king and sovereign! immersed in thy royal favour, the poorest and humblest of thy servants keeping before his eyes (the arabian proverb) [footnote 35] that 'all beautiful penmen are fools,' has until this day very little devoted himself to the study of caligraphy, and only because he calls to mind (a persian proverb), that 'every failing which pleases the king is a virtue,' does he venture to hand to him most submissively these lines. [footnote 35: doctores male pingunt.] the extravagant sublimity of the titles, which are, however, still in use in constantinople, delighted the khan. the mehter was too stupid to understand my sarcasm. i was ordered to take a seat, and after having been offered tea and bread, the khan invited me to converse with him. the subject to-day was exclusively political. to remain true to my dervish character, i forced them to press every word out of me. the mehter watched each expression, wishing to see the confirmation of his suspicions. all his trouble was fruitless. the khan, after graciously dismissing me, ordered me to take the money for my daily support from the treasurer. [horrible execution of prisoners] on my saying that i did not know where he dwelt, they then gave me a yasaul for escort, who had also other commissions to execute; and terrible indeed is the recollection of the scenes to which i was witness in his presence. in the last court i found about three hundred tchaudors, prisoners of war, covered with rags; they were so tormented by the dread of their approaching fate, and by the hunger which they had endured several days, that they looked as if they {138} had just risen from their graves. they were separated into two divisions, namely, such as had not yet reached their fortieth year, and were to be sold as slaves, or to be made use of as presents, and such as from their rank or age were regarded as aksakals (grey beards) or leaders, and who were to suffer the punishment imposed by the khan. the former, chained together by their iron collars in numbers of ten to fifteen, were led away; the latter submissively awaited the punishment awarded. they looked like lambs in the hands of their executioners. whilst several were led to the gallows or the block, i saw how, at a sign from the executioner, eight aged men placed themselves down on their backs upon the earth. they were then bound hand and foot, and the executioner gouged out their eyes in turn, kneeling to do so on the breast of each poor wretch; and after every operation he wiped his knife, dripping with blood, upon the white beard of the hoary unfortunate. ah! cruel spectacle! as each fearful act was completed, the victim liberated from his bonds, groping around with his hands, sought to gain his feet! some fell against each other, head against head; others sank powerless to the earth again, uttering low groans, the memory of which will make me shudder as long as i live. however dreadful these details may seem to the reader, they must still be told that this cruelty was only a retaliation for a no less barbarous act committed by the tchaudors last winter upon an özbeg karavan. it was a rich one, composed of two thousand camels, which, on its way from orenburg to khiva, was surprised and entirely plundered. the turkomans, {139} greedy of booty, although they had taken possession of stores of russian merchandise, despoiled the travellers (for the most part khivan ozbegs) of their victuals and clothes, so that they died in the middle of the desert, some of hunger and others of cold; only eight out of sixty contrived to save their lives. [peculiar execution of women] a treatment of prisoners such as i have described is indeed horrible; but it is not to be regarded as an exceptional case. in khiva, as well as in the whole of central asia, wanton cruelty is unknown; the whole proceeding is regarded as perfectly natural, and usage, law, and religion all accord in sanctioning it. the present khan of khiva wanted to signalise himself as a protector of religion, and believed he should succeed by punishing with the greatest severity all offences against it. to have cast a look upon a thickly-veiled lady, sufficed for the offender to be executed by the redjm according as religion directs. the man is hung, and the woman is buried up to the breast in the earth near the gallows, and there stoned to death. as in khiva there are no stones, they use kesek (hard balls of earth). at the third discharge, the poor victim is completely covered with dust, and the body, dripping with blood, is horribly disfigured, and the death which ensues alone puts an end to her torture. the khan has affixed the punishment of death, not only to adultery, but to other offences against religion, so that in the first years of his reign, the ulemas were even obliged to cool his religious zeal; still no day passes, but some one is led away from an audience with the khan, hearing first the fatal words pronounced, which are his doom, 'alib barin' (away with him). {140} [robes of honour estimated by human heads] i had almost forgotten to mention that the yasaul led me to the treasurer to receive the sum for my daily board. my claim was soon settled; but this personage was engaged in so singular an occupation that i must not omit to particularise it. he was assorting the khilat (robes of honour) which were to be sent to the camp, to reward those who had distinguished themselves. they consisted of about four kinds of silken coats with staring colours, and large flowers worked in them in gold. i heard them styled four-headed, twelve-headed, twenty-headed, and forty-headed coats. as i could see upon them no heads at all in painting or embroidery, i demanded the reason of the appellation, and i was told that the most simple coats were a reward for having cut off four heads of enemies, and the most beautiful a recompense for forty heads, and that they were now being forwarded to the camp. some one proceeded to tell me 'that if this was not an usage in roum, i ought to go next morning to the principal square, where i should be a witness of this distribution.' accordingly, the next morning i did really see about a hundred horsemen arrive from the camp covered with dust. each of them brought at least one prisoner with him, and amongst the number, children and women, also bound either to the tail of the horse or to the pommel of the saddle; besides all which, he had buckled behind him a large sack containing the heads of his enemies, the evidence of his heroic exploits. on coming up he handed over the prisoners as presents to the khan, or some other great personage, then loosened his sack, seized it by the two lower corners, as if he were about to empty potatoes, and there rolled the bearded or beardless heads before the accountant, who kicked them together with his {141} feet until a large heap was composed, consisting of several hundreds. each hero had a receipt given to him for the number of heads delivered, and a few days later came the day of payment. [illustration] receiving payment for human heads--khiva. in spite of these barbarous usages, in spite of these startling scenes, it was in khiva and its dependent provinces that i passed, in my incognito as a dervish, the most agreeable days of my whole journey. if the hadjis were met by the inhabitants in a friendly manner, to me they were exceedingly kind. i had only to appear in public when passers by, without any begging on my part, absolutely pelted me with many articles of attire and other presents. i took care never to accept considerable sums. i shared these articles of attire amongst my less fortunate brethren, always yielding to them what was best and handsomest, and reserving for myself, as became a dervish, what was poorest and least pretending. notwithstanding this, a great change had taken place in my position, and, to avow it openly, i saw with joy that i was now well furnished with a strong ass, with money, clothing, and provisions, and that i was perfectly equipped for my journey. [kungrat] what happened to me in my excursions, which extended as far as kungrat, would afford ample matter to swell my book with two additional chapters. in four days and a half going down the oxus [footnote 36] i reached kungrat, and the return journey by land took us twice the time. the two banks, with the exception of that part of the left one where, opposite to kanli, rises the mountain oveis karayne, is flat, and on an average well cultivated and peopled. between kanli {142} and kungrat there is a desert, lasting three days' journey; the opposite bank, on the contrary, particularly where the karakalpak dwell, is covered by primaeval forests. on my return to khiva i found my friends tired of waiting; they urged me to quit khiva the very next day, as the heat, which was increasing in intensity, inspired just apprehensions for our journey to bokhara. i went to take my leave of shükrullah bay, to whom during my stay in khiva i had been under so much obligation. i was really deeply moved to see how the excellent old man tried to dissuade me from my purpose, sketching to me the most horrible picture of bokhara sherif (noble bokhara). he pictured to me the policy of the emir as suspicious and treacherous--a policy not only hostile to englishmen but to all foreigners,--and then he told me as a great secret, that a few years before even an osmanli, sent by the late reshid pasha to bokhara as a military instructor, had been treacherously murdered by order of the emir, when he was desirous, after a stay of two years, to return to stamboul. [footnote 36: the upward navigation of the oxus from kungrat to khiva takes 18 days.] this warm dissuasion of shükrullah bay, who at first had the most confident belief in my dervish character, surprised me extremely. i began to think, 'this man, if he is not sure of my identity, still having seen more of me, has penetrated my incognito, and now perhaps has some widely different idea and suspicion.' the excellent old man had in his younger days been sent in 1839 to herat to major todd, and had also been several times to st. petersburg. he had often, as he told me, frequented in constantinople the society of the frenghi, a source of great pleasure to him. what if, entertaining some idea of our real way of thinking--of our efforts in a scientific direction-{143} he had from some peculiar feeling of benevolence taken me under his protection? when i bade him farewell i saw a tear in his eye--a tear, who knows by what feeling dictated? [author's last benediction of the khan.] to the khan also i gave a final blessing. he enjoined me to return by khiva, for he wanted to send an envoy with me to constantinople, to receive at the hands of the new sultan the usual investiture of his khanat. my reply was 'kismet,' which means that it was a sin to think of the future. we shall see what fate had in store. bidding farewell to all my friends and acquaintances, i left khiva, after having sojourned there nearly a month. {144} chapter ix. from khiva to bokhara. departure from khiva for bokhara ferry across the oxus great heat shurakhan market singular dialogue with kirghis woman on nomadic life tünüklü alaman of the tekke karavan alarmed returns to tünüklü forced to throw itself into the desert, 'destroyer of life' thirst death of camels death of a hadji stormy wind precarious state of author hospitable reception amongst persian slaves first impression of bokhara the noble. _et nous marchions à l'heure de midi traversant les souffles brûlants et empestés qui mettent en fusion les fibres du cerveau_. . . _je m'enfonce dans une plaine poussièreuse dont le sable agité ressemble à un vêtement rayé_.--victor hugo, from _omaïah ben aiëdz_. [departure from khiva for bokhara] at last, having got all ready for our journey, we gradually assembled in the well-shaded court of töshebaz. i was able that day for the first time fully to appreciate the influence that the pious charity of the khivites had exercised upon our mendicant karavan. it was only in the case of the more stingy that we could discern any traces of their former rags: in the place of the torn felt caps, worn amongst the yomuts, my friends had donned the snow-white turban; all the knapsacks were better filled; and what was most pleasing to see was, that even the poorest of the pilgrims had now his small ass to ride upon. my {145} position was greatly changed, for i had the use of an ass, and half a share in a camel too; the former i was to ride, the latter i was to employ for the transport of my travelling bag containing my clothes (in the strict plural sense), a few mss. i had purchased, and my provisions. i no longer carried, as i had done in the desert, merely black flour; but white pogatcha (small cakes baked in the fat of mutton), rice, butter, and even sugar. i still preferred retaining the same dress. true i had come into possession of a shirt, but i took care not to put it on; it might have rendered me effeminate, and it was too soon to indulge in any such luxury. from khiva to bokhara we had the option between three routes, (a) by hezaresp and fitnek, crossing the oxus at kükurtli; (b) by khanka and shurakhan on its right bank, with two days of desert from the oxus to karaköl; and (c) up the river by water, and then, disembarking at eltchig, proceeding through the desert to karaköl. as we had decided to go by land, our kervanbashi's tadjik from bokhara, named aymed, left it to us to choose between the first two ways. we had, in company with a dealer in clothes from khiva, hired the camels from aymed, and the latter had recommended us the route by khanka as, at this period of the year, the safest and easiest. it was on a monday late in the afternoon when we suspended the functions of conferrers of blessings, and extricated ourselves from the embraces that seemed as if they never would end, and quitted khiva by the ürgendj gate. many, whose zeal was transcendental, ran for half a league after us; their feeling of devotion forced tears from their eyes, and full of {146} despair we heard them exclaim, 'who knows when khiva will again have the great good fortune to harbour in her walls so many pious men!' my colleagues, seated up aloft on their camels, were not again disturbed; but i, on my ass below, was repeatedly visited with active evidence of their friendship, until even my steed could no longer endure it, and, to my great delight, galloped of with me: and it was not until i was far beyond their reach that i thought it proper to recommend him greater steadiness. i was obliged, however, to tug a long time at the reins before i could induce my long-eared hippogriff to change his headlong career into a more sober yet still somewhat rapid trot; when i sought to moderate this still further, he began to show temper, and, for the first time, emitted a distracting cry, the richness, pliancy, and fulness of which i should have preferred criticising at a little farther distance. we passed the first night in godje, distant two miles from khiva. in spite of its insignificance it possesses a kalenterkhane (quarters for dervishes); we meet with such in khiva and khokand, even in the smallest hamlets. hence to khanka we traversed a country uninterruptedly under cultivation: along the whole way we saw excellent mulberry trees; and as my ass continued of good courage, and kept his place in advance of the karavan, i had time in passing to regale myself with berries as large and as thick as my thumb. still keeping the lead, i was the first to reach khanka; it was the weekly market. i dismounted at the kalenterkhane at the furthermost end of the town, situated upon the bank of a rivulet, and, as usual, well shaded by poplar and elm trees. {147} i found here two half-naked dervishes on the point of swallowing down their noonday dose of opium; they offered me a little portion also, and were astonished to find me decline. they then prepared tea for me, and whilst i drank it, they took their own poisonous opiate, and in half an hour were in the happy realms; then, although i saw in the features of one slumberer traces of internal gladness, i detected in those of the other convulsive movements picturing the agony of death. i should have liked to remain, to hear from their own lips on awaking an account of their dreams; but our karavan was just then passing, and i was obliged to join it, for as it takes hardly an hour to reach the bank of the oxus from here, time was important if, as we intended, we were to cross the same day. unluckily for us, this part of the way was very bad; we did not get out of the mud and marshy ground until evening was drawing in; and we consequently determined to pass the night in the open air on the bank of the river. the breadth of the oxus was here so great that both banks were hardly distinguishable at the same time; this was probably owing to the season, for its waters were swollen, and covered a greater surface from the abundant supplies it had received in the spring. its yellow waves and tolerably rapid current presented a spectacle not without interest to my eye. the nearer bank is crowned far away to the horizon with trees, and with farms. one discovers on the further side also of the river, far in the interior, marks of cultivation, and towards the north the ovëis karaayne mountain appears like a cloud suspended perpendicularly from heaven. the water of the {148} oxus in its proper bed is not so drinkable as in the canals and cuttings, where by its long passage the sand has had time to settle. in this place the water grits under the teeth, just as if you had taken a bite of a sand cake, and it must be allowed to stand some moments before it can be used. as for its quality of sweetness and good flavour, the inhabitants of turkestan are of opinion that there is no river on the earth comparable to it, not even the nile, mubarek (the blessed). at first i thought that this good flavour proceeded rather from fancy wrought up to a fit of enthusiasm on reaching its banks after having traversed the thirsty waterless desert. but no, the idea is founded on error; and i must admit myself that, as far as my experience of water extends, i have never found river or source that yielded any so precious as that of the oxus. [ferry across the oxus] early next morning we found the ferry. here at görlen hezaresp, and other places, the fords are the private property of the government, and are let to private individuals. the latter dare to transport to the opposite bank only such strangers as have from the khan a petek [footnote 37] (passport), which is obtained on payment of a small tax. the hadjis had one joint passport, but i had procured an extra one, which was to the following effect:-_literal translation_. 'it is notified to the watchers of the frontiers and the toll-collectors, that permission has been given to the hadji mollah abdur reshid efendi, and that no one is to trouble him.' [footnote 37: literally, a writing.] {149} [illustration.] the ferry across the oxus. [great heat] no objections had been made to us on the part of the police. the document merely had this effect--that we, as hadjis, were to pay nothing for being ferried over in a boat belonging to the khan. the ferryman at first would not understand it so, but at last he consented, finding himself obliged, whether he had the feeling or not, to act upon the principle of charity, and to transport us, with our baggage and asses, to the further bank. we began to cross at ten o'clock in the morning, and did not reach before sunset a lofty bank that leads on the right to the shurakhan canal. the great river, properly so called, took us half-an-hour to pass; but we were carried by the stream far down the current, and before we reached the desired point through the armlets, now up, now down, the whole day passed away, and under such a broiling heat as i rarely before had experienced. in the main stream it was well enough, but in the armlets at the side we settled every ten paces on the sand, when men and asses were forced to quit the boat until it was got afloat; and when the water sufficed to bear it we again embarked. be it said, that the landing and re-embarkation of the asses was a terrible labour, and particularly with respect to some of the obstinate ones; these had to be carried out and in like helpless babes; and i laugh, even now, when i think how my long-legged friend, hadji yakoub, took his little ass upon his back, held it firmly by the fore-feet that hung down upon his chest, whilst the poor little brute, all in a tremor, strove to hide his head in the neck of the mendicant. [shurakhan; market] we were obliged to wait a day on the bank at shurakhan, until the camels were brought over; we then set out, proceeding through the district called yapkenary (bank of canal), which was cut up everywhere by canals. yapkenary forms an oasis, eight miles {150} long and five or six broad. it is tolerably well cultivated. after it begins the desert, whose edge, called akkamish, has good pasturage and is peopled by kirghis. at akkamish the karavan began slowly to wind along its way. the kervanbashi, with myself and two others who could depend upon the pace of our asses, went out of our way to make an excursion to shurakhan, and to complete our store of provisions at the weekly market there, or, to speak more plainly, to divert ourselves. shurakhan, which is surrounded by a good wall of earth, boasts only a few houses for dwellings, but consists of 300 shops. these are opened twice a week, and visited by the nomads and settlers of the country round. it is the property of the emir-ül-umera, or elder brother of the khan, who has a fine garden here. leaving my companions to make their purchases, i went back to the kalenterkhane, that stands before the gate of the town. i found here several dervishes, who had become as thin as skeletons by the fatal indulgence in that opium called beng (prepared from flax) and the djers, and were lying about dreadfully disfigured upon the damp ground in their dark cells. when i introduced myself they bade me welcome, and had bread and fruit laid before me. i offered money, but they laughed at that, and they told me that several of them had not, for twenty years, had any money in their hands. the district maintains its dervishes; and i saw, indeed, in the course of the day, many a stately özbeg horseman arrive, bringing with him some contribution, but receiving in return a pipe, out of which he extracted his darling poison. in khiva, beng is the favourite narcotic; and many are {151} addicted to this vice, because indulgence in wine and spirituous liquors is forbidden by the koran, and any infringement is a sin punished by the government with death. as it grew late i proceeded to the market to look for my friends, and it cost me much labour to make my way through the waving crowd. all were on horseback, sellers as well as buyers; and it was extremely droll to see how the kirghis women, with their great leathern vessels full of kimis, [footnote 38] sitting on the horses, hold the opening of the skin above the mouth of the customer. there is adroitness in both parties, for very seldom do any drops fall aside. [footnote 38: a very acid drink, made of the milk of the mare or camel, for the preparation of which the kirghis are famous. the nomads of central asia use it as an intoxicating beverage, and it has the peculiar property of fattening. i tried it very often, but never could take more than a few drops, because the sharp acid affected my mouth and set my teeth on edge.] [singular dialogue with kirghis woman on nomadic life] i found my fellow-travellers, and we proceeded together to rejoin the karavan, now five leagues distant. the day was intensely hot; but, happily, here and there we came, in spite of the sandiness of the land, upon kirghis' tents, and i had only to approach one of them for the women to make their appearance with their skins, when a regular squabble arose amongst them if i did not accept a drink from everyone. to quicken thus a thirsty traveller in the heat of summer, is regarded as the supreme degree of hospitality, and you confer a kindness upon a kirghis when you give him an occasion to carry out its laws. the karavan was waiting our arrival with the greatest impatience: they were upon the point of starting, as henceforth we began to march only by night, a great solace both {152} for us and for the cattle. immediately upon our coming up the move began, and bewitching was the view by the clear moonlight of the karavan winding onwards, the oxus rolling with a dull sound on our right, and the fearful desert of tartary on our left. the next morning we encamped on an elevated bank of the same river. the district there bears the name of töyeboyun (camel's neck), probably from the curves described by the bank: it is inhabited in certain months of the year by kirghis. in an interval of ten hours i saw in our neighbourhood three families of them, who in turn remained near us, but at most only three hours, when they moved on further. nothing could give me a more vivid picture of nomadic life; and when i afterwards questioned a kirghis woman respecting this unsettled mode of existence, she answered, laughingly, 'we shall, i am certain, never be so indolent as you mollahs, and remain sitting days and days in one place! man must keep moving; for, behold, sun, moon, stars, water, beast, bird, fish, all are in movement; it is but the dead and the earth that remain in their place!' i was upon the point of making many objections to the philosophy of this nomadic lady, when a cry was heard from a distance, in which i could distinguish the word büri! büri! (the wolf, the wolf). she hurried like lightning to the herd that was grazing afar off, and her shouting had such an effect that this time the wolf contented himself with the fat tail of a sheep, and with it took to his heels. i felt very disposed to ask her, as she returned, what advantages resulted from the wolf keeping 'moving,' but she was too much troubled by the loss she had sustained, and i returned to the karavan. {153} before sunset we started again, and marched without stopping in the vicinity of the river. its deep banks are almost everywhere overgrown with willows, gigantic grass, and rushes. although the way between khiva and bokhara had been described to me as a frequented one, we had as yet, with the exception of the frontier-watchers and the nomads who were roaming about, not met a single traveller. what, then, was our astonishment when, about midnight, we saw five horsemen approaching at full speed! these were khivan merchants, who had come hither from bokhara, by karaköl, in four days. they communicated to us the pleasing intelligence that the routes were quite safe, and told us, at the same time, that we should meet, the day after the next, their karavan, which they had left behind them. we had heard on starting from khiva that the tekke turkomans, profiting by the absence from bokhara of the emir and his army, were infesting the approaches to the latter city, and our kervanbashi felt secretly anxious on that account; but what we now heard set his mind at ease. we were in hopes of reaching the end of our journey in six or eight days, of which we should have to pass only two without arriving at water, that is to say, in the desert between the oxus and karaköl. the next morning we encamped at tünüklü, the ruins of an ancient fortress on a little hill, at the foot of which flows the oxus, and which is itself covered with the most beautiful verdure. from this point there is a way lying in a north-easterly direction, through the sandy desert of khalata tchöli, otherwise designated djan batirdigan [footnote 39] (life destroyer), but {154} which is only frequented in winter, after heavy falls of snow, at times when the karaköl route is infested by the turkomans, who at that period of the year, owing to the freezing of the oxus, circulate in every direction without obstacle. [footnote 39: more correctly batirdurgan, present participle of the verb batirmak (destroy).] in the meantime the heat became more and more intense, but it did not much affect us, as we reposed every day on the banks of a mighty river, full of sweet water; and what feelings of grateful gladness were ours when we recollected kahriman ata, and other places in the great desert between khiva and gömüshtepe. unhappily we were soon disturbed in our agreeable reflections, and placed, by the freaks of some turkoman adventurers, in a position of danger such as might have brought us all to a terrible end, had we not been preserved by an accident or fatality. [alaman of the tekke; karavan alarmed returns to tünüklü] it was just about daybreak when we met on our march two half-naked men, who from a distance shouted out to our karavan. on coming up to us they sank upon the ground, uttering the words, 'a morsel of bread, a morsel of bread!' i was one of the first to tender them bread and mutton fat. after eating a little, they began to tell us that they were boatmen from hezaresp, and that they had been robbed by a tekke alaman of boat, clothes, and bread, and had been dismissed with life alone; that the robbers were 150 in number, and contemplated a _razzia_ upon the herds of the kirghis round about. 'for god's sake,' said one of them, 'fly or conceal yourselves, or in a few hours you will encounter them, and in spite of your all being pious pilgrims, they will leave you behind in the desert, without beasts or food, for the kair, disbelieving tekke, are capable of anything.' our kervanbashi, who had {155} been already twice robbed, and had had great difficulty in escaping with his life, needed not the counsel; scarcely had he heard the words 'tekke' and 'alaman,' when he in all haste gave the command to face about, and began the retreat with as much rapidity as the poor heavily-laden camels permitted. to attempt to fly with these animals from turkomans mounted on horses, would of course have been the height of folly; still, according to our calculation, 150 horsemen could not be transported over the river till the morning, and whilst the robbers were cautiously proceeding on the route, we might again reach tünüklü, and having refilled our water-skins, throw ourselves into the khalata (desert), where our destruction might not be so certain. after the most excessive exertions, our poor brutes arrived quite exhausted before tünüklü. here we were obliged to accord them a little pasture and repose, otherwise it would have been impossible to reach even the first station in the sand. we tarried on the spot therefore perforce, tremblingly, three hours, until we had had time to fill our skins, and to make preparations for the terrible journey. the dealer in clothes from khiva, who had himself been once already robbed by the turkomans, had, in the meantime, persuaded several of the hadjis--those i mean who had well-filled sacks, but no courage --rather to hide themselves with him in the underwood on the river's bank, than during the saratan (dog-days) to throw themselves into the desert, where they would be menaced not only with death from thirst, but with destruction from the tebbad (hot-wind from the east). {156} he painted the perils in such lively terms that many separated themselves from our party; and as just at that moment an empty skiff appeared on the river, and the boatmen, approaching the bank where we were, offered to take us to hezaresp, every one began to waver, and soon there remained only fourteen faithful to the original plan of the kervanbashi. that, indeed, was the most critical moment of my whole journey! to return to khiva might, i reflected, disturb the whole design of my journey. 'my life, indeed, is threatened everywhere--is everywhere in danger; forward, then, forward! better to perish by the fury of the elements than by the racks of tyrants!' i remained with the kervanbashi, as did also hadji salih and hadji bilal. it was a painful scene, that parting from our cowardly fellow-travellers; and behold, as the skiff was upon the point of putting off, our friends already on board proposed a fal. [footnote 40] [footnote 40: fal (prognostic) is where one opens either the koran or any other religious book at random, and seeks on the page before him a passage appropriate to his wish.] the pebbles, indicating the number of verses to be read, were shared amongst us, and hardly had hadji salih, with the eye of experience, ascertained the result, when nearly all the hadjis, abandoning the skiff, came back to us, and as everything was at hand, to prevent further hesitation and wavering, the impulse was at once obeyed, and we started. the sun had not yet set when we found ourselves already on the way to the khalata, diverging sideways from the ruins of tünüklü. [forced to throw itself into the desert, 'destroyer of life'] it is easy to imagine what mood we were in, i and my companions, already so well acquainted with the terrors of the desert! from gömüshtepe to khiva we had been in the month of may; we were now in july. {157} then we had had rain-water; but here there was not a single source that could be turned to account. with unutterable regret our eyes rested on the oxus, that became more and more remote, and shone doubly beautiful in the last beams of the departing sun. even the camels, who before we started had drunk abundantly, kept their eyes so full of expression for a long, long time turned in the same direction! a few stars began to gleam in the heavens when we reached the sandy desert. we maintained the stillness of death during our march, in order that we might escape the notice of the turkomans probably then in our vicinity. they might perhaps not see us on account of the darkness of the night, the moon not rising till later. we wished also that no sound might betray our position to them. on the soft ground the tread of the camels produced no echo. we feared, however, that some freak of braying might occur to our asses, for their voices would echo far and wide in the still night. towards midnight we reached a place where we were all obliged to dismount, as both asses and camels were sinking down to their knees in the fine sand. this, indeed, formed there an uninterrupted chain of little hills. in the cool night march i could just manage to tramp on through this endless sand; but towards morning i felt my hand beginning to swell from continually resting upon my staff. i consequently placed my baggage on the ass, and took its place upon the camel; which, although breathing hard, was still more in his element in the sand than i with my lame leg. [thirst] our morning station bore the charming appellation of adamkyrylgan (which means 'the place where men perish'), and one needed only to cast a look at the {158} horizon to convince himself how appropriate is that name. let the reader picture to himself a sea of sand, extending as far as eye can reach, on one side formed into high hills, like waves, lashed into that position by the furious storm; on the other side, again, like the smooth waters of a still lake, merely rippled by the west wind. not a bird visible in the air, not a worm or beetle upon the earth; traces of nothing but departed life, in the bleaching bones of man or beast that has perished, collected by every passer-by in a heap, to serve to guide the march of future travellers! why add that we moved on unnoticed by the turkomans? the man does not exist on earth that could make a station here on horseback; but whether the elements would not oppose our progress was a point the consideration of which shook even the _sang froid_ of the oriental, and the sombre looks of my fellow-travellers during the whole way best betrayed their anxiety. according to what the kervanbashi told us, we should have had altogether on this way, from tünüklü to bokhara, only six days' journey, half through sand, the rest over firm and even ground, where here and there grass is met with and shepherds resort. consequently, after the examination of our skins, we calculated that we should only have to apprehend a deficiency of water during one day and a half; but the very first day i remarked that the oxus water did not bear out our calculations; that that most precious liquid, although we made a most sparing use of it, diminished every moment, either from the heat of the sun, its own evaporation, or some such cause. this discovery made me watch my stores with double carefulness; in this i was imitated by the others, and, in spite of our anxiety, it was even comical to see how {159} the slumberers slept, firmly embracing their water vessels. [death of camels] notwithstanding the scorching heat, we were obliged to make, during the day also, marches of from five to six hours' duration, for the sooner we emerged from the region of sand, the less occasion we had to dread the dangerous wind tebbad, [footnote 41] for on the firm plain it can but bring with it the torture of fever, whereas in the region of sand it can in a moment bury everything. the strength of the poor camels was taxed too far; they entered the desert wearied by their nocturnal journey; it was not, therefore, surprising that some fell ill through the torments of the sand and the heat, and that two died even at this day's station. it bears the name of shorkutuk. this word signifies salt fountain, and one, in fact, is said to exist here, adequate for the refreshment of beasts, but it was entirely choked up by the stormy wind, and a day's labour would have been necessary to render it again serviceable. [footnote 41: tebbad, a persian word signifying _fever wind_.] [death of a hadji] but let alone the tebbad, the oppressive heat by day had already left us without strength, and two of our poorer companions, forced to tramp on foot by the side of their feeble beasts, having exhausted all their water, fell so sick that we were forced to bind them at full length upon the camels, as they were perfectly incapable of riding or sitting. we covered them, and as long as they were able to articulate they kept exclaiming, 'water! water!' the only words that escaped their lips. alas! even their best friends denied them the life-dispensing draught; and when we, on the fourth day, reached medemin bulag one {160} of them was freed by death from the dreadful torments of thirst. it was one of the three brothers who had lost their father at mecca. i was present when the unfortunate man drew his last breath. his tongue was quite black, the roof of his mouth of a greyish white; in other respects his features were not much disfigured, except that his lips were shrivelled, the teeth exposed, and the mouth open. i doubt much whether, in these extreme sufferings, water would have been of service; but who was there to give it to him? it is a horrible sight to see the father hide his store of water from the son, and brother from brother; each drop is life, and when men feel the torture of thirst, there is not, as in the other dangers of life, any spirit of self-sacrifice, or any feeling of generosity. [stormy wind] we passed three days in the sandy parts of the desert. we had now to gain the firm plain, and come in sight of the khalata mountain, that stretches away toward the north. unhappily, disappointment again awaited us. our beasts were incapable of further exertion, and we passed a fourth day in the sand. i had still left about six glasses of water in my leathern bottle. these i drank drop by drop, suffering, of course, terribly from thirst. greatly alarmed to find that my tongue began to turn a little black in the centre, i immediately drank off at a draught half of my remaining store, thinking so to save my life; but, oh! the burning sensation, followed by headache, became more violent towards the morning of the fifth day, and when we could just distinguish, about mid-day, the khalata mountains from the clouds that surrounded them, i felt my strength gradually abandon me. {161} the nearer we approached the mountains, the thinner the sand became, and all eyes were searching eagerly to discover a drove of cattle or shepherd's hut, when the kervanbashi and his people drew our attention to a cloud of dust that was approaching, and told us to lose no time in dismounting from the camels. these poor brutes knew well enough that it was the tebbad that was hurrying on; uttering a loud cry, they fell on their knees, stretched their long necks along the ground, and strove to bury their heads in the sand. we entrenched ourselves behind them, lying there as behind a wall (_see plate_); and scarcely had we, in our turn, knelt under their cover, than the wind rushed over us with a dull, clattering sound, leaving us, in its passage, covered with a crust of sand two fingers thick. the first particles that touched me seemed to burn like a rain of flakes of fire. had we encountered it when we were six miles deeper in the desert, we should all have perished. i had not time to make observations upon the disposition to fever and vomiting caused by the wind itself, but the air became heavier and more oppressive than before. [illustration] tebbad--sand storm in the desert. where the sand comes entirely to an end, three different ways are visible: the first (22 miles long) passes by karaköl; the second (18 miles), through the plain to the immediate vicinity of bokhara; the third (20 miles) traverses the mountains where water is to be met with, but it is inaccessible to camels on account of its occasional steepness. we took, as it had been previously determined, the middle route, the shortest, particularly as we were animated by the hope of finding water amongst those who tended their flocks there. towards evening we reached fountains that had not yet been visited this year by the {162} shepherds; the water, undrinkable by man, still refreshed our beasts. we were ourselves all very ill, like men half dead, without any animation but that which proceeded from the now well-grounded hope that we should all be saved! [precarious state of author; hospitable reception amongst persian slaves] i was no longer able to dismount without assistance; they laid me upon the ground; a fearful fire seemed to burn my entrails; my headache reduced me almost to a state of stupefaction. my pen is too feeble to furnish even a slight sketch of the martyrdom that thirst occasions; i think that no death can be more painful. although i have found myself able to nerve myself to face all other perils, here i felt quite broken. i thought, indeed, that i had reached the end of my life. towards midnight we started, i fell asleep, and on awaking in the morning found myself in a mud hut, surrounded by people with long beards; in these i immediately recognised children of 'iran.' they said to me: 'shuma ki hadji nistid' (you, certainly, are no hadji). i had no strength to reply. they at first gave me something warm to drink, and a little afterwards some sour milk, mixed with water and salt, called here 'airan:' that gave me strength and set me up again. i now first became aware that i and my other fellow-travellers were the guests of several persian slaves, who had been sent hither in the middle of the wilderness, at a distance of ten miles from bokhara, to tend sheep; they had received from their owners only a scanty supply of bread and water, so that they might find it impossible to make such a provision as should help them to flee away through the wilderness. and yet these unfortunate exiles had had the magnanimity to share their store of water with their arch-enemies, {163} the sunnite mollahs! to me they showed peculiar kindness, as i addressed them in their mother tongue. persian, it is true, is spoken also in bokhara, but the persian of the irani is different from the former. i was much touched to see amongst them a child five years old, also a slave, of great intelligence. he had been, two years before, captured and sold with his father. when i questioned him about the latter, he answered me confidingly. 'yes; my father has bought himself (meaning paid his own ransom); at longest i shall only be a slave two years, for by that time my father will have spared the necessary money.' the poor child had on him hardly anything but a few little rags, to cover his weak little body; his skin was of the hardness and colour of leather. i gave him one of my own articles of attire, and he promised me to have a dress made out of it for himself. the unhappy persians gave us besides a little water to take with us. i left them with a mixed feeling of gratitude and compassion. we started with the intention of making our next station at khodja oban, a place to which pilgrims resort to visit the grave of a saint of the same name: it was, indeed, out of our road, lying a little to the north, still, as hadjis, we were bound to proceed thither. to the great regret of my companions we lost our way at night between the hills of sand that are on the margin of the desert, and out of the middle of which khodja oban projects like an oasis; and when, after a long search, the day broke we found ourselves on the bank of a lake full of sweet water. here terminated the desert, and with it the fear of a death from thirst, robbers, wind, or other hardships. we had now come positively to the frontiers of bokhara, properly so called; and when, {164} after two leagues' journey, we reached khakemir (the village where the kervanbashi resided), we found ourselves already in the middle of a country tolerably well cultivated. the whole district is watered by canals connected with the river zereshan. in khakemir there are but 200 houses. it is only two leagues distant from bokhara. we were obliged to pass the night here, that the tax-collector (badjghir) and reporter (vakanüvisz), informed of our arrival in accordance with the law, might be in a position to complete their report of search and examination outside the city. the very same day a messenger went express, and the following one, very early in the morning, arrived three of the emir's officers, with faces full of official dignity and importance, to levy upon us the imposts and duties, but more especially to learn tidings concerning the adjoining countries. they first began to overhaul our baggage. the hadjis had, for the most part, in their knapsacks holy beads from mecca, dates from medina, combs from persia, and knives, scissors, thimbles, and small looking-glasses from frenghistan. and although my friends declared that the emir, 'god grant him to live 120 years,' would never take any customs from hadjis, the collector did not in the slightest degree allow himself to be diverted from his functions, but wrote down each article separately. i remained, with two other mendicants, to the last. when the official looked at my face he laughed, told me to show my trunk, 'for that _we_' (meaning, probably, europeans, as he took me for one) 'had always fine things with us.' i happened to be in excellent humour, and had on my dervish or fool's cap. i interrupted the cunning bokhariot, saying 'that i had, {165} in effect, some beautiful things, which he would see himself when he came to examine my property, movable and immovable.' as he insisted upon seeing everything, i ran into the court, fetched my ass, and led it to him up the stairs and over the carpets into the room; and after having introduced it, amid the loud laughter of my companions, i lost no time in opening my knapsack, and then showed him the few rags and old books which i had collected in khiva. the disappointed bokhariot looked round him in astonishment, demanding if i really had nothing more. whereupon hadji salih gave him explanations as to my rank, my character, as well as the object i had in view, in my journey; all of which he noted down carefully, accompanying the act with a look at me and a shake of the head full of meaning. when the collector had finished with us, the functions of the vakanüvisz (writer of events) began. he first took down the name of each traveller with a detailed description of his person, and then whatever information or news each might have it in his power to give. what a ridiculous proceeding--a long string of questions respecting khiva, a land of kindred language, origin, and religion with bokhara; their frontiers having been for centuries and centuries coterminous, and their capitals lying only a few days' journey distant from each other. [first impression of bokhara the noble.] everything was in order, only some difference of opinion arose as to the quarter in the capital where we should first put up. the collector proposed the custom-house, hoping, at least, there to be able to squeeze something out of us, or to subject me to a stricter examination. hadji salih (for the latter, possessing much influence in bokhara, now took the lead in the {166} karavan) declared, on the contrary, his purpose to put up in the tekkie; and we started at once from khakemir, and had only proceeded half-an-hour through a country resplendent with gardens and cultivated fields, when bokhara sherif (the noble, as the central asiatics designate it) appeared in view, with, amongst some other buildings, its clumsy towers, crowned, almost without exception, by nests of storks. [footnote 42] [footnote 42: in khiva nightingales abound, but there are no storks; the reverse is the case at bokhara, in which there is not a single tower or other elevated building where we do not see birds of the last-named description, sitting, like single-legged sentinels, upon the roofs. the khivite mocks the bokhariot upon this subject, saying, 'thy nightingale song is the bill-clapping of the stork.'] at the distance of about a league and a half from the city we crossed the zerefshan. it flows in a southerly direction, and, although its current is tolerably strong, is fordable by camels and horses. on the opposite side was still visible the _tête du pont_ of a once handsomely-built stone bridge. close to it stood the ruins of a palace, also of stone. i was told that it was the work of the renowned abdullah khan sheibani. taken altogether, there are, in the immediate environs of the capital of central asia, few remains of her former grandeur. {167} chapter x. bokhara reception at the tekkie, the chief nest of islamism rahmet bi bazaars baha-ed-din, great saint of turkestan spies set upon author fate of recent travellers in bokhara book bazaar the worm (rishte) water supply late and present emirs harem, government, family of reigning emir slave depot and trade departure from bokhara, and visit to the tomb of baha-ed-din. _within earth's wide domains are markets for men's lives; their necks are galled with chains, their wrists are cramped with gyves._ _dead bodies, that the kite in deserts makes its prey; murders that with affright scare school-boys from their play!_ --longfellow. [bokhara; reception at the tekkie, the chief nest of islamism] the road led us to the dervaze imam, situated to the west, but we did not pass through it, because, as our tekkie lay to the north-east, we should have been forced to make our way through all the throngs in the bazaar. we preferred, therefore, to take a circuitous route along the city wall. this we found, in many places, in a ruinous state. entering by the gate called dervaze mezar, we speedily reached the spacious tekkie. it was planted with fine trees, formed a regular square, and had forty-eight cells on the ground floor. {168} the present khalfa (principal) is grandson of khalfa hüsein, renowned for his sanctity, and the tekkie itself is named after him. the estimation in which his family stands is shown by the fact that his relative, above mentioned, is imam and khatib (court priest) of the emir, an official position which made me not a little proud of my host. hadji salih, who was a mürid (disciple) of the saint, and was consequently regarded as a member of the family, presented me. the respectable 'abbot,' a man of gentle demeanour and agreeable exterior, whom his snow-white turban and summer dress of fine silk well became, received me in the warmest manner, and, as i maintained for half-an-hour a conversation couched in tumid and far-fetched language, the good man was overjoyed, and regretted that the badewlet [footnote 43] (his majesty the emir) was not in bokhara, that he might immediately present me. [footnote 43: badewlet means properly 'the prosperous one.'] [rahmet bi] he assigned me a cell to myself in the place of honour, that is where i had, as neighbours, on one side a very learned mollah, and on the other hadji salih: this establishment was filled with personages of celebrity. i had fallen, without having remarked it, upon the chief nest of islamite fanaticism in bokhara. the locality itself, if i could but accommodate myself to its spirit, might turn out the best and safest guarantee against all suspicions, and save me all disagreeable scenes with the civil authorities. the reporter had returned my arrival as an event of importance; the first officer of the emir, rahmet bi, who during his master's campaign in khokand commanded in bokhara, had directed that the hadjis should, that very day, be questioned concerning me; {169} but in the tekkie the emir's orders were inoperative, and so little respect was entertained for the investigation, that no communication at all was made to me on the subject. my good friends replied in the following manner to the doubts of laymen:--'hadji reshid is not only a good musselman, but at the same time a learned mollah; to have any suspicion of him is a mortal sin.' but, in the meantime, they advised me how i was to act, and it is solely to their counsels and invaluable suggestions that i can ascribe my having entirely escaped mishap in bokhara; for, not to mention the sad ends of those travellers who preceded me to this city, i have found it a most perilous place, not only for all europeans, but for every stranger, because the government has carried the system of espionage to just as high a pitch of perfection as the population has attained pre-eminence in every kind of profligacy and wickedness. [bazaars] i went next morning, accompanied by hadji salih and four others of our friends, to view the city and the bazaars; and although the wretchedness of the streets and houses far exceeded that of the meanest habitations in persian cities, and the dust, a foot deep, gave but an ignoble idea of the 'noble bokhara,' i was nevertheless astonished when i found myself for the first time in the bazaar, and in the middle of its waving crowd. these establishments in bokhara are indeed far from splendid and magnificent, like those of teheran, tabris, and isfahan; but still, by the strange and diversified intermixture of races, dresses, and customs, they present a very striking spectacle to the eye of a stranger. in the moving multitude most bear the type of iran, and have their heads surmounted by {170} a turban, white or blue--the former colour being distinctive of the gentleman or the mollah, the latter the appropriate ornament of the merchant, handi-craftsman, and servant. after the persian it is the tartar physiognomy that predominates. we meet it in all its degrees, from the özbeg, amongst whom we find a great intermixture of blood, to the kirghis, who have preserved all the wildness of their origin. no need to look the latter in the face; his heavy, firm tread suffices alone to distinguish him from the turani and the irani. then imagine that you see in the midst of the throng of the two principal races of asia some indians (multani, as they are here called) and jews. both wear a polish cap, for the sake of distinction, [footnote 44] and a cord round their loins; the former, with his red mark on his forehead, and his yellow repulsive face, might well serve to scare away crows from rice fields; the latter, with his noble, pre-eminently-handsome features, and his splendid eye, might sit to any of our artists for a model of manly beauty. there were also turkomans distinguished from all by the superior boldness and fire of their glance, thinking, perhaps, what a rich harvest the scene before them would yield to one of their alamans. of afghans but few are seen. the meaner sort, with their long dirty shirts, and still dirtier hair streaming down, throw a cloth, in roman fashion, round their shoulders; but this does not prevent their looking like persons who rush for safety from their beds into the streets, when their houses are on fire. [footnote 44: elameti tefrikie, which according to the provisions of the koran, every subject, not a musselman, must wear in order that the salutation 'selam aleïkum' (peace be with you!) may not be thrown away upon him.] {171} this diversified chaos of bokhariots, khivites, khokandi, kirghis, kiptchak, turkomans, indians, jews, and afghans, is represented in all the principal bazaars; and although everything is in unceasing movement up and down, i am yet unable to detect any trace of the bustling life so strikingly characteristic of the bazaars in persia. i kept close to my companions, casting as i passed glances at the booths, which contain, with a few articles from the other countries in europe, fancy goods and merchandise, more especially of russian manufacture. these have no particular intrinsic attractions in themselves for a european traveller to this remote city; but they interest him nevertheless, for each piece of calico, each ticket attached to it, identifying the origin with the name of the manufacturer, makes him feel as if he has met a countryman. how my heart beat when i read the words 'manchester' and 'birmingham,' and how apprehensive i was of betraying myself by an imprudent exclamation! there are very few large warehouses or wholesale dealers; and in spite of cotton, calico, and fine muslin being sold, not only in the restei tchit furushi (the place where cotton is exposed for sale), which has 284 shops, but also in many other places in the city, i might boldly affirm that my friends 'hanhart and company,' in tabris, dispose alone of as much of the articles above named as the whole city of bokhara, in spite of the latter being denominated the capital of central asia. that department in its bazaar has more interest for the stranger, where he sees spread out before him the products of asiatic soil and native industry; such, for instance, as that cotton stuff named aladja, which {172} has narrow stripes of two colours, and a fine texture; different sorts of silken manufactures, from the fine handkerchief of the consistence of the spider's web, to the heavy atres; but particularly manufactures in leather. these play, indeed, a preeminent part; in this department the skill of the leather-cutter, and still more, that of the shoemaker, deserves commendation. boots, both for male and female wear, are tolerably well made: the former have high heels, terminating in points about the size of a nail's head; the latter are somewhat thick, but often ornamented with the finest silk. i had almost forgotten the bazaar and booths where clothes are exposed to tempt the eyes of purchasers. they consist of articles of attire of brilliant bright colours. the oriental, only here to be met with in his original purity and peculiarity, is fond of the tchakhtchukh or rustling tone of the dress. it was always an object of great delight to me to see the seller parading up and down a few paces in the new tchapan (dress), to ascertain whether it gave out the orthodox tone. all is the produce of home manufacture, and very cheap; consequently it is in the clothes' market of bokhara that 'believers,' even from remote parts of tartary, provide themselves with fashionable attire. even the kirghis, kiptchak, and kalmuks are in the habit of making excursions hither from the desert; and the wild tartar, with his eyes oblique and chin prominent, laughs for joy when he exchanges his clothes, made of the undressed horse-skins, for a light yektey (a sort of summer dress), for it is here that he sees his highest ideal of civilisation. bokhara is his paris or his london. {173} after having strolled around for about three hours, i begged my guide and excellent friend, hadji salih, to lead me to a place of refreshment, where i might be allowed a little repose. he complied, and conducted me through the timtche tchay furushi (tea bazaar) to the renowned place lebi hauz divanbeghi (bank of the reservoir of the divanbeghi). for bokhara, i found this a most attractive spot. it is almost a perfect square, having in the centre a deep reservoir, 100 feet long and 80 broad; the sides are of square stones, with eight steps leading down to the surface of the water. about the margin stand a few fine elm trees, and in their shade the inevitable tea booth, and the samovars (tea-kettle), looking like a colossal cask of beer. it is manufactured in russia expressly for bokhara, and invites every one to a cup of green tea. on the other three sides, bread, fruit, confectionery, and meats warm and cold, are exposed for sale on stands shaded by cane mats. the hundreds of shops improvised for the occasion, around which crowds of longing mouths or hungry customers hum like bees, present us with a very characteristic spectacle. on the fourth side, that to the west, which is in the form of a terrace, we find the mosque mesdjidi divanbeghi. at its front there are also a few trees, where dervishes and meddah (public reciters) recount in verse and prose, and actors represent simultaneously, the heroic actions of famous warriors and prophets; to which performances there are never wanting crowds of curious listeners and spectators. when i entered this place, as fate would have it, still further to enhance the interest of the exhibition, there were passing by, in their weekly procession, dervishes of the order of the nakishbendi, of whom this city is {174} the place of origin and the principal abode. never shall i forget that scene when those fellows, with their wild enthusiasm and their high conical caps, fluttering hair, and long staves, danced round like men possessed, bellowing out at the same time a hymn, each strophe of which was first sung for them by their grey-bearded chief. with eye and ear so occupied, i soon forgot my fatigue. my friend was obliged positively to force me to enter a booth, and, after the precious shivin (a kind of tea) was poured out, wishing to profit by the ecstatic feeling in which he found me, he asked me, chucklingly, 'now, then, what do you say to bokhara sherif (the noble)?' 'it pleases me much,' i replied; and the central asiatic, although from khokand, and an alien enemy, as his nation was at that moment at war with bokhara, was nevertheless delighted to find that the capital of turkestan had made such a conquest of me, and gave me his word that he would show me its finest features in the course of the following days. [baha-ed-din, great saint of turkestan] in spite of the costume, strictly bokhariot, which i had this day assumed, and of my being so tanned by the sun that even my mother would have had a difficulty in recognising me, i was surrounded, wherever i appeared, by a crowd of inquisitive persons. ah! how they shook me by the hands, and how they embraced me; how they wearied me to death! an immense turban [footnote 45] crowned my head, a large koran hung suspended from my neck; [footnote 45: the turban, it is well known, represents the pall that every pious musselman must bear on his head as a continual memento of death. the koran only enjoins a pall (kefen) having a length of 7 ells. but zealots often exceed the measure, and carry about on their heads 4 to 6 such palls, thus making altogether from 28 to 42 ells of fine muslin.] {175} i had thus assumed the exterior of an ishan or sheikh, and was obliged to submit to the _corvée_ which i had so provoked. still, i had reason to be contented, for the sanctity of my character had protected me from secular interrogations, and i heard how the people about questioned my friends, or whispered their criticisms to each other. 'what extreme piety,' said one, 'to come all the way from constantinople to bokhara alone, in order to visit our baha-ed-din!' [footnote 46] 'yes,' said a second, 'and we, too, we go to mecca, the holiest place of all, to be sure, with no little trouble.' but these people (and he pointed to me) having nothing else to do, their whole life is prayer, piety, and pilgrimage.' 'bravo! you have guessed it,' i said to myself, delighted that my disguise was becoming so pregnant of consequence. and really i was, during my whole stay in the capital of turkestan, not once an object of doubt or suspicion to the people, in other respects cunning and malicious enough. they came to me for my blessing; they listened to me when, on the public places, i read to them the history of the great sheikh of bagdad, abdul kadr ghilani. they praised me, but not a farthing did i ever get from them; and the semblance of sanctity in this nation presented a singular contrast with the genuine piety and benevolence of the khivan ozbegs. [footnote 46: baha-ed-din,--or according to bokhariot pronunciation, baveddin--is an ascetic and saint renowned throughout all islam, the founder of the nakishbendi order; members of it are to be met with in india, china, persia, arabia, and turkey. he died in 1388, and the convent, as well as the mosque, and space walled in for his grave in the village of baveddin, were erected by direction of abdul aziz khan in the year 1490.] {176} [spies set upon author; fate of recent travellers in bokhara] but in playing my part it was not so easy to deceive the government as the people. rahmet bi, whom i before spoke of, not being able to come at me openly, set spies incessantly at work. these, in conversing with me, took care to embrace a variety of subjects, but always came to the subject of frenghistan, hoping, probably, that i should betray myself by some unguarded expression or other. perceiving that the twig which they had so limed did not catch its bird, they began to speak of the great pleasure which the frenghis experience in the 'noble' bokhara, and how already many of their spies, but particularly the englishmen, conolly and stoddart, had been punished. [footnote 47] or they recounted to me the story of the frenghis who had arrived only a few days before, and had been imprisoned (referring to the unfortunate italians); how they had brought with them several chests of tea sprinkled with diamond dust, to poison all the inhabitants of the holy city; how they converted day into night, and brought about other infernal strokes of art. [footnote 48] [footnote 47: the sad fate of these two martyrs has continued to remain, as i remarked, a secret even in bokhara; the most contradictory reports are up to the present day in circulation upon this subject. the reader will readily understand that without betraying my real identity it was impossible for me to put the necessary questions to elicit any fresh information; and the sad event having been so frequently and so fully entered into by wolff, ferrier, t. w. kaye, and others who have written officially and unofficially upon the subject, any notices collected by myself in my journey through bokhara seem entirely useless and uncalled for.] [footnote 48: they, it appears, have recently been liberated.] {177} [book bazaar] these bloodhounds were for the most part hadjis who had long dwelt in constantinople, and whose design was to test at once my knowledge of its language, and my acquaintance with its mode of living. after listening to them a long time with patience, it was my habit to put on an air of disgust, and to beg them to spare me any further conversation about the frenghis. 'i quitted constantinople,' i said, 'to get away from these frenghis, who seem indebted to the devil for their understanding. thank god i am now in the "noble" bokhara, and do not wish to embitter the time i spend here by any recollections.' similar language i employed also with the crafty mollah sherefeddin, the aksakal of the booksellers, who showed me a list of books which a russian ambassador, a few years ago, had left behind him. i threw my eye carelessly over them and observed, 'allah be praised, my memory is not yet corrupted by the science and books of the frenghis, as unhappily is too often the case with the turks of constantinople!' [footnote 49] [footnote 49: one day, a servant of the vizir brought to me a little shrivelled individual, that i might examine him to see whether he was, as he pretended, really an arab from damascus. when he first entered, his features struck me much, they appeared to me european: when he opened his mouth, my astonishment and perplexity increased, for i found his pronunciation anything rather than that of an arab. he told me that he had undertaken a pilgrimage to the tomb of djafen ben sadik at khoten in china, and wanted to proceed on his journey that very day. his features during our conversation betrayed a visible embarrassment, and it was a subject of great regret to me that i had not an occasion to see him a second time, for i am strongly disposed to think that he was playing a part similar to my own!] when rhamet bi saw that he could not, by his emissaries, found any accusation, he summoned me to attend him. of course, this was in the form of a public invitation to a pilow, which was also attended by a circle composed of bokhariot ulemas. at my very entry i found that i had a hard nut to crack, for the whole interview was a sort of examination, in {178} which my incognito had to stand a running fire. i saw, however, while it was yet time, the danger to which i was exposed; and, to escape being surprised by some sudden question or other, i assumed the part of one himself curious of information, frequently interrogating these gentlemen as to the difference of religious principles in the farz, sünnet, vadjib, and mustahab. [footnote 50] [footnote 50: these are the four grades expressing the importance of the commandments of islam. farz means the duty enjoined by god through the prophet; sünnet, the tradition emanating from the prophet himself without divine inspiration. the latter two words, vadjib and mustahab, signify ordinances originating with more recent interpreters of the koran; the former being obligatory, the latter discretionary.] my earnestness met with favour; and soon a very warm dispute arose upon several points in hidayet, sherkhi vekaye, and other books treating of similar subjects; in this i was careful to take part, praising loudly the bokhariot mollahs, and admitting their great superiority, not only over me, but over all the ulemas of constantinople. suffice it to say that i got safe through this ordeal also. my brethren, the mollahs, gave rahmet bi to understand, both by their signs and words, that his reporter had made a great mistake, and that, even supposing me not to be a mollah of distinction, i was still one on the high road to receive worthily the lightning-flash of true knowledge. after this scene they left me to live a quiet life in bokhara. it was my practice first of all to fulfil at home the different duties imposed upon me by my character of dervish. i then proceeded to the book bazaar, which contains twenty-six shops. a printed {179} book is here a rarity. in this place, and in the houses of the booksellers (for there is the great depot), many are the treasures that i have seen, which would be of incalculable value to our oriental historians and philologists. their acquisition was, in my case, out of the question, for in the first place i had not the adequate means, and in the second, any appearance of worldly knowledge might have prejudiced my disguise. the few manuscripts that i brought back with me from bokhara and samarcand cost me much trouble to acquire, and my heart bled when i found that i was obliged to leave behind me works that might have filled many an important history in our oriental studies. from the book market i was in the habit of resorting to the righistan (public place); it lay rather remote. although larger and more bustling than the lebi hauz, which i before described, it is far from being so agreeable; we find here also a reservoir surrounded by booths for tea; from the bank we can discern the ark (castle or palace) of the emir, which is on the opposite side, situate upon high ground. the portal was crowned by a clock; it had a gloomy appearance. i shuddered when i passed by this nest of tyranny, the place where, perhaps, many who preceded me had been murdered, and where, even at that moment, three wretched europeans were languishing so far from their country and every possibility of succour. near the gate lay fourteen pieces of brass cannon, the long barrels of which were highly ornamented. the emir had sent them home from khokand as trophies of the victories gained in his campaign. above, to the right of the palace, is mesdjidi kelan, the largest mosque in bokhara; it was built by abdullah khan sheibani. {180} after leaving the righistan, i entered the tea-booth of a chinese from komul, [footnote 51] a man perfectly acquainted with the turko-tartar language, and who passed here for a musselman. this good man was very friendly to me, and yet how far were our homes asunder! he recounted to me much concerning the beautiful locality, much of the customs, and the excellent dishes, too, of his fatherland! but his experience was particularly great in matters connected with teas. how enthusiastically he spoke when treating of the tea-shrub, which displayed upon a single stem leaves of such a variety of flavours! he had in his shop sixteen different kinds, which he could distinguish by the touch. [footnote 52] [footnote 51: komul is distant 40 stations from kashgar and 60 from bokhara.] [footnote 52: the teas were of the following kinds:- (1) kyrkma. (2) akhbar. (3) ak kuyruk. these kinds, rarely seen in central asia and in china, are more used in russia, persia, and europe. (4) kara tchaj. (5) sepet tchaj. these two, sold like chinese kynaster, pressed into the form of a brick, are drunk only in the morning with cream and salt, and are very stimulating. (6) shibaglu. (7) gore shibaglu. (8) shivin. (9) it kellesi. (10) bönge. (11) poshun. (12) pu-tchay. (13) tun tey. (14) gülbuy. (15) mishk-göz. (16) lonka. these are all green teas, none others are in favour in the north of china and in central asia. the last-named (lonka) is regarded as the most precious, a single leaf suffices for a cup which equals two of ours. the purchaser first forms a judgment of his tea by tasting a leaf that has been already boiled: when the tea is good the leaf is extremely fine and soft.] {181} i had, during my journey from teheran to bokhara, heard the latter city so often described by my companions, that after a sojourn of eight days i was quite at home. first of all hadji salih led me everywhere, and then i continued my investigations alone, through the city, its bazaars, and its colleges (medresse), only accompanying my friends when we received joint invitations to the house of a chinese tartar who had settled there. we were on these occasions usually treated to national dishes, to which my friends (i mean hadji bilal and his party) had long been strangers. there is one which i will impart in confidence to my european readers, for i can recommend it as a dainty. it is called mantuy, a sort of pudding filled with hashed meat mixed with fat and spices. this they boil in a singular manner. they place upon the fire a kettle of water, which is covered in at the top, with the exception of an opening of about the size of one's closed hand. upon this opening are placed three or four strainers or sieves, which close firmly, the under one being made fast with dough to the kettle itself. as soon as the water begins to boil, and a sufficient quantity of steam passes into the strainers, the mantuy is at first laid in the upper, and then in the lowest strainer; here it is suffered to remain until done. it seems singular that the chinese should employ steam in the preparation of their meats! the mantuys, after having been boiled, are then often broiled in fat, when they receive the name zenbusi (lady's kiss). my friends from kashgar and yarkend have many more dishes peculiarly their own, but these receipts would only suit a tartar cookery book. {182} [the worm (rishte)] during the whole time of my stay in bokhara, the weather was insupportably hot; but another circumstance doubled my sufferings--the apprehension of the rishte (filaria medinensis), by which, during the season, one person in every ten is attacked. this obliged me to be continually drinking warm water or tea. this affection is quite usual, and is treated with as much indifference by those residing in bokhara during the summer season, as colds are with us. one feels, at first, on the foot or on some other part of the body, a tickling sensation, then a spot becomes visible whence issues a worm like a thread. this is often an ell long, and it ought some days after to be carefully wound off on a reel. this is the common treatment, and occasions no extraordinary pain; but if the worm is broken off, an inflammation ensues, and instead of one, from six to ten make their appearance, which forces the patient to keep his bed a week, subjecting him to intense suffering. the more courageous have the rishte cut out at the very beginning. the barbers in bokhara are tolerably expert in this operation. the part where the tickling sensation takes place is in an instant removed, the worm extracted, and the wound itself soon heals. sometimes this malady, which is also common in bender abbasi (persia), recurs in the following summer, and that too, even when the patient is in a different climate. it happened so with dr. wolff, the well-known traveller, who dragged with him all the way from bokhara one of these long memorials of his journey. it did not show itself till he came to england, when it was extracted, in eastern fashion, {183} by the late sir benjamin brodie. besides this affliction, the bokhariots exhibit many malignant sores, occasioned by their bad climate and still worse water. it is more especially remarked that the women, who would otherwise pass for not unattractive brunettes, are thus quite disfigured with scars, perhaps to be remotely referred to their sedentary habits. [water supply] bokhara derives its water from the zerefshan (distributor of gold), whose course is north-easterly. its channel is lower than the city itself, and even in summer affords but a scanty supply. the water flows through a canal, deep enough, but not maintained in a state of cleanliness. it is permitted to enter the city at the gate dervaze mezar once in intervals of from every eight to fourteen days, according as the height of the river may allow. the appearance of the water, tolerably dirty even when it first enters, is always a joyful occurrence for the inhabitants. then first the inhabitants, young and old, precipitate themselves into the canals and reservoirs to make their ablutions; afterwards the horses, cows, and asses come to take their baths; and when the dogs finally have cooled themselves there a little, all entrance is forbidden, the water is left to settle, become clear and pure. it has, it is true, absorbed thousands of elements of miasma and filthiness! such is the attention that bokhara, the noble, pays to this indispensable necessary of life--bokhara, whither flock thousands of scholars to learn the principles of a religion that consecrates the principle that 'cleanliness is derived from religion.' [footnote 53] [footnote 53: 'el nezafet min el iman.'] {184} [late and present emirs; harem, government, family of reigning emir.] it is impossible for me to forget bokhara, were it only on account of the efforts with respect to religion which i have noticed there both on the part of government and people. i often heard it affirmed that 'bokhara is the true support of islam.' [footnote 54] the title is too weak; it should be rather termed the 'rome of islam,' since mecca and medina are its jerusalem. bokhara is aware of her superiority, and plumes herself upon it in the face of all the other nations of islam; yes, even before the sultan himself, who is yet acknowledged as the official chief of religion; but he is not so readily pardoned for having suffered so much to be corrupted in his territories by the influence of the frenghis. in my supposed character of osmanli, i was called upon to explain fully: [footnote 54: 'bokhara kuvveti islam ü din est.' ] first. why the sultan does not put to death all the frenghis who live in his dominions, and yet pay no djizie (tribute); why he does not every year undertake a djihad (religious war), as he has unbelievers on all his frontiers. secondly. why the osmanlis, who are sunnites, and belong to the sect of the ebuhanife, do not wear the turban, nor the long garments prescribed by the law and reaching to the ancles; why they have not a long beard and short moustachios, like 'the glory of all mundane creatures,' as the prophet is styled. thirdly, why the sunnites, both in constantinople and mecca, sing the ezan (call to prayer) when they utter it, which is a frightful sin; why they are not all hadjis there, as they dwell so nigh the holy places; &c. &c. i did my utmost to save the religious honour of the honest osmanlis, and if i was obliged occasionally to pronounce, with a blush on my cheek, the 'pater, {185} peccavi,' i could not but internally felicitate the turks on retaining, in spite of their being under the influence of a corrupt islamism, many good qualities and fine traits of character, whereas their fellow-religionists, who boast that they are refreshing themselves at the very fountain of the pure faith, delight in nothing but the blackest mendacity, in hypocrisy, and in impositions. how often was i forced to witness one of the khalka (circle) which devotees form by squatting down close to each other in a ring, to devote themselves to the tevedjüh (contemplation), or, as the western mahomedans call it, the murakebe of the greatness of god, the glory of the prophet, and the futility of our mortal existence! if you, a stranger, behold these people, with their immense turbans, and their arms hanging down folded upon their laps, sitting in their cramped position, you could not help believing them to be beings of a purer, loftier nature, who seek to cast from them the burden of clay, and adopt the full spirit of the arabian saying- 'the world is an abomination, and those who toil about it are dogs.' [footnote 55] [footnote 55: 'ed dünya djifetun ve talibeha kilab.'] look only more attentively, and you will not fail to perceive that many have, from deep reflection, fallen into deeper slumber; and although they begin to snore, like hounds after a hard day's hunting, beware how you breathe any reproach, or the bokhariot will soon set you right with the observation, 'these men have made such progress, that even whilst they snore they are thinking of god and of immortality!' in bokhara only the external form of the thing is required. {186} each city has its reïs, [footnote 56] who, with a cat-o'-four-tails in his hand, traverses the streets and public places, examines each passer by in the principles of islamism, and sends the ignorant, even if they be grey-bearded men of threescore years, for periods varying from eight to fourteen days, to the boys' school; or he drives them into the mosques at the hour of prayer. but whether, in the former case, they learn anything in school, or go to sleep there--whether, in the latter, they pray in the mosque, or are thinking how their daily occupations have been cut short,--all this is the affair of nobody whatever. the government insists upon nothing but the external appearance; what lies within is known to god alone. [footnote 56: guardian of religion.] what need to insist that the spirit in which religion is administered has a powerful influence upon both government and society? the iranian blood of the inhabitants (for two-thirds of the inhabitants of the city of bokhara are persians, mervi, and tadjiks), gives a little semblance of vitality to the bazaars and public places; but what dreariness and monotony in the private houses! every trace of gladness and cheerfulness is banished from those circles where the influence of religion and the system of surveillance are so tyrannically felt. the emir's spies force their way even into the sanctuaries of families, and woe to the man who permits himself to offend against the forms of religion or the authority of the sovereign. ages of oppression have now so intimidated the people that husband and wife, even with no third person present, do not dare to pronounce the emir's name without adding the words, 'god grant him to live 120 years!' it must be also admitted that the poor people feel no sentiment of hatred for their ruler, because tyrannical caprice does not seem to them as a {187} thing to be wondered at, but is rather looked upon in the light of an inevitable attribute of princely dignity. emir nasr ullah, the father of the present ruler of bokhara, was, in the last years of his life, a cruel profligate, who visited with capital punishment immorality in others, and yet himself violated, in the most shameless manner, the honour of his subjects. few were the families who escaped unscathed; and still no one permitted even a breath of blame to escape his lips. the reigning emir, mozaffar-ed-din khan, happily, is a well-disposed man; and although he enforces with severity the laws respecting religion and morals, he cannot be charged himself with any crime; hence the unceasing praises and glorifications of which he is the object on the part of his people. i saw the emir afterwards in samarcand; he is in the forty-second year of his age, of middle stature, somewhat corpulent. he has a very pleasing countenance, fine black eyes, and a thin beard. in his youth he acted as governor one year in karshi, and eighteen in kermineh, and was always distinguished for the gentleness and affability of his manners. he carries out strictly the political principles of his father, and in his capacity as mollah and pious musselman is the declared enemy of every innovation even when he may be convinced of its utility. on his accession he had impressed upon his signet the device 'government by justice,' [footnote 57] and up to the present moment has most scrupulously observed it. many reports in circulation respecting him confirm the remark. true, according to our view of things, there seems great exaggeration in {188} a system of justice which led the emir to send his mehter, the second in rank of his officers, to execution, for having (for it was in this form that the report reached khokand) thrown a dubious glance at one of the royal slaves; nor should a prince, whose device is 'justice,' have conducted himself as the emir did in khokand. but all these faults are very pardonable in a khan of bokhara. towards his grandees, who for the most part well merit the treatment they meet with, he is very severe, for although punishing with death even trivial offences in these, he spares the poorer classes. hence the expression applied to him by the people, and which does him honour, for they say of him that he is 'killer of elephants and protector of mice.' [footnote 58] [footnote 57: 'el hükm bil adl.'] [footnote 58: filkush and mushperver.] it is singular what pains the emir takes to throw obstacles in the way of his subjects whenever they seek to depart from the simplicity and modesty of their present, in his opinion, happy condition. the introduction of articles of luxury, or other expensive merchandise, is forbidden, as also the employment of sumptuousness in house or dress: in offences of this description there is no respect of persons. his serdari kul (commandant-in-chief), shahrukh khan, sprung from a collateral branch of the royal family of persia (kadjar), having fled hither from astrabad, where he had been governor, had been long held here in high honour and distinction; but, desirous of living in the persian manner, he ordered, at great expense, a house to be erected one story high, like those in teheran; in this, besides other articles of luxury, glass windows were inserted; it is said to have cost altogether 15,000 tilla, regarded {189} in bokhara an enormous sum; it was of a description calculated to throw into the shade even the ark (palace) itself. the emir had been informed of this from the very beginning, but he waited until the whole was quite finished, and then suddenly shahrukh khan was accused of an offence against religion, thrown into confinement, and then exiled. the house was confiscated and reverted to the emir: an offer was made to purchase it, and at a sum exceeding the cost price, but no! he directed it to be demolished; the ruins themselves, however, appearing too ornamental, he ordered them to be entirely destroyed, with the sole reservation of the timber, which was sold to a baker for 200 tilla, in scorn and mockery of all who should venture to give way to a taste for luxuries. even in his domestic arrangements the emir is widely different from his father; and it did not appear to me that there could have been more than half the retinue of servants which m. de khanikoff saw at the court of nasr ullah, and of which, as of so many other particulars concerning bokhara, the russian traveller gives so careful, so exact and circumstantial an account. mozaffar-ed-din khan has (for it is a custom of his religion) four legitimate wives and about twenty others, the former natives of bokhara, the latter slaves, and, as i was told seriously, only employed to tend upon the children, of whom there are sixteen, ten girls (but i beg pardon, princesses), and six boys (tore). the two eldest princesses are married to the governors of serepool and aktche; only, as these two cities have fallen into the hands of the afghan, his two sons-in-law live as the emir's guests, like kings _sans portefeuilles_. the harem is presided over by the sovereign's mother, formerly a {190} persian slave (born at kademgihah, near meshed), and by his grandmother, hakim ayim. it bears a high character for chastity and orderly training. it is forbidden to the laity on pain of death to enter, or even to throw a glance or direct a thought thither: this is permitted alone to pious sheikhs or mollahs, whose nefes (breath) is of notorious sanctity; and it was by this title that our friend hadji salih was summoned to administer a dose of the khaki shifa (health powder from medina). the cost of the harem, as far as dress, board, and other necessaries are concerned, is very small. the ladies make not only their own clothes, but often even the garments of the emir, who is known to be a strict economist, and to exercise severe control over everything. the daily kitchen expenses of the palace are said to be from sixteen to twenty tenghe (rather more than from nine to ten shillings), which is very likely, as his table rarely offers any confectionery, and consists merely of pilow boiled with mutton fat. the expression 'princely table' is inapplicable to bokhara, where one and the same dish satisfies prince, official, merchant, mechanic, and peasant. the man that has wandered about through the deserts of central asia will still find in bokhara, in spite of all its wretchedness, something of the nature of a metropolis. my fare now consisted of good bread, tea, fruit, and boiled meats. i had two shirts made, and the comforts of civilised life became to me so agreeable that i was really sorry when i received notice from my friends to prepare for the journey, as they wished to gain their remote eastern homes before the winter set in. my intention was to keep them company provisionally as far as samarcand, {191} as i somewhat dreaded my interview with the emir, and their society in many respects would be of great service to me. i was to decide in the last-named city whether to proceed to khokand and kashgar, or to return alone by kerki, karshi, and herat. my excellent friends, hadji bilal and hadji salih, did not wish to influence me, but to provide for the case of a possible return. desirous as far as they could to aid me, they had introduced me to a kervanbashi from herat, who was staying in bokhara, and thought of finally returning in three weeks to the former city. his name was mollah zeman: he had been formerly known to my friends. they recommended me to his care, as if i had been their own brother, and it was determined, if i returned from samarcand, that we should meet three weeks afterwards in kerki, on the farther bank of the oxus. this, the first step suggestive of a final separation, was very affecting to us all. hitherto i had found consolation in the very uncertainty of my purpose; for to my fancy an extension of my travels to kashgar, aksu, and khoten, rich in musk--countries to which no european before me had penetrated--had infinite charm and poetical attraction. [slave depot and trade] but my thoughts have been so engaged by the memory of this visit to mollah zeman, that i was about to forget to describe the spot where i found him. it was in a karavanserai appropriated to the trade in slaves. of this i cannot forbear to give the reader a slight sketch. the building, which formed a square, contained, it may be, from thirty to thirty-five cells. three wholesale dealers in this abominable traffic had hired these buildings as a depôt for the poor wretches, who were partly their own goods and {192} chattels, and partly entrusted to them as commission brokers for the turkomans. as is well known, the karaktchi, unable to wait long, are accustomed to sell their slaves to some turkoman who has more means at his disposal. the latter brings them to bokhara, and is the chief gainer by these transactions, as he buys immediately from the producer. in the very first days of his arrival in the capital, he sells all those for whom he can find customers; the remainder he leaves behind him in the hands of the dellal (broker), who is more especially the wholesale dealer. human beings are sold in bokhara and khiva from the age of three to that of sixty, unless they possess such defects as cause them to be regarded as cripples. according to the precepts of their religion, unbelievers alone can be sold as slaves; but bokhara, that has nothing more than the semblance of sanctity, evades without scruple such provisions, and makes slaves not only of the shiite persians, who were declared 'unbelievers' so long ago as 1500 by the mollah schemseddin, but also many professors of the sunnite tenets themselves, after they have, by blows and maltreatment, been compelled to style themselves shiites. it is only the jew, whom they pronounce to be incapable, that is unworthy of becoming a slave, a mode of showing their aversion, of course, anything but disagreeable to the children of israel, for although the turkoman will make booty of his property, and strip him of everything, he will not touch his body. at an earlier period, the hindoos also formed an exception. more recently, as they flocked by herat into bokhara, the tekke or sarik began to lay down new rules for their procedure. the unfortunate worshipper of vishnoo is now first metamorphosed {193} into a musselman, then made a shiite; and not until this double conversion has taken place is the honour conferred upon him of being plundered of all his property, and being reduced to the condition of a slave. the slave exposed to sale is, when a male, made the subject of public examination: the seller is obliged to guarantee that he has none of those moral or bodily defects, which constitute to his knowledge latent unsoundness: that is to say, where, though they are not discernible to the eye, they exist in a rudimentary state. to the slave himself, the happiest hour is when he passes out of the hand of the slave-dealer; for no treatment, however hard, which awaits him with his eventual master can be so oppressive and painful as that which he has to pass through whilst he remains an article of commerce exposed for sale in the shop. the price varies with the political circumstances of the turkomans, according as they find (for upon such does the production of the article depend) greater or less facility for their alaman in the adjoining district. for instance: at the present day the highest price of a man in the maturity of his strength is from 40 to 50 tilla (about from £21-£36); after a victory, when 18,000 persian soldiers had been made prisoners at one time, a man was to be had for a sum of 3 or 4 tillas. [departure from bokhara, and visit to the tomb of baha-ed-din.] after having stayed twenty-two days in bokhara i found it impossible any longer to delay my friends, and it was arranged that we should at once start for samarcand. our living in bokhara, as no one here, however liberal with his shakings of the hand, gave us a single farthing, had very much impaired our {194} finances. what we had been able to make in khiva was all exhausted, and, like many of my companions, i had been forced to dispose of my ass, and henceforth our journey was to be continued in a hired two-wheeled cart. particular members of our karavan, who belonged to khokand or khodjend, had already parted from us, and gone their own several ways alone. those who had hitherto remained together were natives of endighan or chinese tartars. these, however, in proceeding to samarcand, selected different routes. hadji salih, hadji bilal's party, and myself determined upon following the straight road; the others, who were on foot, were anxious to undertake a pilgrimage, by way of gidjdovan, to the tomb of the saint abdul khalik. [footnote 59] [footnote 59: khodja abdul khalik (named gidjovani, died 1601) was contemporary with the famous payende zamini, and stands in high repute for learning, asceticism, and sanctity.] many bokhariots, on my return, intimated a wish to accompany me to mecca. i, therefore, was obliged to employ much delicate diplomacy, for certainly their company would have been a source of great embarrassment in either case, whether we found ourselves before the kaaba or on the banks of the thames! i took leave of all my friends and acquaintances. rahmet bi gave me letters of introduction for samarcand, and i promised to wait upon the emir there. the khokand vehicle, which we had hired to convey us as far as samarcand, had been previously sent on to wait for us at the village baveddin, to which place of pilgrimage we had now, according to the custom of the country, to pay our second visit--our visit of adieu. this village is distant two leagues from bokhara, and is, as before said, the place of {195} interment of the renowned baha-ed-din nakishbend, founder of the order bearing the same name, and the chief fountain of all those extravagances of religion which distinguish eastern from western islamism. without entering into more details, suffice it to mention, that baha-ed-din is venerated as the national saint of turkestan, as a second mohammed; and the bokhariot is firmly persuaded that the cry alone of a 'baha-ed-din belagerdan' [footnote 60] is sufficient to save from all misfortune. pilgrimages are made to this place even from the most remote parts of china. it is the practice in bokhara to come hither every week, and the intercourse is maintained with the metropolis by means of about 300 asses that ply for hire. these stand before the dervaze mezar, and may be had for a few pul (small copper coins). although the road, in many places, passes over deep sand, these animals run with indescribable speed on their journey to the village; but, what is considered very surprising, they cannot, without repeated blows, be induced to return. the bokhariot ascribes this circumstance to the feeling of devotion that the saint inspires even in brutes; for do they not run to his tomb, and evince the greatest indisposition to quit it? [footnote 60: 'o baha-ed-din, thou avevter of evil!'] the tomb is in a small garden. on one side is a mosque. this may be approached through a court filled with blind or crippled mendicants, the perseverance of whose applications would put to shame those of the same profession in rome or naples. in the front of the tomb is the famous senghi murad (stone of desire), which has been tolerably ground away and made smooth by the numerous foreheads of pious pilgrims that have been rubbed upon it. over {196} the tomb are placed several rams' horns and a banner, also a broom that served a long time to sweep out the sanctuary in mecca. attempts have also been made upon several occasions to cover the whole with a dome, but baha-ed-din, like many other saints in turkestan, has a preference for the open air, and every edifice has been thrown down after a lapse of three days from its first erection. such is the tale told by the sheikhs, descendants of the saint, who keep watch in turn before the tomb, and recount, with impudence enough, to the pilgrims that their ancestor was particularly fond of the number seven. in the seventh month he came into the world, in his seventh year he knew the koran by heart, and in his seventieth he died. hence also the contributions and gifts laid upon his grave are to have the peculiarity that they must not be anything else than multiples of seven or the number seven itself. a quarter of a league from the tomb of baha-ed-din, in an open field, is that of miri kulah, the master and spiritual chief of the former. but the master is far from enjoying the same honour and repute as the disciple. {197} chapter xi. bokhara to samarcand little desert of chöl melik animation of road owing to war first view of samarcand haszreti shah zinde mosque of timour citadel (ark) reception hall of timor köktash or timour's throne singular footstool timour's sepulcher and that of his preceptor author visits the actual tomb of timour in the souterrain folio koran ascribed to osman, mohammed's secretary colleges ancient observatory greek armenian library not, as pretended, carried off by timor architecture of public buildings not chinese but persian modern samarcand its population dehbid author decides to return arrival of emir author's interview with him parting from the hadjis, and departure from samarcand. _hinc quarto die ad maracanda perventum est . . . scythiae confinis est regio, habitaturque pluribus ac frequentibits vicis, quia ubertas terra non indigenas modo detinet, sed etiam advenas invitat_.--q. curtii rufi libb. vii. et viii. [bokhara to samarcand] our whole karavan had now, on starting from bokhara for samarcand, dwindled down to two carts. in one of these sat hadji salih and myself; in the other, hadji bilal and his party. sheltered from the sun by a matting awning, i should have been glad to settle myself quietly on my carpet, but this was impossible, owing to the violent motion of our very primitive vehicle; it disposed of us 'at its own sweet will,' shaking us, now here, now there; our heads were continually cannoning each other like balls {198} on a billiard table. during the first few hours i felt quite sea-sick, having suffered much more than i had done when on the camels, the shiplike movements of which i had formerly so much dreaded. the poor horse, harnessed to the broad heavy cart, besides having to make the clumsy wheels--far from perfect circles--revolve laboriously through the deep sand or mud, was obliged also to convey the driver and his provision sack. the turkoman is right in doubting whether the bokhariot will ever be able to justify in another world his maltreatment of the horse--the noblest of the brute creation. as it was night when we started from baha-ed-din, the driver (a native of khokand), not sufficiently familiar with the road, mistook the way, so that, instead of midnight, it was morning before we reached the little town of mezar. it is distant from bokhara five tash (fersakh), and is regarded as the first station on the road to samarcand. we halted here but a short time, and about noon arrived at sheikh kasim, where we encountered some of our brother pilgrims. they were taking the road by gidjdovan. we consequently indulged ourselves by remaining there quietly together until late at night. [little desert of chöl melik] i had heard many wonderful accounts of the flourishing cultivation of the country between bokhara and samarcand, but thus far i had seen nothing astonishing during our day's journey, nothing at all corresponding to my high-wrought expectations. we perceived, indeed, everywhere, and on both sides of the road, with rare exceptions, the land under cultivation; the following day, however, a real surprise awaited me. we had passed the little desert of chöl melik (six leagues in length by four in {199} breadth), where there are a karavanserai and water reservoir, and at last reached the district of kermineh, which constitutes the third day's station. we now passed every hour, sometimes every half-hour, a small bazarli djay (market-place), where there were several inns and houses for the sale of provisions, and where gigantic russian teakettles, ever on the boil, are held to be the _ne plus ultra_ of refinement and of comfort. these villages have quite a different character from those in persia and turkey, the farm-yards are better filled with earth's blessings; and were there only more trees, we might say that all the way from the pontos mountains this is the only country resembling our own in the far west. about mid-day we halted at kermineh, in a lovely garden, on the side of a reservoir, where we found abundant shade. my friends seemed to endear themselves to me more and more the nearer the moment of our separation approached; it appeared impossible that i was to journey alone that long way back from samarcand to europe! we started from kermineh about sunset, considering that the freshness of the night would lighten, in some respects, the torments of our overtasked horse; at midnight we halted again for two hours, as we hoped to reach our station the next morning, before the heat of the day commenced. i remarked in many places along the road square mile-stones, some entire, others broken, [footnote 61] which owe their erection to timour; nor need this surprise us, for marco polo, in the time of oktai, found regular post-roads in central asia. the whole way from bokhara to kashgar is said, indeed, {200} still to bear marks of an ancient civilisation which, although with frequent intervals, is nevertheless traceable far into china. the present emir, also wishing to distinguish himself, has caused in several places small terraces to be raised for purposes of prayer, these serving as a sort of occasional mosques, and mementos to passers-by to fulfil their religious duties. so each age has its own peculiar objects in view! [footnote 61: the turkish word for stone is tash, which is also used to denote mile. so the persian word fersang (in modern persian fersakh) is compounded of fer (high) and seng (stone).] [animation of road owing to war] the evening we passed at the village mir, taking up our quarters there in the mosque. this rises from the centre of a pretty flower garden. i lay down to sleep near a reservoir, but was startled out of my slumber by a troop of quarrelsome turkomans. they were the tekke horsemen who had served the emir as auxiliaries in his campaign against khokand, and were now returning to merv with the booty they had taken from the kirghis. the emir, in his anxiety to civilise them, had presented many with a white turban, and hoped that they would throw aside altogether their wild fur caps. they wore them as long as they were under the eye of the emir, but i heard that they had subsequently sold them all. from mir we proceeded to the kette kurgan ('great fortress'). it is the seat of a government, and has the most famous shoemakers in the whole khanat. this fortress is defended by a strong wall and deep fosse. by night no one is permitted either to pass in or out; we therefore remained in a karavanserai, on the road outside the fort. there were wagons everywhere; the roads, indeed, in all directions presented a bustling and singularly animated appearance: this was to be ascribed to the war, that employs all conveyances between bokhara and khokand, from kette kurgan a distinct way leads through the desert {201} to karshi, and is said to be four leagues shorter than the usual one thither from samarcand; but travellers are obliged to take their water with them, as there are very few wells that human beings can use, although there are several fit for cattle. i found the drivers and peasants discussing political subjects before the tea-shops, the prohibitions here not being enforced as in bokhara. the poor people are enchanted when they hear of the heroic acts of their emir; they recount that he has already forced his way from khokand into china, and after he has there in the east reduced all under his sceptre, he will, they insist, proceed to take possession of iran, afghanistan, india, and frenghistan (these they consider as adjoining counties), as far as roum: the whole world, in fact, is, according to them, to be divided between the sultan and the emir! after having left behind me karasu, which is a place of some importance, we reached daul, the fifth station, and the last before coming to samarcand itself. our road passed over some hills from which we could perceive extensive woods stretching away on our left. i was told that they reach half-way to bokhara, and serve as retreats to the özbeg tribes, khitai and kiptchak, which are often at enmity with the emir. being familiar with all the secret corners and recesses of their own forests, they are not easily assailable. [first view of samarcand] what i heard in bokhara had very much diminished in my eyes the historical importance of samarcand. i cannot, however, describe my feeling of curiosity when they pointed out to me, on the east, mount chobanata, at whose foot was situate, i was told, the mecca i so longed to see. i therefore gazed intently in the direction indicated, and at last, on toiling up {202} a hill, i beheld the city of timour in the middle of a fine country. i must confess that the first impression produced by the domes and minarets, with their various colours, all bathed in the beams of the morning sun--the peculiarity, in short, of the whole scene--was very pleasing. as samarcand, both by the charm of its past and its remoteness, is regarded in europe as something extraordinary, we will, as we cannot make use of the pencil, endeavour to draw a view of the city with the pen. i must beg the reader to take a seat in the cart by my side; he will then see to the east the mountain i before mentioned. its dome-like summit is crowned by a small edifice, in which rests chobanata (the holy patron of shepherds). below lies the city. although it equals teheran in circumference, its houses do not lie so close together; still the prominent buildings and ruins offer a far more magnificent prospect. the eye is most struck by four lofty edifices, in the form of half domes, the fore-fronts or frontispieces of the medresse (pishtak). they seemed all to be near together; but some, in fact, are in the background. as we advance we perceive first a small neat dome, and further on to the south a larger and more imposing one; the former is the tomb, the latter the mosque, of timour. quite facing us, on the south-westerly limit of the city, on a hill, rises the citadel (ark), round which other buildings, partly mosques and partly tombs, are grouped. if we then suppose the whole intermixed with closely planted gardens, we shall have a faint idea of samarcand--a faint one; for i say with the persian proverb- 'when will hearing be like seeing?' [footnote 62] [footnote 62: 'shuniden keï buved manendi diden.'] {203} but, alas! why need i add that the impression produced by its exterior was weakened as we approached, and entirely dissipated by our entry into the place itself? bitter indeed the disappointment in the case of a city like samarcand, so difficult of access, and a knowledge of which has to be so dearly acquired; and when we drove in through the dervaze bokhara, and had to pass through the greater part of the cemetery to reach the inhabited part of the town, i thought of the persian verse- 'samarcand is the focus of the whole globe.' [footnote 63] [footnote 63: 'samarkand seïkeli rui zemin est.' ] in spite of all my enthusiasm, i burst out into a loud fit of laughter. we first proceeded to a karavanserai, on the side of the bazaar, where hadjis have quarters awarded to them gratuitously; but the very same evening we were invited to a private house situate beyond the bazaar, near the tomb of timour, and what was my joy and surprise when i learnt that our host fortunately was an officer of the emir, and entrusted with the surveillance of the palace in samarcand! as the return of the emir from khokand, where he had just terminated a victorious campaign, was announced to take place in a few days, my companions decided to wait in samarcand, on my account, till i had seen the emir, and until i found other hadjis passing whose company i could join on my return journey. in the interval i passed my time visiting all that was worth seeing in the city; for in spite of its miserable appearance, it is in this respect the richest in all central asia. {204} in my character as hadji i naturally began with the saints; but as all, even what is historically interesting, is intimately blended with some holy legend, i felt it a very agreeable duty to see everything. [haszreti shah zinde] they enumerate here several hundred places of pilgrimage; but we will only particularise the more remarkable:- _hazreti shah zinde (summer palace of timour)_. the proper name is kasim bin abbas. he is said to have been a koreïshite, and consequently stands here in the highest repute, as the chief of those arabs who introduced islamism into samarcand. his sepulchre lies without the city, to the north-west, near the wall and the edifice that served the great timour as a summer residence. the latter has retained even to the present day much of its ancient splendour and luxury. all these structures are situate upon elevated ground, and are approached by an ascent of forty tolerably broad marble steps. on reaching the summit, one is conducted to a building lying at the end of a small garden. here several little corridors lead to a large apartment, from which, by a small gloomy path, you arrive at the equally gloomy tomb of the saint. besides the room above mentioned, there are others whose coloured bricks and mosaic pavement produce as brilliant an effect as if they were the work of yesterday. each different room that we entered had to be saluted with two rikaat namaz. my knees began to ache, when they led me on into a room paved with marble. three flags, an old sword, and breastplate, were presented to be kissed as relics of the renowned {205} emir. this act of homage i did not decline any more than my companions, although i entertained great doubt whether the objects themselves are authentic. i heard also of a sword, breastplate, koran, and other relics of the saint, but i could not get sight of them. opposite to this edifice, the reigning emir has erected a small medresse, which looks like the stable of a palace. [mosque of timour] _mesdjidi timour (the mosque of timour)._ this mosque is situate on the south side of the city: in size, and painted brick decorations, it has much resemblance to the mesdjidi shah, in ispahan, which was built by order of abbas ii. the dome differs, however; it is in the form of a melon, which is never the case in persia. the inscriptions from the koran, in gold sulus lettering, next to those at the ruins of sultanieh, are the finest i ever saw. [citadel (ark)] _ark (citadel--reception hall of timour)_. the ascent to the ark is tolerably steep; it is divided into two parts, of which the outer is composed of private dwellings, whereas the other is only used for the reception of the emir. [reception hall of timour; köktash or timour's throne singular footstool.] the palace had been described to me as extremely curious; it is, however, a very ordinary edifice, and is scarcely a century old, and i confess i found nothing remarkable in it. first they showed me the apartments of the emir: amongst these the aynekhane, which is a room composed of fragments of looking-glass, passing for a wonder of the world; but to me it had far less interest than the place designated talari timour, or 'reception-hall of timour.' this is a {206} long narrow court, having round it a covered foot-pavement or cloister. the side that fronts you contains the celebrated köktash (green stone), upon which timour caused his throne to be placed: to it flocked vassals from all parts of the world to do homage, and were ranged there according to their rank; whilst in the central space, that resembled an arena, three heralds sat ready mounted to convey, on the instant, the words of the conqueror of the world to the farthest end of the hall. as the green stone is four feet and a half high, some prisoner of illustrious birth was always forced to serve as a footstool. it is singular that, according to the tradition, this colossal stone (ten feet long, four broad, and four and a half high) was transported hither from broussa. fixed in the wall to the right of this stone is a prominent oval piece of iron, like half a cocoa-nut; upon it there is an inscription in arabic, engraved in kufish letters. it is said to have been brought from the treasury of the sultan, bayazid yildirin, and to have served one of the khalifs as an amulet. i saw, high above the stone on the wall, two firmans, written in golden divani letters, one from sultan mahmoud, the other from sultan abdul medjid. they were sent to emir saïd, and emir nasrullah, from constantinople, and contained both the rukhsati-namaz (official permission for the prayer), [footnote 64] and the investiture in the functions of a reïs (guardian of religion) which the emirs formerly made it a point of etiquette to receive. the emirs, now-a-days, content themselves on their accession with doing homage at the köktash; and the stone is no longer used but for this purpose, and as a {207} place of pilgrimage for pious hadjis who say three fatihas, and rub their heads with peculiar unction upon that monument whence, once, every word uttered by their glorious monarch echoed as a command to the remotest parts of asia. timour is spoken of in samarcand as if the news of his death had only just arrived from otrar; and the question was put to me, as osmanli, what my feelings were on approaching the tomb of a sovereign who had inflicted upon 'our' sultan so terrible a defeat. [footnote 64: the friday prayer, which no sunnite could or can pronounce until the khalif or his successor has first done so.] [timour's sepulchre and that of his preceptor; author visits the actual tomb of timour in the souterrain] _turbeti timour (timour's sepulchre)_. this monument lies to the south-west, and consists of a neat chapel, crowned with a splendid dome, and encircled by a wall; in the latter there is a high arched gate, and on both sides are two small domes, miniature representations of the large one first mentioned. the space between the wall and the chapel is filled with trees, and should represent a garden, but great neglect is now apparent there. the entrance into the chapel is on the west, and its front, according to the law, is towards the south (kible). on entering, one finds oneself in a sort of vestibule, which leads directly into the chapel itself. this is octagonal, and ten short paces in diameter. in the middle, under the dome, that is to say, in the place of honour, there are two tombs, placed lengthwise, with the head in the direction of mecca. one is covered with a very fine stone of a dark green colour, two and a half spans broad and ten long, and about the thickness of six fingers. it is laid flat, in two pieces, [footnote 65] over the grave of timour; the other has a {208} black stone, of about the same length, but somewhat broader. this is the tomb of mir seid berke, the teacher and spiritual chief of timour, at whose side the mighty emir gratefully desired to be buried. round about lie other tombstones, great and small, those of wives, grandsons, and great grandsons of the emir; but, if i do not err, their bodies were brought thither at a subsequent period from different parts of the city. the inscriptions upon the tombs are in persian and arabic, no enumeration of titles is there, and even that of the emir is very simple. the family name, köreghen, is never omitted. [footnote 65: different reasons are assigned for this. some say that the victorious nadir shah ordered it to be sent to him, and that it was broken on the journey. others affirm that it was originally in two pieces, and the present of a chinese (mongol) princess.] [folio koran ascribed to osman, mohammed's secretary] as for the interior of the chapel, arabesques in alabaster, whose gildings are in rich contrast with a lovely azure, bear evidence of taste truly artistic, and produce an effect surprisingly beautiful. it reminds us, but can give only a faint idea, of the inside of the sepulchre of meesume fatma in kom (persia). [footnote 66] whilst the latter is too much filled, the former is simply and modestly beautiful. at the head of the graves are two rahle (table with two leaves, upon which, in the east, are laid sacred volumes), where the mollahs day and night read in turn the koran, and contrive to extract from the vakf (pious foundation) of the turbe a good salary. they, as well as the mutevali (stewards), are taken from the nogai tartars, because the emir expressed in his will the {209} desire that the watch over him should be entrusted to this race, which had always been particularly well disposed towards him. i paid my visit to the inspector, and was forced to remain his guest the whole day. as a mark of his peculiar favour he permitted me to view the actual grave, an honour which, he assured me, was rarely accorded even to natives. we descended by a small long staircase behind the entrance. it leads directly into a room below the chapel, not only of the same size, but resembling it closely in all its arabesque decorations. the tombs here are also in the same order as those above, but not so numerous. it is said that timour's grave contains great treasures; but this cannot be true, as it would be an infraction of the law. here again is a rahle, with a koran lying upon it in folio, written upon the skin of a gazelle. i was informed in many quarters, and upon good authority, that this was the same copy that osman, mohammed's secretary, and the second khalif, wrote, and that this relic timour had brought with him out of the treasury of the sultan bajazet, from broussa, and that it is here concealed as a precious deposit, inasmuch as bokhara, if publicly known to possess it, would be certainly regarded with ill-will by the other musselman potentates. [footnote 66: a sister of the imam riza, who after having long implored, at last obtained, permission from meemun khalife to visit her brother who was living as an exile in tus (meshed). on the journey thither she died at kom, and her tomb is a highly venerated place of pilgrimage in persia.] on the front of the turbe, in the very place to strike the eyes of all, we read the inscription, written in white letters upon a blue ground:-[illustration: arabic text] 'this is the work of poor abdullah, the son of mahmoud of ispahan.' i could not ascertain the date. about a hundred paces from the building {210} which i have described, is another dome of simple architecture, but considerable antiquity, where reposes one of timour's favourite wives, also venerated as a saint. quite above, on the side of the dome, hangs a sort of skein, said to contain muy seadet (hair from the beard of the prophet), and which has for many long years--although the dome has crevices in all its sides--protected it from further decay, _s'il vous plait._ [colleges; ancient observatory] _medresses_. some of those are still peopled; others abandoned, and likely soon to become perfect ruins. to those in the best state of repair belong the medresse shirudar and tillakari; but these were built long subsequently to the time of timour. the one last named, which is very rich in decorations of gold, whence its name, tillakari (worked in gold), was built 1028 (1618), by a rich kalmuk named yelenktosh, who was a convert to islamism; and really that portion called khanka, is so rich that it is only surpassed by the interior of the mosque of iman riza. opposite to these we see the medresse mirza ulug, built in 828 (1434) by timour, grandson of the same name who was passionately fond of astrology; but which even in 1115 (1701) were in so ruinous a condition that, to borrow the expression employed by its historian, 'owls housed, instead of students, in its cells, and the doors were hung with spiders' webs instead of silk curtains.' in this building stood the observatory famous throughout the world, which was commenced in 832 (1440), under the direction of the _savants_ gayas-ed-dir djemshid, muayin kashani, and of the learned israelite silah-ed-din bagdadi, but was {211} completed under ali kushtchi. this was the second and last observatory erected in central asia. the first had been constructed at maraga, under helagu, by the learned nedjm-ed-din. the place where it had stood was pointed out to me, but i could only discern a slight trace. these three medresse form the principal open space, the righistan of samarcand; which is smaller, indeed, than the righistan at bokhara, but still filled with booths and ever frequented with buzzing crowds. at a distance from those, and near the dervaze bokhara, are the extensive ruins of the once really magnificent medresse hanym, which a chinese princess, wife of timour, erected out of her private purse. it is said at one time to have accommodated a thousand students, each of whom received from the vakf (foundation) the annual sum of a hundred tilla. the sum may be regarded as an oriental one; an evidence, nevertheless, of bygone splendour appears in its ruins, of which three walls and the fore-front or frontispiece (pishtak) still exist; the latter with its towers and portal, that might serve for a model, has its pavement completely covered with mosaic made of earth, the composition and colouring of which are of incomparable beauty, and so firmly cemented that it occasioned me indescribable trouble to cut away the calyx of a flower; and even of this i could only remove in a perfect state the innermost part, with three leaves folded together. although the work of destruction is eagerly proceeded with, we can still perceive in the interior where at present the hired carriages that ply to khokand and karshi take up their quarters--the mosque, with the wonder-working gigantic rahle; and many a century must the people of samarcand {212} continue to tear away and cut down before this work of annihilation is complete. [greek armenian library not, as pretended, carried off by timour.] besides these edifices, there are some other towers and dome-shaped buildings, the work of bygone days. after having made every possible investigation, in spite of all exertions, i have not been able to discover any trace of that once famous armenian greek library, which, according to a universally accredited tradition, the victorious timour swept away to samarcand to ornament his capital. this fable, so i must at once pronounce it, originated from the over-strained patriotism of an armenian priest, named hadjator, who insists that he came from caboul to samarcand, and discovered in the latter city large folios with heavy chains (_à la_ faust) in those towers, into which no musselman, from fear of djins (genii), would dare to venture. the story was later, if i mistake not, made use of by a french _savant_, in his 'history of the armenians;' and as we europeans are just as fond as the orientals of amusing ourselves with subjects that lie half in light and half in darkness, it was actually believed by some (that is, by those who busied themselves with antiquities) that the mighty asiatic conqueror had sent back to his capital, a distance of a hundred stations, some hundred mules laden with armenian greek manuscripts, in order that his tartars might also familiarise themselves with foreign languages and history! [architecture of public buildings not chinese but persian; modern samarcand; its population] i disbelieve altogether the story that any such library ever existed; my opinion is as strong also upon another subject, for i entirely differ from those who ascribe a chinese character to the monuments of samarcand. the political frontiers of china are, it is true, at a distance of only ten days' journey, but china proper can {213} only be reached in sixty days, and those who have even a faint idea of the rigorous line of demarcation that guards the celestial empire, will not very easily believe that the chinese can have any idea in common with the genuine mahommedans, who are also themselves separatists. the inscription upon the façade of the sepulchre of timour, to which all the other edifices in samarcand have more or less resemblance in point of style and decoration, shows clearly enough that the artists were persians, and one needs only to compare the monuments of this city with those of herat, meshed, and ispahan, to be convinced that the architecture is persian. so much of the ancient and historical city of samarcand. the new city, whose actual walls are at the distance of a full league from the ruins of the old walls, [footnote 67] has six gates and a few bazaars that have still survived from the ancient times; in these are offered at low prices, manufactures in leather of high repute, and wooden saddles, the enamel of which might even do honour to european artisans. during my stay in the city of timour the bazaars and other public places and streets were continually thronged, because every spot was occupied by the troops returning from their campaign; still the regular residents can hardly exceed from 15,000 to 20,000, of whom two-thirds are özbegs, and one-third tadjiks. the emir, whose usual residence is bokhara, {214} is in the habit of passing two or three of the summer months in samarcand, because the situation is more elevated, and the city has certain advantages of climate. in bokhara the heat is insupportable, but i found the temperature here very agreeable; only the water recommended as abi-hayat (ambrosia) tasted to me very detestable. [footnote 67: it is possible that the ruins only mark the boundary of a suburb, for e. g. de clavijo, who in 1403 formed part of an embassy at the court of timour, informs us (see the translation of that account by c. e. markham, page 172), that the citadel lies at one end of the town, where in fact it still is. the space between the ruins and the modern wall may have been inhabited and yet not have belonged to the city.] [dehbid] i may mention dehbid (the ten willows) as singularly beautiful; it forms at once a place of pilgrimage and of recreation, a league distant from samarcand, on the other side of the zerefshan, and peopled by the descendants of mahkdum aázam, who died in 949 (1542), and is here interred. the inhabitants have a fine khanka (convent), and receive pilgrims with the greatest hospitality. dehbid lies actually higher than samarcand; still, to my surprise, i met here with mulberries in the middle of the month of august. i found it cool even at mid-day in the great 'alley,' which was planted in 1632, by order of nezr divabeghi, in honour of the saint above mentioned. on the road to dehbid, i was shown the spot where stood the famous baghi-chinaran (poplar garden). ruins only now mark the site of the palace; of the trees nothing is visible. although we cannot go so far as the inhabitant of central asia--who applies to these ruins, even at the present day, the expression, 'samarcand resembles paradise' [footnote 68]-we must still be just, and characterise the ancient capital of central asia, from its site and the luxuriant vegetation in the midst of which it stands, as the most beautiful in turkestan. khokand and namengan, {215} according to native appreciation, rank still higher, but a stranger may be pardoned if he withholds the palm, so long as it has been denied to him with his own eyes to see the superiority. [footnote 68: 'samarkand firdousi manend.'] [author decides to return] after having remained eight days in samarcand, i formed, at last, my final resolution, and determined to return to the west by the route before mentioned. hadji bilal was desirous of taking me with him to aksu, and promised to try to get me forwards to mecca, either by way of yerkend, thibet, and cashmere, or, if fortune were favourable, by way of komul to bidjing (pekin); but hadji salih did not approve of the plan, both on account of the great distance to be traversed, and the small capital at my disposal. 'you might, indeed, pass as far as aksu, perhaps even as komul, for so far you would meet with musselmans and brethren, all disposed to show you great honour as a dervish from roum, but from that point onwards you would find black unbelievers everywhere, who, although they might throw no obstacle in your way, would give you nothing. by the way of thibet you may find fellow-travellers going from kashgar and yerkend, but i cannot charge myself with the responsibility of taking you with me at this time to khokand, where everything, owing to the recent war, is in the greatest disorder. but khokand you must see; come, then, when things are tranquil: for the present it is better to return by herat to teheran, with the friends whom we have found for you.' although these words of my excellent friend were sensible enough, still i had for hours a long struggle with myself. a journey, i thought, by land to pekin, across the ancient homes of the tartars, kirghis, kalmuks, mongols, and chinese--a way by which {216} marco polo himself would not have ventured--is really grand! but moderation whispered in my ear, 'enough for the moment!' i made a retrospect of what i had done, of what countries i had traversed, what distances i had travelled over, and by ways, too, by which no one had preceded me; would it not, i thought, be a pity if i sacrificed the experience which i had acquired, however trifling, in a hazardous and uncertain enterprise? i am but thirty-one years old; what has not happened may still occur; better, perhaps, now, that i should return. hadji bilal jested with me upon my cowardice, and the european reader may agree with him; but local experience has taught me that, at least here, one need not scorn the turkish proverb, that says:- 'to-day's egg is better than to-morrow's fowl.' [arrival of emir] i was in the midst of the preparations for my departure, when the emir made his triumphal entry, which, as it had been announced three days previously, great crowds assembled in the righistan to witness. no particular pomp, however, distinguished it. the procession was opened by about 200 serbaz, who had thrown leather accoutrements over their clumsy bokhariot dress, and that was supposed to entitle them to the name of regular troops. far in their rear, there followed troops in ranks with standards and kettle-drums. the emir mozaffar-ed-din, and all his escort of higher functionaries, looked, with their snow-white turbans and their wide silk garments of all the colours of the rainbow, more like the chorus of women in the opera of nebuchadnezzar than a troop of tartar warriors. so also it may be said with respect to other officers of the court, of whom some bore white staves {217} and others halberds, that there was in the whole procession nothing to remind one of turkestan, except in the followers, of whom many were kiptchaks, and attracted attention by their most original mongol features, and by the arms which they bore, consisting of bows, arrows, and shields. [illustration] entry of the emir into samarcand. the buildings after a sketch by mr. lehman. the day of his entry the emir made, by public notice, a national holiday. several of their kettles of monstrous size were put in requisition, and brought forward in the righistan, for boiling the 'princely pilow,' which consisted of the following ingredients in each kettle:--a sack of rice, three sheep chopped to pieces, a large pan of sheep's fat (enough to make, with us, five pounds of candles), a small sack of carrots; all these were allowed to boil, or perhaps we had better call it _ferment_, together, and, as tea was also served out at discretion, the eating and drinking proceeded bravely. [author's interview with him] the day following it was announced that an arz (public audience) would take place. i took advantage of the opportunity to present myself to the emir under the conduct of my friends, but to my surprise, on entering, our party was stopped by a mehrem, who informed us that his majesty wished to see me apart from my companions. this was a blow, for we all now suspected that something was going wrong. i followed the mehrem, and, after being kept an hour waiting, i was introduced into a room which i had on a previous occasion visited, and there i now saw the emir sitting on a mattress or ottoman of red cloth, surrounded by writings and books. with great presence of mind, i recited a short sura, with the usual prayer for the welfare of the sovereign, and after the amen, to which he himself responded, i {218} took my seat, without permission, quite close to his royal person. the boldness of my proceeding--quite, however, in accordance with the character which i assumed--seemed not displeasing to him. i had long forgotten the art of blushing, and so was able to sustain the look which he now directed full in my face, with the intention, probably, of disconcerting me. 'hadji, thou comest, i hear, from roum, to visit the tombs of baha-ed-din, and the saints of turkestan.' 'yes, takhsir (sire [footnote 69]); but also to quicken myself by the contemplation of thy sacred beauty' (djemali mubarek), according to the forms of conversation usual on these occasions. [footnote 69: takhsir signifies sir, and is employed not only in conversing with princes, but all other personages. ] 'strange! and thou hadst then no other motive in coming hither from so distant a land?' 'no, takhsir (sire), it had always been my warmest desire to behold the noble bokhara, and the enchanting samarcand, upon whose sacred soil, as was remarked by sheikh djelal, one should rather walk on one's head than on one's feet. but i have, besides, no other business in life, and have long been moving about everywhere as a djihangeshte' (world pilgrim). 'what, thou, with thy lame foot, a djihangeshte! that is really astonishing.' 'i would be thy victim!' (an expression equivalent to 'pardon me.') 'sire, thy glorious ancestor (peace be with him!) had certainly the same infirmity, and he was even djihanghir' (conqueror of the world). [footnote 70] [footnote 70: timour, whom these emirs of bokhara erroneously claim as their ancestor, was, it is well known, lame; hence, his enemies called him timur 'lenk' (tamerlane, _the lame timour)_. ] {219} this reply was agreeable to the emir, who put questions to me respecting my journey, and the impression made upon me by bokhara and samarcand. my observations, which i incessantly strove to ornament with persian sentences and verses from the koran, produced a good effect upon him, for he is himself a mollah, and tolerably well acquainted with arabic. he directed that i should be presented with a serpay (dress) [footnote 71] and thirty tenghe, and dismissed me with the command that i should visit him a second time in bokhara. [footnote 71: this word means ser ta pay (from head to foot); it is a complete dress, consisting of turban, over-dress, girdle, and boots.] when i had received the princely present, i hurried, like a man possessed by a devil, back to my friends, who were delighted at my good fortune. i heard (and there is no improbability in the account) that rahmet bi had drawn up his report concerning me in ambiguous terms, and that the emir had consequently conceived suspicions. my triumph was entirely owing to the flexibility of my tongue (which is really impudent enough). in fact, i had every reason on this occasion to appreciate, the truth of the latin proverb, 'quot linguas cales tot homines vales.' after this scene, i was advised by my friends to quit samarcand in all speed, not to make any stay even in karshi, but to gain as rapidly as possible the further bank of the oxus, where, amongst the hospitable ersari turkomans, i might await the arrival of the karavan for herat. [parting from the hadjis, and departure from samarcand.] the hour of departure was at hand. my pen is too feeble to convey any adequate idea of the distressing scene that took place between us; on both sides we were really equally moved. for six long months we {220} had shared the great dangers of deserts, of robbers, and inclement weather. what wonder if all difference of position, age, and nationality had been lost sight of, and if we regarded each other as all members of a single family? separation was, in our case, equivalent to death. how could it be otherwise in these countries, where there was positively not even a hope of seeing each other again? my heart seemed as if it would burst, when i thought that i was not permitted to communicate the secret of my disguise to these, my best friends in the world, that i must deceive those to whom i owed even my life. i tried to imagine a way--i wished to make trial of them; but religious fanaticism, to be found sometimes even in civilised europe, has a fearful influence upon the oriental, and particularly so upon the islamite. my confession, in itself a capital offence [footnote 72] by the law of mohammed, might not perhaps, for the moment, have severed all ties of friendship; but how bitterly, how dreadfully would my friend hadji salih, who was so sincere in his religious opinions, have felt the deception! no, i determined to spare him this sorrow, and to save myself from any reproach of ingratitude. he must, i thought, be left in the fond delusion. [footnote 72: a murtad (renegade) is directed to be stoned to death.] after having commended me to some pilgrims, whom i was to accompany to mecca, as their very brother, son in fact, as one whom they most valued, they accompanied me after sunset to the outside of the city gate, where the cart that my new companions had hired for the journey to karshi was waiting for us. i wept like a child when, tearing myself from their embraces, i took my seat in the vehicle. my {221} friends were all bathed in tears, and long did i see them--and i see them now--standing there in the same place, with their hands raised to heaven, imploring allah's blessing upon my far journey. i turned round many times to look back. at last, they disappeared, and i found i was only gazing upon the domes of samarcand, illuminated by the faint light of the rising moon! {222} chapter xii. samarcand to karshi through desert nomads karshi, the ancient nakhseb trade and manufacture kerki oxus author charged with being runaway slave ersari turkomans mezari sherif belkh author joins karavan from bokhara slavery zeïd andkhuy yeketut khairabad maymene akkale. _non succurrit tibi quamdiu circum bactra haereas?_--q. curtii rufi lib. vii. 8. [samarcand to karshi through desert] my new travelling companions were from oosh mergolan, and namengan (khanat of khokand). it is unnecessary to describe them particularly. they were far from being to me like those friends from whom i had just parted; nor did we remain long together. i attached myself, in preference, to a young mollah from kungrat, who had travelled with us to samarcand, and hoped to proceed, in my company, as far as mecca. he was a young man, good-humoured, and as poor as myself, who looked up to me as one superior to himself in learning, and was disposed to serve me. from samarcand to karshi there are three ways, first by shehri sebz, which may be styled almost a circuitous way, and is the longest; secondly, by djam, only fifteen miles, but through a stony and mountainous country, and consequently difficult, if not impracticable, for carts; thirdly, through the desert. {223} barely eighteen miles in length. on setting out, we had, anyhow, to take the bokhara road as far as the hill, whence samarcand first becomes visible to the traveller approaching it from the former city. here we turned off to the left. the way then passes through two villages, in the midst of land well cultivated. after proceeding three miles, we halted at the karavanserai, robati hauz, where the road divides into two others, that on the left passing by djam, that on the right traversing a desert. we took the latter. in comparison with those deserts through which i had already made my way, this one, with respect to size, may be styled a moderate-sized field. it is everywhere visited by shepherds, from the convenience of its numerous wells of tolerably good water; in the neighbourhood of these the ozbegs constantly pitch their tents. the wells are, for the most part, deep, and have each near them a somewhat elevated reservoir of stone or wood, always in the form of a square, into which is thrown the water drawn from the wells, for the use of cattle. as the buckets are small, and the shepherd would be soon tired by repeatedly using them, an ass, or more often a camel, is employed; the rope is attached to the saddle, and the animal draws up the bucket by walking a distance equal to the length of the cord. the appearance of these wells, of the drinking sheep, and the busy shepherd, has, in the stillness of those evening hours, something not unpoetic; and i was very much struck by the resemblance between this part of the desert and our puszta (heaths) in hungary. {224} in consequence of the strictness with which the police regulations were enforced everywhere by the emir of bokhara, the routes here are so safe, that not merely small karavans, but even single travellers, traverse the desert unmolested. on the second day we met at one of the wells a karavan coming from karshi. there was amongst the travellers a young woman who had been treacherously sold by her own husband to an aged tadjik for thirty tilla. it was not until she reached the desert that she became fully aware of the cruel trick to which she was victim: the wretched creature, shrieking and weeping and tearing her hair, ran up to me like one distracted, and exclaimed, 'hadjim (my hadji), thou that hast read books, tell me where it is written that a musselman can sell his wife who has borne him children! 'i affirmed it to be a sin, but the tadjik only laughed at me, for he had, probably, already an understanding with the kazi kelan (superior judge) of karshi, and felt sure of his purchase. as we advanced but slowly on account of the great heat, we took two days and three nights to reach karshi. we first came in sight of it on reaching a plateau, where the road again divides into two, that on the right hand leading to kette kurgan, and that on the left conducting to the river that flows hither from shehri sebz, and disappears in the sand at a considerable distance beyond karshi. from this point the whole way to the city, which is distant two miles, passes continually through cultivated land and numerous gardens, and as karshi has no walls, one does not know before crossing the bridge that one is in the city. karshi, the ancient nakhsheb, is, both from its size and its commercial importance, the second city in the khanat of bokhara; it consists of the city (proper) {225} and the citadel (kurgantche), which latter is on its north-western side, and weakly fortified. karshi has, at present, ten karavanserais and a well-supplied bazaar, and, should no political disturbances occur to prevent, is considered likely to play an important part in the transit trade organised between bokhara, kaboul, and india. the inhabitants, estimated at 25,000 souls, are for the most part özbegs, and form the nucleus of the troops of the khan. the population consists, besides, of tadjiks, indians, afghans, and jews: the latter have the privilege of riding even in the interior of the city, which they are not allowed to do in any other part of the khanat. with respect to its manufactures karshi, less so, however, than hissar (at a little distance from it), is distinguished by its fabrication of knives of different kinds. these are not only exported to all parts of central asia, but are conveyed by the hadjis to persia, arabia, and turkey, where they realise three times, and often four times, the cost price. one kind, with damascus blades, and handles with gold and silver inlaid, is really worked with great taste, and might, both for durability and temper, put to shame the most famous produce of sheffield and birmingham. [nomads] amongst the letters of recommendation with which my friends had furnished me to different khans and mollahs on my way, one was addressed to a certain ishan hasan, who stood in high repute in karshi. when i visited him he received me in a friendly manner, and advised me, as all cattle, and particularly asses, were cheap, to purchase one of these long-eared coursers, nor did he omit to tell me also to do like all other hadjis, and employ what little money i had left in procuring knives, needles, thread, glass beads, {226} bokhariot sacking, but, most of all, cornelians imported from bedakhshan, and which are also cheap there; for he said that, as we were going amongst tribes of nomads, we should, by means of such merchandise, be able to gain something, and besides maintain ourselves better, for that for a single needle or a few glass beads (mondjuck), one might often obtain bread and melons to support one a whole day. i saw at once that the good man was right, and proceeded the very same day, in company with the mollah from kungrat, to purchase some of the articles specified, so that, whilst one side of my khurdjin knapsack was filled with my manuscripts, the other was occupied by a stock of cutlery. thus i became simultaneously antiquary, haberdasher, hadji, and mollah, besides filling the accessorial functions of dispenser of blessings, nefes, amulets, and other wonders. singular contrast! it is just a year ago that i exercised all those offices, and now i sit in the english metropolis confined within four walls, writing from eight to ten hours a day. there i had to do with nomads picking out from my glass beads those of lightest colour, and from my amulets those having the broadest red edgings; here i have to do with publishers, and stand with embarrassment before a critical and fastidious public, whose various and discordant requisitions are certainly more difficult to satisfy than the fashionable taste of a young turkoman, or of a young brunette daughter of the djemshidi! [karshi, the ancient nakhseb; trade and manufacture; kerki] it was quite a surprise for me to see in karshi a public place of recreation not to be found upon the same scale either in bokhara or samarcand, or even in persia itself. it is a large garden bearing the modest title kalenterkhane (beggar's house), {227} extending along the bank of the river, and containing several walks and beds of flowers. here the _beau monde_ of karshi are in motion from two o'clock in the afternoon until an hour after sunset. in different places the steaming samovars (giant russian teakettles) are in requisition, surrounded constantly by circles of customers, two or three deep; the sight of the gay crowd is, for the traveller in central asia, really something uncommon. the inhabitants of karshi are in other respects distinguished by their cheerfulness and light-heartedness; they are, in fact, regarded as the shirazi of the khanat of bokhara. after a sojourn of three days, we started for kerki, distant only fourteen miles: there is but one road. our party now only consisted, in addition to myself, of mollah ishak (such was the name of the mollah from kungrat), and two other hadjis. at the distance of two miles from karshi we passed through a large and, as i understood, a rich village, named feizabad, and spent half the night in the ruins of a cistern: there are many in these parts, all dating from the time of abdullah khan. although security reigned everywhere, we were advised that we ought to be upon our guard when we were farther from karshi, as there were already turkomans about not to be depended upon. posting our asses in a corner of the ruins, we laid ourselves down in the front part of it upon our knapsacks, and so slept alternately, until towards midnight. we then started again, in order to reach our intended station before noon. we arrived long before that period at the cistern sengsulak. on seeing it at a distance surrounded by tents and feeding flocks, we rejoiced, for we felt now certain to find water, which we had before doubted, and therefore had loaded our {228} asses with that necessary article. the high dome-like arch of the cistern, although more than 200 years old, is quite uninjured, as also are some recesses in it that afford shade to travellers. the cistern, situated in the lower part of a valley, is completely filled, not only by the melting of the snows in the spring, but by rains. we found it then only three feet deep, and surrounded by 200 tents of the özbegs, from the tribes of kungrat and nayman; their cattle, and their children in a complete state of nudity, were splashing about in it, and spoiling its flavour a little. as from here to kerki is reckoned six miles, we wished, for the sake of our beasts, to make this tolerably long station a night journey, and to employ the day in sleeping. our repose was soon disturbed, for the nomad girls had got scent of our glass beads. they hurried to us with huge wooden plates of camel's milk and mare's milk, to entice us to exchange. an hour after sunset we started; it was a clear fine night. we had hardly got four leagues on our journey, when we all, simultaneously overpowered by sleep, sank down and slumbered with the reins of rope still in our hands. we were soon, however, awakened by horsemen, who reproached us with our imprudence, and incited us to continue our march. we sprang up, and, partly proceeding on foot and partly riding, reached at sunrise the oxus. on the nearer bank stands the little citadel; on the further one, upon a steep hill, the frontier fortress round which lies spread the city kerki. [oxus; author charged with being runaway slave.] the oxus, which flows between the two fortresses just mentioned, is nearly twice as broad as the danube where it runs between pesth and ofen. the current is very strong, with banks of sand here and there. {229} our passage over, as unluckily we were carried a little too far down the stream, lasted three hours. when things are most favourable for crossing--that is, during the summer months--the passage over where the river is deepest requires full half an hour, for it is unheard of, nay, impossible, for a ferry boat to cross without the boatman being obliged to step into the water and drag it by the rope over some shallow part. happily, the heat was not as great as when i had before crossed, at khanka; we did not, therefore, suffer much. the boatmen were humane and civil enough not to require from us any fare. scarcely had we reached the opposite bank, when we were stopped by the deryabeghi (intendant of the ferry) of the governor of kerki, who accused us of being runaway slaves making for persia, our heretical fatherland. he forced us, bag and baggage, into the fortress, there to be heard by the governor in person. imagine my astonishment. my three colleagues, whose physiognomy, pronunciation, and language at once attested their origin, were not at all alarmed, and were, in fact, soon set free. with me they made a little difficulty, but, as i saw that they were about forcibly to take away my ass, i fell into a passion, and, employing alternately the dialects of tartary and the turkish dialect peculiar to constantinople, i handed in my passport, demanding in a violent manner that they should show it to the bi (governor), or that they should usher me to his presence. on making this disturbance, i saw that the toptchubashi (commandant of artillery) in the fortress, a persian by birth, who had elevated himself from the condition of a slave to his present rank, whispered something in the ear of the deryabeghi; he then {230} took me aside, and told me that he had been several times in stamboul from tebriz, his native city; that he could distinguish people from roum very well; i might be easy, nothing would happen here either to me or my property; that all strangers were obliged to submit to the examination, because every emancipated slave on his way home was obliged to pay here, on the frontier, a tax of two ducats, and that often, to smuggle themselves through, they assumed different disguises. soon afterwards, the servant returned who had shown my pass to the governor; he gave it me back, with five tenghe presented to me by the bi, without any request on my part. [ersari turkomans] as kerki is a frontier fortress, and is, so to say, the key of bokhara on the side of herat, let us describe it more in detail. as i before said, the fortifications are divided into two parts. the citadel on the right bank of the river is very small, and is defended by only four cannon, and guarded in time of peace by a few soldiers. the fortress itself, on the left bank, consists first of the castle built upon the hill, encircled by three walls, and having, as i heard, twelve cannon of iron and six of brass: the walls are of earth and tolerably strong, five feet broad and twelve feet high. the town, which is spread round the fortress, consists of 150 houses, three mosques, a small bazaar, and karavanserai: it is also defended by a good wall and deep ditch. the inhabitants are özbegs and turkomans, employed a little in trade, but more in agriculture. near the walls of the city is the tomb of the famous imam kerkhi, the author of many commentaries. the province of kerki extends from the vicinity of chardjuy to the ford hadji salih (falsely called hojasalu), on the bank of the oxus, so far as the canals of {231} the said river run. this country is inhabited by the ersari turkomans, who pay tribute to the emir only to secure themselves from hostilities on the part of the other tribes. in earlier and different times the sovereign of bokhara had other possessions on the further side of the oxus, but he was deprived of them by the victorious dost mohammed khan, and now has nothing remaining there except chardjuy and kerki. i heard, to my great regret, that mollah zeman, the chief of the karavan, proceeding from bokhara to herat, would not arrive for eight or ten days. i therefore considered it advisable to pass the interval rather in journeys amongst the turkomans than in kerki. i went with mollah ishak to the tribes kizil ayak and hasan-menekli, amongst whom there were mollahs who had seen me at bokhara with some of my friends. the ersari turkomans, who only migrated hither from manghishlak 200 years ago, and have not recognised the supremacy of bokhara except during the last forty years, have retained very little of the national characteristics of the turkomans. they may be styled only semi-nomads, the greater part cultivating the land, and the remainder, still exclusively pastoral, having lost with their savage character all the primitive virtues of their kindred tribe. the exertions of bokhara, in favour of civilisation, have stripped them at once of their sword and their integrity, giving them in exchange the koran and hypocrisy. never shall i forget the scenes that i witnessed as a guest in the house of one of the most considerable ishans of these turkomans. khalfa niyaz had inherited from his father sanctity, knowledge, and rank. he had a tekkie (monastery), {232} where a limited number of students were instructed _à la_ bokhara. he had besides obtained an izn (permission) from mecca, to recite the sacred poems (kaside sherif): in doing so he used to place before him a cup with water into which he spat at the end of each poem; and this composition, into which the sanctity of the text had penetrated, was sold to the best bidder as a wonder-working medicine! there is only one quality of the turkomans that they have retained uncorrupted--hospitality, which is displayed to all strangers whether they abide a day or a year; for throughout all turkestan, if we except the tadjiks, the proverb is unknown:- hôte et poisson, en trois jours poison. [mezari sherif] i made an excursion also with my host to the mezari sherif ('the noble grave'). it is two days' journey from his ova, and four or five from kerki, and not very far from belkh. as mezari sherif is said to be the tomb of ali, it is throughout the whole of turkestan an important place of pilgrimage. history tells that the miraculous grave at shahi merdan ali ('king of the heroes,' as mezar is also otherwise called) was discovered in the time of the sultan sandjar. belkh being covered every where with ruins, it was supposed to have guarded its treasures ever since the time of the divs (devils): the last-named sultan, therefore, caused excavations to be made, and on one of these occasions a stone table of the purest white was found with the inscription, 'this is the tomb of ali, the son of abutahb, the mighty hero and companion of the prophet.' {233} [belkh] this circumstance is only so far interesting that it enabled us to establish that the ruins of ancient belkh, styled by the orientals 'the mother of cities,' covered formerly a distance of five leagues. now only a few heaps of earth are pointed to as the site of the ancient bactra, and of the modern ruins there is nothing remarkable but a half-demolished mosque, built by the sultan sandjar of the race of the seldjoukides; for in the middle ages belkh was the capital of islamite civilisation, and was styled kubbet-ül islam ('the dome of islam'). it is singular that the bricks here are of the same size and quality as those in the ruins amongst the yomuts; but i have been able to find amongst them no cuneiform inscriptions. excavations would incontestably produce interesting results; but they would be impossible without recommendatory letters, backed by two or three thousand european bayonets. modern belkh, regarded as the capital of the afghan province of turkestan, and occupied by the serdar with his garrison, is only a winter residence, for in spring even the poorest inhabitant leaves it for mezar, whose situation is more elevated, its temperature less oppressive, and its air less impure, than those of the ruins of the ancient bactra; for whilst the latter is famous for poisonous scorpions, the former has a high reputation as producing the wonder-working red roses (gül-i-surkh). these flowers grow upon the pretended tomb of ali, [footnote 73] and have positively the sweetest smell and the finest colour of any i ever saw. superstition fondly credits the story that they will not succeed in any other soil than that of mezar. every attempt, at least, to transplant it in mezar itself has failed. [footnote 73: the real monument of ali is in nedjef.] {234} [author joins karavan from bokhara; slavery] after a wearisome delay, we at last received intelligence of the arrival of the herat karavan. i hurried to kerki, and thought that i might proceed on my journey, when our departure was again postponed owing to a dispute about the tax imposed upon emancipated slaves. mollah zeman had in his karavan about forty of these, partly from herat, partly from persia, who journeyed homeward under his protection, which the poor men were obliged to purchase at a high rate, for otherwise they incurred the risk of being caught up and sold a second time. although zeman was well known to all the officers on the frontiers, he nevertheless had quarrels with them every time he passed, not so much on account of the tax itself, which is here fixed, but of the number of the slaves liable to it, which he always endeavoured to diminish and the authorities to increase. every traveller not well known is presumed to be a slave, and is seized as such; and as every one seeks to enforce his own view of liability or exemption, there is no end to the shouting, quarrelling, and tumult. finally, however, everything is left to the decision of the kervanbashi, who, from his karavan of from 50 to 100 travellers, names such as emancipated slaves whose type, language, and other indications are unmistakable. generally speaking, suspicion principally attaches to vagabonds and other travellers who journey with no apparent object in view; and as these for the most part assume the title of hadjis, it is the policy of the zeman to get together in bokhara as many genuine hadjis as possible, in whose ranks he then places his ex-slaves the false hadjis. {235} they took a whole day to get through the bales of goods, the men, horses, camels, and asses. at last, they started, escorted by a custom-house officer, who kept strict watch to prevent any other travellers joining the karavan by circuitous routes. when we had got beyond the inhabited district--which is, in fact, the frontier of bokhara--he turned back, and we proceeded on our way into the desert. we were in two days to reach the khanat of andkhuy. [zeid] whilst my heavily-laden ass was trotting on in the still night, the joyful thought for the first time occurred to me that i had turned my back upon the khanat of bokhara, and that i was actually on my way to that west which i loved so well. my travelling experience, thought i, may not be great, but i carry back with me what is worth more than anything--my life. i could not contain myself for joy when i thought that perhaps i might be so fortunate as to reach persia, that mecca of my warmest wishes. our karavan, consisting of 400 camels, a few horses, and 190 asses, formed a long chain; and after sturdily marching the whole night, we reached, early in the morning, the station zeid, which consists of a few wells of bad water at six miles' distance from kerki. there were in the karavan, as i remarked at the first station, many others besides myself who were longing to reach the southernmost frontiers of central asia. these were the emancipated slaves, with whom hadjis were intermixed, and i had an opportunity of witnessing the most heart-rending incidents. near me was an old man--a father--bowed down by years. he had ransomed, at bokhara, his son, a man in his thirtieth year, in order to restore a protector to his family left behind--that is to say, to his daughter-in-law a husband, to his children a father. the price was fifty ducats, and its payment had reduced the {236} poor old man to beggary. 'but,' said he to me, 'rather the beggar's staff than my son in chains.' his home was khaf in persia. from the same city, not far from us, was another man, still of active strength, but his hair had turned grey with sorrow, for he had been despoiled by the turkomans, some eight years ago, of life, sister, and six children. the unfortunate man had to wander from place to place a whole year in khiva and bokhara, to discover the spot in which those near members of his family were languishing in captivity. after long search, he found that his wife, sister, and two youngest children had succumbed under the severity of their servitude, and that, of the four children that survived, he could only ransom half. the remaining two having besides grown up, the sum demanded for them was beyond his means. farther on sat a young man from herat, who had ransomed his mother. only two years ago, this woman, now in her fiftieth year, was, with her husband and eldest son, surprised by an alaman. after seeing those near relatives both fall, in self-defence, under the lances and swords of the turkomans, she experienced herself unceasing sufferings until sold for sixteen ducats in bokhara. the owner, discovering a son in him who sought to ransom her, exacted a double amount, thus turning filial piety to cruelly usurious account. nor must i omit to mention another unhappy case--that of an inhabitant of tebbes. he was captured eight years ago, and after the lapse of two years he was ransomed by his father. they were both returning home, and were three leagues from their native city, when they were suddenly attacked by the turkomans, taken prisoners, led back to bokhara, and again sold as slaves. now, they were a second time freed, and were being conveyed to their homes. {237} but why any longer distress the reader with these cruelties? unfortunately, the above are only a few sketches of that lamentable plague by which, for centuries, those districts, but more especially the north-eastern part of persia, have been depopulated. amongst the tekke turkomans are reckoned at the present hour more than 15,000 mounted robbers, who are intent upon kidnapping expeditions night and day; and one can easily form an idea of how many houses and villages are devastated, how much family happiness destroyed, by these greedy free-booters. we started from zeid about noon. the whole country is one dry, barren plain, only occasionally producing a sort of thistle, the favourite fodder of the camels. it surprises us to see how these animals tear with their tongue and swallow a plant, to the sting of which the hardest hand is sensible. [andkhuy] we continued to proceed in a south-westerly direction. they pointed out to us from a distance some turkomans of the tribe kara, watching for prey, and who would have been disposed even to attack our karavan had not its size rendered it unassailable. towards evening we encamped. the adventurers galloped by us at two different points. we sent a few shots after them, and they made no second demonstration. an hour after sunset we set off again, and after advancing with the greatest caution the whole night, we arrived next morning at the ruins of andkhuy. {238} the karavan took up its quarters at the end of the ancient city, near the charbag of the khan; and in its immediate proximity all those travellers also stationed themselves who, aware what notorious robbers the inhabitants were, did not dare to withdraw from the protection of the kervanbashi. we found that they had determined that we should stay here a few days; because the regulations respecting the customs never cease to occasion delay, as the khan or his vizir always superintends in person. the khan begins by demanding ordinarily exorbitant sums as the tax for men (i.e. emancipated slaves), for cattle, and bales of goods; and as he allows the matter to be discussed with himself, the question how far the tax is to be levied depends only upon the adroitness of the kervanbashi and the leisure time at his disposal. to avoid staying through this tiresome operation, i went with the other hadjis into the city, to seek shelter under the cool shade of an old medresse, and also to open a shop at the bazaar, to realise by the sale of my cutlery the necessary food for the day, and a little money. long did i wander about the ruins before i was able to find a place. i at last took up my position near the residence of the khan, in the court of a mosque. the bazaar consisted only of a few warehouses where bread was sold, and of two or three shops for the sale of a little linen and cheap ready-made clothes. our presence had given some animation to the market; our stall was surrounded by women and children from morning till evening; but still we could not get rid of our stock, for these people offered us in exchange only fruit and bread, instead of money; of course, we could not consent to such a barter for raw materials in a country where a single tenghe (three-quarter franc) will purchase fifty melons. these melons are far from being so good as those i had seen on the banks of the oxus; {239} but it is astonishing what a quantity of fruit, corn, and rice is raised in this desert-like neighbourhood, only scantily watered by a little salt stream flowing hither from maymene. in summer a stranger finds this water--to the execrable taste of which the inhabitants are accustomed--quite undrinkable; and although it generates no worms (rishte), like that in bokhara, it is said to produce many other evil consequences. the climate, too, is in bad repute; and a persian verse says with reason, _andkhuy has bitter salt water, scorching sand, venomous flies, and even scorpions. vaunt if not, for it is the picture of a real hell._ and yet, in spite of all these disadvantages, andkhuy was, only thirty years ago, very flourishing. it is said to have had a population of 50,000 souls. they carried on an important traffic with persia in the fine black sheep-skins called by us astrakhan, and even seriously rivalled bokhara, where this article is produced of first-rate quality. the camels of andkhuy are the most in request throughout turkestan, particularly a kind called ner, distinguished by abundant hair streaming down from the neck and breast, a slim slender figure, and extraordinary strength. these animals have become scarce; the inhabitants themselves having for the most part either emigrated or perished. mollah ishak had a countryman here, who was one of the most distinguished imams, and as he had invited us, i found an opportunity to become acquainted with the chief residents of the spiritual order. i was much struck by the great disorder reigning in the regulations, both as to justice and religion. the kazi kelan (superior judge), who in bokhara and {240} khiva is a great man, plays here the part of a buffoon. every one does as he thinks fit, and even the most atrocious crime can be compounded for by a present. the consequence is, that the inhabitants speak of bokhara as the model of justice, of piety, and earthly grandeur, and would think themselves quite happy if the emir would only condescend to take them under his sceptre. an old özbeg remarked to me that 'even the frenghi (english) (god pardon him his sins!) would be better than the present musselman government.' he added that he still remembered a hekim bashi (moorcroft) who died in his uncle's house in the time of the emir haydar; that he was a clever magician and good physician; that he might have become as rich as he pleased; but with all these advantages he remained unassuming and condescending towards every one, even towards women. i made many enquiries respecting the death of this traveller, and all agreed in their accounts, that he had died of fever; which is indeed far more probable than the story of his having been poisoned. andkhuy contains at present about 2,000 houses, which form the city, and about 3,000 tents, which are either in its environs, or scattered over the oases in the desert. the number of inhabitants is estimated at 15,000. they are principally turkomans, of the tribe alieli, intermixed with özbegs and a few tadjiks. formerly andkhuy, like khulum, kunduz, and belkh, formed a separate khanat; but lying on the high road to herat, it is more exposed to the attacks of the emirs of bokhara and afghanistan, than those other places which i have mentioned. down to the year 1840, it is said to have been tolerably flourishing. it was then subject to bokhara, and was compelled to {241} oppose the victorious march upon the oxus of yar mohammed khan, who besieged it during four months, and at last only took it by storm. the city was plundered, and left a heap of ruins. the greater part of those inhabitants who could not fly fell under the swords of the merciless afghans. the present sovereign, gazanfer khan, to preserve himself from utter destruction, threw himself into the arms of the afghans, and thereby made bitter enemies of bokhara on one side, and of the neighbouring maymene on the other. even during our stay in andkhuy, he was obliged to join in person the serdar of belkh, and give battle to maymene, which, however, inflicted upon the allies a signal defeat. in the meantime all things were in confusion in our karavan. the vizir, who wanted during the absence of the khan to enrich himself by an enormous increase of the imposts, was already quarrelling with the kervanbashi. from words, indeed, they soon came to blows; and as the inhabitants sided with the karavan, the members of the latter stoutly stood to their arms, and made up their minds for the worst. happily the khan, a well-disposed man, arrived at that very moment from the seat of war; he made up the differences by diminishing the immoderate tax imposed by his vizir, and dismissed us upon our way with the recommendation to be careful, as the turkomans, turning to account the confusion that reigned everywhere, were scouring the country and besetting all the ways. but this did not inspire in us much alarm, for in andkhuy our karavan had swelled to double its former size, so that we had no cause to apprehend a surprise by robbers. {242} [yeketut; khairabad; maymene] we set out that very same afternoon, encamping at yeketut, distant but a league from andkhuy. it was the place appointed for our rendezvous. we proceeded hence during the night. the next station was on the bank of a stream coming from maymene. its bed, unusually deep in many places, is thickly planted with trees. from andkhuy to maymene they reckon twenty-two miles--a three days' journey for camels. of this distance we had thus far performed eight miles; the remainder (fourteen miles) it would have been easy to accomplish, had we not been obliged to pass secretly by khaïrabad, which should have been our second station, and reach next morning the district of maymene. khaïrabad belonged then to the afghans, and the kervanbashi was quite right in not venturing to approach it, as he knew that even in peace the afghans committed virtual robbery under pretence of levying their customs; and it might be readily imagined how the military authorities would have treated the karavan had it fallen into their hands. some inhabitants of khaïrabad who were in the karavan, on coming near their native city, wanted to separate from us; but they were forced to continue their journey, because treachery was apprehended, and, in case of discovery, the afghans would have confiscated everything. although the camels were heavily laden, the journey was continued, without interruption, from noon until eight o'clock next morning. the poor tired brutes were left behind; and great was our joy when we arrived the next morning, without accident, in the khanat of maymene. the last station was a harassing one, not merely from these apprehensions, but from the physical difficulties that it presented; for about nine miles from andkhuy, {243} the country becomes more and more hilly, until, in the neighbourhood of maymene, it is quite mountainous. besides this, we had to cross a small portion of the dangerous batkak (which consists of marshes), where, notwithstanding the heat of the season, there was mud in many places. this caused the camels and asses much suffering. i rode a sturdy little brute; but as his small feet sank so often, he got tired of pulling them out again, and gave me much trouble in shouting, entreating, and tugging before i could get him to advance from the spongy ground. [akkale] we encamped at the foot of a small citadel named akkale, which is distant from maymene four leagues. the kervanbashi made a present to the hadjis of two sheep, as a grateful acknowledgment to god for having happily escaped from the peril to which the karavan had been exposed. as the senior, i was charged with the division of the donation. we ate that whole day, instead of bread, roast meat, and sang together in the evening some telkins (hymns) to the accompaniment, under my direction, of a zikr--that is, we shouted out to the full extent of our voices two thousand times, ya hoo! ya hakk! from this spot, our arrival was reported in maymene. towards evening an officer of the customs--a civil honest özbeg--came to us, and wrote down his report. at night, we again started, and were in maymene next morning. {244} chapter xiii. maymene its political position and importance reigning prince rivalry of bokhara and kabul dost mohammed khan ishan eyub and mollah khalmurad khanat and fortress of maymene escaped russian offenders murgab river and bala murgab djemshidi and afghan ruinous taxes on merchandise kalè no hezare afghan exactions and maladministration. _wild warriors of the turquoise hills, and those who dwell beyond the everlasting snows of hindoo kosh, in stormy freedom bred, their fort the rock, their camp the torrent's bed._ moore, _veiled prophet_. [maymene; its political position and importance; reigning prince; rivalry of bokhara and kabul; dost mohammed khan] before entering maymene, let me describe the political state of that country, for as that city plays a part of great importance, some preliminary observations are here quite indispensable. the whole tract of land on this side of the oxus, as far as hindukush and herat, has, from ancient times, been the field of continual quarrels and warfare; and these have involved not only the small predatory states in its vicinity, kunduz, khulum, belkh, aktche, serepul, shiborgan, andkhuy, bedakshan, and maymene, but the emirs themselves, both of bokhara and kabul. these princes, to carry out their plans of conquest, have been ever ready to kindle the flames of dissension; sometimes, too, they have taken an active part in these differences. they {245} have striven to gain over to their respective causes some one of the above-named cities, or even actually to incorporate it, and to make use of it for the particular ends they had in view. the emirs were, in fact, the principal rivals in the field. until the commencement of this century, the influence of bokhara had almost always predominated; but it has been in more recent tunes supplanted by the afghan tribes of the durani, sadduzi, and barekzi; and at last dost mohammed khan succeeded, partly by force and partly by cunning, in bringing under his sceptre all the states i have mentioned, with the exception of bedakhshan and maymene. he formed the province turkestan, naming for its capital belkh. this city is made the seat of a serdar, who has under his command ten thousand men, partly paltan (regular troops), partly native militia, and three batteries of field-pieces. the possession of the mountainous bedakhshan was not much coveted by the energetic dost mohammed khan. its native prince became a vassal, and the afghan was for the time satisfied. the case stands differently with maymene. it lies half-way on the route to bokhara, and has been several times besieged, without success, both by dost mohammed khan and by yar mohammed khan. in 1862, when the grey barekzi prince drew the sword to punish faithless herat, the whole of central asia trembled; but maymene again resisted, and was again victorious. the bravery of the özbegs there became proverbial, and an idea may be formed of the proud spirit of this city, when she could affirm, with truth, at the death of dost mohammed khan, that she alone, of all the neighbouring states, had refused to do homage to the flag of the afghans. {246} the death of dost mohammed khan--an event of the highest importance to the destiny of central asia--was thought to threaten it with great change and political revolutions. the emir of bokhara was the first who sought to profit by the occasion, and, in spite of his notorious penuriousness, sent a subsidy of ten thousand tilla to the little warlike maymene; and an agreement was made that the emir should cross the oxus, and, uniting his forces with those of his ally, should make a simultaneous attack upon their common enemy, the afghans. the reigning prince of maymene, however, being a youth of fiery spirit, [footnote 74] was too impatient to await his ally's approach, began the struggle with the forces at his own disposal, and succeeded in capturing some small places from the afghans, a success which enabled him to ornament the gate of his fortress with three hundred long-haired afghan skulls. during our stay in his city, they were making preparations to renew the contest on a larger scale. [footnote 74: he is in his 22nd year.] [ishan eyub and mollah khalmurad] when the karavan had encamped here, outside the town, i visited the tekkie of a certain ishan eyub, to whom i had letters of recommendation from hadji salih. i spared no pains to gain his favourable opinion, for i thought it would be of service to me in the event of a _rencontre_ which i expected to make in maymene, and which i dreaded, as it might have the disagreeable effect of betraying my identity, and, my disguise once discovered, i might again be exposed to great danger. the person whom i so dreaded to meet was a certain mollah khalmurad, who had been known to me in constantinople, and had given me lessons in the turkish djagatay {247} during a period of four months. the mollah--a very cunning fellow--had already perceived on the bosphorus that i was not the genuine reshid efendi for whom i was taken. having been told of my intention of travelling to bokhara, he had, indeed, formally tendered his services as cicerone, assuring me at the same time that he had served the english mollah yusuf (dr. wolff) in the same capacity. as i left him in doubt respecting my intentions, he proceeded to mecca. i knew that his design had been to return home by bombay and karatchi, and was apprehensive of encountering him, for i was firmly convinced that in spite of the kindness with which i had loaded him, he was quite capable of denouncing me, if he had the slightest interest in doing so. all communication being interrupted between maymene and bokhara by the afghan campaign, i had the good fortune to escape his taking me by surprise in the latter city; but in maymene i hardly expected to be so lucky, and, to foil any possible attack from this quarter, i felt it necessary to secure for myself some firm _locus standi_, which i might do by striving to win the good opinion and favour of ishan eyub, who was generally respected. after having been three days in the city, i took the initiative and made inquiries as to my man. 'what! khalmurad?' said the ishan in astonishment, 'thou hast been acquainted with him (peace to him, and long life to us!). he had the happiness of dying in mecca, and, as he was my bosom friend, i have received his children into my house, and the little one there (pointing, as he said that, to a boy) is one of his sons.' i gave the child a whole string of glass beads, said three fatihas for the {248} salvation of the soul of the departed, [footnote 75] and my well-grounded apprehensions therefore at once ceased. [footnote 75: on my return to teheran, i was told by my friend ismael efendi, then _chargé d'affaires_ of the porte at the persian court, that a month before my arrival a mollah from maymene, whose description tallied exactly with that of my mollah, whom we thought in the other world, had passed through and had spoken at the embassy of me as of his former pupil in djagatay. khalmurad is consequently not dead, and some singular chance alone prevented our coming in contact.] i began now to move about more at my ease. i soon opened a stall at the corner of a street, but, to my very great disappointment, my stock now was rapidly dwindling away. 'hadji reshid,' said one of my fellow-travellers, 'thou hast already eaten up half of thy knives, needles, and glass beads; thou wilt before long have devoured the other half, and thy ass to boot. what wilt thou then do?' he was right, thought i, for, in fact, what was i to do? my sombre prospects, and particularly the approaching winter, made me a little fearful, for i was still far from the persian frontiers, and every attempt i made to replenish my case i saw fail.' a dervish or a beggar,' i said, 'never passes hungry from the door of an özbeg. everywhere he has a well-founded hope of something, bread or fruits; here and there, too, an old article of attire, and this sends him, in his own opinion, richly provided on his way.' that i must have suffered, and suffered much, the reader will well understand; but habit, and the hope of returning to europe, enabled me to bear my burden. i slept sweetly enough in the open air, on the bare earth, esteeming myself especially happy in having no longer to dread constant discovery or a death by torture, for my hadji character excited suspicion nowhere. {249} [khanat and fortress of maymene] the khanat maymene, so far as its peopled district extends, is eighteen miles broad and twenty miles long. besides its capital, it contains ten villages and cantons, of which the most considerable are kaisar, khafir-kalè, alvar, and khodjakendu. the population, divided into settlers and nomads, is estimated at 100,000 souls; in point of nationality, they are for the most part özbegs of the tribes of min, atchmayli, and daz; they can bring into the field from five to six thousand cavalry, well mounted and well armed. they are distinguished, as i before mentioned, for their bravery. the present ruler of maymene is husein khan, son of hukumet khan. the latter was, by order of his own brother, who is still living, and is uncle of the reigning prince, hurled down from the walls of the citadel, 'in order,' as he expressed himself, 'that his abler son might be placed at the head of affairs.' now, as the latter was then still incapable of reigning, the motive of the atrocious crime is easy to be divined. mirza yakoub--that is the name of this amiable uncle--plays, indeed, the part of vizir, but everybody knows that husein khan is only his instrument. in maymene, at all events, the young prince was more liked than his uncle. the latter would be regarded, even amongst europeans, as a man of agreeable exterior; in the eyes of the özbegs he is, therefore, an adonis. he is praised for his goodness of heart by men who forget how he enforces the tyrannical law by which the khan, instead of inflicting corporal punishment or imposing fines, sends off his subjects to the slave-market of bokhara. the khans transmit every month a fixed number of these {250} unfortunates to that city. it is not considered strange, as it is an ancient custom. the city of maymene stands in the midst of hills, and is only visible when approached within a distance of a quarter of a league. it is extremely filthy and ill built, and consists of 1,500 mud huts, and a bazaar built of brick, that seems about to fall; it has besides three mosques and two medresse, the former constructed of mud, the latter of bricks. the inhabitants are özbegs, with some tadjiks, heratis, about fifty families of jews, a few hindoos, and afghans. these enjoy equal rights, and are not disturbed for reasons of religion or nationality. with respect to maymene considered as a fortress, i was far from being able to discover in the simple city walls and fosses in the citadel, situated on its west side, the imposing stronghold said to be capable of resisting the afghan artillery, mounted in english fashion, and of bidding defiance to all the power of dost mohammed khan. the walls, made of earth, are twelve feet high, and about five broad; the fosse is neither broad nor particularly deep; the citadel is elevated and situated upon a conspicuous hill of steep ascent, but in the neighbourhood there are still higher hills, whence a battery could in a few hours reduce it to ashes. it is therefore probable that the renowned strength of maymene consists rather in the bravery of its defenders than in its walls or ditches. one distinguishes at the first glance in the inhabitant the bold and fearless rider, and it is only the özbeg of shehri sebz who can contest with him the palm. the resolute warlike character of the inhabitants of this little khanat, and the possession, besides, of the mountainous pass at murgab (river), will ever find enough to do for the afghans, or any {251} other conquerors pressing forward from the south towards the oxus; the fortifications of kerki can offer but a weak resistance, and he who would wish to take bokhara must destroy maymene, or be sure of its friendly feeling. in maymene, the kervanbashi and the principal merchants of our karavan were no longer detained by difficulties about the customs, but by arrangements affecting their private interests. they wanted to attend at least two or three horse-markets, for in these parts fine horses are to be purchased cheap, which the özbegs and the turkomans of the places around bring to the market. these are exported, for the most part, to herat, kandahar, and kabul, and very frequently to india. horses that i saw sold in persia for thirty or forty ducats, fetch here from a hundred to a hundred and sixty tenghe (from fourteen to fifteen ducats), and never did i behold in bokhara, khiva, or karshi, horses so fine sold at prices so low; but it is not only with respect to these animals that the market of maymene affords a rich choice; the natural produce of the country and home manufactures, such as carpets and other stuffs, made partly of wool and partly of camel's hair, are abundantly supplied by the turkoman and djemshidi women. it deserves notice that a considerable export trade is carried on to persia and bagdad in raisins (kishmish), aniseed, and pistachio nuts: a hundred-weight of the aniseed costs here from thirty to forty tenghe. [escaped russian offenders] after a stay of eight days i returned to the karavan, that remained outside of the city, in order to inform myself as to the day when it would resume its journey. i heard here, to my astonishment, that they had been {252} searching for me the whole day to give my evidence to get four roumi liberated, who had been arrested by order of the uncle of the khan. according to the decree of the judge, nothing could free them from the suspicion of being run-away slaves, but the production of some credible witness to the genuineness of their turkish origin. before going to the khan let me introduce my countrymen to the reader, as i had very nearly forgotten these highly interesting members of our karavan. these people were nothing more or less than russian criminals. they had been banished to siberia, where they had for eight years been kept at hard labour in the government of tobolsk, and had escaped across the immense steppes of the kirghis to bokhara, and thence were striving to return to their own country by herat, meshed, teheran, &c., to gümrii (elizabethpol). the history of their flight and other adventures is very long. i will only give a slight sketch of it. in the last campaign between russia and turkey, they were engaged with a _razzia_ (tchapao), in the caucasus, by command of government, or as is more probable, on their own account. during this time they had fallen into the hands of a russian patrol; and, as they well merited, were transported to siberia. here they were daily employed in the woods of tobolsk with felling trees; but were kept at night in a prison, and not ill-treated, for they were fed with bread and soup, and often also with meat. years elapsed before they learnt to speak russian; but they did at last learn it from the soldiers that guarded them. conversation being now rendered possible, confidence was inspired; bottles of brandy (vodki) were tendered {253} reciprocally, and as, during last spring, one day, more than usual of the warming liquor had been handed to the two soldiers on guard, the captives seized the opportunity, and, instead of oaks, felled the robust russians; exchanged their axes for the arms of those whom they had slaughtered, and after wandering up and down for a long time, and under perilous circumstances--in which they were obliged to feed even upon grass and upon roots--they finally reached some kirghis tents, to them a haven of security; for the nomads regard it as a benevolent act to aid fugitives of that description. from the steppes of the kirghis they passed by tashkend to bokhara, where the emir gave them some money for journey expenses. although on their way it had often been suspected that they were run-away slaves, it was not until they reached maymene that they really incurred any serious danger. at the urgent request of my fellow-travellers, and of the kervanbashi, i went, accompanied by the ishan eyub, the very same day, to the citadel. instead of seeing the khan, we were received by his uncle; he admitted my testimony as competent, and the four fugitives were liberated. they thanked me with tears in their eyes; the whole karavan was rejoiced, and two days afterwards we resumed our journey to herat. the route passed continuously through a mountainous country. the first station, which was in a south-westerly direction, was reached in six hours. it is called almar. this is the designation common to those villages, which lie there scattered at a little distance from each other. hardly had the karavan taken up its quarters here, when the officers of the {254} customs at maymene appeared, escorted by a few horsemen, and claimed to make a second examination. this led to shouting, quarrelling, and negotiations which lasted a few hours; but at last we were obliged to submit, and after the poor kervanbashi and merchants had been once more fleeced for dues in respect of wares, cattle, and slaves, the march was resumed towards evening. after having passed the important place called kaisar, we reached a little after midnight the station narin. we had travelled five miles through valleys, small, fruitful, but abandoned; indeed, the whole of this fine district has been rendered unsafe by the thieving turkomans, djemshidi, and firuzkuhi. in narin only a few hours' rest was taken, as we had before us a stage of seven hours. after having marched without cessation the whole day, we reached in the evening the village and station of tchitchektoo, in the neighbourhood of which is a second village called fehmguzar. as the kervanbashi and some of the other travellers had business at the village khodjakendu, which lies to the south east, at a distance of three leagues, amongst the hills, we halted here the whole day. the place itself is regarded as the frontier of maymene, and at the same time of all turkestan. a yüzbashi named devletmurad, who acts here as watcher of the frontiers, levied in this khanat of maymene a third custom-tax, by right of the kamtchin pulu (whip-money [footnote 76]). {255} on my expressing my astonishment to a herat merchant about this unjust proceeding, he replied, 'we thank god that they only tax us. some time ago we could not pass maymene and andkhuy without risk, for the karavans were plundered by order of the khan himself, and we lost everything.' here in tchitchektoo i saw the last of özbeg nomads, and i will not deny that i parted from this open-hearted, honest people with great regret, for the nomads of their race whom i met in the khanats of khiva and bokhara have left in my mind the most pleasing recollections of any natives of central asia. [footnote 76: it is the practice in central asia to give to the escort that accompanies you a sum of money; in germany it is called drink-money, but in the east whip-money. this yüzbashi had the right to exact payment from every passer-by, even although he had rendered no service as escort or guard.] [murgab river and bala murgab; djemshidi and afghan] the karavan was here taken under the protection of an escort of djemshidi, sent to meet us by their khan from bala murgab, because the route henceforth lay through a tolerably broad valley, having the habitations of the sarik turkomans on the right side, and of the mountaineer robbers, the firuzkuhi, on the left. the land is exceedingly fertile, but it lies there, unhappily, fallow and without an owner. as i heard, the karavan during its whole journey from bokhara had not incurred such peril as it did here. our guard consisted of thirty djemshidi, well armed and well mounted, with the addition of about double the number of able-bodied men from the karavan; nevertheless, at every step in advance, vedettes were thrown out to our right hand and to our left upon the hills, and all were in the greatest anxiety. it can readily be imagined in what a state of mind were the poor emancipated slaves, who at great trouble and expense had escaped thus far, and who now saw themselves menaced with a new captivity. the size of the karavan and the precautions taken happily saved us from surprise. we passed the whole day through magnificent meadows, which in {256} spite of the advanced season of the year, were covered with flowers and grass that came up to our knees: and after having reposed during the night we arrived the following morning at the ruins of the fortress kalè veli: it was peopled only two years ago, but had been surprised and plundered by a great alaman of the sarik-turkomans. the inhabitants had been partly sold as slaves and partly massacred, the few empty houses still existing and the walls of the fortification will soon be a complete ruin. the djemshidi horsemen, who thus far had only been our escort a single day, now demanded their whip-money; every one who travelled mounted or on foot was to pay it once, but the slaves twofold. the escort affirmed that their present claim was well founded, as they would not receive any portion of the toll-money paid to the khan in bala murgab. towards evening, on the second day after we had left tchitchektoo, we reached the end of that beautiful valley, and the way, leading to the river murgab, traversed a rough mountainous pass, in many places very steep, and at the same time so narrow that loaded camels advancing singly could with difficulty wind their way through; it is said to be the only practicable passage leading over the mountain to the bank of the river. a body of troops that wished to cross the murgab would have either to pass through the desert (and for this they must be on good terms with the salor and the sarik), or make their way through this pass, for which enterprise the friendship of the djemshidi is essential, as their hostility might in the defiles be prejudicial even to the strongest army. {257} it was midnight when we arrived on the banks of the river; worn out by their painful mountainous journey, men and beasts all fell into a profound sleep. on awaking next morning i found that we were in a long valley surrounded by lofty mountains, the central point, through which the clear green waters of the murgab [footnote 77 ] cut their way, affording a most charming picture to the eye. [footnote 77: the murgab rises in the lofty mountains to the east which bear the name of ghur; it flows in a north-westerly direction by martchah and pendjdeh until it loses itself in the sandy plain of merv. it is pretended that at an earlier period it joined the oxus, but this is an utter impossibility.] we proceeded along the bank of the river for half an hour to find a ford, for the current is very strong, and, although not very deep, it cannot be crossed at all places, owing to the blocks of stone lying in its bed. the crossing commenced with the horses, and then followed the camels, and our asses were to close the procession. now, these animals, it is well known, have a great dread of mud and water. i thought it but a necessary measure of prudence to deposit my knapsack, containing my mss.--the most precious result, the _spolia opima_, of my journey--upon the back of a camel. then seating myself upon the empty saddle i forced my ass into the river. when he made his first step upon the stony bottom of the rapid stream, i felt certain that something awful was going to happen: i strove to get down, but that was unnecessary, for a few steps further on my charger fell, amidst the loud laughter of our comrades standing upon the bank, and then afterwards, in great consternation, he made for the opposite bank, as i wished him to do. this cold morning bath in the clear waters of the transparent crystal murgab was only so far {258} disagreeable to me that i had no change of clothes, so i was obliged to hide myself a few hours amongst some carpets and sacks until my clothes, which were entirely wet through, should dry in the sun. the karavan encamped near the citadel; in the interior, instead of houses there are only tents, and there the khans or chiefs of the djemshidi reside. this part of the valley of the murgab bears the name of bala murgab [footnote 78] (upper murgab); it extends from the frontiers of the lofty mountainous chain of the hezares as far as marchah (snake well), where dwell the salor turkomans; it is said of old to have been a possession of the djemshidi, and that they were for a time dispossessed, but afterwards returned. to the south-west of the fortress the valley becomes so narrow, that it merits rather the name of a defile. through the midst the murgab rolls foaming away with the noise of thunder,--it is not until it has passed pendjdeh, where the river becomes deeper and more sedate, that the valley spreads itself out and acquires a breadth of one or two miles. when merv existed, there must have been here, too, a tolerable amount of civilisation; but at the present day turkomans house themselves there, and upon their steps follow everywhere ruin and desolation. [footnote 78: some said that this name designates merely the fortress. it may have been formerly a place of importance, for numerous ruins in the interior and in the environs indicate a bygone civilisation.] the djemshidi insist that they spring from djemshid, the fabulous king of the pishdadian family--a pretension naturally subject to doubt! they are, however, certainly of persian descent. this is indicated not so much by their dialect as by their pure irani type {259} of physiognomy; for it is retained amongst these nomads more faithfully than anywhere else, except in the southern provinces of persia. cast for centuries upon the extreme limit of persian nationality, their numbers have melted away in consequence of constant warfare. they count now no more than about eight or nine thousand tents. the inhabitants live in a state of great destitution, scattered over the above-named valley and neighbouring mountains. as will be seen in the history of khiva, a great part of them were forced by allahkuli khan to quit their country, and form a colony in that khanat, where a new place of settlement was marked out for them in a fertile district (köktcheg), abundantly watered by the oxus. the change was for the better; but their irresistible attachment to their old mountainous homes led them to return thither. and there they still are located as new settlers, under no very brilliant circumstances. in dress, manner of life, and character, the djemshidi resemble the turkomans. their forays are just as much dreaded as those of the latter; but they cannot be so frequent, on account of the inferiority of their number. at present their khans (they have two, mehdi khan and allahkuli khan) are notoriously vassals of the afghans, and well recompensed as such by the serdar of herat. the afghans, even in the time of dost mohammed khan, took every possible step to win to their side the djemshidi, in order, in the first place, to have in them a constant barrier-guard on the northern boundary of the murgab against the incursions of the maymenes; and, secondly, to paralyse the power of the turkomans, of whose friendliness the greatest sacrifices never {260} could assure dost mohammed khan. mehdi khan, the chief of the djemshidi, of whom we before spoke, is said, at the siege of herat, to have rendered essential service, and to have consequently gained not only the entire favour of the late emir, but of his successor, the present king, shir ali khan. indeed, the latter left him guardian of his infant son, whom he had placed at the head of affairs in herat. the extension, then, of the afghan territory to the murgab may be styled very precarious, for the djemshidi may, at any moment, break out in open revolt, as they do not admit that the serdar of herat has the shadow of a right to their allegiance, and, least of all, should there be any hesitation or delay in the liquidation of their pay. [ruinous taxes on merchandise] here, as everywhere, our difficulties began and ended with questions respecting the customs. it had been said, all along, that with the left bank of the murgab afghanistan began, and that there the slave tax would cease to be exacted. it was a grievous mistake. the khan of the djemshidi, who treated in person with the kervanbashi concerning the taxes, exacted more for goods, cattle, and slaves than the former claimants, and when the tariff was made known, the consternation, and with many the lamentation, knew no bounds. he even forced the hadjis to pay two francs per ass--an extraordinary charge for all, but for me a very grievous one. but the greatest hardship was that which befell an indian, who had purchased some loads of aniseed in maymene for thirty tenghe. the carriage to herat cost him twenty tenghes per load. he had also, up to this point, paid eleven tenghes for customs, and now he was to pay thirty more, making for expenses about sixty-one tenghes. the enormous duties imposed upon the {261} merchant, and with the authority of a sort of law, are a positive hindrance to all commercial transactions; and from the dreadfully tyrannical use made of their power by the princes, the inhabitants are prevented from profiting by the riches of nature that often ripen without any culture in the neighbourhood, and whose produce might bring a very good return, and satisfy the exigencies of domestic life. the mountainous fatherland of the djemshidi has three special kinds of produce to which a genial nature spontaneously gives birth, and which, belonging to no one, may be gathered by the hand of the first comer. these are:--(1) pistachio nuts: (2) buzgundj, a sort of nut used for dyeing: it is a produce of the pistachio tree. of the former, a batman costs half a franc, and of the latter, from six to eight francs. (3) terendjebin, a sort of sugary substance collected from a shrub like manna, having no bad flavour, and used in the making of sugar in herat and persia. the mountain badkhiz (the word means 'where the wind rises') is rich in those three articles. the inhabitants are in the habit of collecting them, but the merchants, on account of the enormous subsequent charges, can only pay a small sum for them, and they thus afford but a sorry resource for the poor inhabitants. the djemshidi women make several kinds of stuff of wool and goat's hair, and particularly a sort of cloth called shal, which fetches good prices in persia. we lingered four days on the bank of the murgab, in the vicinity of the ruins. many hours did i spend in wandering by the side of this beautiful light green river, in order to visit the tents that lay scattered about in groups, with old torn pieces of felt for coverings, and presenting altogether a miserable dilapidated {262} appearance. in vain did i offer my glass beads, in vain my blessing and nefes. what they stood in need of was not such articles of luxury, but bread. religion itself is here but upon a feeble footing; and as i could not much build upon my character as hadji and dervish, i was obliged to relinquish the intention of a more extensive excursion to marchah, where, according to report, there exist ruins of stone, with munar (towers and pillars) perhaps dating from the time of the parsees. the story did not seem to me very credible; otherwise the english, who had adequate knowledge of herat and its environs, would have made researches. in the uncertainty, i did not care to expose myself to danger. it is reckoned a four days' journey for horses from bala murgab to herat. camels require double the time, for the country is mountainous. our camels could not certainly perform it in less, for they carried loads greater than usual. two high mountainous peaks, visible to the south of murgab, were pointed out to us, and we were told that it would take us two days to reach them. they both bear the name derbend (pass), and are far loftier, narrower, and easier of defence than the pass on the right bank of the murgab, leading to maymene. in proportion as one advances nature assumes a wilder and more romantic appearance. the elevated masses of rock, which form the first derbend, are crowned with the ruins of an ancient fort, the subject of the most varying fables. farther on, at the second derbend, on the bank of the murgab, there are the remains of an old castle. it was the summer residence of the renowned sultan husein mirza, by whose order a stone bridge (pul-taban) was constructed, {263} of which traces are still distinguishable. in the time of this, the most civilised sovereign of central asia, the whole of the neighbourhood was in a flourishing state, and many pleasure-houses are said to have existed along the course of the murgab. beyond the second pass we quitted the murgab. the route turned to the right, in a westerly direction, towards a plateau closely adjoining a part of the desert peopled by the salor. here begins the lofty mountain telkhguzar, which it takes three hours to pass over. [kalè no; hezare] towards midnight we halted at a place called mogor, whence next morning we reached the ruins of the former town and fortress, kalè no, now surrounded by a few tents of the hezare. they presented the appearance of still greater poverty than those of the djemshidi. kalè no, as i heard, had been, only fifty years ago, a flourishing town. it had served for a depôt to the karavans betaking themselves from persia to bokhara. the hezare, the then possessors, became overbearing and presumptuous, claimed to give laws to herat, and finally, by engaging in a struggle with this city, became the authors of their own downfall. they even made enemies of the persians by their rivalry with the turkomans in their predatory expeditions in khorasan. the hezare here met with have, owing to their intermixture with the irani, no longer been able to maintain their mongoli type as pure as their brethren in kabul. they are, too, for the most part sunnites, whereas the latter profess everywhere the principles of the rival sect of the shiites. if i am rightly informed, the northern hezare first separated themselves from the southern in the time of nadir {264} shah; and the surrounding people forced them to embrace the doctrine of the rival sect (sunnites), at least in part. it is said that the hezare [footnote 79] were brought by djenghis khan from mongolia, their ancient seat, to the southern parts of central asia, and shah abbas was the cause of their conversion to shiism. it is remarkable that they have exchanged their mother-tongue for the persian, which is not generally spoken in the neighbourhood where they dwell. the mongol dialect, or rather a jargon of it, is only preserved by a small portion of them who have remained isolated in the mountains near herat, where they have for centuries been occupied as burners of charcoal. they style themselves, as well as the place they inhabit, gobi. [footnote 79: the hezare were styled berber in persia, a word used to designate the city shehri-berber, said to have existed on the mountains between kabul and herat, and of whose ancient grandeur, splendour, and magnificence wonders are recounted. burnes says, in his work upon kabul (p. 232), that 'the remains of this imperial city of the same name (berber) are still to be seen.'] baba khan, the chief of the hezare of kalè no, ought at least from his poverty and weakness to acknowledge the supremacy of herat, which is only at a distance of two days' journey. this was not the case; he also assumed the air of an independent prince. hardly had our karavan settled down near the ruins, when his majesty appeared in person and demanded his customs: this gave rise to fresh quarrels and disputes. the kervanbashi insisted upon sending an express to the serdar of herat to complain; the threat produced its effect, and instead of duties a famous sum was exacted for whip-money; and in levying it, the godless khan not even allowing the hadjis to escape, i was obliged to pay again for my ass the sum of two francs. {265} the merchants made here a large purchase of pistachio nuts and berek, a light cloth for the fabrication of which the hezare women are renowned, and is employed throughout the whole of the north of persia and afghanistan as an overgarment, called chekmen. from kalè no the way again passes over lofty mountains to herat; the distance is only twenty miles, but the journey is very fatiguing, and requires four days for its accomplishment. the first day's halt was at a village called alvar, near the ruins of the robber-castle where shir ali hezareh housed himself. the second day we passed by the summit serabend, covered with everlasting snows, and where we suffered severely from frost, in spite of the immense masses of wood which we lighted to warm us. the third day, we descended continually: there are some very dangerous places, the path passing close to the edge of the precipice being only a foot broad; a false step may plunge man and camel down into the ravine below. we reached, however, without accident, the valley at sertcheshme, whence, it is believed, springs a strong stream, that after bathing herat on the north side falls into the heri-rud. on the fourth day we arrived at kerrukh, which belongs to herat, and is distant from it four miles. [afghan exactions and maladministration.] herat was still besieged by dost mohammed khan when the karavan had set out for bokhara in the spring. six months had now elapsed, the report of their native city having been taken and plundered had reached them, and the reader may imagine the anxiety felt by every herati to seek his house, property, family {266} and friends! notwithstanding this, all were forced to wait here another day, until the officer of the customs, whose appearance on the scene, with his arrogant afghan air, took us early in the morning by surprise, had got ready an exact list of all that had come and everything they had brought with them. i had pictured to myself afghanistan as a land already half organised, where, through long contact with western influence, at least something of order and civilisation had been introduced. i flattered myself that i was upon the eve of getting rid at once of my disguise and sufferings. i was cruelly deceived. the afghan functionary, the first whom i had yet seen of that nation, threw into the shade all the inhumanity and barbarity of similar officers in central asia; all the dreadful things i had heard about the searches as to customs amongst the afghans was only a painting 'couleur de rose' compared with what i here witnessed. the bales of goods that owners would not open were sent under guard to the town; the baggage of the travellers was examined and written down article by article; in spite of the coldness of the weather, every one was obliged to strip, and with the exception of shirt, drawers, and upper garment, every object of dress was declared liable to duty. the brute taxed the hadjis most severely, he did not even spare their little stock of haberdashery; and, what is unheard of, he exacted five krans per head for the asses, animals for which so much had been already paid for duty, and which were themselves worth from twenty to twenty-five krans. as many were really so poor as to be unable to pay, he caused their asses to be sold; this revolting proceeding wrung me very hard; it left me, in fact, almost without resources. {267} towards evening, when we thought that the plundering was over, the governor of kerrukh, who has the rank of a mejir, [footnote 80] made his appearance also to receive his whip-money. he was somewhat exacting, too, but his genuine soldier-like bearing, and his uniform buttoned tight over his chest (the first object that had greeted my eyes for so long a time that recalled european associations), produced upon me an indescribably cheering impression. even now i laugh at the pettiness of my feelings, but i could not regard with indifference the end of the entire jest of which i had been the author. bator khan (that was his name) had remarked my look of surprise. this made him regard me more attentively; he was struck by my foreign features, and questioned the kervanbashi; directed me to seat myself near him, and treated me with affability and consideration. in the course of the conversation, which he continually turned upon bokhara, he laughed in my face, and yet so that he was not observed by others, as if to congratulate me upon the accomplishment of my object, for he thought that i had been sent upon a mission; and although i persisted in supporting the character i had so long assumed, he extended to me his hand at his departure, and wished to shake mine _à l'anglaise_, but, seeing his design, i anticipated him, raised my arms, and was about to give him a fatiha, when he withdrew laughing. [footnote 80: mejir corresponds with the english 'major,' from which it is borrowed. i devoted much attention to the words 'djornel' and 'kornel' used by the afghans in their army, until it at last occurred to me that the former sprung from general, and the latter from colonel.] {268} next morning our karavan was to enter herat, having spent more than six weeks on the way hither from bokhara, a journey that may be easily accomplished in from twenty to twenty-five days. from the details already furnished, it is apparent that trade on this route is not in a very splendid condition. we will now sum up, in tenghe, the amount paid altogether for slaves, goods, and cattle at the different places:- _paid in tenghe at 75 centimes each._ name of paid for for horses asses slaves the place bales of camels goods kerki 20 5 3 1 22 andkhuy 26 5 3 2 20 maymene 28 5 3 1 25 almar - 3 2 fehmguzar 1 3 2 1 1 kalè veli -5 3 1 5 murgab 30 5 3 2 15 kalè-no - 5 3 2 kerrukh - 15 10 5 total 105 51 32 15 88 when we say, besides, that the interest of money at herat is twenty per cent., we may form an idea of what the selling price must be to remunerate the merchant for his trouble! {269} chapter xiv. herat. herat its ruinous state bazaar author's destitute condition the serdar mehemmed yakoub khan parade of afghan troops interview with serdar conduct of afghans on storming herat nazir naim the vizir embarrassed state of revenue major todd mosalla, and tomb of sultan husein mirza tomb of khodja abdullah ansaei, and of dost mohammed khan. [greek text] ---isidori characeni, _mansiones parthicae, 17, apud müller. geograph. gr. minores_. [herat; its ruinous state] the traveller approaching from the north will certainly be surprised when, on turning round the mountain khodja abdullah ansari, he sees lying before him the beautiful immense plain called djölghei herat, with its numerous canals and scattered groups of villages. although trees, the principal ornament of every landscape, are here entirely wanting, he cannot but be convinced that he has reached the bounds of turkestan, and with it of central asia, properly so called; for of this herat is rightly named the gate, or key. without going so far as the orientals, in styling it 'djennetsifat' (like paradise), we cannot, nevertheless, deny to the surrounding country the character of loveliness and of fertility. its natural advantages, {270} united with its political importance, have unhappily made it an apple of discord to adjoining nations, and when we consider the wars that have here been carried on, and the frequent sieges that the city has had to support, it is astonishing to us how rapidly the wounds inflicted seem to have scarred over. only two months before we arrived, hordes of wild afghans had here housed themselves, scattering desolation and devastation in every direction, and yet, even now, fields and vineyards looked flourishing, and the meadows were covered with high grass mixed with flowers. like all cities in the east, it has both ancient and modern ruins; and here, as everywhere else, we must pronounce the former the more beautiful and the nobler. the remains of the monuments on the mosalla (place of prayer), remind us of the ruins of the ancient city of timour; the round towers lying scattered singly about look like the immediate environs of ispahan; but the city, and the fortress itself, in the state in which i saw it, form a ruin such as we rarely meet with, even in the east. [bazaar] we entered by the gate dervaze arak. the houses which we passed, the advanced works, the very gate, looked like a heap of rubbish. near the latter, in the inside of the city, is the ark (citadel) having, from its elevation, served as a mark for the afghan artillery; it lies there blasted and half demolished. the doors and windows have been stripped of their woodwork, for during the siege the inhabitants suffered most from the scarcity of fuel. in the bare openings of the walls are perched here and there a few wretched-looking afghans or hindoos--worthy guards of such a ruin. each step we advance, we see greater indications of devastation. entire quarters of the {271} town remain solitary and abandoned. the bazaar--that is to say, the arched part of it, where the quadrangle of the bazaar is united by its dome, and which has witnessed and resisted so many sieges--alone remains, and affords, in spite of its new population, dating only from three months ago, a really interesting sample of oriental life--a blending of the characteristics of india, persia, and central asia, better defined than even in the bazaar of bokhara. it is only from the karavanserai hadji resul to that of no that a throng, rightly so called, exists; and although the distance is small, the eye is bewildered by the diversity of races--afghans, indians, tartars, turkomans, persians, and jews. the afghan parades about, either in his national costume, consisting of a long shirt, drawers, and dirty linen clothes, or in his military undress; and here his favourite garment is the red english coat, from which, even in sleep, he will not part. he throws it on over his shirt, whilst he sets on his head the picturesque indo-afghan turban. others again, and these are the _beau monde_, are wont to assume a half persian costume. weapons are borne by all. rarely does any one, whether civil or military, enter the bazaar without his sword and shield. to be quite _à la mode_, one must carry about one quite an arsenal, consisting of two pistols, a sword, poniard, hand-jar, gun, and shield. with the wild martial-looking afghan we can only compare the turkomanlike djemshidi. the wretchedly-dressed herati, the naked hezare, the teymuri of the vicinity, are overlooked when the afghan is present. he encounters around him nothing but abject humility; but never was ruler or conqueror so detested as is the afghan by the herati. {272} the bazaar itself, dating from herat's epoch of splendour, the reign of the sultan husein mirza, and consequently about four hundred years old, deserved still, even in its ruins, the epithet beautiful. it is said, in earlier times, to have formed an entire street, from the dervaze arak to the dervaze kandahar. [footnote 81] of course, at present, the shops in the bazaar begin to open again, but only by degrees. the last siege and plundering of the city could not fail to prove a great discourager. indeed, under the rapacious system of duties introduced by the afghans, trade and manufacture have little prosperity opened to them; for it is extraordinary, indeed incredible, what taxes are extorted from both seller and purchaser, upon every article that is sold. they seem, besides, to be regulated by no fixed scale, but to be quite arbitrary. one has to pay a duty, for instance, for a pair of boots that has cost originally five francs, one and a half francs; for a cap, worth two francs, one franc; for a fur that has been purchased for eight francs, three francs; and so on. every article imported or exported is stamped by tax-collectors, having offices in the bazaar and in different parts of the city. [footnote 81: unlike the other gates this one suffered little during the siege. the herati pretend that it can never he demolished, because built by the english, who lay brick over brick only as justice directs, unlike the afghans, who mix the mortar with the tears of oppression.] the original inhabitants of the city were persians, and belonging to the race that spread itself from sistan towards the north-east, and formed the ancient province of khorasan, of which, until recent days, that remained the capital. in later times, the immigrations, of which djenghis and timour were the cause, {273} led to the infusion of turco-tartaric blood into the veins of the ancient population. the collective name char-aimak is the result, as well as the subdivision of the people into the djemshidi, firuzkuhi, teïmeni or timouri. these are races of different origin, and can only from a political point of view be regarded as one single nation. thus far of the inhabitants of the djölghei herat. the fortress itself is inhabited, for the most part, by persians, who settled here in the last century, to maintain and spread the influence of their own country. they are now principally handicraftsmen or merchants. as for afghans, one cannot find in the city more than one in five. they have become quite persians, and are, particularly since the last siege, very hostile to their own countrymen. a kabuli, or a kaker from kandahar, is as much regarded by him in the light of an oppressor, and therefore is as much detested, as by the aboriginal natives of herat. the diversified throngs i encountered in herat produced a pleasing effect upon me. the afghan soldiery in the english uniform, with shako--a covering for the head contrary to the prescriptions of the koran, and the introduction of which into the turkish army is regarded as impracticable [footnote 82]--seemed {274} to lead to the conclusion that i had fallen upon a land where islamite fanaticism had lost its formidable character, and where i might gradually discontinue my disguise. and when i saw many soldiers moving about with moustaches shaved off, and wearing whiskers--an appendage regarded as a deadly sin in islam, and even in constantinople as a renunciation of their religion--the hope seized me that perhaps i might meet here english officers; and how happy i should have considered myself to have found some son of britain, whose influence, without doubt, from political circumstances, would have been here very great. i had, for the moment, forgotten that the oriental is never what he seems, and my disappointment was, indeed, bitter. [footnote 82: the osmanli insist that according to the sunnet (tradition), siper (a head-covering with a peak), and zunnar (the cord round the loins of monks), are most rigorously forbidden as signs of christianity. sultan mahmoud ii., on introducing into turkey for the first time a militia formed on the model of the european, was very desirous of substituting the shako for the highly inappropriate fez, but the destroyer of the janissaries did not venture to carry his wish into execution, for he would have been declared an _apostate_ even by his best friends.] [author's destitute condition] as i before remarked, my finances had melted away positively to nothing. i was obliged, on entering herat, to sell at once even the ass upon which i rode. the poor brute, being quite worn out with his journey, brought me only twenty-six krans, out of which i was obliged to pay the tax upon the sale, and other little debts. the state in which i found myself was very critical. the want of bread admitted of remedy; but the nights had become quite cold, and in spite of my being inured to a life of hardship, my sufferings were great, when i slept in an open ruin, with scanty clothing, and on the bare earth. the thought that persia might be reached in ten days cheered me up. still, it was not so easy an enterprise to arrive thither. to go alone was impossible, and the karavan, preparing to go to meshed, wished to wait still for an increase of travellers, and a more favourable opportunity; for the tekke turkomans not only rendered the journey exceedingly {275} unsafe, but plundered villages and karavans, and carried off captives before the very gates of herat. during the first days of my arrival, i heard that a persian envoy, named mehemmed bakir khan, sent by the governor prince of khorasan to congratulate the young serdar of herat, proposed soon to return to teheran. i immediately waited upon him, and begged him to take me with him. the persian was very polite; but although i repeated to him over and over again the state of destitution in which i was, he paid no attention to that statement, and asked me (the dreadfully disfigured hadji), if i had brought back with me any fine horses from bokhara! every word of his seemed to indicate a wish on his part to penetrate my secret. seeing that i had nothing to expect, i left him. he quitted herat soon after, accompanied by many of the hadjis who had travelled with me from samarcand and kerki. all abandoned me--all but mollah ishak, my faithful companion from kungrat, who had believed, when i said that in teheran better fortunes awaited me, and who stood by me. the honest young man obtained our daily food and fuel by begging, and got ready besides our evening supper, which he even refused respectfully to share with me out of the same plate. mollah ishak forms, in another point of view, one of the most interesting of my episodes. he lives now, at this day, in pesth, instead of being at mecca, and in the sequel of my narrative we shall have occasion to speak of him. [the serdar mehemmed yakoub khan; parade of afghan troops] not to neglect any expedient to forward my journey on to meshed, i went to the reigning prince, serdar mehemmed yakoub khan, son of the present king of afghanistan, a lad in his sixteenth year, who had been placed at the head of affairs in the conquered {276} province, his father, immediately after his accession to the throne, having been obliged to hasten away to kabul, in order to prevent any steps being taken by his brothers to contest the throne with him. the young prince resided in the charbag, in the palace which had also served for the dwelling of major todd. it had, it is true, suffered much during the siege, but was naturally preferred, as a residence, to the citadel, which was a mere ruin. one part of that quadrangular court, a garden as they were in the habit of calling it, although i saw in it only a few trees, served as night quarters for him and his numerous retinue, whilst in the portions situate on the opposite side an arz (public audience) of four or five hours' duration was held in a large long hall. the prince was generally seated at the window in an armchair, dressed in military uniform, with high collars; and as the numerous petitioners, whom he was obliged officially to receive, very much wearied him, he made the risale company (the _élite_ of the afghan troops) exercise before his window, and seemed highly delighted with the wheeling of the columns, and the thundering word of command of the officer passing them in review, who, besides, pronounced the 'right shoulder forward! left shoulder forward!' with a genuine english accent. [interview with serdar] when i stepped into the court i have mentioned, accompanied by mollah ishak, the drill was at its most interesting point. the men had a very military bearing, far better than the ottoman army, that was so drilled forty years ago. these might have been mistaken for european troops, if most of them had not had on their bare feet the pointed kabuli shoe, and had not had their short trousers so tightly {277} stretched by their straps that they threatened every moment to burst and fly up above the knee. after having watched the exercises a short time, i went to the door of the reception-hall, which was filled by a number of servants, soldiers, and petitioners. if all made way for me, and allowed me undisturbed to enter the saloon, i had to thank the large turban i had assumed (my companion had assumed a similar one), as well as the 'anchorite' appearance which my wearisome journey had imparted. i saw the prince as i have described; on his right hand sat his vizir, and next to him there were ranged along against the wall other officers, mollahs and heratis; amongst these there was also a persian, imamverdi khan, who on account of some roguery had fled hither from (djam) meshed. before the prince stood his keeper of the seal (möhürdar), and four or five other servants. true to my dervish character, on appearing i made the usual salutation, and occasioned no surprise to the company when i stepped, even as i made it, right up to the prince, and seated myself between him and the vizir, after having required the latter, a corpulent afghan, to make room for me by a push with the foot. this action of mine occasioned some laughing, but it did not put me out of countenance. i raised my hands to repeat the usual prayer required by the law. [footnote 83] whilst i was repeating it, the prince looked me full in the face. i saw his look of amazement, and when i was repeating the amen, and all present were keeping time with me in stroking their beards, the prince half rose from his chair, and, pointing {278} with his finger to me, he called out, half laughing and half bewildered, 'vallahi, billahi schuma, inghiliz hestid' ('by g--, i swear you are an englishman!'). [footnote 83: this is in arabic, and to the following effect: 'god our lord, let us take a blessed place, for of a verity thou art the best quartermaster.'] a ringing peal of laughter followed the sudden fancy of the young king's son, but he did not suffer it to divert him from his idea; he sprang down from his seat, placed himself right before me, and, clapping both his hands like a child who has made some lucky discovery, he called out, 'hadji, kurbunet' ('i would be thy victim'), 'tell me, you are an englishman in tebdil (disguise), are you not?' his action was so naïve, that i was really sorry that i could not leave the boy in his illusion. i had cause to dread the wild fanaticism of the afghans, and, assuming a manner as if the jest had gone too far, i said, 'sahib mekun' ('have done'); 'you know the saying, "he who takes, even in sport, the believer for an unbeliever, is himself an unbeliever." [footnote 84] give me rather something for my fatiha, that i may proceed further on my journey.' my serious look, and the hadis which i recited, quite disconcerted the young man; he sat down half ashamed, and, excusing himself on the ground of the resemblance of my features, said that he had never seen a hadji from bokhara with such a physiognomy. i replied that i was not a bokhariot, but a stambuli; and when i showed him my turkish passport, and spoke to him of his cousin, the son of akbar khan, djelal-ed-din khan, who was in mecca and constantinople in 1860, and had met with a distinguished reception from the sultan, his manner quite changed; my passport went the round of the company, and met with approbation. the prince gave me some krans, {279} and dismissed me with the order that i should often visit him during my stay, which i accordingly did. [footnote 84: traditional sentence of the prophet.] [illustration] 'i swear you are an englishman! however fortunate the issue of this amusing proceeding, it had still some consequences not very agreeable, as far as my continued stay in herat was concerned. following the prince's example, every one wanted to detect in me the englishman. persians, afghans, and herati came to me with the express purpose of convincing themselves and verifying their suspicions. the most boring fellow was a certain hadji sheikh mehemmed, an old man rejoicing in the reputation of being a great astrologer and astronomer, and really, as far as opportunity enabled me to judge, one well read in arabic and persian. he informed me that he had travelled with mons. de khanikoff, and had been of much service to him in herat, and that the latter had given him a letter to the russian ambassador in teheran, of which he wished me to take charge. in vain did i try to persuade the good old man, that i had nothing to do with the russians; he left me with his convictions unshaken. but what was most droll was the conduct of the afghans and persians; they thought they saw in me a man _à la_ eldred pottinger, who made his first entry into herat disguised as a horsedealer, and became later its master. they insisted that i had a credit here for hundreds, even thousands, of ducats, and yet no one would give me a few krans to purchase bread! ah, how long the time seemed that i had to pass in herat waiting for the karavan! the city had a most gloomy troubled aspect; the dread of their savage conqueror was painted on the features of its inhabitants. the incidents of the last siege, its capture and plundering, formed the constant subjects of conversation. {280} [conduct of afghans on storming herat] according to the assertions of the herati (which are, however, not founded in fact), dost mohammed khan took the fortress, not by the bravery of the kabuli, but by the treason of the garrison; they insist, too, that the beloved prince sultan ahmed was poisoned, and that his son shanauvaz, who is almost deified by the herati, did not obtain information of the treachery before a great part of the paltan (soldiers) had already forced their way into the fortress. the struggle carried on by the besieged prince with his angry father-in-law was of the bitterest description, the sufferings borne and inflicted were dreadful, but worst of all were the sacking and plundering that took place unexpectedly some days after the actual capture, when many fugitive herati returned with their property into the city. four thousand afghan soldiers, chosen expressly for the purpose from different tribes and regiments, rushed at a given signal, and from different sides of the city, upon the defenceless habitations, and are said not only to have carried off clothing, arms, furniture, whatever in fact met their eye, but forced every one to strip himself almost to a state of nudity, and to have left the half-naked tenants behind them in their thoroughly denuded and emptied houses. they tore away even from the sick their bedding and clothing, and robbed infants of cradles, nay, of the very swathing clothes, valueless but to them! a mollah, who had been robbed of all his books, told me that he had lost sixty of the finest mss.; but the loss he most deplored was that of a koran bequeathed to him by his grandfather. he entreated the plunderer to leave him this one book, from which he promised that he would pray for his despoiler. 'do not trouble thyself,' said the kabuli; {281} 'i have a little son at home who shall pray for thee from it. come, give it me.' [nazir naïm the vizir] whoever is acquainted with the covetousness of the filthy grasping afghan, may picture to himself how he would behave in plundering a city. the besiegers levied contributions upon the city during a day, upon the country around during months. these are indeed natural consequences of war, occurring even in civilised countries, and which we will not make the subject of excessive reproach against the afghans. but it is a pity that, instead of seeking to heal the wounds which they have inflicted, their miserable policy seems now to aim at reducing the whole province still further to beggary; so that in a country, where undoubtedly they are called upon to play an important part, they have rendered themselves objects of detestation: for the inhabitants would at once again plunge into a hopeless contest rather than ever acknowledge the supremacy of the afghans. herat, that is said now again to show signs of fresh life, has been left in the hands of a good-humoured inexperienced child. his guardian, the khan of the djemshidi, has an understanding with the turkomans, against whose incursions he ought to protect the country. the alamans extend their depredations to within a few leagues of herat; scarcely does any week elapse without villages being surprised and plundered, and the inhabitants being led away to captivity. the vizir of the prince, named nazir naïm, is a man whose coarse features are, as it were, the sign-post of stupidity; he has in the course of only two months so enriched himself that he has purchased for himself in kabul two houses with vineyards. as the internal affairs of the city and province are left in his hands, he {282} is accustomed, during the whole time of his hours of business, to surround himself with litigants and place-hunters. he soon tires, and when questions or petitions are addressed to him respecting the government recently established, to get rid of the wearisome application he has ever ready the stereotyped answer: 'her tchi pish bud' (everything as before). in his absence of mind he returns the same answer when accusations are laid before him of murder or theft; the plaintiff surprised repeats his story, but obtains the eternal answer, 'her tchi pish bud,' and so he must retire. [embarrassed state of revenue; major todd] a striking proof of the confusion that pervades everything is the circumstance, that in spite of unheard-of duties, in spite of endless imposts, the young serdar cannot raise out of the revenues of the province of herat a sum sufficient to defray the expenses of the civil functionaries and the garrison of fourteen hundred men. mr. eastwick [footnote 85] reports, according to a statement made by the prince governor of the province of khorasan, that the income of herat amounts yearly to 80,000 toman (38,000_l_.), but from this sum are to be maintained, besides the corps of civilians, five regiments of infantry, and about 4,000 cavalry, for which purpose the amount given is clearly insufficient. with a larger income, herat of the present day has far fewer expenses; the terrified city is easily governed; and it can only be ascribed to maladministration that a subvention is required from kabul to defray the expenses of the troops. {283} had dost mohammed only lived a year longer to consolidate the government of the newly-conquered province, the incorporation of herat with afghanistan might have been possible. as it is, fear alone keeps things together. it needs only some attack, no matter by whom, to be made upon herat, for the herati to be the first to take up arms against the afghans. nor does this observation apply to the shiite inhabitants alone, whose sympathies are, of course, in favour of persia, but even to those of the sunnite persuasion, who would certainly prefer the kizilbash to their present oppressors; but i find no exaggeration in the opinion that they long most for the intervention of the english, whose feelings of humanity and justice have led the inhabitants to forget the great differences in religion and nationality. the herati saw, during the government of major todd, more earnestness and self-sacrifice with respect to the ransoming of the slaves [footnote 86] than they had ever even heard of before on the part of a ruler. their native governments had habituated them to be plundered and murdered, not spared or rewarded. [footnote 85: 'journal of a diplomate's three years' residence in persia,' vol. ii. p. 244.] [footnote 86: the report is general in herat that stoddart was sent on a mission to bokhara to ransom the herati there pining in captivity.] [mosalla, and tomb of sultan husein mirza; tomb of khodja abdullah ansari, and of dost mohammed khan.] two days before my departure, i suffered an afghan to persuade me to make an excursion to a village in the vicinity named gazerghiah, to pay a visit there to the tombs of khodja abdullah ansari, and of dost mohammed khan, in order, as it is said, to kill two flies with one blow. on the way i paid my parting visit to the fine ruins of mosalla. the remains of the mosque and of the sepulchre, which the great sultan husein mirza, caused to be built for {284} himself ten years before his death (901), are, as i before mentioned, an imitation of the monuments of samarcand. [footnote 87] time would have long spared these works of art, but they suffered shamefully during the last two sieges, when the place became the quarters of shiite fanaticism. it is to be regretted that european officers, like general borowsky and general bühler--the former a pole, the latter an alsatian, and both present in those campaigns, could not interfere to prevent such acts of vandalism. gazerghiah itself, at a league's distance from herat, and visible, by its position on a hill from that city, has many monuments of interest in sculpture and architecture. they date from the epoch of shahrookh mirza, a son of timour, and have been described at large by ferrier, but with some slight mistakes, which one readily excuses in an officer who travels. the name of the saint at gazerghiah, for instance, is khodja abdullah ansari--the latter word signifying that he was an arab, and of the tribe that shared the hidjra (flight) with the prophet. more than six hundred years ago, he passed from bagdad to merv, thence to herat, where he died, and was declared a saint. he now stands in high repute as patron of both city and province. dost mohammed khan directed himself to be buried at the feet of khodja abdullah ansari, at once flattering the prejudices of his countrymen {285} and offending those of his enemies. the grave, which lies between the walls of the adjoining edifice and the sepulchre of the khodja, had when i saw it no decoration, and not even a stone; for his son and successor preferred first to lay the foundation of his inheritance before completing the tomb of him who had bequeathed it to him. this does not, however, prevent the afghans from performing their reverential pilgrimages. the saint will, before long, be thrown into the shade by his mighty rival; and yet he has but his deserts, for he is probably one of the numerous arabian vagabonds, but dost mahommed khan was the founder of the afghan nation. [footnote 87: the sepulchre particularly has much resemblance to that of timour. the decorations and inscriptions upon the tomb are of the most masterly sculpture it is possible to conceive. many stones have three inscriptions carved out, one above the other, in the finest sulus writing, the upper line, the middle one, and lower one, forming different verses.] {286} chapter xv. from herat to london. author joins karavan for meshed kuhsun, last afghan town false alarm from wild asses debatable ground between afghan and persian territory bifurcation of route yusuf khan hezareh ferimon colonel dolmage prince sultan murad mirza author avows who he is to the serdar of herat shahrud teheran, and welcome there by the turkish charge d'affaires, ismael efendi kind reception by mr. alison and the english embassy interview with the shah the kavvan ud dowlet and the defeat at merv return by trebisond and constantinople to pesth author leaves the khiva mollah behind him at pesth and proceeds to london his welcome in the last-named city. _'tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark bay deep-mouth'd welcome as we draw nigh home_.--byron. [author joins karavan for meshed; kuhsun, last afghan town] on the 15th november 1863, i quitted herat, the gate of central asia or of india, as it is usually called, in order to complete my journey with the great karavan bound for meshed. it consisted of 2,000 persons; half of whom were hezare from kabul, who in the greatest poverty and the most abject state of misery were undertaking with wives and children a pilgrimage to the tombs of shiite saints. although all formed one body, it had nevertheless many subdivisions. i was attached to a division consisting {287} of a troop of afghans from kandahar, who were trading with persia in indigo or skins from kabul, owing to my having made my agreement with the same djilodar. i had been able to persuade him to allow me to take my seat on a lightly-loaded mule, under the engagement that i would pay him in meshed as if i had had the sole use of it. by the pretension, now avowed by me, that in meshed i should no longer be in a state of destitution, i began for the first time myself to throw a doubt upon the genuineness of the character i had hitherto assumed of a hadji, but i did not dare completely to lay aside the mask, because the afghans, more fanatical than the bokhariots, would have probably avenged their insulted tenets upon the spot. the dubious light in which i stood afforded, however, a fund of interesting surmises to those by whom i was surrounded, for whilst some of them took me for a genuine turk, others were disposed to think me an englishman; the different parties even quarrelled on the subject, and it was very droll to observe how the latter began to triumph over the former, when it was observed that, in proportion as we drew nearer to meshed, the bent posture of humility of the dervish began more and more to give way to the upright and independent deportment of the european. some afghans, agents of wholesale indigo-houses in moultan and shikarpur, seemed quite to accommodate themselves to my metamorphosis; for although, whilst still in the district of herat, they vaunted their characters of gazi (men who have taken part in the war against the english), and boasted in the most extravagant manner of the victory in kabul, they confided to me as we drew near {288} to meshed that they were english subjects, and urged me to introduce them to the vekil dowlet (english consular agent), as his influence and protection would be of great service to them in their commercial affairs; and this they did without the slightest blush of shame. the oriental is born and dies in a mask; candour will never exist in the east. our way passed by nukre, kale sefer khan, ruzenek, shebesh and kuhsun. at shebesh the woody country begins, which extends along the bank of the heri, and often serves the turkomans for a retreat. in kuhsun, where the territory of herat ends, we were obliged to stay two days, to pay the last afghan duties. [false alarm from wild asses] on the second day we saw from the tower of the karavanserai an immense cloud of dust approaching the village. 'the turkomans!' 'the turkomans!' was the cry on all sides. the consternation in karavan and village beggars all description: at last, the cloud coming closer, we saw an immense squadron of wild asses, at some hundred paces' distance; they wheeled round and vanished from our eyes in the direction of the desert. [debatable ground between afghan and persian territory; bifurcation of route; yusuf khan hezareh] from this point to the persian frontier, which commences at kahriz and taybad, lies a district without claimant or owner, over which from north to south as far as khaf, kaïn, and even bihrdjan, the tekke, salor, and sarik send forth their alamans: these, consisting of hundreds of riders, fall unawares upon villages and hurry off with them into captivity, inhabitants and herds of cattle. in spite of its size, our karavan was further strengthened by an escort of all the men in kuhsun capable of bearing arms. at kafirkale we met another karavan coming from meshed. i learnt {289} that colonel dolmage, an english officer in the persian service, whom i had known before, was in the latter city. the tidings were a source of great satisfaction to me. after kafirkale we came to the karavanserai dagaru, where the route divides into two, the one going by kahriz and türbeti sheikh djam through a plain, the other, by taybad, riza, shehrinow; the latter is very mountainous, and consequently the less dangerous of the two. the principal part of the karavan proceeded along the former, whereas we were obliged to take the latter, as it was the pleasure of the afghans that we should do so. our way passed from taybad through a waste deserted country named bakhirz (perhaps bakhiz), inhabited by the sunnite hezare, who migrated hither from kalè no. there are five stations before reaching the plain of kalenderabad. in shehrinow i met the sertib (general), yusuf khan, a hezare chief, in the pay of persia, and nevertheless its bitterest enemy. the policy of sending him to the frontier was in one respect good, as the hezare are the only 'tribe capable of measuring themselves' with the turkomans, and at the same time objects of dread to them: but in another point of view it may be doubted how far it is judicious, in the danger that menaces persia on the side of the afghans, to make use of enemies to guard the frontiers. [ferimon] from shehrinow we proceeded over himmetabad and kelle munar, [footnote 88]which is a station situate on the top of a mountain, consisting merely of a single tower, built as a precaution against surprises. the severe cold occasioned us much suffering, but the next day {290} we reached ferimon, the first place we had come to whose inhabitants were persians. here a warm stable made me forget for some time the sufferings of many days past. at last, on the twelfth day after our departure from herat, the gilded dome of the mosque and tomb of imam riza glittering from afar announced to me that i was approaching meshed, the city for which i had so longed. that first view threw me into a violent emotion, but i must admit not so great as i expected to have experienced on the occasion. without seeking to exaggerate the dangers that had attended my undertaking, i may speak of this point as the date of my regeneration; and is it not singular, that the reality of a liberation from a state of danger and restraint soon left me perfectly indifferent, and when we were near the gates of the city i forgot turkomans, desert, tebbad, everything! [footnote 88: the word signifies 'hill of skulls.'] [colonel dolmage] half an hour after my arrival, i paid a visit to colonel dolmage, who filled many important offices here for the prince-governor, and stood in high estimation everywhere. he was still engaged in his official place of business, when his servants summoned him to me; they announced me as a singular dervish from bokhara. he hastened home, regarded me fixedly for a long time, and only when i began to speak did he recognise me, and then his warm embrace and tearful eye told me that i had found not only a european, but a friend. the gallant englishman offered me his house, which i did not reject, and i have to thank his hospitality that i so far recovered from the hardships of my journey as to be able, in spite of the winter, in a month's time to continue my journey to teheran. {291} [prince sultan murad mirza] colonel dolmage introduced me also, during my stay in meshed, to the prince-governor, sultan murad mirza, the uncle of the reigning shah. this prince, the son of that abba mirza, whose english predilections are so well known, is surnamed 'the kingdom's naked sword;' [footnote 89] and he deserves the title, for it is to be ascribed only to his constant watchfulness and energy that khorasan, under his administration, has not suffered more from the incursions of the turkomans, and that the roads begin everywhere to assume an appearance of bustle and animation. i paid him several visits, and was always received with particular kindness and affability. we conversed for hours together respecting central asia, upon which subject he is tolerably well informed. his delight was great when i related to him how the bigoted and suspicious emir of bokhara, who styles himself, to the disgust of all the shiites, 'prince of the true believers,' [footnote 90] had suffered himself to be blessed by me. [footnote 89: 'husam es saltanat.'] [footnote 90: emir-ul-muminim, a title ascribed by the shiites to ali alone.] to the praises rightly bestowed upon sultan murad mirza by m. de khanikoff and mr. eastwick, i will only add that in point of energy, sound judgment, and patriotism, there are few who resemble him in persia, or scarcely even in turkey; but, alas! it is not a single swallow that makes a summer, and his abilities will never find a worthy field of exertion in persia. [author avows who he is to the serdar of herat] on account of the scantiness of my european wardrobe, i was obliged to continue my turban as well as my oriental dress, both in meshed and during the remainder of my journey to teheran; but, as the {292} reader will very well understand, i had said adieu to all disguise as a dervish. my acquaintance with the european officer above mentioned had already told my fellow-travellers sufficiently who and what i was. my character and mission afforded a field to the afghans for the most varying and extravagant conclusions, and, as it was easy for me to perceive that they would soon inform the young prince of herat of the fact, i thought it better at once myself to anticipate them, and make, in the customary form, my own communication. in a letter to the young prince, i congratulated him on his perspicacity, and told him that, although not an englishman, i was next door to one, for that i was a european; that he was an amiable young man, but that i would advise him another time, when any person was obliged by local circumstances to travel incognito through his country, not to seek publicly and rudely to tear off his mask. [shahrud] after having passed christmas with the hospitable english officer whom i have mentioned, i began, on the day following (december 26), my journey to teheran without either joining any karavan, or having any companion except my friend the mollah. we were both mounted on good horses, my own property, as were also other articles that we took with us, consisting of culinary vessels and bedding, and, in fact, every possible travelling convenience; and in spite of my having, in the middle of winter, to perform twenty-four stations, i shall never forget the pleasure that i experienced in the journey that brought me, each step that i advanced, nearer to the west, that i loved so well. i even performed without escort the four stations from mezinan to shahrud, where {293} persians, from fear of the turkomans, proceed accompanied by pieces of artillery. in the last city i met, in the karavanserai, an englishman from birmingham, who was stopping there to purchase wool and cotton. what was the astonishment of the briton when he heard a man in the dress of a dervish, with an immense turban on his head, greet him in this distant land with a 'how do you do?' in his amazement his countenance assumed all hues; thrice he exclaimed, 'well, i--,' without being able to say more. but a little explanation rid him of his embarrassment; i became his guest, and spent a famous day with him and another european, a well-informed russian, who acted there as agent for the mercantile house of kawkaz. from shahrud i took ten days to reach the persian capital. towards evening on the 19th of january, 1864, i was at a distance of two leagues, and, singular to say, i lost my way at the village shah abdul azim, owing to the obscurity; and when, after searching about a long time in all directions, i at last reached the gate of the city, i found it shut, and i was obliged to pass the night in a karavanserai at the distance of only a few paces. the next morning i hastened, to avoid being noticed by any one in my droll costume, through the streets of teheran to the turkish embassy. [teheran, and welcome there by the turkish charge d' affaires, ismael efendi; kind reception by mr. alison and the english embassy] the reader will easily understand in what tone of mind i again entered that edifice which, ten months before, i had left with my head full of such vague and adventurous plans. the intelligence that my benefactor haydar efendi had left teheran affected me very much, although his successor, ismael efendi, accredited as _chargé d'affaires_ at the persian court, {294} gave me an equally kind and hearty reception. this young turkish diplomatist, well known for his particularly fine breeding and excellent character, rendered me by his amiability eternally his debtor. he immediately vacated for me an entire suite of rooms at the embassy, so that the comforts i enjoyed during two months in teheran made me forget all the hardships and sufferings of my most fatiguing journey; indeed, i soon found myself so strong again that i felt capable of commencing a similar tour. no less kindness and favour awaited me at the english embassy. the distinguished representative of the queen, mr. alison, [footnote 91] as well as the two secretaries, messrs. thompson and watson, really rejoiced at the happy and successful termination of my journey; and i have to thank their kind recommendations alone, that on my arrival in england, to publish the narrative of my travels, i met with so much unhoped-for, and i may add, too, so much unmerited support. nor can i omit here also to offer my acknowledgments for the courtesy shown to me by the imperial _chargé d'affaires_, the count rochechouart. [footnote 91: this gentleman had, by an act of great generosity, the same winter that i returned to teheran, caused much sensation in the persian capital. such a lesson is the best that can be given to orientals, and far more meritorious and pregnant of consequence than all the hypocritical morality of which others make a vaunt.] [interview with the shah; the kavvan ud dowlet and the defeat at merv] the king having expressed a desire to see me, i was officially presented by ismael efendi. the youthful nasr-ed-din shah received me in the middle of his garden. on being introduced by the minister for foreign affairs and the chief adjutant, i was much astonished to find the ruler of all the countries of iran {295} watching our approach with an eye-glass, attired in a simple dress, half oriental and half european. [footnote 92] after the customary salutations, the conversation was directed to the subject of my journey. the king enquired in turn about all his royal brethren in distant places, and when i hinted at their insignificance as political powers, the young shah could not refrain from a little gasconade, and made an observation aside to his vizir. 'with fifteen thousand men we could have done with them all.' of course, he had quite forgotten the exclamation after the catastrophe at merv: 'kavvam! kavvam! redde mihi meas legiones.' [footnote 93] the subject of herat was also touched upon. nasr-ed-din shah questioned me as to the state in which the city was then. i replied that herat was a heap of ashes, and that the herati were praying for the welfare of his majesty of persia. the king caught at once the meaning of my words, and, in the hasty manner of speaking usual with {296} him, which reminded me of the fox in the fable, he added, 'i have no taste for such ruined cities.' at the close of my audience, which lasted half an hour, the king expressed his astonishment at the journey i had made, and left me, as a mark of especial favour, the ribbon of the fourth class of the order of the lion and the sun, after which i was obliged to write for him a short summary of my travels. [footnote 92: the under garments retain for the most part the native cut, the over ones alone follow european fashions--a real picture of our civilisation in the east.] [footnote 93: the unfortunate campaign against merv, really (as i observed) directed against bokhara, was commanded by an incapable court favourite, bearing the title kavvam eddowlet ('stability of the kingdom'). the disastrous defeat there suffered by the persians at the hands of the tekke is only to be ascribed to this officer's incompetency. he looked upon the turkomans at merv with the same contempt with which varus had contemplated the cherusci in the woods of the teutones, but the persian was too cowardly to face the death of the roman general. neither was his sovereign an augustus. he exclaimed, it is true, 'redde mihi meas legiones,' but he nevertheless allowed himself to be appeased by a payment of 24,000 ducats; and the base coward, even at the present day, fills a high post in persia.] [return by trebisond and constantinople to pesth] on the 28th march, the very same day on which, in the previous year, i had commenced my journey through central asia, i quitted teheran on my route to trebisond by tabris. as far as the latter city we had the finest spring weather, and it is unnecessary for me to say what my feelings were when i called to mind the corresponding date in the past year. then each step in advance took me further towards the haunts of savage barbarism, and of unimaginable dangers; now, each step carried me back nearer to civilised lands, and my own beloved country. i was very much touched by the sympathy which, on my way, i received from europeans, as in tabris, from my distinguished swiss friends, messrs. hanhart & company, and mr. abbot, the english vice-consul; in trebisond, from the italian consul mr. bosio, and also from my learned friend, dr. o. blau, and particularly from herr dragorich, the former the prussian, the latter the austrian consul. all these gentlemen, by their obligingness and friendly reception, bound me to them eternally. they knew the hardships that attend travelling in the east, and their acknowledgment of them is the sweetest reward that can fall to the lot of the traveller. {297} as, after having been in kurdistan, i was no longer able to distinguish in the countenance of the osmanli anything oriental, so now i could see in stamboul nothing but, as it were, a gorgeous drop curtain to an unreal eastern existence. i could only indulge myself with a stay of three hours on the shore of the bosphorus. i was glad, however, still to find time to wait upon the indefatigable savant and diplomat baron von prokesh-osten, whose kind counsels with reference to the compilation of my narrative i have kept constantly before my eyes. hence i proceeded to pesth by küstendje, where i left behind me my brother dervish [footnote 94] from kungrat, who had accompanied me all the way from samarcand; for the joy of tarrying long in my fatherland was not allowed me, as i was desirous, before the close of the season, of delivering an account of my journey to the royal geographical society of england--an object furthered and obtained for me by the kind recommendations of my friends. i arrived in london on the 9th of june, 1864, where it cost me incredible trouble to accustom myself to so sudden and extreme a change as that from bokhara to london. [footnote 94: it is needless for me to picture to the reader how this poor khivite, transplanted by me to the capital of hungary instead of being permitted to proceed to mecca, was amazed, and how he talked! what most astonished him was the good-nature of the frenghis, that they had not yet put him to death, a fate which, drawing his conclusions from the corresponding experience amongst his countrymen, he had apprehended.] wonderful, indeed, is the effect of habit upon men! although i had advanced to the maximum of these extremely different forms of existing civilisation, as it were, by steps and by degrees, still everything appeared to me here surprisingly new, as if what i had {298} previously known of europe had only been a dream, and as if, in fact, i were myself an asiatic. my wanderings have left powerful impressions upon my mind. is it surprising, if i stand sometimes bewildered, like a child, in regent street or in the saloons of british nobles, thinking of the deserts of central asia, and of the tents of the kirghis and the turkomans? {299} part ii. turkomans khiva bokhara khokand chinese tartary routes agriculture and trade political relations russians and english {300} {301} chapter xvi. boundaries and division of tribes neither rulers nor subjects deb islam change introduced by the latter only external influence of mollahs construction of nomad tents alaman, how conducted persian cowardice turkoman poets troubadours simple marriage ceremonies horses mounds, how and when formed mourning for dead turkoman descent general points connected with the history of the turkomans their present political and geographical importance. _non se urbibus tenent et ne statis quidem sedibus. ut invitavere pabula, ut cedens et sequens hostis exigit, its res opesque secum trahens, semper castra habitant; bellatrix, libera, indomita._--pomp. mela, de situ orbis, 1. ii. c. 4. the turkomans in their political and social relations. boundaries and divisions. the turkomans or türkmen, [footnote 95] as they style themselves, inhabit for the most part that tract of desert land which extends on this side of the river oxus, from the shore of the caspian sea to belkh, and from the {302} same river to the south as far as herat and astrabad. besides the partially productive soil which they possess along the oxus, murgab tedjend, görghen, and etrek, where they actually busy themselves a little with agriculture, the country of the turkomans comprises that immense awful desert where the traveller may wander about for weeks and weeks without finding a drop of sweet water or the shade of a single tree. in winter the extreme cold and the thick snow, in summer the scorching heat and the deep sand, present equal dangers; and storms only so far differ from each other in these different seasons, as the graves that they prepare for the karavans are dry or moist. [footnote 95: this word is compounded of the proper name türk, and the suffix _men_ (corresponding with the english suffix _ship, dom_); it is applied to the whole race, conveying the sense that the nomads style themselves pre-eminently _türks_. the word in use with us, turkoman, is a corruption of the turkish original.] to describe with more exactitude the divisions of the turkomans, we will make use of their own expressions. according to our european ideas, we name their main divisions, stocks or tribes, because we start from the assumption of _one_ entire nationality. but the turkomans, who, as far as history records, never appear united in any single body, mark their principal races by the name khalk (in arabic _people_), and designate them as follows:- i. tchaudor. ii. ersari. iii. alieli. iv. kara. v. salor. vi. sarik. vii. tekke. viii. göklen. ix. yomut. employing, then, the expression adopted by these nomads themselves, and annexing the corresponding words and significations, we have-turkoman words. primitive sense. secondary sense. khalk. people. stock or tribe. taife. people. branch. tire. fragment. lines or clans. {303} the khalks are divided into taife, and these again into tire. we proceed to touch briefly upon all these main stocks, devoting, however, our particular attention to the tekke, göklen, and yomuts, who are settled to the south, as occasion permitted me to visit and to become more acquainted with these from personal contact. i. tchaudor. these inhabit the southern part of the district between the caspian sea and the aral sea, counting about 12,000 tents; their principal tire, or branches, extending from the former sea as far as köhne urgendj, buldumsaz, porszu, and köktcheg in khiva, are- abdal. bozadji. igdyr. burundjuk. essenlu. sheikh. karatchaudor. ii. ersari. these dwell on the left bank of the oxus, from tschihardschuj as far as belkh. they are divided into twenty taife, and still more numerous tire. the number of their tents is said to amount to from fifty to sixty thousand. as they inhabit for the most part the bank of the oxus, and are tributary to the emir of bokhara, they are often alluded to as the lebab-türkmen, or bank-turkomans. iii. alieli. these, who have their principal seat at andkhoy, form only three little tire, not counting more than three thousand tents. {304} iv. kara. a small but exceedingly savage tribe of turkomans, who, for the most part, are found loitering about in the vicinity of certain wells in the great sandy desert between andkhoy and merv. they are pitiless robbers, and are warred against as such by all the surrounding tribes. v. salor. this is the oldest turkoman tribe recorded in history. it was already renowned for its bravery at the time of the arabian occupation. its numbers were then probably greater, for they have suffered very much from incessant wars. they number only eight thousand tents, although it is not ten years since they were in possession of the important point of merve. they are now-a-days supplanted by the tekke in martschah and its vicinity. they consist of the following taife and tire:- taife. tire. 1. yalavadj . . . yasz, tiszi, sakar, ordukhodja. 2. karaman . . . alam, gördjikli, beybölegi. 3. ana bölegi . . . yadschi, bokkara, bakaschtlöre, timur. vi. sarik. these do not stand in less repute for bravery than the tribe of salor. their numbers, too, are less than they were formerly. at present the sariks [footnote 96] inhabit {305} the regions about pendschdeh, on the bank of the murgab. with the exception of their neighbours the djemshidi, they are in hostile relations with all the turkomans. they are separated into the following taife and tire:- _taife. tire._ 1. khorasanli- bedeng, khodjali, kizil, huszeïnali. 2. biradj- kanlibash, kultcha, szudjan. 3. sokhti- tapyr, mumatag, kurd, kadyr. 4. alascha- kodjeck, bogadja, huszein kara, szaad, okensziz. 5. herzegi- yerki, djanibeg, kurama, jatan, japagy. the number of their tents, i was told, amounts to ten thousand. [footnote 96: the women of this tribe, sarik, have a peculiar renown as manufacturers of a tissue called agary. it is formed of the hair of the young camel (three or four days old), which, after being boiled in milk, during four or five days acquires an elasticity and consistence as of a silk pulp; this substance they afterwards draw out and weave into the material so called. it is of particular beauty and strength, and is in high esteem, and of great value as a material for forming the overdress of men. it is to be met with in persia, and always fetches high prices.] vii. tekke. these form at this day the greatest and most powerful tribe of the turkomans. they are separated into two principal encampments--the first at akhal (to the east of tedjend), and the second at merv. according to the best accounts, they have sixty thousand tents. possessing less land that is capable of being cultivated than the other turkoman tribes, they are, so to say, almost forced by nature itself to commit acts of robbery, and are a real scourge in the hand of god to the north-easterly portions of persia, to herat and its neighbourhood. i have only been able to ascertain the following subdivisions; there are probably many others:-{306} _taife._ _tire._ 1. ötemiscli- kelletscho, sultansiz, szitschmaz kara ahmed. 2. bakhshi- perreng, topaz, körszagry, aladjagöz, tashajak aksefi goh, marsi, zakir, kazilar. 3. toktamish- bokburun amanshah, göktche beg, kara, khar, kongor, yussuf, jazi, arik karadja. viii. göklen. judging by the position and the relations in which i found these, i am justified in characterising them as belonging to the most peaceable and most civilised turkomans. willingly occupying themselves with the pursuits of agriculture, they are subject, most of them, to the king of persia. they dwell in the lovely region so famed in history, that of the ancient gurgan (now the ruins of shehri djordjan). their branches and clans are as follows:- _taife._ _tire._ 1. tshakir- gökdish, alamet, toramen, khorta, karavul, kösze, kulkara, baynal. 2. begdlli- pank, amankhodja, boran, karishmaz. 3. kayi- djankurbanli, erkekli, kizil akindjik, tckendji bok khodja kodana lemek kaniasz, dari. 4. karabalkan- tshotur, kapan, szigirsiki, pashej, adjibég 5. kyryk- giyinlik szufian, dehene karakuzu, tcheke, gökese kabaszakal, ongüt, kongor. 6. bajindir- kalaydji, körük, yapagi yadji keszir yasagalik töreng. 7. gerkesz- mollalar, kösze ataniyaz mehrem börre. 8. jangak- korsüt madjiman, kötü, dizegri, szaridsche, ekiz. 9. szengrik- karashur, akshur, kutchi, khar, sheikhbégi. 10. aj dervisch- otschu, kodjamaz, dehli, tchikszari, arab, adschem, kandjik. {307} these ten branches are said to contain ten thousand tents, a number, perhaps, not exaggerated. ix. yomut. the yomuts inhabit the east shore of the caspian sea and some of its islands. their original appellation is görghen yomudu (yomuts of the görghen). besides these there are the khiva-yomudu (yomuts of khiva), who have chosen for their abode the other end of the desert, close upon the oxus. the particular places in the desert where the yomuts first above mentioned are wont to encamp, beginning to reckon them from the persian frontier upward, are as follows:-1. _khodja nefes_., at the lower mouth of the görghen, an encampment of from forty to sixty tents, furnishes a strong contingent to the audacious pirates that render the persian coast so insecure. 2. _gömüshtepe_, more particularly a winter quarter, not habitable in summer on account of the prevalence of virulent fevers. it extends, as already mentioned, in the upper mouth of the görghen, which is here tolerably deep, and which, from the wonderful number of fish that it yields, is of great service to this tribe. 3. _hasankuli_, on the shore of the gulf of this sea, having the same name. this place is densely peopled in summer, and produces tolerably good melons. {308} 4. _etrek_ lies to the left of hasankuli, on the banks of the river of like appellation, which, at a distance of six miles from this place, precipitates itself into the sea. 5. _tchekishlar_, also a yaylak (summer abode), near to the hill on the sea-shore, named ak tepe. 6. _tcheleken_, [footnote 97] an island only distant a few miles from the continent. the inhabitants are peaceful traders. [footnote 97: better written tchereken from the persian tchar-ken, the four mines, so called on account of the four principal productions of the island.] the yomuts are divided into the following branches and clans:- _taife._ _tire._ 1. atabay- sehene, düngirtchi, tana kisarka, kesze, temek. 2. djafer bay, having again two divisions, a. yarali- iri tomatch, kizil sakalli, arigköseli, tchokkan borkan, onuk tomatch. b. nurali- kelte, karindjik, gazili kör, hasankululu kör pankötek. 3. sheref djuni, of whom one part dwells in görghen, and the other in khiva, a. görghen- karabölke, tevedji, telgay djafer. b. khiva- oküz, salak, ushak, kodjuk, meshrik, imreli. 4. ogurdjali- semedin, ghiray terekme, nedin. the ogurdjali, hardly ever busying themselves with marauding and robbery, refuse to recognise the yomuts as of their tribe, and dealing themselves peaceably with persia, with which they have great activity of commerce, they have become subjects of {309} the shah, to whom they pay a yearly tribute of 1000 ducats. the persians, however, do not interfere in their internal government. the yomuts themselves are accustomed to count the number of their tents in the aggregate at from forty to fifty thousand. their calculations are as little to be guaranteed as the statements of the other tribes, for the greatness of their numbers always constitutes, with these nomads, a question of national pride. let us now add together the different tribes:-_tribes._ _no. of tents._ 1. tchaudor- 12,000 2. ersari- 50,000 3. alieli- 3,000 4. kara- 1,500 5. salor- 8,000 6. sarik- 10,000 7. tekke- 60,000 8. göklen- 12,000 9. yomut- 40,000 total 196,500 reckoning to each tent five persons, we have a sum-total of 982,500 souls; and as i have myself diminished the turkoman statements by at least a third, we may regard this as the lowest possible estimate of the whole population. political condition of the turkomans. what surprised me most during my sojourn amongst this people, was my inability to discover any single man among them desirous of commanding, or any individual inclined to obey. the turkoman himself {310} is wont to say, 'biz bibash khalk bolamiz (we are a people without a head), and we will not have one. we are all equal, with us everyone is king.' in the political institutions of all the other nomads, we occasionally discover some sign, more or less defined --some shadow of a government, such as the aksakal amongst the turks, the rish sefid amongst the persians, or the sheikh amongst the arabs. amongst the turkomans we find no trace of any such character. the tribes have, it is true, their aksakals; but these are, in effect, merely ministers to each particular circle, standing, to a certain degree, in a position of honourable distraction. they are liked and tolerated so long only as they do not make their supremacy felt by unusual commands or extravagant pretensions. 'how, then,' the reader will enquire, 'can these notorious robbers'--and the savageness of their nature is really unbounded--'live together without devouring each other?' the position in which they stand is really surprising; but what shall we say to the fact that, in spite of all this seeming anarchy, in spite of all their barbarism, so long as enmity is not openly declared, _less robbery and murder, fewer breaches of justice and of morality_, take place amongst them than amongst the other nations of asia whose social relations rest on the basis of islam civilisation? the inhabitants of the desert are ruled, often tyrannised over, by a mighty sovereign, invisible indeed to themselves, but whose presence is plainly discerned in the word 'deb'--_custom, usage_. [footnote 98: ] [footnote 98: 'deb' is a word of arabian origin, derived from 'edeb' (morality).] {311} among the turkomans the 'deb' is obeyed; everything is practised or abominated according to its injunctions. next to the 'deb' we may refer also, in exceptional cases, to the influence of religion. the latter, however, which came to them from bokhara, where so much fanaticism prevails, is far from being so influential as has been said. it is generally supposed that the turkoman plunders the persian because the latter belongs to the detested sect of the shiites. it is a gross error: i am firmly convinced that the turkoman would still cling to his plundering habits, which the 'deb' sanctions, even if he had for his neighbours the sunnite turks instead of the persians. what i advance derives the strongest confirmation from other considerations--from the frequency of the attacks made by the turkomans upon the countries belonging to sunnites, upon afghanistan, maymene, khiva, and even bokhara. later experience, too, convinced me that the greater number of the slaves in central asia belong to the religious sect of the sunnites. i once put the question to a robber, renowned for his piety, how he could make up his mind to sell his sunnite brothers as slaves, when the prophet's words were, 'kulli iszlam hurre (every musselman is free)'? 'behey!' said the turkoman, with, supreme indifference; 'the koran, god's book, is certainly more precious than man, and yet it is bought or sold for a few krans. what more can you say? yes, joseph, the son of jacob, was a prophet, and was himself sold. was he, in any respect, the worse for that?' {312} it is very remarkable how little the 'deb' has suffered in its struggle of eight centuries with mahommedanism. many usages, which are prohibited to the islamite, and which the mollahs make the object of violent attack, exist in all their ancient originality; and the changes effected by islam, not only amongst the turkomans, but amongst all the nomads of middle asia, were rather confined to the external forms of the religion previously existing. what they before found in the sun, fire, and other phenomena of nature, they saw now in allah-mohammed: the nomad is ever the same, now as two thousand years ago; nor is it possible for any change to take place in him till he exchanges his light tent for a substantial house; in other words, till he has ceased to be nomad. to return to the subject of the influence of the aksakals, i may be permitted to remark that these, as my experience amongst the yomuts enables me to say, are, in points of external relations, [footnote 99] really fair representatives of the general wishes of the particular tribe; but they are no envoys entrusted with full powers, and how powerless they really are, russia and persia have had many opportunities of learning. these two countries have, at great expense, sought to attach the aksakals to their interest, in order, through them, to put a stop to the habit of plundering and robbery; a policy that up to the present day has had but little success. [footnote 99: for instance, where persia, russia, or other turkoman tribes not directly allied, are concerned.] the mollahs enjoy greater respect, not so much from being islamites, as from the more general reputation for religion and mystery which attaches to their character, and which is the object of the dread of the {313} superstitious nomads. the mollahs, educated in khiva and in bokhara, are cunning people, who from the beginning assume the appearance of holiness, and make off as soon as they have once filled their sacks. but the chief support of the social union is the firm cohesion, not merely of the particular divisions, but of the whole tribe. every turkoman--nay, even the child of four years--knows the taife and tire to which he belongs, and points with a certain pride to the power or to the number of his particular branch, for that really is the shield that defends him from the capricious acts of others; and, indeed, in the event of one member suffering from the hand of violence, the whole tribe is bound to demand satisfaction. with regard to the particular relations of the yomuts with neighbouring tribes and countries, i have found that they live in an inveterate and irreconcilable enmity with the göklen. at the time i was in etrek, negotiations were on foot for a treaty of peace with the tekke, which was a lucky circumstance as far as our journey was concerned. i learned, however, later, that the peace never was concluded: in fact, it may be considered, and particularly by persia, a fortunate circumstance that the union of tribes, in so high a degree warlike, should be impossible; for the provinces of persia, and particularly mazendran, khorasan, and sigistan, are constantly exposed to depredations of particular tribes--tekke and yomut need only to combine to produce unceasing injury. the turkoman is intoxicated with the successes that have always attended his arms in iran, and he only deigns to laugh at the menaces of that country, even when it seeks to carry them into effect {314} by the actual march of an army. the position of russia is very different, whose might the yomuts have hitherto learned both to know and to fear merely from the petty garrison at ashourada. i heard that about four years ago the russians, in violation of all their treaties with persia, had attacked the encampment of gömüshtepe with an armed force barely 120 strong, and that the turkomans, although they far outnumbered them, betook themselves to flight, allowing their assailants to plunder and bum their tents. a report as to the 'infernal' arms made use of by the russians spread itself amongst the tekke; but what the nomads find it so difficult to withstand, is no doubt the excellent discipline of their opponents. social relations. but now to accompany the turkoman into his home and his domestic circle. we must first commence by speaking of the nomad himself, of his dress, and his tent. the turkoman is of tartaric origin; but has only retained the type of his race in cases where circumstances have conspired to prevent any intermixture with the iranis. this is remarkably the case with the tekke, the göklen, and the yomuts; for amongst them the pure tartar physiognomy is only met with in those branches and families which have sent fewer alaman to persia, and have consequently introduced amongst themselves fewer black-haired slaves. still the turkoman, whether he has departed more or less from the original type, is always remarkable for his bold penetrating glance, which distinguishes him from {315} all the nomads and inhabitants of towns in central asia, and for his proud military bearing; for although i have seen many young men of martial demeanour amongst the kirghis, karakalpak, and özbegs, it was only in the turkoman that i always found an absolute independence, an absence of all constraint. his dress is the same as that worn at khiva, with some slight modification for man and woman, by the addition of little articles of luxury from persia. the part of the attire of most importance is the red silk shirt that the ordinances of the koran forbid, but which is still worn by both sexes; with the turkoman women it constitutes in reality the whole home attire. my eye had great difficulty in habituating itself to the sight of old matrons and mothers of families, marriageable maidens and young girls, moving about in shifts reaching to the ankle. the covering of the head for the man is a fur cap, lighter and more tasty than the awkward cap of the özbeg, or the large towering hat of the persian. they employ also the tchapan, an over-dress resembling our dressing-gown, which comes from khiva, but of which they curtail the proportions when they take part in a tchapao (predatory expedition). the women, when dressing themselves for holidays, are accustomed also to bind a shawl round the waist over their long shift, which hangs down in two slips; high-heeled boots, red or yellow, are also indispensable; but the objects that are most coveted, and that give them most pleasure, are the trinkets, rings for neck, ear, or nose, and étuis for amulets, and resembling cartouch-boxes, which are often seen hanging down on their left side and on their right: as with us the ribbons which are used in the different orders of knighthood. these accompany every movement of the body with a clear sound, as it were, of bells. {316} the turkoman is very fond of such clatter, and attaches articles that produce it either to his wife or his horse; or when the opportunity there fails him, he steals a persian, and suspends chains upon him. to render the lady's attire complete, a hungarian dolmany (hussar jacket) is hung from the shoulders, which is only permitted to be so long as to leave visible the ends of her hair plaited with a ribbon. the tent of the turkoman, which is met with in the same form throughout all central asia and as far as the remote parts of china, is very neat and in perfect accordance with the life led by the nomad. we annex a representation [see plate] in three forms:--1st, the framework cut in wood; 2nd, the same when covered with pieces of felt; 3rd, its interior. with the exception of the woodwork, all its component parts are the product of the industry of the turkoman woman, who busies herself also with its construction and the putting together the various parts. she even packs it up upon the camel, and accompanies it in the wanderings of her people, close on foot. the tents of the rich and poor are distinguished by their being got up with a greater or less pomp in the internal arrangements. there are only two sorts:--1. karaoy (black tent, that is, the tent which has grown brown or black from age);--2. akoy (white tent, that is, one covered in the interior with felt of snowy whiteness; it is erected for newly-married couples, or for guests to whom they wish to pay particular honour). [illustration] tent in central asia. (a-framework. b--covered with felt. c--interior.) {317} altogether the tent as i met with it in central asia has left upon my mind a very pleasing impression. cool in summer and genially warm in winter, what a blessing is its shelter when the wild hurricane rages in all directions around the almost boundless steppes! a stranger is often fearful lest the dread elements should rend into a thousand pieces so frail an abode, but the turkoman has no such apprehension; he attaches the cords fast and sleeps sweetly, for the howling of the storm sounds in his ear like the song that lulls the infant in its cradle! the customs, usages, and occupations of the turkomans might furnish matter for an entire volume, so great and so remarkable is the distinction between their manner of life and our own. i must, however, here limit myself to a few traits in their characters, and only touch upon what is indispensable to my narrative. the leading features in the life of a turkoman are the alaman (predatory expedition) or the tchapao (the surprise). the invitation to any enterprise likely to be attended with profit, finds him ever ready to arm himself, and to spring to his saddle. the design itself is always kept a profound secret even from the nearest relative; and as soon as the serdar (chief elect) has had lavished upon him by some mollah or other the fatiha (benediction), every man betakes himself at the commencement of the evening by different ways to a certain place, before indicated as the rendezvous. the attack is always made either at midnight, when an inhabited settlement, or at sunrise, when a karavan or any hostile troop is its object. this attack of the turkomans, like that of the huns and tartars, is rather to be styled a surprise. they separate themselves {318} into several divisions, and make two, hardly ever three, assaults upon their unsuspecting prey; for, according to a turkoman proverb, 'try twice, turn back the third time.' ['iki deng ütschde döng.'] the party assailed must possess great resolution and firmness to be able to withstand a surprise of this nature; the persians seldom do so. very often a turkoman will not hesitate to attack five or even more persians, and will succeed in his enterprise. i have been told by the turkomans, that not unfrequently one of their number will make four or five persians prisoners. 'often,' said one of these nomads to me, 'the persians, struck with a panic, throw away their arms, demand the cords, and bind each other mutually; we have no occasion to dismount, except for the purpose of fastening the last of them.' not to allude to the defeat of 22,000 persians by 5,000 turkomans on a very recent occasion, i can state as an undoubted fact the immense superiority of the sons of the desert over the iranis. i am inclined to think that it is the terrible historical prestige of the tartars of the north that robs the boldest persian of his courage; and yet how dear has a man to pay for his cowardice! he who resists is cut down; the coward who surrenders has his hands bound, and the horseman either takes him up on his saddle (in which case his feet are bound under the horse's belly), or drives him before him: whenever from any cause this is not possible, the wretched man is attached to the tail of the animal, and has for hours and hours--yes, for days and days--to follow the robber to his desert home. those who are unable to keep up with the horseman generally {319} perish. [footnote 100] what awaits him in that home the reader already knows. let me add an anecdote of an occurrence which i myself witnessed. it occurred in gömüshtepe. an alaman returned richly laden with captives, horses, asses, oxen, and other movable property. they proceeded to the division of the booty, separating it into as many portions as there had been parties to the act of violence. but besides they left in the centre one separate portion; this was done to make all good, as i afterwards remarked. the robbers went up each in his turn to examine his share. one was satisfied; a second also; the third examined the teeth of the persian woman who had been allotted to him, and observed that his share was too small, whereupon the chief went to the centre heap and placed a young ass by the side of the poor persian slave; an estimate was made of the aggregate value of the two creatures, and the robber was contented: this course was often repeated; and although my feelings revolted at the inhumanity of the proceeding, i could not refrain from laughing at the droll composition of these different shares of spoil. [footnote 100: i once heard a young girl say that her mother had been killed and left in the desert, because unable to follow the turkomans in their rapid flight.] the main instrument, the one to which the turkoman gives the preference over all others in his forays, is, beyond all question, his horse, which is really a wonderful creature, prized by the son of the desert more than his wife, more than his children, more than his own life. it is interesting to mark with what carefulness he brings him up, how he clothes him to resist cold and heat, what magnificence he displays in the {320} accoutrements of his saddle, in which he, perhaps in a wretched dress of rags, makes a strange contrast with the carefully-decorated steed. these fine animals are well worth all the pains bestowed upon them, and the stories recounted of their speed and powers of endurance are far from being exaggerated. by origin the turkoman horse is arabian, for even at the present day those of the purest blood are known by the name bedevi (bedoueen). the horses of the tekke stand very high and are very fast, but are far from possessing the bottom or powers of endurance of the smaller horses of the yomuts. the profit arising to the nomads by their abominable practice of kidnapping by no means compensates for the perils which it entails, for it is not often that it diminishes the poverty to which the son of the desert is born. and what if he is able to save a few small coins? his mode of living, simple in the extreme, would rarely call for such; and i have known many turkomans who, in spite of a condition of increased prosperity, have continued to eat dried fish, and have allowed themselves bread but once in the week, just like the very poorest to whom the price of wheat renders bread almost inaccessible. in his domestic circle, the nomad presents us a picture of the most absolute indolence. in his eyes it is the greatest shame for a man to apply his hand to any domestic occupation. he has nothing to do but to tend his horse; that duty once over, he hurries to his neighbour, or joins one of the group that squat on the ground before the tents, discussing topics connected with politics, recent raids, or horseflesh. in the meantime the inevitable tchilim, a sort of persian pipe, in which the tobacco is not moistened, passes from hand to hand. {321} it is only during evening hours, particularly in the winter time, that they love to listen to fairy tales and stories; it is regarded as an enjoyment of a still higher and more elevated nature, when a bakhshi (troubadour) comes forward, and to the accompaniment of his dütara (a two-stringed instrument) sings a few songs of köroglu, aman mollah, or the national poet, makhdumkuli, whom they half deify. the latter, regarded as a sort of saint, was a turkoman of the göklen tribe; he died about eighty years ago. makhdumkuli died, as i heard from kizil akhond, during the civil wars between the yomuts and the göklens--his generous spirit could not endure to contemplate the spectacle of brother struggling in murderous combat with brother, whose wives and children were reciprocally captured and sold to slavery. in his biography, clouded with fable, i found him represented as a wondrous man, who, without going to bokhara or khiva, was divinely inspired in all books and all sciences. once being on horseback, he was surprised by an overpowering sleep; he saw himself, in fancy, transported to mecca into a circle where the prophet and the first khalifs were assembled. with a thrill of reverence and awe he looked round and perceived that omar, the patron of the turkomans, was beckoning to him. he approached the latter, who blessed him and struck him a slight blow on the forehead, whereupon he awoke. from that instant the sweetest poesy began to flow from his lips, and his books will long occupy with the turkomans the first place after the koran. in other respects the collection {322} of poems by makhdumkuli is of particular interest: first, as furnishing us with a pure specimen of the turkoman dialect; secondly, because the method, particularly of that part which relates to precepts as to horse-breeding, arms, and the alaman, is such as we rarely find in the literature of the oriental nations. how charming to me, too, those scenes, which can never pass from my memory, when on festal occasions, or during the evening entertainments, some bakhshi used to recite the verses of makhdumkuli! when i was in etrek, one of these troubadours had his tent close to our own; and as he paid us a visit of an evening, bringing his instrument with him, there flocked around him the young men of the vicinity, whom he was constrained to treat with some of his heroic lays. his singing consisted of certain forced guttural sounds, which we might rather take for a rattle than a song, and which he accompanied at first with gentle touches of the strings, but afterwards, as he became more excited, with wilder strokes upon the instrument. the hotter the battle, the fiercer grew the ardour of the singer and the enthusiasm of his youthful listeners; and really the scene assumed the appearance of a romance, when the young nomads, uttering deep groans, hurled their caps to the ground, and dashed their hands in a passion through the curls of their hair, just as if they were furious to combat with themselves. and yet this ought not to surprise us. the education of the young turkoman is in every respect calculated to bring him to this tone of mind. only one in a thousand can read and write: horses, arms, battles, and robberies, are the subjects that exercise, in youth, the imaginations of all. i once heard even the honest {323} khandjan, who intended to read a lesson to his son, recount that a certain young turkoman had already kidnapped two persians, and 'of him' (pointing to his son) 'he feared he should never be able to make a man.' [illustration: ] tartar horse race--pursuit of a bride. some customs and usages of the turkomans are very remarkable, as we have but faint traces of them amongst the other nomads of central asia. but there is also the marriage ceremonial where the young maiden, attired in bridal costume, mounts a high-bred courser, taking on her lap the carcase of a lamb or goat, and setting off at full gallop, is followed by the bridegroom and other young men of the party, also on horseback; but she is always to strive, by adroit turns, &c., to avoid her pursuers, that no one of them approach near enough to snatch from her the burden on her lap. this game, called kökbüri (green wolf), is in use amongst all the nomads of central asia. to mention another singular usage, sometimes two, sometimes four days after the nuptials, the newly-married couple are separated, and the permanent union does not begin until after the expiration of an entire year. another singular custom has reference to the mourning for the decease of a beloved member of the family. it is the practice, in the tent of the departed one, each day for a whole year, without exception, at the same hour that he drew his last breath, for female mourners to chant the customary dirges, in which the members of the family present are expected to join. in doing so, the latter proceed with their ordinary daily employments and occupations; {324} and it is quite ridiculous to see how the turkoman polishes his arms and smokes his pipe, or devours his meal, to the accompaniment of these frightful yells of sorrow. a similar thing occurs with the women, who, seated in the smaller circumference of the tent itself, are wont to join in the chant, to cry and weep in the most plaintive manner, whilst they are at the same time cleaning wool, spinning, or performing some other duty of household industry. the friends and acquaintances of the deceased are also expected to pay a visit of lamentation, and that even when the first intelligence of the misfortune does not reach them until after months have elapsed. the visitor seats himself before the tent, often at night, and, by a thrilling yell of fifteen minutes' duration, gives notice that he has thus performed his last duty towards the defunct. when a chief of distinction, one who has really well earned the title of bator (valiant), perishes, it is the practice to throw up over his grave a joszka [footnote 101] (large mound); to this every good turkoman is bound to contribute at least seven shovelfuls of earth, so that these elevations often have a circumference of sixty feet, and a height of from twenty to thirty feet. in the great plains these mounds are very conspicuous objects; the turkoman knows them all, and calls them by their names,--that is to say, by the names of those that rest below. [footnote 101: this custom existed amongst the ancient huns, and is in use in hungary even at the present day. in kashau (upper hungary) a mound was raised a few years ago, at the suggestion of count edward karolyi, in memory of the highly-respected count st. széchenyi.] {325} let me conclude this short account of the turkomans with a still briefer review of their history, in which i shall confine myself to what, in these particulars, i have heard regarded as traditions still commanding credit amongst them. 'we all spring,' said to me my learned friend kizil akhond, 'from manghischlak. our ancestors were szön khan and eszen ili. yomut and tekke were the sons of the first, tchaudor and göklen of the second. manghischlak was in the most ancient times called ming kischlak (a thousand winter quarters), and is the original home, not only of those of our race who have separated and migrated to persia, but of the ersari, salor, and the rest of the tribes. our saints of the olden times, as ireg ata [footnote 102] and sari-er, repose within the confines of manghischlak; and especially fortunate is he who has been able to visit their tombs.' khandjan told me that, so late as one hundred and fifty years ago, the turkomans had very rarely any other dresses than those which they prepared of sheepskins, or the hides of horse or wild ass; that nowadays this was all changed, and the only thing that remains to remind us of the old national costume is the fur cap. [footnote 102: ireg ata means 'the great father' in hungarian; oreg atya, 'old father.'] the animosities prevailing amongst the different tribes often lead to the reciprocal insulting reproach of 'descendants of slaves.' the time when they left their common country cannot be fixed with exactitude. ersari, sarik, and salor were already, at the time of the arabian occupation, in the eastern part of the desert, on this side of the oxus. tekke, göklen, and yomut took possession of their present country at a {326} later period, perhaps in the time of djinghis khan and timour. the change of abode of these last-mentioned tribes took place only by partial emigrations, and, indeed, cannot even at the present day be said to be more than half complete, for many yomuts and göklens still loiter about their ancient seat with singular predilection. during the middle ages, the turkoman horsemen were for the most part to be met with in the service of the khans of khiva and bokhara; often, also, under the banners of persia. the renown of their bravery, and particularly of their furious charges, spread far and wide; and certain of their leaders, like kara yuszuf, who took part with the tribe salor in the campaigns of timour, acquired historical celebrity. the turkomans contributed much to the _turkecising_ of north persia, at the epoch when the family of the atabegs ruled in iran; and beyond all dispute it is they who contributed the largest contingent to the turkish population on the other side of the caucasus, to azerbaydjan, mazendran, and shiraz. [footnote 103] [footnote 103: there are even now four or five of the smaller turkish tribes living a nomadic life in the district around shiraz. their ilkhani (chieftain), with whom i became acquainted in shiraz in 1862, told me that he can raise from them 30,000 horsemen, and some, as the kashkai and the allahverdi, had been transplanted hither by djinghis khan. in europe this fact has not been appreciated; and even burnes, in other respects well informed, thinks he has found, in a place of like name in the vicinity of samarcand, the _turki shirazi_ mentioned by hafiz in his songs.] {327} it is remarkable that in spite of the bitter hostility reigning between the turkomans and their shiite brethren in persia, the former still always especially name azerbaydjan as the seat of a higher civilisation; and whenever the bakhshi is asked to sing something more than usually beautiful and original, azerbaydjanian songs are always called for: nay, even the captive irani, if of turkish origin, may always expect more merciful treatment, for the turkoman says, 'he is our brother, this unbeliever.' [footnote 104] [footnote 104: 'kardashi miz dir ol kafir.'] the last risings of the turkomans in mass occurred under nadir shah and aga mehemed khan. nadir, helped by these tribes and by the afghans, at the commencement of the last century, shook asia out of her slumber; and the second conqueror above mentioned availed himself of the sword of the turkomans to found his dynasty. nomads are well aware of the fact, and make the ingratitude of the kadjar a subject of frequent complaint, who, since the time of feth ali shah, have, they say, entirely forgotten them, and even withdrawn the lawful pensions of several of their chiefs. to form an idea of the political importance of the nomads, we need only cast a glance at the map of central asia. we there see at once that they have become, from their position, the guardians of the southern frontiers of the entire asiatic highlands of turkestan, as they name it themselves. the turkoman is, without any possibility of contradiction, next to the kiptchak, the most warlike and savage race of central asia: in his rear, in the cities of khiva, bokhara, and khokand, we find the seat of cowardice and effeminacy; and had he not constituted himself as it were into a barrier of iron, things would never have remained, in the three countries just mentioned, in the condition in which they were after the time of kuteibe and ebu muszlim, [footnote 105] and in which they still continue. [footnote 105: the former conquered turkestan in the time of khalif omar; the latter, having first been governor of merv, fought for a long time the battle of independence, in conjunction with the turkomans and kharesmians against his master, the sovereign of bagdad.] {328} civilisation, some may think, has a predilection for the way that leads from the south to the north; but how can any spark penetrate to central asia, as long as the turkomans menace every traveller and every karavan with a thousand perils? {329} chapter xvii. khiva, the capital principal divisions, gates, and quarters of the city bazaars mosques medresse or colleges; how founded, organised, and endowed police khan and his government taxes tribunals khanat canals political divisions produce manufactures and trade particular routes khanat, how peopled özbegs turkomans karakalpak kasak (kirghis) sart persians history of khiva in fifteenth century khans and their genealogy. _les principaux tartares firent asseoir le khan sur une pièce de feutre et lui dirent: 'honare les grands, sois juste et bienfesant envers tous; sinon tu seras si misérable que tu n'auras pas même le feutre sur lequel tu es assis_.' voltaire, essai sur les moeurs, c. lx. a. khiva, the capital. as we are speaking of an oriental city, what need to say that the interior of khiva is very different from what its exterior would lead us to expect! first, reader, you must have seen a persian city of the lowest rank, and then you will understand my meaning when i say that khiva is inferior to it; or picture to yourself three or four thousand mud houses standing in different directions in the most irregular manner with uneven and unwashed walls, and fancy these surrounded by a wall ten feet high, also made of mud, and again you have a conception of khiva. {330} _its divisions._ the city is divided into two parts: (_a_) khiva proper; and (_b_) itch kale, the citadel with its encircling wall, which can be shut off from the outer city by four gates; and consists of the following mahalle (quarters): pehlivan, uluyogudj, akmesdjid, yipektchi, koshbeghimahallesi. the city, properly so called, has nine gates, and ten mahalle (quarters). [footnote 106] [footnote 106: that is to say, towards the north, urgendj dervazesi,(1) gendumghia dervazesi, imaret dervazesi; towards the east, ismahmudata dervazesi, hazaresp dervazesi; to the south, shikhlair dervazesi, pishkenik dervazesi, rafenek dervazesi; and to the west, bedrkhan dervazesi. there are ten mahalle (quarters), that is to say, 1. or. 2. kefterkhane. 3. mivesztan, where the fruit is sold. 4. mehterabad. 5. yenikale. 6. bala havuz, where there is a large reservoir of water surrounded by plane trees, serving as a place of recreation. 7. nanyemezorama. (2) 8. nurullahbay. 9. bagtche. 10. rafenek. (1) dervaze, a persian word, meaning gate. (2) this word means 'village that eats no bread.'] _bazaars_. bazaars or shops for sale equal to those which we meet with in persia, and in other oriental cities, do not exist in khiva. the following only deserve any mention. tim, a small well-built bazaar, with tolerably high vaulted ceilings, containing about 120 shops and a karavanserai. here are exposed all the cloth, {331} hardware, fancy articles, linen, and cotton that the russian commerce supplies, as well as the inconsiderable produce proceeding from bokhara and persia. around the tim are also to be seen nanbazari (bread market), bakalbazari (grocers), shembazari (the soap and candle market), and the sertrashbazari (from ten to twelve barbers' rooms, where the heads are shaved: i say the heads, for the man would be regarded as out of his senses or would be punished with death who should have his beard shaved). i must also class amongst the bazaars the kitchik kervanserai, where the slaves brought by the tekke and the yomuts are exposed for sale. but for this article of business khiva itself could not exist, as the culture of the land is entirely in the hands of the slaves. when we come to speak of bokhara, we will treat this subject more at large. _mosques_. there are few mosques in khiva of much antiquity or artistic construction. those that follow alone deserve notice. (1) hazreti pehlivan, an edifice four centuries old, consisting of one large and two small domes; it contains the tomb of pehlivan ahmed zemtchi, a revered saint, patron of the city of khiva. its exterior promises little, although the kashi (ornamental tiles) of the interior are tasteful, but unfortunately the place itself is dark, and the insufficiency of the lighting of the interior leaves much that the eye cannot distinguish. both inside the dome and in the courts leading to it there are always swarms of blind practitioners of the _memoria technica_, who know the koran by heart from frequent {332} repetition, and are ever reciting passages from it. (2) another mosque is the djüma-a-mesdjidi, which the khan attends on fridays, and where the official khutbe (prayer for the ruling sovereign) is read. (3) khanmesdjidi, in the interior of the citadel. (4) shaleker, which owes its construction to a farmer. (5) atamurad kushbeghi. (6) karayüzmesdjidi. _medresse_(colleges). the number of colleges and their magnificent endowments are, in central asia, always a criterion of the degree of prosperity and religious instruction of the population; and when we consider the limited means at their disposal, we cannot but laud the zeal and the readiness to make sacrifices, evinced both by king and subject, when a college is about to be founded and endowed. bokhara, the oldest seat of islamite civilisation in central asia, is a pattern in this respect; but some colleges exist in khiva also, and of these we shall particularly mention the following: (1) medemin [footnote 107]khan medressesi, built in 1842, by a persian architect, after the model of a persian karavanserai of the first rank. on the right is a massive tower, somewhat loftier than the two-storied medresse, but which, owing to the death of the builder, remains imperfect. this college has 130 cells, affording accommodation for 260 students; it enjoys a revenue of 12,000 khivan batman of wheat, and 5,000 tilla (2,500_l_. sterling) in money. to give the reader an idea of this institution, i will state the manner in which this revenue is apportioned, in order to show the parties composing the _personnel_. [footnote 107: abbreviation of mehemmed emin.] {333} batman. tilla. 5 akhond (professors) receive yearly 3,000 150 1 iman 2,000 40 1 muezzin (caller to prayers) 200 0 2 servants 200 0 1 barber 200 0 2 muttewali, or inspectors, receive a tithe of the whole revenue; the residue is divided amongst the students, who form three classes: 1st class 60 4 2nd class 30 2 3rd class 15 1 (2) allahkuli khan medressesi has 120 cells, and the yearly revenue of the pupils is fifty batman and two tilla (1_l_. sterling). (3) kutlug murad inag medressesi. each cell produces fifty batman and three tilla. (4) arab khan medressesi has only a few cells, but is richly endowed. (5) shirgazi khan medressesi. these medresse are the only edifices in the midst of the mud huts that deserve the name of houses. their courts are for the most part kept clean, are planted with trees, or used as gardens. of the subjects in which instruction is given we will speak hereafter, remarking only by the way, that the lectures themselves are delivered in the cells of the professors, to groups of scholars ranged together according to the degree of their intellectual capacity. {334} _police_. in each quarter of the town there is a mirab, [footnote 108] responsible by day for the public order of his district, in case of any rioting, theft, or other crime. the charge of the city after sunset is entrusted to the four pasheb (chief watchmen), who are bound to patrol the whole night before the gate of the citadel. each of them has eight under-watchmen subject to his orders, who are at the same time public executioners. these, in all thirty-two in number, go about the city, and arrest everyone who shows himself in the streets half an hour after midnight. their particular attention is directed to burglars, or to the heroes of the intrigues proscribed by the law: woe to those caught _in flagrante delicto!_ [footnote 108: a mirab is the same as the turkish subashi, a functionary, that has played his part from the chinese frontier to the adriatic, and still continues to do so.] b. the khan and his government. that the khan of khiva can dispose despotically, according to his good pleasure, of the property and lives of his subjects, scarcely requires to be mentioned. in his character of lord of the land, he is what every father is at the head of his family: just as the latter, when he pleases, gives ear to a slave, so the khan pays attention occasionally to the words of a minister; nor is there any barrier to the capricious use of his authority, except that inspired by the ulemas, when these have at their head such men as, by their learning and irreproachable lives, have conciliated the affection of the people, and rendered themselves objects of dread to the khan. matters stand so with almost all the governments of asia, but this is not altogether to be ascribed to the defects or entire absence of forms of government. no; in all times, and in all epochs of history, forms intended for controlling the tyrannical and capricious exercise of {335} power have existed in theory, and have only remained inoperative from that weakness of character and that deficiency of the nobler sentiments in the masses at large which have, throughout the east, ever favoured, as they still continue to do, every crime of the sovereign. according to the khivan constitution, which is of mongol origin, he is (1) khan or padisha, who is chosen for the purpose from the midst of a victorious race. at his side stand the (2) inag, [footnote 109] four in number, of whom two are the nearest relatives of the king, and the two others merely of the same race. one of the former is always the regular governor of the province of hezaresp. [footnote 109: the literal meaning of the word is younger brother.] (3) nakib, the spiritual chief, must always be a seid (of the family of the prophet). he has the same rank as the sheikh-ül-islam in constantinople. [footnote 110] [footnote 110: in constantinople the nakib-ül-eshref, the chief of the seïds, is in rank below the sheikh-ül-islam. ] (4) bi, not to be confounded with bey, with which it has only a similar verbal meaning. the bi is, in the battle, always at the right hand of the khan. (5) atalik, a sort of councillor of state, who can only be özbegs, and whose number the khan can fix. (6) kushbeghi. [footnote 111] [footnote 111: vizir, or first court minister of the khan: with him begins the 'corps' of ministers properly so called, holding their place at the will of the ruler.] (7) mehter, a sort of officer who has the charge of the internal affairs of the court and country. the mehter must always be from the sart (ancient persian population of khiva). {336} (8) yasaulbashi, two in number, principal guards, whose functions are those of introduction at the arz (public audience). the divan, a sort of secretary, at the same time accountant, is of the same rank. (9) mehrem, also two in number, having merely the office of chamberlains and confidants, yet possessing great influence with the khan and his government. (10) minbashi, commander of 1,000 horsemen. [footnote 112] [footnote 112: the collective military forces of the khan of khiva were computed, i was told, at 20,000 men, but this number can be doubled in the time of peril.] (11) yüzbashi, commander of 100 horsemen. (12) onbashi, commander of 10 horsemen. these twelve divisions form the class of officials, properly so called, and are styled sipahi. they are also divided as follows: some whom the khan cannot remove from office, some who have a fixed stipend, and the rest who are only in active service in time of war. the high officials are rewarded with lands, and the regular troops receive from the khan horses and arms, and are exempt from all taxes and imposts. thus far of the secular officers. the ulema or priests, of whom the nakib is the chief, are subdivided as follows:-(1) kazi kelan, superior judge and chief of jurisdiction throughout the khanat. (2) kazi ordu, who attends the khan as superior judge in his campaigns. (3) alem, the chief of the five muftis. (4) reis, who is inspector of the schools, and exercises a surveillance over the administration of the laws respecting religion. {337} (5) mufti, of whom there is one in every considerable city. (6) akhond, professor or elementary teacher. the first three belong to the higher rank of officials, and on entering upon their functions, are richly provided for by the khan. the three others draw their stipends from the vakf (pious foundations) paid to them in money and produce; but it is, besides, the usage for the khan to make them certain presents every year, at the festivals of the kurban and the noruz. the ulemas of khiva do not stand in as high repute for learning as those of bokhara, but they are far from being so presumptuous and arrogant as the latter; and many are animated by a sincere zeal to improve their countrymen as far as they can, and to soften the rude habits contracted by constant wars. _taxes_. in khiva these are of two kinds:-(_a_) salgit, corresponding with our land-tax. for every piece of ground capable of cultivation, measuring ten tanab (a tanab contains sixty square ells), the khan receives a tax of eighteen tenghe (about ten shillings.) from this the following are exempt: the warriors (nöker or atli), the ulemas, and khodja (descendants from the prophet). (_b_) zekiat (customs), in accordance with which imported wares pay 2-1/2 per cent, on their value, whereas for oxen, camels, and horses [footnote 113] a tenghe per head, and for sheep half a tenghe per head, were payable yearly. [footnote 113: only those, however, are obliged to pay who have more than ten, which constitute a herd.] {338} the collection of the salgit is left to the kushbeghi and mehter, who make circuits for the purpose every year through the principal districts, and hold the yasholu [footnote 114] responsible for the collection in the particular departments. [footnote 114: 'the great of age,' as the grey-beards are denominated in khiva.] the collection of the zekiat is controlled by a favourite mehrem of the khan, who visits, attended by a secretary, the tribes of nomads; and, as it is impossible to count the cattle, he every year taxes each tribe at a rate fixed after negotiation with his yasholu. of course, in this operation, the principal profit finds its way into the sack of the mehter; and the khan last year was made to believe that the karakalpak had only 6,000 oxen, and the yomuts and tchaudors only 3,000 sheep taxed last year, which was, as i heard, only a third of the truth. _justice_. this is administered in the mosques, and the private dwellings of the kazis and muftis, on whom the jurisdiction devolves. but every individual may prefer his complaint before the governor of the city or the province, who then makes his decision after urf (i. e., as it seems to him right). each governor, and even the khan himself, must every day hold a public audience of at least four hours' duration, a duty the neglect of which illness can alone excuse; and, as no one can be excluded, the ruler is often forced to listen to and settle even the pettiest family differences amongst his subjects. i have been told that the khan finds it fine sport to witness the quarrels of married couples, {339} maddened with anger which he himself takes care to foment. the father of the country is obliged to hold his sides for laughter to see, sometimes, man and wife thrashing each other around the hall, and finally falling wrestling in the dust. c. khiva, the khanat. the khanat of khiva, known in history under the name of kharezm, [footnote 115] and called also in adjoining countries ürgendj, is surrounded on all sides by deserts; its extreme frontiers to the south-east are formed by the city of fitnek, to the north-west by kungrat and köhne ürgendj, to the south by medemin and köktcheg. without attempting to give the superficial measurement of the land occupied by fixed settlers, or ascertain precisely the number of the inhabitants, let me rather content myself by furnishing as complete a description as circumstances admit of the topography of the khanat, and leave the geographer, if so disposed, to apply himself to the arithmetical calculation. [footnote 115: kharezm is a persian word signifying warlike, rejoicing in war.] but we may with less hesitation enlarge upon the extraordinary fruitfulness of the soil, to be ascribed, not so much to appropriate modes of cultivation, as to the excellent irrigation, and the fertilising waters of the oxus. _canals_. these in khiva are of two sorts--(_a_) arna, those formed by the river itself, which have from time to time been merely widened and deepened by the {340} inhabitants; (_b_) yap, canals dug to a width of one or two fathoms, for the most part fed from the arna. with these the whole of the land that is under cultivation is covered, as with a net. amongst the arna deserve particular mention-1. hazreti pehlivan arnasi, which, breaks in between fitnek and hezaresp, passes before khiva, and is lost in the sand after having flowed through zey and the district of the yomuts. 2. gazavat arnasi forms a break between khanka and yenghi ürgendj, passes also to the west before gazavat, and loses itself in the territory of the yomuts. 3. shahbad arnasi has its beginning above yenghi ürgendj, passes by shabad tash-haus and yillali, and disappears at köktcheg. 4. yarmish arnasi breaks in opposite shahbaz veli, and flows through the districts between kiat kungrat and yenghi ürgendj. 5. kilitchbay arnasi separates khitai and görlen, goes by yillali, and disappears in the sand behind köktcheg. 6. khodjaili arnasi. on the further bank are-7. shurakhan arnasi, which commences from the place of the same name, and disappears to the northeast, after having watered yapkenary and akkamish. 8. iltazar khan arnasi, which traverses the land of the karakalpak. _divisions_. the political divisions of khiva correspond with the number of those cities having particular bay, or governors, this entitling them to the name of separate districts. at this present moment the following {341} {342} divisions subsist, of which the most interesting are khiva, the capital, yenghi ürghendj, the most manufacturing, köhne ürgendj, famous for having long been the capital of the khanat, but now only a miserable village. there only remain of its former splendour (_a_) two ruins of towers, one more considerable, the other smaller, designed in the same massive style as the other towers in central asia. the legend recounts that these owe their demolition to the fury of the calmucks, because at a distance they seemed to be near, yet fly before the approaching assailants; (_b_) the dome of the törebegkhan, inlaid with tastefully enamelled bricks; (_c_) mazlum khan solugu. _principal towns or divisions, with the villages belonging to them, and their distance from the oxus_. name distance from oxus villages tash or mile 1. khiva 6 _to the west:_bedrkhan, kinik, akyap, khasian, tashayak, töyesitchti. _to the south:_ sirtcheli, shikhlar, rafenek engérik, pesckenik, pernakaz akmesdjid. _to the east:_ sayat, kiat, shikhbaghi, kettebag. _to the north:_ gendumghiah, perishe, khalil, neyzekhasz, gauk, tcharakhshik, zirsheytan ordumizan. 2. hezaresp 1 djengeti, shikharik, khodjalar himetbaba, bitjaktchi, ishanteshepe, bagat, nogman, besharik. 3. jenghi ürgendj 1-1/4 gaibulu shabadboyu, kutchilar, oroslar, sabundji, akhonbaba, karamaza kiptchaklar. 4. kungrat bank kiet, nogai, sarsar, sakar. 5. tash-haus 6 kamishli kuk, kongrudlar, karzalar yarmish boyu, bastirmali. 6. görlen 1 djelair, yonushkali, eshim, vezir, alchin, bashkir, tashkali, kargali. 7. khodja ili 2 ketmendji ata, djarnike naymanlar (in the woods), kamishtchali dervish khodja. 8. tchimbay on the further bank 9. shahbad 4 khodjalar, kefter khane, kökkamish. 10 shurakhan on the opposite side 11. kilidj bay 4-1/2 klalimbeg bagalan alieliboyu, bozjapboyu. 12. mangit 1/2 permanatcha, kiatlar, kenegöz. 13. kiptchak on bank basuyapboyu, nogai ishan kandjirgali, kanlilar. 14. khitai 1-1/2 akkum, yomurlutam, kulaulu. 15. ak derbendand 7 djamli 16. kiet 2 17. khanka 1 meder, godje, khodjalar, shagallar. 18. fitnek 2 19. shabaz veli 2 20. djagatai 4-1/2 21. ambar 5 bastirmali veyenganka peszi. 22. yenghi ya opposite bank altchin, vezir. 23. nôks 24. köktcheg 9 25. köhne urgendj 6 26. kiat kungrat 2 [between görlen and yenghi urgendj] 27. nokhasz 2 [between khanka and hezaresp] 28. rahmetbirdi opposite bank beg [near oveisz karaayne mountain] 29. kangli 1 30. yilali 8 [between medemin and tashhaus] 31. koshköpür 32. gazavat 6 -----{343} d. products, manufactures, and trade of khiva. the fertility of the khivan soil has already been several times mentioned; we must, however, allude to the following produce as especially excellent:--corn; rice, particularly that from görlen; silk, the finest of which is from shahbad and yenghi ürgendj; cotton; ruyan, a kind of root, prized for the red colour extracted from it; and fruits, the superior merit of which not persia and turkey alone, but even europe itself, would find it difficult to contest. i particularly refer to the apples of hezaresp, the peach and pomegranate of khiva, but, above all, to the incomparable and delicious melons, renowned as far even as remote pekin, so that the sovereign of the celestial empire never forgets, when presents flow to him from chinese tartary, to beg for some ürkindji melons. even in russia they fetch a high price, for a load of winter melons exported thither brings in return a load of sugar. {344} with respect to khivan manufactures, in high repute is the ürgendj tchapani, or coat from ürgendj; the material is a striped stuff of two colours (of wool or silk, often made of the two threads mingled), this is cut to the fashion of our dressing gowns. khiva is also renowned for its articles in brass, hezaresp for its gowns, and tash-hauz for its linens. the principal trade is with russia. karavans, consisting of from one to two thousand camels, go to orenburg in spring, and to astrakhan in autumn, conveying cotton, silk, skins, coats for the nogai tartars, shagreen leather, and fruits to the markets of nishnei (which they call also mäkariä); they bring back in return kettles or other vessels of cast-iron (here called djöghen), chintz (the kinds used by us to cover furniture, but here employed for the fronts of women's shifts), fine muslin, calicoes, clothing, sugar, iron, guns of inferior quality, and fancy goods in small quantities. there is a great export trade in fish, but the russians have their own fisheries, which are protected by three steamers, stationed on the sea of aral, and which navigate as far as kungrat, in accordance with a treaty concluded six years ago by the last russian embassy sent to khiva. with persia and herat [footnote 116] the trade is inconsiderable; the reason is that the routes leading thither are occupied by the turkomans. between khiva and astrabad the intercourse is entirely in the hands of the yomuts, who bring {345} with them every year 100 or 150 camels, loaded with box-wood (to make combs) and naphtha. with bokhara, on the contrary, more important transactions take place. they export thither gowns and linen, and receive in exchange tea, spices, paper, and light fancy goods, there manufactured. for the home trade they hold every week, in each city, one or two markets; even in parts confined exclusively to nomads, and where houses as such do not exist, a market-place (bazarli-djay), consisting of one or more mud huts, is constructed. a market in this country assumes the appearance of a fair or festival. the central asiatic visits it often from a distance of ten or twenty miles, purchasing perhaps a few needles or other trifles; but his real object is the love of display, for on such occasions he mounts his finest horse and carries his best weapons. [footnote 116: in herat, it is true, and in its environs, the khiva-tchapani (coat from khiva) is much appreciated and bought at a high price, but the article itself reaches them through bokhara.] [illustration] market on horseback--amongst the özbegs. e. how the khanat is peopled. khiva is peopled by 1. özbegs; 2. turkomans; 3. karakalpak; 4. kasak (called by us kirghis); 5. sart; 6. persians. 1. _özbegs._ this is the designation of a people for the most part inhabiting settled abodes, and occupying themselves with the cultivation of the earth. they extend from the southern point of the sea of aral as far as komul (distant a journey of forty days from kashgar), and are looked upon as the prominent race in the three khanats. according to their divisions they fall into thirty-two principal taife (tribes). [footnote 117] [footnote 117: as--1. kungrat; 2. kiptchak; 3. khitai; 4, manghit; 5. nöks; 6. nayman; 7. kulan; 8. kiet; 9. az; 10. taz; 11. sayat; 12. djagatay; 13. uygur; 14. akbet 15. dörmen 16. öshün; 17. kandjigaly; 18. nogai; 19. balgali; 20. miten; 21. djelair; 22. kenegöz; 23. kanli; 24. ichkili; 25. bagurlü; 26. altchin; 27. atchmayli; 28. karakursak; 29. birkulak; 36. tyrkysh; 31. kettekeser; 32. ming.] {346} this division is old, but it is very remarkable that even these particular tribes are scattered almost indiscriminately over the ground above mentioned, and it seems astonishing and, indeed, almost incredible, that özbegs of khiva, khokand, and yerkend, differing in language, customs, and physiognomy, represent themselves nevertheless as members, not only of one and the same nation, but of the very same tribe or clan. i will here only remark that in khiva most of the tribes have representatives, and the khivite has a legitimate pride in the purity of his ancient özbeg nationality, as contrasted with that of bokhara and kashgar. at the very first sight, however, the khivan özbeg betrays the mixture of his blood with the iran elements, for he has a beard, always to be regarded in the turanis as a foreign peculiarity, but his complexion and form of countenance indicate very often genuine tartar origin. even in the traits of his character, the khivan özbeg is preferable to his relatives in the other races. he is honest and open-hearted, has the savage nature of the nomads that surround him without the refined cunning of oriental civilisation. he ranks next to the pure osmanli of turkey, and it may be said of both that something may still be made out of them. {347} khiva is less instructed in the doctrine of islamism than bokhara, a circumstance that has had much influence in producing the following result: the retention by the khivan özbeg not only of many of the national usages of heathenism, but also of the religious observances of the parsees. a predilection in favour of music and the national poetry of the turks, more passionately cultivated by the nomads of central asia than by any civilised nation, has been here more strictly maintained than in khokand, bokhara, and kashgar. the khivan players on the dutar (a guitar with two strings), and koboz (lute) are in high renown throughout all turkestan; and not only is nevai, the greatest of the özbeg poets, familiar to every one, but no ten years elapse without the appearance of lyrists of the second or third rank. i became acquainted in khiva with two brothers; one, munis, wrote excellent poems, of which it is my purpose later to publish several, and the other, mirab, had the extraordinary patience to translate into the özbeg-turkish dialect the great historical work of mirkhond to render it more accessible to his son, who was nevertheless acquainted with persian. the work employed him twenty years, but he was ashamed to communicate the fact to any one, for a man who busies himself with any other branch of learning than religion is there regarded as a very superficial person. many centuries have elapsed since their first settlement, and yet the khivan customs still retain the impress of the early heroic age. mimic battles, wrestling, and particularly horse races, occur frequently. in the latter very brilliant prizes await the winners. every wedding of distinction is honoured by a race of 9, 19, 29, which means that the winner receives from the giver of the festival, of all or part of his property, 9, 19, 29, for instance 9 sheep, 19 goats. {348} and so on; these often yield him a considerable sum. smaller races of less importance consist of what is styled kökbüri (green wolf), of which we have already spoken when treating of the turkomans. there are festivals and sports in khiva which have been handed down from the primitive inhabitants, who were fire-worshippers; they once existed in other parts of central asia before the introduction of islam, but they are at the present day quite forgotten. 2. _turkomans_. of these we have already spoken at large. there are in khiva (_a_) yomuts who inhabit the borders of the desert, from köhne to gazavat, the district of karayilghin, köktcheg, özbegyap, bedrkend, and medemin. (_b_) tchaudor, who wander about also in the land around köhne, namely, near kizil takir, and porsu, but more to the west, in the country between the aral and caspian seas. of göklen there are very few. 3. _karahalpak_. these inhabit the further bank of the oxus, opposite görlens, far away up close to kungrat, in the vicinity of extensive forests, where they occupy themselves with the breeding of cattle; they have few horses and hardly any sheep. the karakalpak pique themselves upon possessing the most beautiful women in turkestan; but on the other side they are themselves described as being the greatest idiots, and i have heard many anecdotes confirming this assertion. [footnote 118] [footnote 118: of this nation i have found ten principal tribes- 1. baymakli. 2. khandekli. 3. terstamgali. 4. atchamayli. 5. kaytchili khitai. 6. ingakli. 7. kenegöz. 8. tomboyun. 9. shakoo. 10. ontönturûk.] {349} their number is computed at 10,000 tents. from time out of mind they have been subject to khiva. forty years ago they rebelled under their leader, aydost, who invaded kungrat, but were, at a later date, defeated by mehemmed rehim khan. eight years have hardly elapsed since they rose again under their chief, zarlig, who is said to have had under him 20,000 horsemen, and to have committed great devastations until they were utterly routed and dispersed by kutlug murad. their last insurrection took place three years ago, under er nazar, who built himself a stronghold, but was nevertheless overcome. 4. _kasak (kirghis)_. of these, very few remain subject to khiva, they having, in recent times, for the most part fallen under the dominion of russia, we shall speak more fully of this great nomadic nation of central asia when we come to treat of bokhara. 5. _sart_. these are called tadjik in bokhara and khokand, and are the ancient persian population of kharezm. their number here is small. they have, by degrees, exchanged their persian language for the turkish. the sart is distinguishable, not less than the tadjik, by his crafty, subtle manners. he is no great favourite with the özbeg, and in spite of the sart and özbeg having lived five centuries together, very few mixed marriages have taken place between them. {350} 6. _persians_. these are either slaves, of whom there are about 40,000, or freed men, besides a small colony in akderbend and djamli. in other respects, as far as material existence is concerned, the slave in khiva is not badly off. craftier than the plain straightforward özbeg, he soon enriches himself, and many prefer, after having purchased their freedom, to settle in the country rather than return to persia. the slave is styled in khiva, dogma, and his offspring, khanezad (house-born). the blemish of the captivity to which he has been subjected is only effaced in the third generation. f. materials for a history of khiva in the 19th century. 1. _mehemmed emin inag_. on the sudden retreat of nadir shah, [footnote 119] who had, without a blow, rendered himself master of the khanat, the kirghis of the small horde (or üstyurt kazaghi, or kasaks of the upper yurt, as they style themselves) took the lead of affairs in khiva. they ruled until the end of the last century, at which time an özbeg chieftain of the tribe of konrad rose and laid claim to the throne. his name was mehemmed emin inag (1792-1800), by which title he meant to express his descent from the last özbeg family that had reigned. he succeeded in getting together a small army, and marched against the kasak prince. but the latter, who was still in considerable force, defeated his adversary several times, till he finally fled to bokhara, where he lived some years in retirement. his partisans, {351} however, continued the struggle until they gained several advantages; they then despatched a deputation of forty horsemen to inform mehemmed emin; whereupon that prince returned and again placed himself at the head of affairs, and this time with better result, for he drove away the kasaks. mounting the throne he became the founder of the present reigning family, who were his successors, in an unbroken order of succession, as shown in the accompanying genealogical account.--_see next page_. [footnote 119: after he had, in 1740, conquered yolbarz (lion) shah, and a few months later had retired to kelat. ] 2. _iltazar khan_ (1800-1804). this prince made war with bokhara, because the latter supported the sinking power of the kasaks. whilst he was occupied in the neighbourhood of chardjuy, the yomuts, at the instigation of the bokhariots, dashed upon khiva and got possession of the city, and plundered it under the guidance of their chief, tapishdeli. iltazar, endeavouring to return with rapidity, was, in his retreat, routed by the bokhariots, and died in flight in the waters of the oxus. he was succeeded on the throne by his son, 3. _mehemmed rehim_ (1804-1826); called also medrehim. he lost no time in turning his arms against the yomuts, drove them out of the capital, and made them richly atone for the booty they had taken. equal success attended him in his dealings with the karakalpaks. these, led by ajdost, resisted him at first, but he compelled them to submit. he was not so fortunate in his attack upon kungrat, where one of his relatives contested the throne with him. {352} [illustration] family tree {353} the struggle lasted 17 years. it is remarkable that he continued, during the whole of this time, the siege of the above-named city; and the obstinate defender, laughing at all the efforts of the enemy, called out to him, it is said, one day from the top of the tower: 'utch ay savun (three months sour milk), utch a kavun (three months melons), utch ay kabak (three months pumpkins), utch a tchabak' (three months fish); meaning thereby that he had food for the four seasons of the year, which he could procure within the precincts of the city; that he had no occasion for bread, and that he could last a long time without being reduced by famine. to revenge the death of his father, medrehim marched against bokhara, where, at that time, emir seid, a weak-minded prince who assumed the dervish character, held the reins of government. the khivites devastated many cities up to the very gates of bokhara, making numerous prisoners. the emir was informed, and he exclaimed, 'akhir righistan amandur!' which means that he had still a place of security, righistan, [footnote 120] and that he had no occasion to fear. after having committed great ravages, medrehim returned laden with spoil. towards the close of his reign, he reduced to subjection, at astrabad, the tekke and the yomuts. [footnote 120: a place of public resort in the city of bokhara.] {354} 4. _allah kuli khan_ (1826-1841). this prince inherited from his father a well-filled hazne (treasury), as well as powerful influence amongst the neighbouring nations. his anxiety to preserve it involved him in several wars. in bokhara the feeble seid had been succeeded by the energetic nasr ullah, who, seeking to avenge the disgraceful defeat of his father, began a war in which the khivan crown prince was routed. at the time the news arrived that the russians were marching from orenburg upon khiva, and that the hostility of the emir of bokhara was only owing to the instigations of the unbelievers, the consternation was great, for it was reported that the muscovite force amounted to more than eighty thousand men, with a hundred cannon; and as they had waited long in the vain hope of receiving help from the 'inghiliz' in herat, the khan despatched, about ten thousand horsemen, led by khodja niyazbay, against the russians, who had already forced their way from the ughe plain as far as the lake of atyolu, six miles distant from kungrat. the khivites recount that they surprised the enemy, and that such a slaughter ensued as is seldom heard of. many were made prisoners; and in kungrat two russians were pointed out to me who had remained behind from that campaign as prisoners, had afterwards become public converts to islamism, and had in consequence been set free by the khan, who had loaded them with presents: they had even contracted marriages there. [footnote 121] [footnote 121: the above is the version of the affair according to the khivites themselves. it is, however, well known that the expedition that marched against khiva, under the command of general perowszky, consisted of only from ten to twelve thousand men. the principal cause of the russian disaster was unquestionably the severe cold; still a battle did actually take place, and the özbegs, to whom captain abbot ascribes so much cowardice, did inflict considerable injury upon the corps of occupation after it had fallen into disorder.] {355} after the victory, the khan had raised entrenchments in the neighbourhood of dövkara, on both sides. the garrisons of these were placed under the control of khodja niyazbay. these, however, have been abandoned, and have remained in ruins for the last ten years. to return thanks to god for the happy termination of the war with the russians, allahkuli founded a medresse (college), which he richly endowed. on the other side the war with bokhara continued; the göklens were also subdued, and a great number of them sent to colonise khiva. it is an old but singular custom in this country that a whole tribe is taken altogether and forced to submit to a transportation which transfers them to khiva itself; there they receive every possible succour, and as their own feelings of animosity continue to exist, there is no difficulty in maintaining over them a close surveillance. 5. _rehim kuli khan_(1841-1843). this prince succeeded to his father, and immediately found that he had enough to do with the djemshidi, a persian tribe inhabiting the eastern bank of the murgab, of whom the khivites had taken 10,000 tents with their chiefs, and had settled there as a colony on the bank of the oxus, near kilidjbay. on the other side the sarik, at that time masters of merv, began hostilities with the özbegs. the younger brother of the khan, medemin inag, was sent against them with 15,000 horsemen; but on the dreadful journey between khiva and merv, many {356} soldiers fell sick. as the emir of bokhara was at the same time besieging the city of hezaresp, the inag turned his arms quickly against the latter, defeated him, and then concluded a peace. about this time died rehim kuli khan, and 6. _mehemmed emin khan_ (1843-1855) seized the reins of government, to which not perhaps the law of inheritance (for the deceased khan left sons), but his former services, gave him a good claim. mehemmed emin khan is regarded as the most glorious monarch that khiva can boast in modern times; for he restored to the kingdom of kharezm, wherever possible, its ancient limits which it had lost 400 years before; and at the same time, by the subjection of all the nomads in the surrounding country, he raised the reputation of the khanat, and considerably increased its revenues. two days had not elapsed after his having been raised to the white felt [footnote 122]--a proceeding tantamount in khiva and khokand to accession to the throne--when he marched in person against the sarik, the bravest of all the turkoman tribes; for he longed to bring under his sceptre the fruitful plain of merv. after six campaigns he succeeded in capturing the citadel of merv as well as another fortress called yolöten, in the same vicinity. scarcely had he got back to khiva, when the sarik again rose in rebellion, and put to the sword the officer left in command at merv with the whole garrison. a new campaign was commenced with great rapidity, in which the djemshidi, old {357} enemies of the sarik, also took part, and, led on by their chief mir mehemmed, were conquerors, and, to the chagrin and vexation of all the özbeg heroes, made their triumphal entry into khiva. [footnote 122: the enacting of this ceremonial, i was told, has been ever since the time of genghis khan, and still is, the exclusive privilege of the grey-beards of the tribe of djagatay.] the sarik was consequently reduced to subjection: nevertheless the tekke, who at that time dwelt in karayap and kabukli, between merv and akhal, evincing feelings of hostility by refusing the payment of their yearly tribute, medemin saw himself forced again to use a sword, still reeking with turkoman blood, against another of these tribes. after three campaigns, during which many men and animals perished in the sandy desert, the khan succeeded in overpowering a part of the insurgents, and left a garrison composed of yomuts and özbegs, under their two leaders, to keep them in check. by mishap differences broke out between the chieftains; the leader of the yomuts returned to khiva, and was there hurled down by order of the offended khan from the top of a lofty tower. this act made all the yomuts enemies of mehemmed emin; allying themselves secretly with the tekke, they were, a little later, the cause of his death. at this time medemin had collected a force of 40,000 horsemen, consisting of özbegs and other tributary nomads; of these he despatched a part against the russians, who were then approaching khiva, and marching from the eastern shore of the sea of aral upon the entrenchments of khodja niyazbay. he proceeded with the rest of his forces to merv, with the intention of putting an end by a decisive blow to the never-ceasing disorders amongst the turkomans. he speedily took karayap, and was preparing to assail sarakhs {358} (the ancient syrinx), when one day, whilst resting in his tent, pitched on a hill in the vicinity of merv, [footnote 123 ] in the very centre of his camp, he was surprised by some daring hostile horsemen, and in spite of his cry, 'men hazret em' (i am the khan), his head was struck off, without any of his retinue having had time to hasten to his rescue. at the sight of the severed head, which the turkomans sent as a present to the shah of persia, [footnote 124] a panic seized his troops, who retired nevertheless in good order, and whilst on their way called to the throne abdullah khan. [footnote 123: with respect to this hill we are told that it was here also that ebu muslim, the mighty vassal and afterwards enemy of the kahlifs of bagdad, met with his death.] [footnote 124: the shah, who had reason to dread medemin--for after the fall of sarakhs, he would certainly have assailed meshed--respected the gory head of his enemy, and had a small chapel built for it before the gate (d. dowlet). but he afterwards had it demolished because it was said that pious shiites might mistake it for the tomb of an imamzade, a holy shiite, and it might so give occasion to a sinful act.] 7. _abdullah khan_ (1855-6). scarcely had this prince reached the alarmed capital when differences arose respecting the right to the throne, and seid mahmoud töre, a claimant who had some preferable right from seniority, drew his sword in the presence of all the mollahs and great personages, and avowed his intention to make good his claim by immediately striking the khan dead. he was first pacified and afterwards placed in confinement. the yomuts on their side had gained over two princes with the intent to place them on the throne; but their intrigue was discovered whilst it was yet time; the {359} unfortunate princes were strangled; and as for the yomuts, their criminality being plain to all, it was determined to punish them. the khan advanced against them at the head of a few thousand horsemen but the yomuts protesting their innocence, and their grey-beards, with naked swords suspended from their necks (symbolising their submission), coming bare-footed to meet him, they were this time forgiven. two months later, the tribe again beginning to show hostile sentiments, the khan became incensed, assembled in great haste 2,000 horsemen, and attacked the yomuts who were in open rebellion. the affair terminated unfortunately. the özbegs were put to flight; and when a search was made for the khan, it was found that he was amongst the first that had fallen, and that his body had been thrown with the others, without distinction of person, into a common grave. they named, as his successor, his younger brother, 8. _kutlug murad khan_ (reigned three months only). he had fought at the side of the late khan, and was returning covered with wounds. he soon armed afresh to continue the struggle that had cost his brother his life, when the chiefs of the yomuts made overtures of peace, with the promise that they would appear in khiva to do homage, and bring with them the cousin of the khan, who had fallen into their hands in the last engagement, and whom they had proclaimed khan. {360} kutlug murad and his ministers put faith in these professions. the day was fixed for their appearance, when they appeared accordingly, but with a force of 12,000 men, and bringing with them their best horses and arms of parade. on the morning of the presentation, the khan received his cousin, and the latter, whilst in the act of embracing him, treacherously stabbed the sovereign with his poniard. the khan fell to the ground, and the turkomans rushed upon the royal servants who were present. during the consternation that prevailed, the mehter ascended the wall of the citadel, and, announcing from the battlements the atrocious crime, called upon the khivites to put to death all the yomuts within the walls of the city. the incensed populace attacked the turkomans, who, paralysed by fear, offered no resistance. they fell, not only by the weapons of khivites, but even by the knives of the women. the streets of khiva ran literally with blood, and it took six days' labour to dispose of the dead bodies. for a period of eight days after this butchery khiva remained without a sovereign. the crown was tendered to the formerly capable seid mahmoud töre; but his passionate fondness for the indulgence of the intoxicating opium was an obstacle, and he abdicated his rights in favour of his younger brother, 9. _seid mehemmed khan_ (1856--still reigning). the incapacity of this prince is well known, and the reader has seen many instances of it. during this reign khiva has been much devastated by the civil war with the yomuts, and colonies founded by the previous khans have been ruined and unpeopled. whilst yomuts and özbegs were thus destroying one {361} another, and hurrying off mutually their women and children to slavery, the djemshidi making their way in, according to the proverb, 'inter duos litigantes tertius est gaudens,' and assailing the unarmed population, plundered the whole of khiva, from kitsdj baj to fitnek, and richly laden with spoil, and accompanied by 2,000 persian slaves, who had freed themselves in the confusion, returned to the banks of the murgab. poverty, cholera, pestilence, and depopulation led necessarily to a peace; then a pretender to the throne, supported by russian influence, named mehemmed penah, unfurled the banner of revolution, and despatched an embassy by manghishlak to astrakhan to implore the protection of the russian padishah. the intrigue took wind, and the envoys were put to death on their way. later, however, when the russian imperials (gold pieces) had been expended, mehemmed penah was murdered by his own partisans, and the ringleaders were formed into parcels (that is to say, they had their hands bound to their body with wetted leather), and were so forwarded to khiva, where a cruel end awaited them. {362} chapter xviii. the city of bokhara. city of bokhara, its gates, quarters, mosques, colleges one founded by czarina catherine founded as seminaries not of learning but fanaticism bazaars police system severer than elsewhere in asia the khanat of bokhara inhabitants: özbegs, tadjiks, kirghis, arabs, mervi, persians, hindoos, jews government different officials political divisions army summary of the history of bokhara. _. . . regnata cyro bactra . . . tanaisque discors._ horace, _ode_ iii. 29, 27-8. -----the circumference of bokhara, represented to me as a day's journey, i found actually not more than four miles. the environs, though tolerably well cultivated, are in this respect far inferior to the country around khiva. bokhara has eleven gates, [footnote 125] and is divided into two principal parts, deruni shehr (inner city), and beruni shehr (outer city); and into several quarters, the chief of which are mahallei djuybar, khiaban, mïrekan, malkushan, sabungiran. although we have given {363} the reader, in a preceding chapter, some idea of the great buildings and public places, we will here condense in a short account our particular observations. [footnote 125: dervaze imam, d. mezar, d. samarcand, d. oglau, d. talpatch, d. shirgiran, d. karaköl, d. sheikh djelal, d. namazgiah, d. salakhane, d. karshi.] _mosques_. the bokhariot pretends that his native city possesses 365 mosques, counting the small as well as the large ones, so that the pious musselman may find a different one to attend each day in the year. i have not been able to discover more than the half of that number. the following are the only ones that deserve mention:-1. mesdjidi kelan, built by timour, but restored by abdullah khan, which is thronged on fridays, as the emir then says his prayers there. 2. mesdjidi divanbeghi, built, with the reservoir and medresse bearing the same name, by a certain nezr, 1029 (1629), who was divanbeghi (state secretary) of the emir imankuli khan. 3. mirekan. 4. mesdjidi mogak. this is a subterranean building, in which, according to one tradition, the primitive musselmans, according to another, the last fire-worshippers, held their meetings. the former version seems more probable; for, first, the guebres could have found more suitable spots outside of the city, in the open air; and secondly, many kufish inscriptions there point to an islamite origin. {364} _medresse (colleges)._ the bokhariot prides himself upon the number of these colleges, and fixes them at his favourite figure, 365. there are, however, not more than 80. the most celebrated are the following:-1. the medresse kökeltash, built in 1426; it has 150 cells, each of which costs from 100 to 120 tilla. [footnote 126] the students in the first class receive an annual sum of five tillas. [footnote 126: on the first foundation of a medresse, the cells are given as presents, but the subsequent proprietors can only obtain them upon the payment of a fixed price.] 2. m. mirarab was erected in 1529, and has 100 cells, each of which costs from 80 to 90 tilla, and pays interest 7 per cent. 3. koshmedresse (pair of colleges) of abdullah khan, built in 1372. it has about 100 cells, but not so valuable as the preceding ones. 4. m. djuybar was erected in 1582, by a grandson of the great scholar and ascetic of the same name. it is most richly endowed; each cell pays 25 tilla, but it is not very full, being at the extreme end of the city. 5. m. tursindjan, where each cell yields five tilla yearly. 6. m. emazar, founded by the czarina catherine, through her ambassador. it has 60 cells, each paying three tilla. we may remark, generally, that the colleges of bokhara and samarcand are the cause why so high an idea not only prevailed throughout islam, but existed for a long time even amongst europeans, as to the learning of the superior schools in central asia. the readiness to make the sacrifice which the foundation of such establishments supposes, may by a superficial observer be easily mistaken and ascribed to a higher motive. {365} unhappily, merely blind fanaticism lies at the root; and the same thing occurs here as took place during the middle ages, for, with the exception of what is given in a few books upon mantik (logic) and hikmet (philosophy), there is no instruction at all but in the koran, and religious casuistry. now and then, perhaps, one may be found who would like to busy himself with poetry and history, but his studies must be in secret, as it is regarded as a disgrace to devote oneself to any such frivolous subjects. the aggregate number of students has been represented to me as about 5,000; they flock thither, not merely out of all parts of central asia, but also from india, kashmir, afghanistan, russia, and china. the poorer receive an annual pension from the emir, for it is by means of these medresse, and its severe observance of islamism, that bokhara is able to exercise a spiritual influence upon neighbouring countries. _bazaars._ there are none here like those in the chief cities of persia. very few are vaulted or built of stone; the larger ones are covered over either with wood or reed mattings laid across long perches. [footnote 127] [footnote 127: they are separated into different parts, as tirm abdullah khan, the above-mentioned prince, had them built according to persian models on his return from persia in 1582. restei suzenghiran, haberdashers; r. saraffan, where the money-changers and booksellers station themselves; r. zergheran, workers in gold; r. tchilingheran, locksmiths; r. attari, dealers in spices; r. kannadi, confectioners; r. tchayfurnshi, tea-dealers; r. tchitfuroshi, dealers in chintz; bazari latta, linendrapers; timche darayfurushi, grocers; and so on.] {366} each bazaar has its particular aksakal, responsible to the emir for order, as well as for taxes. in addition to the bazaars there are, perhaps, altogether about thirty small karavanserais, used partly as warehouses, and partly for the reception of strangers. _police._ the system of police in bokhara is more severe than in any other city of known parts of asia. by day the reis himself perambulates the bazaars and public places, and he sends out his numerous dependents and spies; and about two hours after sunset no one dares to show himself in the streets, neighbour cannot visit neighbour, and the sick man runs the risk of perishing for want of medical aid, for the emir has declared that the mirshebs (night-watchers) may even arrest himself should they meet him abroad during the forbidden hours. the khanat of bokhara. _inhabitants._ the actual frontiers of the khanat are: on the east, the khanat of khokand, and the mountains of bedakhshan; on the south, the oxus, with the districts on the further side, kerki and chardjuy; on the west and north, the great desert. the positive line of demarcation cannot be defined, and it is equally impossible to fix the number of inhabitants. without going too far, they may, perhaps, be set down at two millions and a half, consisting generally {367} of those having fixed habitations and those leading a nomad life, or, if we take the principle of nationality, of özbegs, tadjiks, kirghis, arabs, mervi, persians, hindoos, and jews. _özbegs_. the özbegs, part of the thirty-two tribes, are already particularised in our account of khiva, but they are sensibly distinguishable from the kindred race in kharezm, both by the conformation of the face and by the character. the özbeg bokhariots have dwelt in closer connection with the tadjiks than the khivites have done with the sarts, and have consequently paid the penalty by losing much of their national type, and of their özbeg straightforwardness and honesty. as the dominant population in the khanat (for the emir himself is also an özbeg of the tribe manghit), the özbegs form the nerve of the army, but the superior officers are rarely taken out of their ranks. _tadjiks._ the tadjiks, the aboriginal inhabitants of all the cities of central asia, are represented still in the greatest number here; hence bokhara is the only place where the tadjik can point to his origin with pride, assigning as he does, for frontiers to his primitive fatherland, khorasan, [footnote 128] khoten (in china) to the east, the caspian to the west, khodjend to the north, and india to the south. it is a pity that this people, in spite of the high antiquity of their origin, and their {368} grandeur in time gone by, should have attained the very highest stage of vice and profligacy: if they are to be taken as a specimen of antique asia, the cradle of our race, it must, indeed, have presented in those early ages a sorry appearance. [footnote 128: khor means 'sun,' and son 'district;' hence the whole word signifies 'district of the sun.'] _kirghis._ kirghis [footnote 129] or kasaks, as they style themselves, are not numerous in the khanat of bokhara, but we will, nevertheless, record here a few notes which we have made respecting this people, numerically the greatest, and by the peculiarity of its nomad life the most original, in central asia. [footnote 129: kir means field, gis or gez is the root of the word gizmelt (wander). the word kirghiz signifies, in turkish, a man that wanders about the fields, a nomad, and is used to denote all nations leading the pastoral life. it is also employed to designate a tribe; but they are only a subdivision of the kazaks, to be met with in khokand in the vicinity of hazneti in turkestan.] i have often, in my wanderings, fallen upon particular encampments of kirghis, and whenever i wished to acquire information as to their number, they laughed at me, and said, 'count first the sand in the desert, and then you may number the kirghis.' there is the same impossibility in defining their frontiers. we know only that they inhabit the great desert that lies between siberia, china, turkestan, and the caspian sea; and such localities to move in, as well as their social condition, suffice to show how likely we are to err when we at one time ascribe kirghis to the russian dominions, and at another transfer them to the chinese. russia, china, khokand, {369} bokhara, and khiva, exercise dominion over the kirghis only so long as the taxing officers, whom they send, sojourn amongst those nomads. the kirghis regard the whole procedure as a _razzia_ on a gigantic scale, and they are grateful to find that those who commit it are content to receive merely a percentage or some tax that is tantamount. the revolutions that have taken place in the world for hundreds, nay, perhaps thousands of years, have wrought very little influence upon the kirghis; it is, therefore, in this nation, which we can never behold as one mass, but in small sections, that we especially see the most faithful picture of those customs and usages which characterise the turani races of ancient times, and which constitute so extraordinary a mingling of savage qualities and of virtues. we are surprised to perceive in them so great a disposition to music and poetry; but their aristocratical pride is particularly remarkable. when two kirghis meet, the first question is, 'who are thy seven fathers--ancestors?' [footnote 130] the person addressed, even if a child in his eighth year, has always his answer ready, for otherwise he would be considered as very ill-bred. [footnote 130: 'yeti atang kimdir.'] in bravery the kirghis is inferior to the özbeg, and still more so to the turkoman. islamism, with the former, is on a far weaker footing than with the others i have mentioned. nor are any of them, except the wealthy bays, accustomed to search the cities for mollahs to exercise the functions of teachers, chaplains, and secretaries at a fixed salary, payable in sheep, horses, and camels. {370} the kirghis, even after frequent contact, must still, in the eyes of us europeans, appear wonderful beings. we behold in them men who, whether the heat is scorching or the snow a fathom deep, move about for hours daily in search of a new spot for their purpose: men who have never heard bread even named, and who support themselves only upon milk and meat. the kirghis look upon those who have settled down in town or country as sick or insane persons, and they compassionate all whose faces have not the pure mongol conformation. according to their aesthetic views, that race stands at the very zenith for beauty; for god made it with bones prominent like those of the horse--an animal, in their eyes, the crowning work of creation. 3. _arabs_. these arabs are the descendants of those warriors who, under kuteïbe, in the time of the third khalif, took part in the conquest of turkestan, where they subsequently settled. they retain, however, with the exception of their physiognomy, very little resemblance to their brethren in hedjaz or arak. i found very few of them who even spoke arabic. their number is said to be 60,000, and they are mostly settled in the environs of vardanzi and vafkend. {371} 4. _mervi._ the mervi are the descendants of the 40,000 persians transplanted from merv to bokhara by the emir said khan, when about the year 1810 he took that city by aid of the sarik. the race sprang originally from the turks of azerbaydjan and karabag, whom nadir shah transferred from their ancient homes to merv. next to the tadjiks, the mervi is the most cunning amongst the inhabitants of bokhara, but he is far from being so cowardly as the former. 5. _persians_. the persians in bokhara are partly slaves, partly such as have paid their own ransom and then settled in the khanat. here, in spite of all religious oppression--for as shiites they can only practise their religion in secret--they readily apply themselves to trade and handicraft, because living is here cheaper and the gain easier than in their own country. the persian, so far superior in capacity to the inhabitants of central asia, is wont to elevate himself from the position of slave to the highest offices in the state. there are hardly any governors in the province who do not employ in some office or other persians, who were previously his slaves, and who have remained faithful to him. they swarm even in the immediate proximity of the present emir, and the first dignitaries in the khanat belong to the same nation. in bokhara, the persians are looked upon as men more disposed to intercourse with the frenghis; men who have knowledge of diabolical arts: but the emir would bitterly rue it if persia threatened him with invasion, which it had already thought of; for with his army in its present state, he could do but little; the chief commanders, shahrukh khan, mehemmed hasan khan, also are persians; and their toptchibashi, chiefs of artillery, zeinel bey, mehdi bey, and lesker bey, belong to the same nation. {372} 6. _hindoos_. of hindoos there are but 500. they form no families, and, scattered throughout the capital and provinces, they have in some wonderful manner got all the management of money into their hands, there being no market, not even a village, where the hindoo is not ready to act as usurer. bowing with the deepest submissiveness, like the armenian in turkey, he nevertheless all the time fleeces the özbeg in fearful fashion; and as the pious kadi for the most part carries on business in common with the worshipper of vishnoo, it is rarely that the victim escapes. 7. _jews_. the jews in the khanat are about 10,000 in number, dwelling for the most part in bokhara, samarcand, and karshi, and occupying themselves rather with handicrafts than with commerce. in their origin they are jews from persia, and have wandered hither from kazvin and merv, about 150 years ago. they live here under the greatest oppression, and exposed to the greatest contempt. they only dare to show themselves on the threshold when they pay a visit to a 'believer;' and again, when they receive visitors, they are bound in all haste to quit their own houses, and station themselves before their doors. in the city of bokhara they yield yearly 2,000 tilla djizie (tribute), which the chief of their whole community pays in, receiving, as he does so, two slight blows on the cheek, prescribed by the koran as a sign of submission. the rumour of the privileges accorded to {373} the jews in turkey has attracted some to damascus, and other places in syria; but this emigration can only occur secretly, otherwise they would have to atone for the very wish by confiscation or death. it is surprising what a letter correspondence is maintained by them through the hadjis proceeding every year from turkestan to mecca. my companions also had charge of many letters, which they everywhere delivered at the addresses indicated. _government._ the form of government in bokhara has retained very few of the primitive persian or arabian characteristics, the turco-mongolian element predominating, and giving its tone to the whole. although powerfully influenced by its hierarchy, the constitution is a military despotism. at its head stands the emir, as generalissimo, prince, and chief of religion. the military and civil dignitaries are divided into (_a_) kette sipahi (higher functionaries), (_b_) orta sipahi (middle functionaries), and (_c_) ashaghi sipahi. to the first two classes it is the rule to admit only urukdar (personages of good family), for they are nominated on account of yerlik (handwriting), or billig (insignia). [footnote 131] a practice, however, of appointing emancipated persian slaves is of old date. [footnote 131: yerlik and billig are old turkish words, the former signifying 'writing'--the root is yer, hungarian ir, turkish yaz; the latter meaning 'mark,' in hungarian bélyeg.] {374} the following list or sketch furnishes a view of the different functionaries, from the emir downwards:-a. kette sipahi 1. atalik. 2. divanbeghi (secretary of state). 3. pervanedji, the 'butterfly man,' as he is termed at court, because he is sent about by the emir in different directions, on important errands. b. orta sipahi 4. tokhsabay, properly tughsahibi (one who has as a banner a tugh or horse's tail). 5. inag. 6. miakhor (constable). c. ashaghi sipahi 7. choragasi, properly chehre agasi (the 'face-man'), so called because at the audience he stands facing the emir. 8. mirzabasbi (principal writer). 9. yasaulbeghi and kargaulbeghi. 10. yüzbashi. 11. pendjabashi. 12. onbashi. besides these, we have still to mention the officers about the emir's person and court. at their head stands the kushbeghi, or vizir, the mehter, desturkhandji (steward), and zekiatchi (receiver of the customs). the latter, in his quality of finance minister, is also chief master of the emir's household. next come the mehrem (chamberlains), whose number varies with circumstances. these are sent, upon extraordinary occasions, as commissioners into the provinces. every subject, if not content with the decision of the governor as to his right, can appeal to the emir, whereupon a mehrem is assigned to him, as attorney, who travels back with him to his province, examines the affair, and lays it before the emir for his final decision. there are, besides, odadji (door-keepers), bakaul (provision-masters), and selamagasi, {375} who on public processions return, instead of the emir, the salutation 've aleïkum es selam.' these functions and offices exist only nominally under the present emir, whose aversion to all display or pomp has made him leave many vacant. _the political division of the khanat._ the political division of the khanat, like that of khiva, is based upon the number of its large cities, and bokhara consists at present of the following districts, which we here prefer to classify according to their size and population:--1. karaköl; 2. bokhara; 3. karshi; 4. samarcand; 5. kerki; 6. hissar; 7. miyankal, or kermineh; 8. kette kurgan; 9. chardjuy; 10. djizzak; 11. oratepe; 12. shehri sebz. the latter equals samarcand in size, but, owing to its continual struggles with the emir, cannot be considered as wholly subject to the khanat. governors of the rank of divanbeghi, or pervanedjis, have allowed to them a fixed share in the revenue of the province under their administration, but in extraordinary emergencies they are obliged to forego the claim. under the direct orders of each governor there is a tokhsaboy, a mirzabashi, a yasaulbeghi, and several mirakhor and chohragasi. {376} _army._ the standing army of the khanat is stated to consist of 40,000 horsemen, but can be raised to 60,000. of these troops bokhara and karshi are said to supply the greater proportion; the former are especially renowned for their bravery. such is the account of their numbers current in bokhara, but i have found it exaggerated; because the emir, in his campaign against khokand, where his army never exceeded 30,000 men, was forced to maintain an auxiliary force at a heavy expense--an expense which the stingy mozaffar-ed-din never would have incurred, if the foregoing computation had been correct. the pay, only made in time of war, consists of 20 tenghe (about 11_s_. 2_d_.) monthly, with which the horseman has to keep himself and horse. in addition to this, half the booty made belongs to the soldiery. it is really singular that, with the great population subject to him, the prince sets no greater native force on foot; singular, also, that he takes no auxiliaries from the 50,000 ersari who are tributary to him, but prefers applying to the tekke, or even taking sariks into his service, at a yearly expense of 4,000 tilla. _short outline of the history of bokhara._ efrasiab, the great turani warrior, and one of the greatest heroes of ancient iran, is regarded as the founder of bokhara. extravagant fables form the basis of its earlier history. of the accounts which they embody, we only accept the following fact, that the incursions of the turkish hordes were from the oldest times the terror of those districts whose persian population had separated themselves from their brethren in iran so early as the epoch of the pishdadian. the first thread of real history, properly so called, only begins at the epoch of the occupation by {377} the arabs; and we can only regret that these daring adventurers have not transmitted to us more notices than those which we find scattered in the pages of tarikhi taberi and some other arabian authorities. islam did not so easily as in other countries strike its roots in mavera-ül nehr (the land between the oxus and the jaxartes), and the arabs found, on their return to the different cities after an absence of any duration, that the work of proselytism had ever to be begun afresh. up to the time of its conquest by djenghis khan (1225), bokhara and samarcand, as well as the city, at that time considerable, of merv (mervi shah djihan or merv, 'king of the world'), karshi (nakhsheb), and belkh (um-ül bilad, 'mother of cities'), were regarded as belonging to persia, although the government of khorasan, as it was then called, was the subject of an extraordinary firman of investiture from bagdad. on the invasion of the mongols, the persian element was entirely supplanted, the özbegs everywhere seized the reins of government, and timour, the lame conqueror from shehri sebz (green city), was satisfied with nothing less than making samarcand the capital of all asia. the design perished with him, and the special history, properly so called, of bokhara begins with the house of the sheïbani, whose founder, ebulkheir khan, broke the power of the descendants of timour in their hereditary dominions. a grandson of the last sheïbani mehemmed khan enlarged the limits of bokhara from khodjend to herat; and when he ventured to attack meshed also, he was defeated by shah ismael, and perished in 916 (1510), in the battle. one of the ablest amongst his successors was abdullah khan (born 1544). {378} he conquered bedakhshan, herat, and meshed afresh, and, from his efforts in favour of civilisation and commerce, deserves to be placed at the side of the great sovereign of persia, shah abbas ii. in his time the routes of bokhara were provided with karavanserais and fine bridges, the ways through the deserts with cisterns for water; and the ruins of all his constructions of this description still bear his name. his son, abdul mumin khan, 1004 (1595), was unable to retain long his seat on the throne; he was murdered; and after the invasion of the kirghis chief tököl, who laid all the country waste, fell even the last offspring of the house of sheïbani. in the long disturbance and civil war that ensued, the candidates who disputed the throne were especially veli mehemmed khan (a remote collateral representative of the sheïbani), and baki mehemmed khan; and as the latter, 1025 (1616), fell in battle at samarcand, the former founded his dynasty, which is said to have survived at the time of ebul feïz khan, who, in 1740, was compelled to implore nadir shah for peace. in the period that succeeds, the sovereigns who have most distinguished themselves have been imamkuli khan, and nazir mehemmed khan. by their liberal support of the ishan class, they have contributed much to the religious fanaticism that exists in bokhara, and which has reached there, as well as throughout turkestan, such a point as was never before attained by islam in any age or country. ebul feïz was treacherously murdered by his own vizir rehim khan, as was also his son after him. subsequently to the death of the murderer, who had governed under the title of vizir, but with independent authority, danial beg, of the race of the mangit, seized the reins of government. he was succeeded by the emirs shah murad, said khan, and nasrullah khan. {379} as the history of the three last-mentioned sovereigns has been already handled by malcolm, burnes, and khanikoff, and as we can adduce no fresh materials, we leave that period untouched. but we propose in a subsequent chapter to treat of the war waged by bokhara with khokand during the last three years. {380} chapter xix. khanat of khokand. inhabitants division khokand tashkend khodjend mergolan endidjan hazneti turkestana oosh political position recent wars. khokand, or fergana as the ancients style it, is bounded on the east by chinese tartary, on the west by bokhara and the jaxartes, on the north by the great horde of nomads, and on the south by karateghin and bedakhshan. its superficial extent we cannot positively affirm; but it is certainly larger than the territory of either bokhara or khiva. it is also better peopled than the latter khanat. judging by the number of cities and other circumstances, khokand, at the present day, may be said to contain more than three millions of inhabitants, consisting of the following races:--(1) özbegs form that part of the population having fixed habitations; and, as i remarked when i spoke of khiva, they have a type quite distinct from the özbegs either of that khanat or of bokhara. as the özbegs have been for hundreds of years the dominant race in turkestan, and adopted the institutions of islam earlier than any other nomad people of these parts, the name itself has become invested with a certain prestige of {381} breeding and _bon ton_, so that the kirghis, kiptchak, and kalmuk, from the moment that they settle in cities, generally abandon their several nationalities, and assume the denomination of özbegs. in khokand this has been also long the case, and it may be affirmed, without exaggeration, that half of those who so style themselves are to be regarded merely as a mixture of the nomad races just referred to. judging from his outside appearance, as he presents himself in his clumsy loose clothes, the özbeg of khokand seems a very helpless person. we had many opportunities of witnessing his unexampled cowardice, and had it not been for the protection of the nomads, his cities would have long fallen under the dominion of china, russia, or bokhara. (2) next to the özbegs come the tadjiks, who, although they may not constitute a more numerous, still form a more compact population here than in the khanat of bokhara, and, as is nowhere else the case, people entire villages and towns. accordingly, the city of khodjend, the villages velekendaz and kisakuz (near khodjend) are exclusively inhabited by this primitive persian race, and the important cities of namengan, [footnote 132] endigan, and mergolan, are said to have belonged to them more than four hundred years ago. [footnote 132: these three words respectively signify (1)nemengan (originally nemek kohn), salt mine; (2) endekgan, from endek, small; and (3) murghinan, hen and bread. these etymologies i learnt from my friends; perhaps they are not to be received as absolutely correct, but their persian origin is unquestionable.] {382} as far as their national character is concerned, the tadjiks of khokand are not much better than those of the same race in bokhara. the sole circumstance i find noticeable is that their language, both in its grammatical forms and its vocabulary, is purer than that of the other tadjiks. this is particularly the case in khodjend, the inhabitants of which make use of a dialect that has retained many of the forms of expression observable in the writings of the oldest persian poet rudeki, by birth a bokhariot. in the other cities of khokand, particularly in those on the chinese frontiers, tadjiks are rarely met with. (3) kasaks form the majority in the khanat. they lead a nomad life in the mountainous districts between the lake of tchaganak and tashkend, and pay to their prince the same amount of tribute as they do in khiva to the khan. amongst the kirghis of khokand some are in affluent circumstances, possessing in hazreti turkestan, or in other places, houses, which, however, they do not themselves inhabit. in other respects, in spite of their superiority in number, the kirghis have, owing to their want of bravery, little influence in the khanat. (4) kirghis--or the kirghis properly so called, a tribe of the great kasak horde--live in the southern part of the khanat between khokand and sarik köl, and from their warlike qualities are always made use of by the different factions to carry out their revolutionary projects. their tents are said to be fifty thousand in number, consequently they are about as numerous as the tekke turkomans. (5) the kiptchak are, in my opinion, the primitive original turkish race. amongst all the branches of this great family, spread from komul to as far as the adriatic sea, the kiptchaks have remained most faithful in {383} physiognomy and character, language and customs, to their ancestral type. the name, the etymology of which has been clouded with fables by rashideddin tabibi, has little interest for the reader. there is said to have been formerly a mighty nation bearing the same designation, and the kiptchaks of the present day, although counting only from five to six thousand tents, pretend that deshti kiptchak, [footnote 133] as turkestan is named in the documents of oriental history, was conquered, and peopled by their ancestors. notwithstanding their small numbers, the kiptchaks continue to exercise, even at the present day, the greatest influence upon political affairs in khokand. they nominate the khans, and sometimes even dethrone them; and often five hundred of their horsemen have taken possession of a city, without the khan daring to resist them. i have not been able to detect, in the turkish that they speak, a single persian or arabic word, and their dialect may be regarded as the best point of transition from the mongolian language to that of the djagatai. the same remark may be made respecting the type of their physiognomy as of their language; for these stand in a similar relation to those of the other races of central asia. in their slanting eyes, beardless chins, and prominent cheekbones, they resemble the mongols, and are for the most part of small stature, but extraordinary agility. in bravery they stand, as was remarked before, superior to all nations of central asia, and form, incontestably, the truest specimen remaining to us of the immense hordes that revolutionised all asia. [footnote 133: deshti kiptchak as far as the frontiers of bolgar (in russia?) is the denomination most in use.] {384} with respect to its divisions, the khanat of khokand falls into different districts, designated here, too, only by the names of the most remarkable cities. its capital is khokand, [footnote 134] or kokhandi latif ('enchanting khokand'), as it is termed by the natives. it lies in a beautiful valley, and is in circumference six times as large as khiva, three times as bokhara, and four times as teheran. the southern portion of the city, in which the khan has his palace, was not, until recently, surrounded by a wall. the northern part is open. the number of inhabitants and houses is proportionately small. the latter are surrounded by large orchards, so that one often requires a quarter of an hour to pass by ten or fifteen houses. as for the architecture, the khokandi is in the habit of admitting the superiority of that of bokhara; and from this circumstance one may easily form an idea of the architectural beauty of the city. only four mosques are of stone, as is also a small portion of the extensive bazaar. in this they expose for sale, at low prices, exclusively russian merchandise, and the native silk and woollen manufactures; besides which tasty articles in leather, saddles, whips, and equipments for riding, made in the capital, enjoy a high repute. [footnote 134: the word khokand is said to be derived from khob-kend, 'beautiful place' or 'village.'] after khokand, tashkend deserves to be mentioned. it is the first commercial town in the khanat, and, as i heard on all sides, is at present the residence of many affluent merchants, having extensive trading relations with orenburg and kizildjar (petropavlosk). tashkend, which has the transit trade between bokhara, khokand, and chinese tartary, is one of the most {385} important cities of central asia; and at the same time the object towards which russia is quietly striving, and from which her most advanced frontier (kalè rehim) is within a few days' journey. once in possession of tashkend, a place important also in a military point of view, russia would find little difficulty in possessing herself of the khanats of bokhara and khokand, for what might prove difficult for the russian bayonet would be facilitated by intestine discord, the flames of which the court of st. petersburg never ceases to foment between the two khanats. after tashkend the following are the most remarkable places: khodjend, that has about 3,000 houses, many manufactories for aladja (a sort of cotton stuff), eighteen medresse, and twice that number of mosques; mergolan, a large city, the principal city of khokandi learning and the present residence of the khodja buzurk, chief of the order of the makhdum aazam. this dignitary refused his blessing to the present emir of bokhara on his triumphant entry into the city, and the latter did not venture, nor was he in fact able in any way to punish him. endidjan, where the best atresz (heavy substantial silks) in the khanat are manufactured; namengan, about which the kiptchaks are located. the following also deserve mentioning:--hazreti turkestana with the grave there, in high repute, of khodj ahmed jaszavi, the author of a book (meshreb) [footnote 135] upon morals and religion, which is even at the present day a favourite work both amongst the nomads and the settlers in khokand; {386} shehri menzil and djust, where the famous knives are manufactured which, after those of hissar, fetch the highest price in turkestan; shehrikhan, a place where the best silk is produced; and oosh, on the eastern frontier of the khanat, called takhti suleiman, suleiman's throne, which is visited yearly by a great number of pilgrims; the place of pilgrimage itself consists of a hill in the city of oosh where, amidst the ruins of an old edifice built of large square stones and ornamented by columns, the visitor is first shown, not only a throne hewn out of marble, but the place where adam, the first prophet (according to the teachings of islam), tilled the ground. the latter fable was introduced very _apropos_, as the inventor wished to accustom the nomads to agriculture through the medium of their religion. [footnote 135: i was able to bring back with me to europe a copy of this very original book written in turkish, which i hope to publish with a translation.] anyhow, oosh is not without interest to our antiquarians. the ruins themselves, and particularly the columns, as they were described to me, lead to the suspicion of a grecian origin; and if we were searching for the most eastern colony founded by alexander, we might readily suppose oosh to be the very spot where the daring macedonian marked by some monument the most easterly frontier of his gigantic empire. [footnote 136] [footnote 136: appian mentions (de rebus syriacis, lvii.) many cities founded by the greeks and by seleucus, amongst others one [greek text], of which pliny (vi. 16) seems to speak when he says: 'ultra sogdiana, oppidum tarada, et in ultimis eorum finibus alexandria ab alexandro magno conditum.' that point or its vicinity seems to have marked the extreme limit of progress on that side of all the great conquerors of classical antiquity; for there, says pliny, were altars placed by hercules, bacchus, cyrus, semiramis, and alexander: 'finis omnium eorum ductus ab illâ parte terrarum, includente flumine jaxarte, quod scythae silin vocant.' and indeed with respect to the city 'alexandreschata' arrian (_exped. alexand_. 1. iv. c. i. 3, and c. iv. 10), agrees with pliny, telling us that this great hero intended it as a barrier against the people on the further bank of the river, and colonised it with macedonian veterans, greek mercenaries, and such of the adjacent barbarians as were so disposed. this city was built on the banks of the jaxartes, and most consider it to be the modern khodjend. what if oosh should have been the spot where stood the columns of alexander (_curtius_, vii. 6)? and yet the supposition that alexander firmly possessed himself of any land beyond the jaxartes is hardly consistent with the account of arrian. curtius (1. vii. 9) describes the remains of the altars of bacchus as 'monuments consisting of stones arranged at numerous intervals, and eight lofty trees with their stems covered with ivy.'] {387} with respect to the political position of the khanat of khokand, its independence dates as far back as that of bokhara and khiva. the present reigning family pretends to descend in a direct line from djenghis khan, which is very improbable, as his family was dethroned by timour; and after baber, the last descendant of timour in khokand, the sheïbani, as well as other chieftains from the races kiptchak and kirghis, seized alternately the reins of government. the family at present on the throne, or perhaps, i should rather say, now disputing its claim to it with bokhara, is of kiptchak origin, and has only been 80 years at the head of affairs. the institutions in khokand bear very slight traces of arabian or persian elements, and the yaszao djenghis (code of djenghis) is the legal authority which they follow. here also a singular ceremonial deserves notice. the khan at his coronation is raised in the air upon a white felt, and shoots arrows to the north, south, east, and west. [footnote 137] [footnote 137: it is singular that this custom exists even in the present day at the coronation of kings in hungary. the king on the hill of coronation, on horseback, and invested with all the insignia of royalty, is required to brandish his sword respectively to the four points of the compass.] {388} a. the war between bokhara and khokand in the time of the emir nasrullah. the animosity between khokand and bokhara is of ancient date. after the sheïbani family began to take the head of affairs in turkestan, khokand, with the exception of some cities still held by the kiptchaks, was incorporated into the khanat of bokhara. it tore itself away again afterwards, and during its independence attached itself to its neighbours, kashgar, yarkend, and khoten, then also still independent; but after these latter states had been themselves incorporated by the emperor of china into his dominions, khokand, as its enemies to the east seemed too powerful, thought itself bound to recommence its differences with bokhara, and the war that was going on during our stay in central asia was only a continuation of the struggle that mehemmed ali, khan of khokand, and his rival the emir nasrullah, had begun. mehemmed ali khan is termed by the khokandi their greatest monarch in recent times. whilst this prince, by extending the frontiers and by advancing internal prosperity, had on the one hand contributed much to lend a certain splendour to his khanat, yet on the other he had in the same degree stimulated the envious cupidity of the wicked emir nasrullah. {389} but what most displeased the latter was that the khan should have formed a friendly alliance with khiva, the principal enemy of bokhara, and should have given a friendly reception to the emir's own uncle and rival, who had fled to khokand for safety. others also assign as an additional cause the hospitality they had shown to captain conolly; but in any case abundant ground of dissension existed, and a rupture was regarded as inevitable. in 1839, mehemmed ali, having defeated the russians at shehidan, [footnote 138] considered a contest with the emir as near at hand; and, himself preferring to be the assailant, marched towards the frontiers of bokhara in the vicinity of oratepe, and was already threatening djizzak and samarcand, when the emir, after vainly trying intrigues, marched against him with a superior force of özbeg horsemen and 300 of the newly-formed militia (serbaz), under the conduct of their chief and organiser abdul-samed khan. upon this mehemmed ali held it prudent to retreat. nasrullah laid siege to oratepe, which, after three months, he took; but his treatment of the inhabitants made them his bitterest enemies: and scarcely had he returned to bokhara, when, having a secret understanding with mehemmed ali, they fell upon the bokhariot garrison and massacred all, soldiers as well as officers. [footnote 138: according to the account of this affair given by the khokandi, a strong detachment of cossacks, after having gone round hazreti turkestan from the right bank of the jaxartes, had advanced towards tashkend, and on their march were surprised and dispersed by the khokandi with great loss.] {390} as soon as the intelligence of this event was conveyed to nasrullah, he in the greatest haste, and in still greater anger, called together all his forces and marched against oratepe. mehemmed ali again retreated, and was accompanied by a great part of the inhabitants who feared the incensed emir; but this time escape was impossible: his enemy followed him step by step until he could retreat no further. in the battle which then took place at khodjend, he was defeated, and the city became the prize of the conqueror. the khan again retreated, but, finding himself still pursued and even his capital menaced, he sent a flag of truce to his victorious enemy. a peace was concluded at kohne badem, by which mehemmed ali bound himself to cede khodjend with many other places. that such conditions were little calculated to lead to a sincere reconciliation is easily intelligible. the malicious emir, intending still further to offend his vanquished enemy, named as governor of the conquered province the brother and rival of mehemmed ali, who had previously fled to bokhara. but nevertheless he was here wrong in his calculation. the mother of the two khokandi princes reconciled them, and before the emir had got wind of what had occurred, khodjend and the other cities united themselves again with khokand, and he had now to measure himself with two enemies instead of one. the fury of the bokhariot tyrant knew no bounds, nor is it difficult to understand that his thirst for revenge would prompt him to make extraordinary armaments. in addition to his ordinary army, consisting of 30,000 horsemen and 1,000 serbaz, he took into his pay 10,000 turkomans of the tekke and salor tribes, and hurrying with forced marches towards {391} khokand, he took mehemmed ali so by surprise that he was even obliged to fly from his own capital, but, overtaken and made prisoner near mergolan, he was, with his brother and two sons, executed ten days afterwards in his own capital. [footnote 139]after him most of his immediate partisans fell by the hands of the executioners, and their property was confiscated. the emir returned to bokhara laden with booty, having first left ibrahim bi, a mervi by birth, with a garrison of 2,000 soldiers in the conquered city. [footnote 139: to excuse this act of shame, nasrullah spread the report that mehemmed ali had married his own mother, and had consequently been punished by death.] three months had scarcely elapsed when the kiptchaks, who had until now observed a neutrality, weary of the bokhariots, took the city, made its garrison prisoners, and set on the throne shir ali khan, son of mehemmed ali. [footnote 140] in order to prevent being a second time surprised as before, the khokandi now conceived the idea of surrounding a portion of the city, where the residence of the khan was, with a wall; the plan {392} was soon carried out by the forced labour of the prisoners of war, who had formed part of the emir's garrison. it was to be anticipated that the emir would seek his revenge; no one, therefore, was surprised to see soon after this occurrence 15,000 bokhariots, under the conduct of a khokandi pretender to the throne, an old _protegé_ of nasrullah, make their appearance before khokand. but even on the march musselman kul (so he was named) appeared to have reconciled himself with his countrymen; the gates of the city were soon opened to him; and although nasrullah had sent him hither with the promise of making him khan, his first step was to turn his arms against that prince, and, joining with his countrymen, to put to flight the bokhariots who had escorted him thither. [footnote 140: the genealogy of the reigning house in khokand, beginning with mehemmed ali, is as follows:--] mehemmed ali (1841). | shir ali |-------------------------------- | | (a) by first wife. (b) by second wife. | | mollah khan. ---------------------------------sofi beg. | | | sarimsak. sultan murad. khudayar. | | shah murad. several young children. the emir, although now four times overreached, still would not give way, but again sent an army under the command of shahrukh khan, who already held the rank of commander-in-chief. [footnote 141] but the latter did not advance beyond oratepe, for the news that the emir had fallen sick at samarcand, and had subsequently returned to bokhara, put an end to the whole campaign. a few days after the illness had attacked the prince, the world was freed by his death of one of the greatest of tyrants. [footnote 141: the infamous abdul samed khan, the murderer of conolly, stoddart, and naselli, had in the meantime been overtaken by a righteous punishment. the emir, who had sent him to shehri-sebz, was at last convinced of his treason, and, not being able to reach him by forcible means, sought to employ artifice to get possession of his person. abdul samed evaded his fate a long time, but finally fell into the snare laid for him, and, aware of the presence of the executioner in the ante-room, he rent up his belly with his own poniard, to irritate by his death a master so like himself in character.] {393} i heard from good authority that the death of the emir nasrullah was solely owing to a paroxysm of rage at the constant ill success that attended his campaigns against khokand, and the unprecedented obstinacy with which the city of sheri-sebz [footnote 142] resisted, for although he had taken the field thirty times against it, and had been then besieging it six months, it was all without effect. upon this occasion his adversary was a certain veliname, whose sister he had married to obtain by the connection a faithful vassal in the brother of his wife. now it happened that the news of the capture reached the emir when on his deathbed; although half senseless, the tyrant ordered his rebel brother-in-law to be put to death with all his children. but as circumstances prevented him from feasting his eyes with that spectacle of blood, in the evening, a few hours before his death, he summoned to his presence his wife, the sister of veliname; the unhappy woman, who had borne him two children, trembled, but the dying emir was not softened--she was executed close to his couch, and the abominable tyrant breathed his last breath with his glazing eye fixed upon the gushing blood of the sister of his detested enemy. [footnote 142: sheri-sebz, previously named kesh, is the native city of timour, and renowned for the warlike character of its inhabitants.] {394} b. the war between bokhara and khokand waged by the emir mozaffar-ed-din. in the meantime affairs in khokand had taken a different turn. musselman kul had been put to death, and in his place khudayar khan had been raised to the 'white felt.' at his first accession, the latter showed great ardour and activity. he was engaged victoriously in several combats with the russians, who were pressing on from the jaxartes. whilst he was thus occupied on the frontiers, mollah khan was nominated khan in his capital; but as he had only inconsiderable forces to oppose to those of his rival, he thought it better to fly to bokhara, and seek the aid of the emir mozaffar-ed-din for the recovery of his throne. this prince, immediately after the death of his father, besieged the city sheri-sebz, which, in spite of the vengeance of which it had already been the object, and the blood that had flowed there, was again in open revolt. he was before the walls of tchiragtchi, a stronghold belonging to sheri-sebz, when the intelligence reached him that the governor of oratepe, a native of sheri-sebz, had allied himself with the khokandi, and that mollah khan was already marching at their head against djizzak. the emir mozaffar-ed-din, urged on by his guest and _protegé_, khudayar khan, could not restrain himself. he abandoned his position before sheri-sebz, although he was pressing it hard, and rushed at the head of 15,000 men against khokand, whose khan (mollah khan) threatened, from his acknowledged ability, to prove a formidable antagonist. adopting the unscrupulous policy of his father, mozaffar-ed-din caused him to be assassinated in a conspiracy which the emir had himself set on foot. in the great confusion that ensued, he next made himself master of the capital, and then set khudayar at the head of the government, after the legitimate heir, shahmurad, had fled to the kiptchaks. {395} khudayar khan had scarcely exercised four months the royal functions so new to him, when the kiptchak, with shahmurad at their head, assailed, and forced him a second time to fly to bokhara. the emir, seeing himself so slighted and mocked at in his character as protector, hastily assembled all his forces to wreak his vengeance upon khokand in some exemplary manner; and after having sent on before him shahrukh khan with 40,000 men, and mehemmed hasan bey with thirty pieces of artillery, he hastened after them himself, escorted by a few hundred tekke, with the fixed design not to return until he had reduced under his sceptre all as far as the frontiers of china. in khokand the firm intention of the young emir was well known, so also was his cupidity; and he met, accordingly, with the most resolute resistance. the ulemas pronounced the emir, who was invading their country, to be kafir (an unbeliever), and preached against him the djihad (war of religion). all flew to arms, but in vain. the emir attached to his own dominions not only khokand, but all the territory as far as the chinese frontiers. the greatest resistance which he met with was from the kiptchaks, under their chieftain alem kul. these were attacked by the turkomans; and the combat that ensued must have proved highly interesting, for two of the most savage of the primitive races of tartary stood there face to face. after the death of the alem kul in the battle, his wife set herself at the head of the horde. the war was continued; but at last a peace was made with the {396} emir. the khanat, from which the conqueror had sent all the cannon, and immense stores of arms and treasures, to bokhara, was divided into two parts. khokand fell to the share of sahmurad, the darling of the kiptchaks, khodjend to khudayar khan. mozaffar-ed-din returned to his capital. i met him on his way thither on august 15, 1863. since this time, yet so recent, khokand has probably experienced several other changes. similar dissensions formerly occurred between kashgar, khoten, and yarkend; and as those continued until all their territory was incorporated by china, so is it here probable that russian occupation will soon put an end to these miserable civil wars. {397} chapter xx. chinese tartary. approach from west administration inhabitants cities. the traveller who journeys on during twelve days in an easterly direction from oosh, will reach the chinese territory at the point where stands the city of kashgar. the way thither leads him over a mountainous country, where the kiptchaks are wandering about with their herds. no villages, it is said, ever existed in this district, except in the time of djenghis khan, and then only here and there. at the present day it is not possible to trace even their ruins. places blackened by fire and heaps of stones indicate the spots used by travellers and karavans for their stations. although the kiptchaks are wild and warlike, they do not attack solitary travellers. large karavans coming from china are bound to pay a moderate tribute, in other respects no one is disturbed. at the distance of a single day's journey from kashgar one arrives at a blockhouse, the first post of the chinese, occupied by 10 soldiers and an accountant. no one is permitted to proceed unless furnished with a pass drawn up by the aksakal in namengan, who acts as a sort of paid agent for the chinese. after {398} the traveller has exhibited his pass, he is interrogated in detail respecting everything that he has seen and heard in foreign parts. the accountant makes two copies of the report, one is given to the nearest post to be compared with the answer to a similar interrogation there; this document is forwarded to the governor whom it concerns. according to the statements of hadji bilal and my other friends, in chinese tartary it is most advisable on such occasions to employ the formula 'belmey-men' (i know not). [footnote 143] it is not the practice to force a man to reply in detail, and indeed no one has power to compel him to do so, and the accountant himself prefers the shorter answer, which lightens the functions he has to perform. [footnote 143: the chinese have besides a proverb quite in accordance with this rule, for they say: 'bedjidu yikha le djidu shi kha-le.' 'i know not, is one word; i know, is ten words,' that is to say, 'saying "i know not," you have said everything; but saying "i know," your interrogator will put more questions, and you will have necessarily more to say.'] under the name of chinese tartary we generally understand that angular point of the chinese empire that stretches away to its west towards the central plateau of asia, and which is bounded on the north by the great hordes of kirghis, and in the south by bedakhshan, cashemir, and thibet. the country from hi to köhne turfan is said to have been subject to the sovereignty of china for several centuries; but it is only 150 years since kashgar, yarkend, aksu, and khoten have been {399} incorporated. these cities had been continually at war with one another, until several of the leading personages with the yarkend chief, ibrahim bey, at their head, desirous to put an end to the dissensions, called in the chinese, who, after long hesitating, assumed the sovereignty, and have governed these cities upon a different system from that in force in the other provinces of the celestial empire. _(a.) administration._ as i heard from an authentic source (for as i have stated, my friend and informant, hadji bilal, was the chief priest of the governor), each of these provinces had two authorities, one chinese and military, the other tartar-musselman and civil. their chiefs are equal in rank, but the tartar is so far subordinate to the chinese that it is only through the latter that one can communicate with the supreme authority at pekin. the chinese officials inhabit the fortified part of the city, and consist of 1. anban, who is distinguished by a ruby button on his cap, and by a peacock feather. his yearly salary is 36 yambu, [footnote 144] about £800. under him are the [footnote 144: a yambu is a massive piece of silver with two ears or handles, in form like our weights. in bokhara it is taken for forty tilla.] 2. da-lui, secretaries, four in number, of whom the first has the superintendence of the correspondence, the second the administration of the expenditure, the third the penal code, and the fourth the police. 3. dji-zo-fang, keeper of the archives. {400} the court of the supreme chinese officer is denominated ya-mun, and is accessible at all times to every one who wishes to prefer his complaint against any subordinate officer for maladministration, or in any other case of supposed failure of justice. and here we meet with a characteristic trait of chinese government. immediately before the gate of the court stands a colossal drum; this every plaintiff strikes once if his desire is to summon a secretary, whereas he must beat twice if his intention is to see the anban himself. whether it be day or night, summer or winter, the sound of distress must be attended to, or at least very rarely is it neglected. even in europe such a mode of summoning, i think, might be desirable in the case of many a drowsy functionary of justice. the tartar-musselman corps of officials intrusted with the administration of justice in civil cases, with the collection of the taxes and customs, or other such functions touching their domestic concerns, and which do not devolve upon the chinese authorities, are as follows:-1. vang, or hakim, upon the same footing as the anban, both as to rank and pay. 2. haznadji, or gaznadji as he is designated by the tartars, who has the control and inspection of the revenue. 3. ishkaga (the word signifies doorkeeper), a sort of master of ceremonies, chamberlain, and chief intendant. 4. shang beghi, a kind of secretary, interpreter, and functionary, serving as medium between the chinese and musselman authorities. {401} 5. kazi beg, the kadi or judge. 6. örtengbeghi, postmaster, responsible for all the post-houses existing in his district. the system of posts in the country has much resemblance with the persian tchapar; the government farms out certain roads, and it is the duty of the postmaster to take care that the farmers of them everywhere provide good horses for the public service. the distance from kashgar to komul is reckoned 40 stations, which the örteng performs generally in 16, but on extraordinary emergencies, in 12 or even 10 days. from komul to pekin is counted 60 stations, which may also be performed in 15 days, consequently the whole distance from kashgar to pekin, which is a journey of 100 stations, is usually performed by the courier in about a month. [footnote 145] 7. badjghir, collector of customs. [footnote 145: it is remarkable that the postilions, almost always kalmuks, are able to accomplish these sharp rides, consisting each of thirty days and thirty nights, several times each year. with us such a performance on horseback would be regarded as something extraordinary. the ride of charles xii. from demotika to stralsund, and that of the turkish courier, from szigetvar (in hungary, where solyman the magnificent died) to kutahia in eight days, are famous in history. for the first see voltaire's 'life of charles xii.,' and for the second 'saadeddin tadj et tevarikh.'] _(b.) inhabitants._ the greater part of the population of chinese tartary, that is to say, of the four provinces, occupy fixed habitations, and busy themselves with agriculture. with respect to nationality, they style themselves özbegs, but the first glance detects their kalmuk {402} origin. özbegs, in the sense understood in bokhara and khiva, have never existed in chinese tartary. when the word is used here, it signifies a mixed race that has sprung from the union of kalmuks, who invaded the country from the north, and of kirghis, with the original inhabitants of persian race; and it deserves particular mention, that in places where the ancient persian population was thicker (now it has entirely vanished), the irani type is more dominant than in the contrary case. next to these pseudo-özbegs come the kalmuks and the chinese. the former are either military or lead the life of nomads; the latter, who occupy themselves with commerce and handicrafts, are merely to be found in the principal cities, and there only in insignificant numbers. lastly, we must also name the tungani or tongheni, who are spread over the country from ili to far beyond komul. in nationality they are chinese; in religion, however, musselmans, and belonging all to the shafeï sect. [footnote 146] tungani or tongheni means, in the dialect of chinese tartary, converts (in osmanli turkish, dönme), and, as is confidently asserted, these chinese, who count a million of souls, were converted in the time of timour by an arabian adventurer, who came with the above-named conqueror from damascus to central asia, and roamed about in chinese tartary as a wonder-working saint. these tungani distinguish themselves not only by their gross fanaticism, but by their hate for those of their countrymen who are not musselmans; and in spite of their constituting the most advanced post of islam on the side of the east, they nevertheless send every year a strong contingent of hadjis to mecca. [footnote 146: the sunnites number four mezheb (sects) amongst themselves, i.e. hanifeï, shafeï, maleki, and hambali. all four stand in equal estimation, and to give the preference to any one is regarded as a sin.] {403} as for the general character of the population, i found the chinese tartar honest, timid, and, to speak plainly, bordering upon stupidity; his relation to the inhabitants of the other cities in central asia is about the same as that of the bokhariot to the parisian or the londoner. extremely modest in their aspirations, my fellow-travellers have yet often delighted me by the enthusiastic terms which they used when they spoke of their poor homes. the splendour and lavish expenditure discernible in roum and persia, and even bokhara, displease them; and although they are governed by a people differing from themselves in language and religion, still they prefer their own to the musselman government in the three khanats. but it would really seem as if they had no cause to be dissatisfied with the chinese. every one from the age of fifteen years upwards, with the exception of khodjas (descendants of the prophet) and mollahs, pay to government a yearly capitation tax of five tenghe (three shillings). the soldiers [footnote 147] are enlisted, but not by compulsion; and the musselman regiments have besides the advantage of remaining unmixed and forming a single body, and, except in some little external points, [footnote 148] are not in the slightest degree interfered with. {404} but the higher officials do not escape so easily; they are obliged to wear the dress prescribed to their rank, long moustaches, and pigtail; and, most dreadful of all, they must on holidays appear in the pagodas, and perform a sort of homage before the unveiled portrait of the emperor, by touching the ground three times with the forehead. the musselmans assert that their countrymen filling high offices hold on such occasions, concealed between their fingers, a small scrap of paper, with 'mecca' written upon it, and that by this sleight of hand their genuflection becomes an act of veneration, not to the sovereign of the celestial empire, but to the holy city of the arabian prophet. [footnote 147: i am told, that there are at present in the four districts of chinese tartary about 120,000 soldiers, forming the garrisons of the four principal towns. one part of them, armed with spear and sword, is called _tchan-ping_, the others, who bear muskets, are known by the designation of _shüva_.] [footnote 148: such, for instance, as (1) the robes being made to reach the kaees, and of blue linen, a costume regarded by the musselmans with abhorrence as distinctive marks of the chinese; (2) the permitting the moustache to grow, whereas islam rigidly enjoins that the hair covering the upper lip shall be cut close.] in social matters it is easy to conceive how two such discordant elements as the chinese and musselmans live together. warm friendly relations seem, under the circumstances, impossible; but i fancy that i can discern, nevertheless, that no peculiar animosity exists between the two classes. the chinese, who are the minority, never allow the tartars to feel that they are rulers, and the authorities distinguish themselves by the greatest impartiality. as conversion to the dominant religion is singularly displeasing to the chinese, it is not surprising that their efforts carefully tend not only to make the musselmans exact in the performance of their religious duties, but to punish severely those who, in this respect, offend. does a musselman omit to pray, the chinese are wont to say {405} to him, 'behold how ungrateful thou art; we have some hundreds of gods, and, nevertheless, we satisfy them all. thou pretendest to have but one god, and yet that one thou canst not content!' even the mollahs, as i often had occasion to observe, extol the conscientiousness of the chinese officials, although they deal with their religion in the most unsparing terms. so, also, the tartars are never tired of praising the art and cleverness of their rulers, and there is no end to their laudatory strains when they once begin to speak upon the subject of the power of the djong kafir (great unbelievers), i.e., the genuine chinese. [footnote 149] [footnote 149: the taking of pekin by the anglo-french army has not remained hidden from them. when i asked hadji bilal, how that was reconcilable with the boasted omnipotence of the chinese, he observed, that the frenghis had employed cunning, and had begun by stupefying all the inhabitants of pekin with opium, and then had naturally and easily made their way into the slumbering city.] and is it not again most astonishing that all the followers of islamism, including those who are farthest to the west, as well as those to be found on its most distant eastern boundaries, whether turks, arabs, persians, tartars, or özbegs, ridicule and mock at their own faults just in the same degree as they praise and extol the virtues and merits of the nations not mohammedan? this is the account i heard everywhere. they admit that taste for the arts, humanity, and unexampled love of justice are attributes of the kafir (unbelievers), and yet you hear them, with their eyes glancing fire, using an expression like that attributed to a frenchman, after the battle of rosbach, 'god be praised that i am a musselman! [footnote 150] [footnote 150: 'el hamdü lilla ena müszlim.'] {406} _(c. ) cities._ amongst the cities, of which we give a list in the account of routes in chinese tartary, the most flourishing are khoten and yarkend. the largest are turfan ili and komul; and the objects of most pious veneration, aksu and kashgar. in the last, which boasts 105 mosques (probably, however, only mud huts destined for prayer), and twelve medresse, there is the venerated tomb of hazreti afak, the national saint of chinese tartary. hazreti afak means 'his highness the horizon,' a phrase by which is meant to be expressed the infinity of the talents of the saint. his actual name was khodja sadik. he contributed much to form the religious character of the tartars. it is said that kashgar originally was more considerable, and that its population was more numerous, than is the case at present. this decay is owing alone to the invasion of the khokandi khodja, who every year surprise the city, drive the chinese into their fortifications, and remain there plundering and despoiling, until the besieged garrison have despatched their formal interrogatory to pekin, and have obtained official permission to assume the offensive. the khokandi khodja, a troop of greedy adventurers, have thus for years been in the habit of plundering the city, and yet the chinese never cease to be chinese. {407} chapter xxi. communication of central asia with russia, persia, and india routes in the three khanats and chinese tartary. of all the foreign countries with which central asia is in relation, russia is that with which it has the most active correspondence. (_a_) from khiva the karavans proceed to astrakhan and orenburg, whence many wealthy merchants reach nishnei novogorod, and even st. petersburg. (_b_) from bokhara an uninterrupted correspondence--particularly active in summer--is kept up with orenburg. this is the most usual journey, and is performed in from fifty to sixty days. extraordinary circumstances may, indeed, render it longer or shorter; but except in times of unusual disturbances amongst the kirghis, even the smallest karavans undertake it. (_c_) from tashkend karavans go to orenburg and kizil djar (petropavlosk). they reach the first in from fifty to sixty days, and the latter in from fifty to seventy. these are always the most numerous karavans, the district they traverse being the most dangerous. {408} (_d_) the route from namengan and aksu to pulat (semipalatinsk) is frequented for the most part by khokandi karavans, which proceed under strong escort, and arrive at their destination in forty days. solitary travellers may pass among the kirghis unmolested. of course, i mean when they travel like dervishes. many of my fellow-travellers had performed the journey to mecca by semipalatinsk, orenburg, kasan, and constantinople. thus far i have spoken of the communications of central asia towards the north. towards the south they are far less important. khiva is accustomed to send one or two small karavans to persia by the way of astrabad and deregöz. bokhara shows somewhat more activity; but no karavans have passed by merv to meshed during the last two years, the tekke having interrupted all communication. the most frequented route is by herat, at which city the karavans separate, accordingly as they proceed to persia or afghanistan and india. the way by karshi and belkh to kabul is only of secondary importance, because the difficulties of surmounting the hindukush offer constant and serious obstacles, and during the last two years this route has not been much frequented. besides the above-named communication on a great scale, we must mention the slender thread of correspondence maintained by single pilgrims or beggars from the most hidden parts of turkestan with the remotest parts of asia. nothing is more interesting than these vagabonds, who leave their native nests without a farthing in their pockets to journey for thousands of miles in countries of which they previously hardly know the names; and amongst nations entirely different from their own in physiognomy, {409} language, and customs. without further consideration, a poor inhabitant of central asia, [footnote 151] following the suggestions of one sole dream, betakes himself to arabia, and even to the most westerly parts of the turkish empire. he has nothing to lose. he seeks to see the world, and so follows blindly his instinct. the world i say, but i mean his world, beginning with china, and ending with the limits of the turkish empire. as for europe, he admits, indeed, that it may be beautiful, but he regards it as so filled with magic and diabolical arts that he would never venture thither, even though he held in his hand the surest thread to guide him on his way through so perilous a labyrinth. [footnote 151: i say poor, for the rich rarely submit to the toil and inconvenience of a pilgrimage; but they have an expedient, for they find deputies. their representatives supplied with the necessary funds are sent on to mecca, where in their prayers they substitute the name of the sender for their own, but the latter only so far profits that he has the honour after his decease of having engraved upon his tomb the affix to his name, 'hadji.'] experience convinced me that the farther we advance in turkestan, the greater is the disposition to perform these annual pilgrimages and toilsome journeys. the number of the hadjis proceeding yearly from khiva is, on an average, from ten to fifteen; from bokhara, thirty to forty; but from khokand and chinese tartary, between seventy and eighty. if we add thereto the rage of the persians for pilgrimages to the holy places in meshed, kerbela, kom, and mecca, it is impossible not to be surprised at the great zeal in favour of such ramblings still prevalent in asia. the seed from which sprang the migration of its ancient races, continues still to {410} exist, and but for the civilisation of the west and its mighty influence, that press closely upon asia on all sides, who knows what revolutions might not already have taken place! the routes in the three khanats. a. routes in the khanat or khiva and the adjacent country. 1. _from khiva to gömüshtepe._ (a) ortayolu, the middle of the three routes indicated by me in the commencement of my work, and which i myself took, has the following stations, and can be traversed easily on horseback in fourteen or fifteen days. 1. akyap. 2. medemin. 3. shor göl (lake). 4. kaplankir. 5. dehli ata. 6. kahriman ata. 7. koymat ata. 8. yeti siri. 9. djenak. 10. ulu balkan. 11. kitchig balkan. 12. kören taghi (a mountain chain). 13. kyzyl takir. 14. bogdayla. 15. etrek. 16. gömüshtepe. (b) the route termed tekke yolu can be traversed on horseback in ten days, and is said to consist of the following stations:- 1. medemin. 2. döden. 3. shahsenem. 4. ortakuju. 5. alty kuyruk. 6. chirlalar. 7. chin mohammed. 8. sazlik. 9. etrek. 10. gömüshtepe. {411} this route seems infested by the turkoman alamans; the reason appears clear, because by the ordinary way they can go so rapidly over large tracts of land. 2. _from khiva to meshed._ the routes are two: the one by hezaresp and deregöz southwards through the desert (the traveller can perform this journey on horseback in twelve days); the other way passes by merv, and has the following principal stations or wells:- 1. dari. [footnote 152] 2. sagri. 3. nemekabad. 4. shakshak. 5. shur ken. 6. akyap. 7. merv. [footnote 152: dari is reached on the first day from khiva.] 3. _from khiva to bokhara (a high road)_. from to farsz. parasangs [2-4 miles] khiva khanka 6 khanka shurakhan 5 shurakhan ak kamish 6 ak kamish töyeboyun 8 töyeboyun tünüklü 6 tünüklü utch udjak 10 utch udjak karaköl 10 karaköl bokhara 9 60 {412} 4. _from khiva to khokand._ there is a route through the desert without touching bokhara. at shurakhan, one leaves the khanat of khiva, and reaches khodjend ordinarily in from ten to twelve days inclusive. the journey may, however, be shortened by turning off to djizzak. this was the route taken by conolly in company of a khokandi prince, whom he had met in khiva. 5. _from khiva to kungrat and the shore of the aral sea._ from to tash or farsz khiva yenghi urgendj 4 yenghi urgendj görlen 6 görlen yenghi yap 3 yenghi yap khitai 3 khitai manghit 4 manghit kiptchak 1 kiptchak kamli 2 kamli khodja ili 22 (desert) khodja ili kungrat 4 kungrat hekim ata 4 hekim ata tchortangöl 5 tchortangöl bozatav 10 bozatav shore of the sea 5 making together 73 tash, a distance which, when the way is not in bad condition, may be travelled in twelve stations. 6. _from khiva to kungrat, by köhne._ from to tash or farsz. khiva gazavat 3 gazavat tashhaus 7 tashhaus köktcheg 2 köktcheg kizil takir 7 kizil takir porsu 6 porsu köhne urgendj 9 köhne urgendj khodja ili 6 {413} and thence to kungrat, as already mentioned, there are four tash, making together 44 tash, a nearer way, consequently, than the one by görlen, but less eligible and less frequented. first, it is not safe; and secondly, it is wearisome, on account of the desert and the route itself. 7. _from khiva to fitnek._ from to tash or farsz. khiva sheikh mukhtar 3 sheikh mukhtar bagat 3 bagat ishantchepe 2 ishantchepe hezaresp 2 hezaresp fitnek 6 16 adding to this number the 73 already given in the sum of the distances in route marked (5), we see that the greatest distance traversed by the oxus in the khanat is not more than 89 tash or farszakhs. {414} b. routes in the khanat of bokhara and the adjacent country. 1. _from bokhara to herat._ from to tash or farsz. bokhara khoshrobat 3 khoshrobat tekender 5 tekender tchertchi 5 tchertchi karahindi 5 karahindi kerki 7 kerki zeid (well) 8 zeid andkhuy 10 andkhuy batkak 5 batkak maymene 8 maymene kaisar 4 kaisar narin 6 narin chikektu 6 chikektu kalé veli 6 kalé veli murgab 4 murgab derbend 3 derbend kalè no 8 kalè no sertcheshme 9 sertcheshme herat 6 total 108 this distance can be travelled on horseback in from 20 to 25 days. 2. _from bokhara to merv._ the traveller must here first go to tchardjuy, from which city there are three different routes. (_a_) by rafatak. there is one well, and its distance is 45 farszakhs. {415} (_b_) by ütchhadji. two wells, and distance 40 farszakhs. (_c_) by yolkuyu. this is the route most to the east; the distance is 50 farszakhs. 3. _from bokhara to samarcand (usual road)._ from to farsz. parasangs bokhara mezar 5 mezar kermine r. 6 kermine r. mir 6 mir kette kurgan 5 kette kurgan daul 6 daul samarcand 4 32 this journey is performed by two-wheeled loaded carts in six days. mounted on a good horse, one may accomplish it in three: the couriers take but two days, but they travel night and day. 4. _from samarcand to kerki._ from to farsz. samarcand robati haus 3 robati haus nayman 6 nayman shurkuduk 4 shurkuduk karshi 5 karshi feizabad 2 feizabad sengsulak 6 sengsulak kerki 6 32 {416} 5._from samarcand to khokand by khodjend._ from to farsz. samarcand yenghi kurgan 3 yenghi kurgan djizzag 4 djizzag zamin 5 zamin djam 4 djam savat 4 savat oratepe 2 oratepe nau 4 nau khodjend 4 khodjend karaktchikum 4 karaktchikum mehrem 2 mehrem besharik 5 besharik khokand 5 46 this journey takes eight days in a cart (two-wheeled), and may be much shortened by going straight from oratepe to mehrem, which requires only eight hours, so that there is a gain of six tash. 6. _from samarcand to tashkend and the russian frontiers._ from to tash samarcand yenghi kurgan 3 yenghi kurgan djizzag 4 djizzag djinas 16 djinas zenghi ata 4 zenghi ata tashkend 6 33 five days' journey farther on from here is, as i learnt from the accounts of many different persons, the first russian fort and post of the cossacks. {417} routes in the khanat of khokand. 1. _from khokand to oosh (a straight road)._ from to tash khokand karaultepe 5 karaultepe mergolan 5 mergolan sherikhan 4 sherikhan endigan 3 endigan oosh 4 19 the journey can be performed in two-wheeled carts in four days. 2. _from khokand to oosh (by namengan)_. from to tash khokand bibi uveida 3 bibi uveida sehri menzil 2 sehri menzil kirghis kurgan 4 kirghis kurgan namengan 4 namengan üsch kurgan 3 üsch kurgan gömüshtepe 5 gömüshtepe oosh 4 25 besides these two principal roads, there is a mountainous route from tashkend to namengan; offering, however, many perilous places, which entail the necessity of much laborious exertion. although the distance is only 45 miles, one requires ten days to {418} traverse it. it passes by the following places: toy tepe, karakhitai tilav, koshrobat, mollamir, babatarkhan, shehidan (where the russians were defeated by mehemmed ali khan), kamishkurgan, pnngan, haremseray, uygur, pop, seng, djust, törekurgan, namengan. d. routes in chinese tartary. the distance from _kashgar_ to _yarhend_ is reckoned 36 miles (tash), journeyed over by karavans and carts in seven days. on the third day from kashgar, the traveller reaches a place called yenghi hissar, which is occupied by a strong garrison of soldiers. from _kashgar_ to _aksu_, the distance is 70 miles; a karavan takes to perform it twelve days. from _aksu_ to _ushturban_, lying to the south, the traveller requires two days. proceeding still farther to the east, we reach komul in twenty-eight days, as follows:-from to days' journey aksu bay 3 bay saram 1 saram kutcha 2 kutcha shiar 2 shiar bögür 4 bögür kurli 3 kurli kohne turfan 8 kohne turfan komul 3 26 adding twelve days for the journey from kashgar to aksu, this makes, for the whole distance from the latter city, forty days. {419} chapter xxii. general view of agriculture, manufactures, and trade. agriculture different kinds of horses sheep camels asses manufactures principal seats of trade commercial ascendancy of russia in central asia. _(a.) agriculture._ taken altogether, it is incredible how fertile all the cultivable land is in these three khanats, which rise like oases out of the monstrous deserts of central asia. in spite of the primitive system of culture adopted, fruit and corn are luxuriantly abundant, one might even say, in many places, superabundant. the excellence of the fruit in khiva has been already mentioned; and although bokhara and khokand cannot be placed, in this respect, in the same rank with khiva, the following produce of those khanats deserve, nevertheless, mention, e.g., the grapes, of extraordinary excellence (of which there are ten kinds), the 'magnificent pomegranates,' and particularly the apricots, which are exported in immense quantities to persia, russia, and afghanistan. corn is met with everywhere in the three khanats, and is of five kinds: wheat, barley, djugheri (holcus saccharatus), millet, (tarik), and rice. the best wheat and djugheri are {420} said to be found in bokhara and khiva, a genial soil; whereas khokand is in high repute for millet. barley is nowhere of very good quality, and is made use of, either alone or mixed with djugheri, as fodder for horses. in cattle-breeding the inhabitants of turkestan concentrate their attention on three animals alone, namely, the horse, the sheep, and the camel. the horse is regarded by the central asiatic as his _alter ego_. different races are met with here, possessing too different qualities and excellences. volumes might be written to show how it is reared, and what are its varieties; but this not being my province, i will confine myself to a few observations. as countless as the stocks and branches of the nomads themselves, so countless are the races and families of their horses. the following classification deserves to be noted:-(1) the turkoman horse: and here a main distinction exists between the tekke and the yomut breeds. the former, of which the favourite races are the körogli and the akhal, are distinguished by extraordinary height (sixteen to seventeen hands). they are slightly built, have handsome heads, majestic carriage, wonderful speed, but no bottom. the latter, those of the yomuts, are smaller, finely formed, and unite speed with unparalleled endurance and strength. [footnote 153] in general, the turkoman horse is distinguished by a slender barrel, thin tail, handsome head and neck (it is a pity that the mane is cut off), {421} and a particularly fine and glossy coat; the latter quality is owing to its being kept covered, summer and winter, with several housings of felt. with respect to the value, a good turkoman horse may be had at a price varying from one hundred to three hundred ducats, but never under thirty ducats. [footnote 153: i have seen many horses of this description which had carried each his turkoman rider with a slave behind him in the saddle at a constant rapid gallop for thirty hours.] (2) the özbeg horse resembles the yomut, but its form is more compact, and denotes more power; its neck short and thick, rather suited, like our hacks, for journeys than serviceable in war or alamans. (3) the kasak horse, in a half wild state, small, with long hair, thick head, and heavy feet. he is seldom fed by hand, but is accustomed to seek himself his subsistence, summer and winter, in the pastures. (4) the khokandi sumpter or cart-horse is a cross between the özbeg and the kasak breeds, and is remarkable for its great strength. of these four races, the genuine turkoman horses have only been exported to persia, and the özbeg horses to afghanistan and india. the sheep is everywhere of the race with fat tails; the finest are met with in bokhara. its flesh is the best i have tasted in the east. there are three kinds of camels, the one-humped and the two-humped, the latter called by us the bactrian, and only met with amongst the kirghis, and the ner, of which we have already spoken when treating of andkhuy. finally, i must not omit to mention the asses. the finest are those of bokhara and khiva. of these the hadjis export yearly many to persia, bagdad, damascus, and egypt. {422} _(b.) manufactures._ two hundred years ago, when turkey was less accessible to our european commerce than is the case at the present day, the native manufactures of engürü (angora), broussa, damascus, and aleppo were certainly more active. central asia is even now far more remote from us than was turkey in the times alluded to; our trade there is still very weakly represented--the consequence is that the greater part of the articles requisite for clothing or household purposes are the produce of native industry, of which we will give in this place a short account. the principal seats of central asiatic manufactures are bokhara, karshi, yenghi ürgendj, khokand, and namengan. out of these cities come the different stuffs, whether of cotton, silk, or linen, as well as the articles manufactured from leather, which supply the native demand. the principal and most widely-diffused material is the so-called aladja, a stuff employed for the dresses of man and woman. in khiva it is woven of cotton and raw silk, in bokhara and khokand of cotton alone. as there are no distinct tailors' shops, the manufacturer busies himself also with the scissors and the needle, so that a great part of the produce consists in ready-made clothes. when we were in bokhara, the high prices of clothing were a general complaint. the following were those then current:-{423} [prices in tenghe] dresses 1st class 2nd class 3rd class khivan 30 20 8 bokhariot 20 12 8 khokandi 12 8 5 besides the aladja, they fabricate stuffs of silk, woollen shawls for turbans, linen, for the most part very coarse and bad, and from the latter a sort of calico, with dark red figures, used as coverlets for bedding throughout turkestan and afghanistan. in the manufacture of leather they are famous; they excel us in the preparation of shagreen ('sagri' in the tartar language), which, as is well known, is green, with little elevations like bladders. with the exception of russia leather--which they import from that country, and employ in fashioning their water-skins--their coverings for the feet, and their harness and accoutrements for horses, are manufactured of native leather. bokhara and khokand produce these articles of the best quality. khiva has only one kind of thick yellow leather, employed both for soles and upper leather. of fine leather they prepare the meskh (under-shoes like stockings); and of the coarser kinds, the koush, or upper galoshes. paper manufactured in bokhara and samarcand enjoys a high repute throughout turkestan and the adjoining countries. it is made of raw silk, is very smooth and thin, and well adapted for the arabic {424} writing. articles of iron and steel, as the raw material is wanting, are only weakly represented. the rifled guns from hezaresp, the swords and knives from hissar, karshi, and djust, are in great renown. an important manufacture of central asia, which reaches us in europe by way of persia and constantinople, is that of carpets, which is, however, the exclusive product of the industry and skill of the turkoman women. besides the beautifully pure colouring and solidity of the texture, what most surprises us is how these simple nomad women preserve so well the symmetry of the outline of figures, and even betray often a better taste than many manufacturers in europe. one carpet gives work always for a number of girls and young women. an old woman places herself at their head as directress. she first traces, with points, the pattern of the figures in the sand. glancing at this, she gives out the number of the different threads required to produce the desired figures. in the next place, the workers in felt demand notice, but the kirghis women here distinguish themselves most. _(c.) trade._ as it was before mentioned, in the chapter respecting the mode of communication, that russia maintains the most extensive and regular relations with central asia, so also must it be stated that it is russian trade which deserves to be styled the most ancient and the most considerable. it is a trade ever on the increase, and, at least in this field, remains without a rival. the extraordinary progress which it has made in these regions is best seen from the following most {425} authentic data. m. de khanikoff [footnote 154] states, in his work published in 1843, that every year a number of from five to six thousand camels is employed in the transport trade; that goods are imported into russia from central asia to the value of from three to four millions of roubles; and that the export trade, which in 1828 amounted to £23,620, had risen, in 1840, to £65,675 16_s_. this estimate applies to the years from 1828 to 1845. her majesty's secretary of embassy at st. petersburg, mr. t. saville lumley, in his report upon the russian trade with central asia, drawn up with great industry and ability, informs us that, in the period from 1840 to 1850, the export trades rose to £1,014,237, and the import trade to £1,345,741. [footnote 155] [footnote 154: see the english translation of his work by the baron bode, 1850. madden.] [footnote 155: the report above alluded to furnishes itself all the necessary details: we have appended them as given by mr. lumley himself.] _table of the trade between russia and the countries of central asia for the decennial period from 1840 to 1850._ exported. [amounts in pounds sterling] bokhara khiva kokan total specie, gold and silver 213,969 15,210 375 229,554 copper 45,776 1,856 2,043 49,675 iron, hardware, various metals 82,127 9,331 10,979 102,437 cotton, manufactures in 156,707 58,915 7,559 223,181 wool, ditto 50,467 25,869 1,976 78,312 silk, ditto 10,550 4,799 71 15,420 leather 81,543 37,921 4,069 123,533 wooden ware 8,595 460 826 9,881 dye-stuffs and colours 48,635 17,904 693 67,232 miscellaneous goods 85,416 27,567 2,031 115,012 total 783,785 199,830 30,622 1,014,237 {426} even without these data, a glance alone at the bazaars of bokhara, khiva, and karshi would suffice to convince us of the importance of this branch of russian trade; and it is by no means any exaggeration to assert that there is no house, and even no tent, in all central asia where there is not some article of russian manufacture. the most important trade is carried on in cast iron, for the most part consisting of kettles and water cans, and imported from south siberia; but particularly from the manufactories in the ural mountains. in the trade with bokhara, tashkend, and khiva alone, more than three thousand camels are employed in the transport of this one article. after cast iron come raw iron and brass, russian cotton goods, cambric, muslins, tea-kettles, army and miscellaneous cutlery. imported. [amounts in pounds sterling] bokhara khiva kokan total cotton, raw and twist 333,177 76,255 2,718 412,150 cotton, manufactures in 498,622 88,960 14,180 601,802 silk, raw, and manufactures in 17,443 3,088 160 20,691 wool, manufactures in 428 1,322 52 1,802 madder 7,351 26,201 7 33,559 furs, lamb-skins 151,773 6,297 1,995 160,065 precious stones and pearl 17,856 703 ... 18,559 fruit, dried 27,784 2,147 16,883 44,814 shawls, cashmere 24,242 ... ... 24,242 miscellaneous goods 19,664 4,452 3,941 28,057 total 1,096,380 209,425 39,936 1,345,741 for further details see 'reports by her majesty's secretaries of embassy and legation on the manufactures, commerce, &c.,' 1862, no. v. p. 313. {427} cloth, from its high price, meets with few purchasers, and is seldom found. the before-named articles are transported from bokhara and karshi, not only to the remaining parts of turkestan, but to maymene and herat, and even as far as kandahar and kabul. the latter two cities are, indeed, nearer to peshawur and karatchi; but give, nevertheless, the preference to the russian merchandise, although far inferior to that of england. the circumstance may seem surprising to the reader, and yet the reasons are simple. orenburg is just as distant from bokhara as karatchi, which, being in the indian territory of great britain, might form the outpost of english commerce. the route thence by herat to central asia would be far more practicable and more convenient than that leading through the desert to russia. that the english trade is here supplanted by the russian is, in my humble opinion, to be ascribed to the following causes:--(1) the commercial relations of russia with tartary are now several centuries old, and in comparison with it that of england deserves to be denominated new, and it is notorious how tenaciously orientals cling to old usages and customs. (2) the russians occupying adjoining frontiers, in matters affecting the taste and requisitions of the central asiatics, are more experienced than the english manufacturers of birmingham, manchester, and glasgow, &c., an evil only to be remedied by european travellers being able to move about more freely in these regions than is the case at the present day, when journeys, not only in bokhara, {428} but even in afghanistan, are attended by so much risk and peril. (3) the herat route, in spite of its possessing every element of convenience, has very much to deter foreign merchants, in consequence of the organised system of what may be styled bandit governments, as may be seen from what was before said upon the subject. [footnote 156] [footnote 156: see chapter xiv.] besides these commercial relations with russia, turkestan maintains also others, almost uninterruptedly, by the way of herat with persia, whither it sends lambs' wool, dried fruit, materials for red colouring, and certain native stuffs, receiving in exchange a great quantity of opium [footnote 157] from meshed, some english wares through the house of ralli & company, sugar and cutlery. there is a route from meshed to bokhara which can be performed in ten days, but the karavans are forced to take the circuitous way by herat, which requires thrice as much time. from kabul is exported to bokhara a sort of cotton shawl, with blue and white stripes, called by the tartars pota, and by the afghans lunghi. it is used universally for summer turbans, and looks like an english manufacture, which may perhaps be imported by way of peshawar; it is the only article having a good sale, because in accordance with the national taste. the kabuli besides bring indigo and different kinds of spices, receiving in return russian calicoes, tea, and paper. {429} [footnote 157: opium, called here teryak, is prepared in the south-eastern part of persia as follows:--the head of the poppy has incisions made in it lengthways on three of its sides at a fixed time in the evening, and when only half ripe. the next morning after it has been so cut a dew-like substance shows itself at the place; this must be removed before sunrise, and, after having been boiled, the resulting product is the teryak. it is singular that from the three places where the poppy has been cut issue substances of different quality, and of these that in the middle is most esteemed.] with china there is only an insignificant trade in tea and porcelain; but these articles are quite different from those seen in europe. the chinese seldom set foot over the frontier, the communication here being almost entirely kept up by kalmucks and musselmans. lastly, let me not omit to allude to the trade carried on in persia, india, arabia, and turkey, by the hadjis. the reader may think that i am jesting; but still my experience justifies me in saying that this also merits the name of commercial transaction. the fifty or sixty hadjis who came with me from central asia to herat transported with them about forty dozens of silk handkerchiefs from bokhara, about two thousand knives, thirty pieces of silk stuff from namengan, a large quantity of khokandi dappi (caps upon which the turban is wound), &c. these were the hadjis upon one route only. as for the imports, account must also be held of the hadjis; for it is very easy to understand that the largest part of the european cutlery that finds its way to central asia has been introduced by them. {430} chapter xxiii. internal and external political relations of central asia. internal relations between bokhara, khiva, and khokand external relations with turkey, persia, china, and russia. _(a.) internal relations._ from what i have said in the previous pages upon the subject of the recent history of khiva and khokand, one may form a tolerably good idea of the terms upon which the different khanats live with each other. i will, nevertheless, here collect a few facts to render it easier to appreciate the whole situation. let us begin with bokhara. this khanat, which, even previously to the introduction of islamism, played a capital part, has, notwithstanding all the revolutions that have since occurred, always preserved its superiority, and it is regarded at the present day as the cradle of the civilisation of central asia. khokand and khiva, as well as the other small khanats to the south, and even afghanistan itself, have never ceased to recognise its spiritual supremacy. they praise and extol the mollahs as well as the islamite learning: of the 'noble bokhara;' but their love of it extends only thus far, for all attempts made by the emirs of {431} bokhara to make use of their spiritual influence to increase their political power have failed of success, not only in the khanats but even in the respective cities. near-sighted politicians might infer, from the wars carried on by the emir nasrullah with khiva and khokand, that bokhara, from apprehension of a russian invasion, is disposed to organise an alliance by means gentle or foul. but this is not the case. bokhara had never any such plans. the campaigns of the emir are but predatory expeditions; and i am firmly convinced that should russia proceed actively to carry out her designs on central asia, the three khanats, so far from giving each other any mutual support in the moment of peril, would by their dissensions furnish the common enemy with the very best arms against themselves. khiva and khokand are then to be regarded as the constant enemies of bokhara: still bokhara does not look for any serious danger in those quarters, and the only rival that she really fears in central asia is one that is day by day becoming more formidable to her--afghanistan. that this fear reached its highest point during the victorious march of dost mohammed khan towards the oxus, need scarcely be mentioned. emir nasrullah was well aware that he should never be forgiven by the aged afghan for his infamous jest played upon him, or rather his son, when the latter sought his hospitality in bokhara; [footnote 158] and as it was affirmed that dost mohammed had been reconciled with the english, and had become even an english mercenary, the apprehension of the emir was still further increased by the {432} suspicion that he was but a tool in the hands of the english to avenge the bloody deaths of conolly and stoddart. dark, indeed, must the pictures have been of the future destiny of his khanat, that the tartar tyrant carried with him into his grave. not less was the apprehension entertained by his son and successor, the reigning emir, on his accession. mozaffar-ed-din was in khokand when the intelligence reached him of the death of dost mohammed. the messenger received a present of 1000 tenghe; the very same day a festival was improvised, and in the evening the emir, to complete the number of his legal wives, took to his bed his fourth spouse, the youngest daughter of khudayar khan. the great dread has, indeed, passed away, but a feeling of 'respect' continues still to exist; for in bokhara it is very well known that the afghans, as fruit of the alliance with england, can now dispose of some thousands of well-drilled regular troops. [footnote 158: see ferrier's 'history of the afghans,' p. 336.] conscious of the superiority of the afghans, and its own inability to cope with them, it is the policy of bokhara to do them as much harm as possible by their intrigues. as the afghans have allied themselves with england it is not difficult to decry them throughout turkestan as apostates from islam, and consequently during the last few years the commercial intercourse with kabul has much diminished. as before mentioned, the tekke and salor stand constantly in the pay of bokhara. at the siege of herat it was a matter of great surprise to the aged dost that, in spite of all the presents which he made to them, the turkomans continued to molest him, and to carry off prisoners even from his own army. he had quite forgotten his real enemies--the gold pieces of bokhara; for the sympathies of the turkomans are ever with those that pay best. thus far of the internal policy of bokhara. {433} khiva has been much enfeebled by the continual wars it has had to maintain with its own tributaries--who are ever ready to renew the contest--the yomuts, tchaudors, and kasaks. the superiority of numbers is on the side of bokhara; and if the emir has hitherto been unable to conquer khiva, the sole cause is the bravery of the özbeg population. allahkuli was, as i heard, the first who sent an ambassador to bokhara and khokand (probably it was at the suggestion of conolly), in order to organise a system of mutual aid and defensive alliance against that power of russia which was ever on the increase. not only did bokhara decline to enter into such alliance, but it even evinced a disposition to enter into relations with russia. khokand, on the other hand, as well as shehri sebz, and hissar (cities which were then at war with the emir), declared their readiness to adhere to the proposition of khiva. but this union never assumed any other form but that of a wish, never was carried into effect; and how difficult its realisation would be is best shown by an ancient arab proverb, adopted by the central asiatics as descriptive of their own national character, and which is to the following effect: 'in roum are blessings, in damascus beneficence, in bagdad science; but in turkestan nought but rancour and animosity.' [footnote 159] [footnote 159: 'el bereket fi rum el muruvet fi sham el ilm fi bagdad, el togz ve adavet fi mavera ül-nehr.'] {434} khokand, owing to the continual dissensions between the kiptchaks, kirghis, and kasaks, is a prey to the same evil as khiva. when we add to this the unexampled cowardice of its özbeg inhabitants, it will no longer appear surprising if, in spite of its having the greatest population and the most extensive territory of the three khanats, it has, nevertheless, been continually conquered by bokhara. _(b.) external relations._ in its political relations with foreign countries, central asia, comes only in contact with turkey, persia, china, and russia. the sultan of constantinople is regarded as chief of religion and khalif, and as it was the practice in the middle ages for the three khanats of turkestan to receive, as badges of investiture from the khalif of bagdad, a sort of court office, this old system of etiquette has not been abandoned even at the present day; and the princes, on their accession to the throne, are wont still to solicit, through the medium of an extraordinary embassy to stamboul, these honorary distinctions. the khan of khiva assumes his rank as cupbearer, the emir of bokhara as reis (guardian of religion), and the khan of khokand as constable. these courtly functions have always been in high estimation, and i have been informed that the different functionaries fulfil formally once every year the corresponding duties. but the bond that unites them with constantinople goes thus far, and no farther. the sultans cannot exercise any political influence upon the three khanats. the inhabitants of central asia, indeed, are in the habit of associating with the word roum (as turkey is here called) all the power and splendour of ancient rome, {435} with which, in the popular opinion, it is identified; but the princes seem to have seen through this illusion, nor would they be disposed to recognise the paramount grandeur of the sultan unless the porte associated its 'firman of investiture,' or its 'licences to pray,' with the transmission of some hundreds or thousands of piastres. in khiva and khokand these firmans from constantinople continue to be read with some demonstration of reverence and respect. the former khanat was represented in constantinople during a period of ten years, by shükrullah bay; the latter, during the reign of mollah khan, had only four years ago an ambassador, mirza djan, at the court of the sultan. these envoys were, in accordance with ancient usages, sometimes maintained for long periods of years at the cost of the state, a charge not altogether convenient as far as its budget for foreign affairs was concerned, but nevertheless altogether essential and necessary to the pretension to a spiritual superiority in asia. the ottoman empire could only have gained effectual political influence in these remote regions of the east when it was roused from its slumbering oriental existence before the time of peter the great. in its character of turkish dynasty, the house of osman might, out of the different kindred elements with which it is connected by the bond of common language, religion, and history, have founded an empire extending from the shore of the adriatic far into china, an empire mightier than that which the great romanoff was obliged to employ not only force but cunning to put together, out of the most discordant and heterogeneous materials. {436} anatolians, azerbaydjanes, turkomans, özbegs, kirghis, and tartars are the respective members out of which a mighty turkish colossus might have arisen, certainly better capable of measuring itself with its greater northern competitor than turkey such as we see it in the present days. with _persia_, its nearest neighbour, khiva and bokhara interchange ambassadors but rarely. the fact that persia avows the principles of the shiite sect, forms in itself just such a wall of separation between these two fanatical nations as protestantism created between the two great classes of christians in europe three centuries ago. to this feeling of religious animosity let us add, also, the traditional enmity between the iranian and turanian races that has become matter of history, and we may then easily form an idea of the gulf that separates the sympathies of nations that nature has made inhabitants of adjoining countries. persia, which, according to the natural course of events, should form the channel to convey to turkestan the benefits of modern civilisation, is far from producing there even the slightest effect. powerless to defend even her own frontiers from the turkomans, the disgraceful defeat she sustained, as before mentioned, at merv, in an expedition directed, in fact, against bokhara, has utterly destroyed her prestige. her power is the object of very little apprehension in the three khanats, for the tartars affirm that god gave the persians head (understanding) and eyes, but no heart (courage). {437} with respect to _china_, its political relations with central asia are so rare and insignificant, that they scarcely merit any mention. once, perhaps, in a century a correspondence takes place. the emirs are in the habit of sending occasionally envoys to kashgar, but the chinese, on their side, never venture so far into turkestan as bokhara. with khokand negotiations take place more frequently, but it sends only functionaries of inferior rank to the musselman barbarians. with _russia_ political relations are upon a very different footing. having been for centuries in possession of the countries that border upon the deserts of turkestan on the north, an extensive commercial intercourse has rendered russia more observant of what is going on in the three khanats than their other neighbours, and has caused a series of efforts of which the only possible termination seems to be their complete occupation. the very obstacles which nature has interposed have rendered, indeed, the progress of russia slow, but perhaps her progress is only on that account the more certain. the three khanats are the only members now wanting to that immense tartar kingdom that ivan vasilyevitch (1462-1505) imagined, and which he began actually to incorporate with his russian dominions, and which, since the time of peter the great, has been the earnest though silent object of his successors. in the khanats themselves this russian policy has not passed entirely unnoticed. princes and people are well aware of the danger that threatens them, and it is only oriental indifference and religious enthusiasm that lull them in the fond sleep of security. {438} the majority of the central asiatics with whom i conversed upon this subject, contented themselves by observing that turkestan has two strong defences: (1) the great number of saints who repose in its territory, under the constant protection of the 'noble bokhara;' (2) the immense deserts by which it is surrounded. few men, and these only merchants, who have resided long in russia, would regard a change in their government with indifference, for although they have the same detestation for everything that is not mohammedan, yet, at the same time, they never cease to extol the love of justice and the spirit of order that distinguish the 'unbelievers.' {439} chapter xxiv. the rivalry of the russians and english in central asia. attitude of russia and england towards central asia progress of russia on the jaxartes. rivalry between england and russia in central asia i heard in england, on my return, affirmed to be an absurdity. 'let us,' it was said, 'hear no more of a question so long ago worn out and out of fashion. the tribes of turkestan are wild, rude, and barbarous; and it is a matter upon which we congratulate ourselves, if russia takes upon herself the onerous and meritorious task of civilisation in those regions. england has not the slightest cause to watch such a policy with envy or jealousy.' full of horror at the scenes of cruelty witnessed by me in turkestan, of which i have endeavoured to give a faint sketch in the preceding pages, i long argued over the question with myself, whether these political views which men sought to instill into me were really in every respect well founded. it is clear, and, indeed, has long been so, to my mind, that christian civilisation, incontestably the noblest and most glorious attribute that ever graced human society, would be a benefit to central asia. the part, however, of {440} the question that has a political bearing i could not so easily dispose of; for although i regard the subject in all its different points of view, and drive my conjectures ever so far, i can never entirely realise the idea that england can behold with indifference any approach of russia to her indian dominions. the epoch of political utopias is past. we are far from being so inspired with a russophobia as to regard the time as at hand when the russian cossack and the english sepoy shall knock their noses together while acting as sentinels upon their respective frontiers. the drama of a collision of the two great colossi in central asia, which political dreamers imagined years ago, continues still far from actual performance. the question moves, it is true, slowly, but still always in a forward direction. let me, following the natural course of events, without undue warmth endeavour to acquaint the reader with the motives that influence me when i disapprove of the indifference of the english to the russian policy in central asia. in the first place, let us enquire whether russia is really pressing on towards the south; and if so, what, up to the present moment, has been the extent of her actual advance. until twenty-five years ago, very little attention had been devoted to russian policy in central asia. the occupation of afghanistan by the english, and the russo-persian alliance and expedition against khiva, were the causes that first led to the subject of turkestan being touched upon in the diplomatic correspondence between the cabinets of st. petersburg and london. since that time a tolerable calm has ensued. england, discouraged by {441} the failure of her plans, withdrew at once, but russia still keeps silently advancing, and essential changes have taken place with respect to her frontiers on the side of turkestan. on the western part of central asia--for instance, on the sea of aral and its shores--russian influence has considerably increased. with the exception of the mouth of the oxus, the entire west of the aral sea is recognised russian territory. upon that sea itself there are, at this day, three steamers to which the khan of khiva has given permission to advance as far as kungrat. [footnote 160] it is given out that they are there to protect their fisheries; but they may probably have another destination, and every one in khiva knows that the recent revolutions in kungrat, as well as other frequent skirmishes between kasaks and özbegs, have a certain connection with these fishing boats. but these are only secondary plans. the real line of operations is rather to be sought along the left bank of the jaxartes. here we find the russian outposts supported by an uninterrupted chain of forts and walls, pushed on as far as kale rehim, distant thirty-two miles from tashkend, which city may, as i have remarked, be regarded as a key to all conquests in central asia. this route, which traverses fewer deserts than any other, is also in different respects {442} well chosen. an army would be here exposed, indeed, to more surprises; but these can be resisted more easily than the fury of the elements. on the eastern frontiers of khokand also, beyond namengan, the russians continue to move nearer and nearer; and in the time of khudayar khan many collisions had already taken place there between the khokandi and the russians. [footnote 160: that the russian vessels do not pass higher up the oxus is alone attributable to the numerous sandbanks in that river, which rapidly shift their places. i am astonished that barnes expresses himself so lightly respecting its navigability. boatmen who have passed all their lives on the oxus assured me that the sandbanks change position so often that the experience and observation of one day are useless for the day that follows.] the continued progress of the russian designs in central asia is then beyond all doubt. as i before said, the interests of civilisation make us wish the most entire success to the russian arms; but still the remote consequences of an acquisition once made suggest a highly important and complicated enquiry. the question whether russia will content herself even with bokhara, or will allow the oxus to become the final boundary of her influence and of her designs, is difficult to answer. without plunging into any deep considerations of policy, i may remark that it seems very probable that the court of st. petersburg, in return for her persevering policy of sacrifices pursued across deserts for years and years, at great expense and labour, will seek some richer compensation than is to be found in the oases of turkestan. i should like, indeed, to see the politician who would venture to affirm that russia, once in possession of turkestan, would be able to withstand the temptation of advancing, either personally or by her representatives, into afghanistan and northern india, where political intrigues are said to find always a fruitful soil. at the time when the russian columns, under the orders of peroffsky, threw their ominous shadow from the west shore of the aral sea as far as kabul--at the {443} time when the spectre of vitkovitsh [footnote 161] appeared in that city and in kandahar, the possibility of such complications as those alluded to was foreseen. and cannot that which has once occurred, when the necessity arises, occur a second time? [footnote 162] [footnote 161: this was the name of the russian agent sent by the court of st. petersburg to afghanistan in 1838, with large sums of money to be employed in intrigues against england.] [footnote 162: whilst i write the above, a st. petersburg correspondent of the _daily telegraph_ (10th october 1864) sends the intelligence that the russians have already taken tashkend. the authenticity of the statement may perhaps be doubted, but that the russians are in movement in that quarter is certain.] without, therefore, lending to the question the foul colouring of envy or jealousy, i consider myself justified in disapproving of england's indifference to the plans of russia in central asia. such is my humble opinion; but whether the british lion is to come in direct hostile collision with the russian bear in those regions, or in brotherly fashion they are to share and share alike, is a question which, in accordance with the precept, 'ne sutor ultra crepidam,' i in my character of a dervish, devoted to philological studies, will not venture nearer to approach. london printed by spottiswoode and co new-street square -------------albemarle street, london, november, 1863. mr. murray's general list of works. albert (prince). the principal speeches and addresses of h.r.h. the prince consort; 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[illustration: map of author's travels.] [illustration: his majesty the shah of persia.] across coveted lands or a journey from flushing (holland) to calcutta, overland by a. henry savage landor _with 175 illustrations, diagrams, plans and maps_ _by author_ in two volumes vol. i london macmillan and co., limited 1902 _all rights reserved_ richard clay and sons, limited, london and bungay list of illustrations _to face page_ his majesty the shah of persia _frontispiece_ the baku oil wells 20 the amir of bokhara leaving baku to return to his country 26 persian wrestling 38 fourgons on the russian road between resht and teheran 50 making a _kanat_ 74 the murderer of nasr-ed-din shah 90 persian cossacks (teheran) drilled by russian officers 100 the eftetahié college, supported by meftah-el-mulk 102 h. e. mushir-ed-doulet, minister of foreign affairs 106 persian soldiers--the band 112 recruits learning music 112 the arrival of a caravan of silver at the imperial bank of persia 126 the imperial bank of persia decorated on the shah's birthday 134 a typical persian window. (mr. rabino's house, teheran.) 140 the first position in persian wrestling 158 palawans, or strong men giving a display of feats of strength 158 iman jumeh. head priest of teheran, and official sayer of prayers to the shah 170 sahib divan, who was at various periods governor of shiraz and khorassan 190 persian woman and child 206 a picturesque beggar girl 206 ruku sultaneh, brother of the present shah 218 the shah in his automobile 224 the sadrazam's (prime minister's) residence, teheran 224 in the shah's palace grounds, teheran 230 the shah and his suite 240 rock sculpture near shah-abdul-azim 244 author's diligence between teheran and kum 244 the track along the kohrut dam 270 between gyabrabad and kohrut 270 the interior of chappar khana at kohrut 272 chapparing--the author's post horses 278 persian escort firing at brigands 278 jewish girls, isfahan 292 an isfahan jew 292 the square, isfahan 298 the palace gate, isfahan 304 boys weaving a carpet 314 cotton cleaners 314 handsome doorway in the madrassah, isfahan 322 one of zil-es-sultan's eunuchs 326 the "hall of forty columns," isfahan 326 the quivering minarets near isfahan 330 h.r.h. zil-es-sultan, governor of isfahan 350 agriculture and pigeon towers near isfahan 352 persian spinning wheels and weaving looms 366 halting at a caravanserai 380 a street in yezd, showing high _badjirs_ or ventilating shafts 380 ardeshir meheban irani and the leading members of the anguman-i-nasseri (parsee national assembly), yezd 394 parsee priests of yezd officiating during ceremony in their fire temple 400 interior of old caravanserai with central water tank 410 typical caravanserai and mud fort in the desert between yezd and kerman 414 a trade caravanserai, kerman 414 h. e. ala-el-mulk, governor of kerman, in his palace 432 tiled walls and picturesque windows in the madrassah, kerman 438 sirkar agha's son, the head of the sheikhi sect, kerman 438 the interior of a hammam or bath--first room 442 the hot room in a persian bath 444 the kala-i-dukhtar or virgin fort 444 graveyard and kala-i-dukhtar or virgin fort, kerman 446 ruined houses of farmitan 450 plan of house at farmitan 450 a steep rock climb, kerman 454 a view of the kerman plain from the "ya ali" inscription 458 wives returning from the pilgrimage for sterile women 458 map at the end of volume. across coveted lands chapter i the start--the terrors of the russian custom-house--an amusing incident at the russian frontier--politeness of russian officials--warsaw: its sights; its lovely women--the talented pole--people who know how to travel by train--a ludicrous scene. "first single to baku," i requested when my turn came at the window of the ticket office at victoria station. "baku?--where is that?" queried the ticket man. "in southern russia." "oh, i see! well, we cannot book further than warsaw for russia." "warsaw will do. . . . . how much? . . . thank you." my baggage having next been duly registered direct for the capital of poland, off i set to queenborough, crossed over by the night boat to flushing, and continued the following morning by express to berlin. once in the russian train from the german capital one hears a great deal of the terrors of the approaching russian custom-house, and here i may relate rather an amusing incident which will prove what these terrors amount to. in my sleeping car there happened to be some french merchants on their way to the fair of nijni-novgorod. on perceiving my two rifles, a good-sized ammunition case, and two cameras, one of the gentlemen gratuitously informed me that if i intended to proceed to russia i had better leave all these things behind, or they would all be confiscated at the frontier. i begged to differ, and the frenchmen laughed boisterously at my ignorance, and at what would happen presently. in their imaginative minds they perceived my valued firearms being lost for ever, and predicted my being detained at the police station till it pleased _les terribles cossacques_ to let me proceed. "evidently," shouted one of the frenchmen at the top of his voice, "this is your first journey abroad. . . . _we_," he added, "are great travellers. we have been once before in russia." "you _are_ great travellers!" i exclaimed, with the emphasis very strong on the _are_, and pretending intense admiration. naturally the franco-russian alliance was dragged into the conversation; were i a frenchman i might fare less badly. the russians and the french were brothers. but a british subject! a hated englishman bringing into russia two rifles, two revolvers, six hundred cartridges, twelve hundred photographic plates, two cameras, a large case of scientific instruments, all of which i would duly declare! why? russia was not england. i should soon experience how englishmen were treated in some countries. "russians," he exclaimed, "have not a polished manner like the french. _ah, non!_ they are semi-barbarians yet. they respect and fear the french, but not the english. . . . _par exemple!_" the frontier station of alexandrovo was reached, and a horde of terror-stricken passengers alighted from the carriages, preceded and followed by bags, portmanteaux, hold-alls, and bundles of umbrellas, which were hastily conveyed to the long tables of the huge custom-house inspection room. the two frenchmen had their belongings next to mine on the long counter, and presently an officer came. they were french subjects and they had nothing to declare. their elaborately decorated bags were instantly ordered open and turned upside down, while the officer searched with some gusto among the contents now spread on the table. there was a small pocket camera, two packets of photographic plates, some soiled handkerchiefs, collars and cuffs, a box of fancy note-paper, a bottle of scent, a pair of embroidered pantoufles, and a lot of patent brass studs and cuff links. with the exception of the soiled linen, everything was seized, for all were liable to duty, and some sharp words of reprimand were used by the officer to my now subdued french neighbours for attempting to smuggle. the officer moved on to me. "monsieur," mournfully remarked the frenchman, "now _you_ will be done for." i declared everything and produced a special permit, which had been very courteously given me by the russian ambassador, and handed it to the officer. having eagerly read it, he stood with his heels together and gave me a military salute. with a profound bow he begged me to point out to him all my luggage so that he could have it stamped without giving me further trouble. he politely declined to use the keys i handed him, and thinking that i might feel uncomfortable in the hustling crowd of people he conveyed me to a chair in order that i might sit down. i turned round to look at the frenchmen. they had altogether collapsed. "i thought you said that englishmen were hated in russia, and that they would confiscate all my things? you see they have confiscated nothing," i meekly remarked to the frenchmen, when they returned to the sleeping car. "i do not think that i have met with more polite customs officials anywhere." "_oui, oui_," muttered the stouter frenchman, who was evidently in no mood to enter into further conversation. "_et nous autres bêtes_," he soliloquized, "_qui avons fait l'alliance avec ces sauvages là! on m'a tout pris même le papier à lettres!_" he removed his coat and waistcoat and the many interesting patent appliances for holding his tie in the correct position--where it never remained--then he threw himself violently on the berth, face towards the wall, and grumbled the greater part of the night on the stupid mistake of the franco-russian alliance. on his return to france he would write a letter to the ministre des affaires étrangères. after a long and tedious soliloquy he fortunately fell asleep. warsaw on the vistula, the old capital of poland, was reached in the morning. the quickest way to baku would have been to proceed to moscow and then by the so-called "petroleum express," which leaves once a week, every tuesday, for baku. unluckily, i could not reach moscow in time, and therefore decided to travel across russia by the next best route, _via_ kiev, rostoff, and the caspian. the few hours i remained in warsaw were pleasantly spent in going about seeing the usual sights; the palace and lovely lazienski gardens, laid out in the old bed of the vistula; the out-of-door theatre on a small island, the auditorium being separated by water from the stage; the lakes, the saski ogrod, and the krasinski public gardens; the jewish quarter of the town; the museums of ancient and modern art. there are few cities in europe that are prettier, cleaner, and more animated than warsaw, and few women in the world that have a better claim to good looks than the warsaw fair sex. the majority of women one sees in the streets are handsome, and carry themselves well, and their dress is in good taste, never over-done as it is in paris, for instance. the whole city has a flourishing appearance, with its tramways, gay omnibuses, electric light, telephones, and every modern convenience. the streets are broad and cheerful. in the newer parts of the city there are beautiful residences, several of which, i was told, belong to british subjects settled there. the russian military element is very strong, for poland's love for russia is not yet very great. as we walk along the main thoroughfares a long string of cossacks, in their long black felt cloaks and astrakan caps, canter along. they are a remarkably picturesque and business-like lot of soldiers. poles are civility itself, that is, of course, if one is civil to them. historically the place is of extreme interest, and the battlefields of novogeorgievsk, which played such an important part in the polish insurrection of 1831, and of grochowo, where the poles were defeated, are well worth a visit. at maciejowice, too, some fifty miles up the vistula, kosciuzko was made prisoner by the conquering russians. warsaw is the third largest city in the russian empire, and its favourable geographical position makes it one of the great pivots of eastern europe. with a navigable river and the great main railway lines to important centres such as berlin, vienna, moscow, st. petersburg, dantzig, kiev, and odessa, with good climatic conditions, and fertile soil; with the pick of natural talent in art and science, and the love for enterprise that is innate in the polish character, warsaw cannot help being a prosperous place. the city has very extensive suburbs. the best known to foreigners, praga, on the opposite bank of the vistula, is connected with warsaw by two iron bridges. warsaw itself is built on terraces, one above another, along the bank of the river, but the main portion of the city stands on a high undulating plain above. there are over a hundred catholic, several greek churches, and a number of synagogues; a university, schools of art, academies, fourteen monasteries, and two nunneries. there are few places in the world where the artisan or the common workman is more intelligent and artistic, and where the upper classes are more refined and soundly cultured, than in warsaw. with a certain reflex of the neighbouring german commercial influence, the place has become a thriving manufacturing and trading centre. machinery, excellent pianos and other musical instruments, carriages, silver and electro-plate, boots and leather goods are manufactured and exported on a large scale. the tanneries of warsaw are renowned the world over, and the warsaw boots are much sought after all over the russian empire for their softness, lightness and durability. then there are great exports of wheat, flax, sugar, beer, spirits, and tobacco. but time is short, and we must drive to the station. say what you will about the russian, there is a thing that he certainly knows how to do. he knows how to travel by rail. one has a great many preconceived ideas of the russian and his ways. one is always reminded that he is a barbarian, that he is ignorant, that he is dirty. he is possibly a barbarian in one way, that he can differentiate good from bad, real comfort from "optical illusions" or illusions of any other kind, a thing highly civilised people seem generally unable to do. this is particularly noticeable in russian railway travelling,--probably the best and cheapest in the world. to begin with, when you take a first-class ticket it entitles you to a seat numbered and reserved that nobody can appropriate. no more tickets are sold than correspond with the accommodation provided in the train. this does away entirely with the "leaving one's umbrella" business, to secure a seat, or scattering one's belongings all over the carriage to ensure the whole compartment to one's self, to the inconvenience of other travellers. then first, second and third-class passengers are provided with sleeping accommodation. the sleeping accommodation, especially for first and second-class passengers, consists of a wide and long berth wherein they can turn round at their will, if they please, not of a short, narrow bunk in which even a lean person has to lie edgewise or roll out, as in the continental sleeping car, for which discomfort (rather than accommodation) preposterous extra charges have to be paid, above the first-class fare. then, too, in the latter the compartments are so small, so ridiculously ventilated, that after one night spent boxed in, especially if another passenger shares the same cabin, one feels sick for some hours, and in the day-time one has no room to turn round, nor space to put one's legs. as for the lighting, the less said the better. these faults exist in our own and the continental first-class compartments. but the barbarian russian knows and does better. the line being of a very broad gauge, his first-class carriages are extremely spacious and very high, with large windows and efficacious ventilators; and there is plenty of room everywhere to spread one's limbs in every direction. there is probably less gilding about the ceiling, fewer nickel-plated catches about the doors; not so much polished wood, nor ghastly coloured imitation-leather paper, nor looking-glasses, but very convenient folding-tables are found instead; the seats are ample and serviceable, of plain, handsome red velvet, devoid of the innumerable dust-collecting button-pits--that striking feature of british and continental railway-carriage decoration. movable cushions are provided for one's back and head. there are bright electric lights burning overhead, and adjustable reading lights in the corners of the carriage. a corridor runs along the whole train, and for a few kopeks passengers can at any moment procure excellent tea, caviare sandwiches, or other light refreshments from attendants. now for the bedding itself. the russian, who is ever a practical man, carries his own bedding--a couple of sheets, blankets, and small pillow,--a custom infinitely cleaner and more sensible than sleeping in dubious, smelly blankets of which one does not know who has used them before, nor when they were washed last. but if passengers wish, by paying a rouble (two shillings) a night to the guard, bedding is provided by the railway. there is a fine _lavabo_ at the end of each carriage, with shampoo, hot and cold water, etc. here, too, by asking the guard, towels are handed over to those passengers who have not brought their own. here i may relate another amusing incident. unable to get at my towels packed in my registered baggage, and ignorant of the russian language, i inquired of a polyglot fellow-passenger what was the russian word for towel, so that i could ask the guard for one. "_palatiensi_," said he, and i repeated, "palatiensi, palatiensi, palatiensi," so as to impress the word well upon my memory. having enjoyed a good wash and a shampoo, and dripping all over with water, i rang for the guard, and sure enough, when the man came, i could not recollect the word. at last it dawned upon me that it was,--"_palatinski_," and "_palatinski_," i asked of the guard. to my surprise the guard smiled graciously, and putting on a modest air replied: "_palatinski niet, paruski_ (i do not speak latin, i speak only russian)," and the more i repeated "palatinski," putting the inflection now on one syllable, then on the other, to make him understand, the more flattered the man seemed to be, and modestly gave the same answer. this was incomprehensible to me, until my polyglot fellow-passenger came to my assistance. "do you know what you are asking the guard?" he said in convulsions of laughter. "yes, i am asking for a 'palatinski'--a towel." "no, you are not!" and he positively went into hysterics. "palatinski means 'do you speak latin?' how can you expect a russian railway-guard to speak latin? look how incensed the poor man is at being mistaken for a latin scholar! ask him for a _palatiensi_, and he will run for a towel." the man did run on the magic word being pronounced, and duly returned with a nice clean _palatiensi_, which, however, was little use to me for i had by this time nearly got dry by the natural processes of dripping and evaporation. one or two other similar incidents, and the extreme civility one meets from every one while travelling in russia, passed the time away pleasantly until kiev, one of the oldest cities of russia, was reached. chapter ii kiev--its protecting saint--intellectuality and trade--priests and education--wherein lies the strength of russia--industries--a famous monastery--the catacombs of st. theodosius and st. anthony--pilgrims--veneration of saints--the dnieper river--churches--a luminous cross--kharkoff--agriculture--horse fairs--rostoff--votka drunkenness--strong fortifications--cheap and good travelling--baku. tradition tells us that kiev was founded before the christian era, and its vicissitudes have since been many and varied. it has at all times been considered one of the most important ecclesiastical centres of russia,--if not indeed the most important--but particularly since st. vladimir, the protecting saint of the city, preached christianity there in 988, this being the first time that the religion of christ had been expounded in russia. a century and a half before that time (in 822) kiev was the capital city of the state and remained such till 1169. in 1240 it was captured by mongols who held it for 81 years. the lithuanians came next, and remained in possession for 249 years, until 1569; then poland possessed it until the year 1654, when it became part of the russian empire. kiev has the name of being a very intellectual city. somehow or other, intellectuality and trade do not seem to go together, and although the place boasts of a military school and arsenal, theological colleges, a university, a school of sacred picture painters, and a great many scientific and learned societies, we find that none of these are locally put to any marked practical use, except the sacred-picture painting; the images being disposed of very rapidly, and for comparatively high prices all over the country. hardly any religious resorts are great commercial centres, the people of these places being generally conservative and bigoted and the ruling priestly classes devoting too much attention to idealism to embark in commercial enterprise, which leaves little time for praying. agriculture and horticulture are encouraged and give good results. the priests make money--plenty of it--by their religion, and they probably know that there is nothing more disastrous to religion in laymen than rapid money-making by trade or otherwise. with money comes education, and with education, too powerful a light thrown upon superstition and idolatry. it is nevertheless possible, even probable, that in the ignorance of the masses, in the fervent and unshaken confidence which they possess in god, the czar and their leaders, may yet lie the greatest strength of russia. it must not be forgotten that half-educated, or half uneducated, masses are probably the weakness to-day of most other civilised nations. some business on a small scale, however, is transacted at the various fairs held in kiev, such as the great fair at the beginning of the russian year. there are many beet-root sugar refineries, the staple industry of the country, and next come leather tanneries, worked leather, machinery, spirits, grain and tobacco. wax candles are manufactured in huge quantities, and in the monastery there is a very ancient printing-press for religious books. peter the great erected a fortress here in a most commanding spot. it is said to contain up-to-date guns. a special pass has to be obtained from the military authorities to be allowed to enter it, not so much because it is used as an arsenal, but because from the high tower a most excellent panoramic view is obtained of the city, the neighbourhood, and the course of the river down below. but kiev is famous above all for its monastery, the kievo-petcherskaya, near which the two catacombs of st. theodosius and st. antony attract over three hundred thousand pilgrims every year. the first catacomb contains forty-five bodies of saints, the other eighty and the revered remains are stored in plain wood or silver-mounted coffins, duly labelled with adequate inscriptions. the huge monastery itself bears the appearance of great wealth, and has special accommodation for pilgrims. as many as 200,000 pilgrims are said to receive board and lodging yearly in the monastery. these are naturally pilgrims of the lower classes. enormous riches in solid gold, silver and jewellery are stored in the monastery and are daily increased by devout gifts. but let us visit the catacombs. the spare-looking, long-haired and bearded priests at the entrance of the catacomb present to each pilgrim, as a memento, a useful and much valued wax candle, which one lights and carries in one's hand down the steep and slippery steps of the subterranean passages. all along, the procession halts before mummified and most unattractive bodies, a buzzing of prayers being raised by the pilgrims when the identity of each saint is explained by the priest conducting the party. the more devout people stoop over the bodies and kiss them fervently all over, voluntarily and gladly disbursing in return for the privilege all such small cash as may lie idle in their pockets. down and down the crowd goes through the long winding, cold, damp, rancid-smelling passages, devoid of the remotest gleam of ventilation, and where one breathes air so thick and foul that it sticks to one's clothes and furs one's tongue, throat and lungs for several hours after one has emerged from the catacombs into fresh air again. yet there are hermit monks who spend their lives underground without ever coming up to the light, and in doing so become bony, discoloured, ghastly creatures, with staring, inspired eyes and hollow cheeks, half demented to all appearance, but much revered and respected by the crowds for their self-sacrifice. further on the pilgrims drink holy water out of a small cup made in the shape of a cross, with which the liquid is served out from a larger vessel. the expression of beatitude on their faces as they sip of the holy water, and their amazing reverence for all they see and are told to do, are quite extraordinary to watch, and are quite refreshing in these dying days of idealism supplanted by fast-growing and less poetic atheistic notions. the scowl i received from the priest when my turn came and he lifted the tin cross to my lips, is still well impressed upon my mind. i drew back and politely declined to drink. there was a murmur of strong disapproval from all the people present, and the priest grumbled something; but really, what with the fetid smell of tallow-candle smoke, the used-up air, and the high scent of pilgrims--and religious people ever have a pungent odour peculiar to themselves--water, whether holy or otherwise, was about the very beverage that would have finished me up at that particular moment. glad i was to be out in the open air again, driving through the pretty gardens of kiev, and to enjoy the extensive view from the high cliffs overlooking the winding dnieper river. a handsome suspension bridge joins the two banks. the river is navigable and during the spring floods the water has been known to rise as much as twenty feet. the city of kiev is situated on high undulating ground some 350 feet above the river, and up to 1837 consisted of the old town, podol and petchersk, to which forty-two years later were added shulyavka, solomenka, kurenevka and lukyanovka, the city being divided into eight districts. the more modern part of the town is very handsome, with wide streets and fine stone houses of good architecture, whereas the poorer abodes are mostly constructed of wood. as in all the other cities of russia there are in kiev a great many churches, over seventy in all, the oldest of which is the cathedral of st. sophia in the centre of the town, built as early as 1037 on the spot where the petchenegs were defeated the previous year by yarosloff. it is renowned for its superb altar, its valuable mosaics and the tombs of russian grand-dukes. next in importance is the church of the assumption, containing the bodies of seven saints conveyed here from constantinople. at night the cross borne by the statue of vladimir, erected on a high point overlooking the dnieper, is lighted up by electricity. this luminous cross can be seen for miles and miles all over the country, and the effect is most impressive and weird. from kiev i had to strike across country, and the trains were naturally not quite so luxurious as the express trains on the main line, but still the carriages were of the same type, extremely comfortable and spacious, and all the trains corridor trains. the next important city where i halted for a few hours was kharkoff in the ukraine, an agricultural centre where beet-root was raised in huge quantities and sugar manufactured from it; wheat was plentiful, and good cattle, sheep and horses were bred. the population was mostly of cossacks of the don and little russians. the industries of the place were closely akin to farming. agricultural implements were manufactured; there were wool-cleaning yards, soap and candle factories, wheat-mills, brandy distilleries, leather tanneries, cloth manufactories, and brick kilns. the horse fairs at kharkoff are patronised by buyers from all parts of russia, but to outsiders the city is probably better known as the early cradle of nihilistic notions. although quite a handsome city, with fine streets and remarkably good shops, kharkoff has nothing special to attract the casual visitor, and in ordinary times a few hours are more than sufficient to get a fair idea of the place. with a railway ticket punched so often that there is very little left of it, we proceed to rostoff, where we shall strike the main line from moscow to the caucasus. here is a comparatively new city--not unlike the shambling lesser western cities of the united states of america, with plenty of tumbling-down, made-anyhow fences, and empty tin cans lying everywhere. the streets are unpaved, and the consequent dust blinding, the drinking saloons in undue proportion to the number of houses, and votka-drunken people in undue proportion to the population. votka-drunkenness differs from the intoxication of other liquors in one particular. instead of "dead drunk" it leaves the individuals drunk-dead. you see a disgusting number of these corpse-like folks lying about the streets, cadaverous-looking and motionless, spread flat on their faces or backs, uncared-for by everybody. some sleep it off, and, if not run over by a droshki, eventually go home; some sleep it on, and are eventually conveyed to the graveyard, and nobody seems any the wiser except, of course, the people who do not drink bad votka to excess. rostoff stands at the head of the delta of the don, a position of great strategical importance, where of course the russians have not failed to build strong fortifications. these were begun as early as 1761. now very active ship-building yards are found here, and extensive caviare factories. leather, wool, corn, soap, ropes and tobacco are also exported, and the place, apart from its military importance, is steadily growing commercially. the majority of shops seem to deal chiefly in american and german made agricultural implements, machinery and tools, and in firearms and knives of all sizes and shapes. the place is not particularly clean and certainly hot, dusty and most unattractive. one is glad to get into the train again and steam away from it. as we get further south towards the caucasus the country grows more barren and hot, the dust is appalling, but the types of inhabitants at the little stations become very picturesque. the georgians are very fine people and the armenians too, in appearance at least. the station sheds along the dusty steppes are guarded by soldiers, presumably to prevent attacks on the trains, and as one gets near the caspian one begins to see the wooden pyramids over oil wells, and long freight trains of petroleum carried in iron cylindrical tanks. the wells get more numerous as we go along; the stations more crowded with petroleum tanks. we are nearing the great naphtha wells of baku, where at last we arrive, having travelled from tuesday to sunday afternoon, or five days, except a few hours' halt in kiev, kharkoff and rostoff. [illustration: the baku oil wells.] the first-class railway fare from warsaw for the whole journey was fully covered by a five-pound note, and, mind you, could have been done cheaper if one chose to travel by slower trains on a less direct route! chapter iii baku--unnecessary anxiety--a storm--oil wells--naphtha spouts--how the wells are worked--the native city--the baku bay--fortifications--the maiden's tower--depressing vegetation--baku dust--prosperity and hospitality--the amir of bokhara--the mail service to persia on the caspian--the mercury and caucasus line--lenkoran--astara (russo-persian boundary)--antiquated steamers. so many accounts are heard of how one's registered baggage in russia generally arrives with locks smashed and minus one's most valuable property, and how unpunctual in arriving luggage is, and how few passengers escape without having their pockets picked before reaching their destination--by the way, a fellow-passenger had his pockets picked at the station of mineralnya vod--that i was somewhat anxious to see my belongings again, and fully expected to find that something had gone wrong with them. much to my surprise, on producing the receipt at the very handsome railway terminus, all my portmanteaux and cases were instantly delivered in excellent condition. the caspian sea steamers for persia leave baku on sunday and tuesday at midnight. there was a fierce sand storm raging at the time and the steamer had returned without being able to land her passengers at their destination. i decided to wait till the tuesday. there is plenty to interest one in baku. i will not describe the eternal fires, described so often by other visitors, nor tell how naphtha was tapped for the first time at this place, and how in 1886 one particular well spouted oil with such tremendous force that it was impossible to check it and it deluged a good portion of the neighbourhood. a year later, in 1887, another fountain rose to a height of 350 ft. there are myriads of other lesser fountains and wells, each covered by a wooden shed like a slender pyramid, and it is a common occurrence to see a big spout of naphtha rising outside and high above the top of the wooden shed, now from one well, now from another. the process of bringing naphtha to the surface under ordinary circumstances is simple and effective, a metal cylinder is employed that has a valve at the lower end allowing the tube to fill while it descends, and closing automatically when the tube is full and is being raised above ground and emptied into pits provided for the purpose. the naphtha then undergoes the process of refinement. there are at the present moment hundreds of refineries in baku. the residue and waste of naphtha are used as fuel, being very much cheaper than coal or wood. the greater number of wells are found a few miles out of the town on the balakhani peninsula, and the naphtha is carried into the baku refineries by numerous pipe lines. the whole country round is, however, impregnated with oil, and even the sea in one or two bays near baku is coated with inflammable stuff and can be ignited by throwing a lighted match upon it. at night this has a weird effect. apart from the oil, baku--especially the european settlement--has nothing to fascinate the traveller. in the native city, persian in type, with flat roofs one above the other and the hill top crowned by a castle and the mosque of shah abbas, constant murders occur. the native population consists mostly of armenians and persians. cotton, saffron, opium, silk and salt are exported in comparatively small quantities. machinery, grain and dried fruit constitute the chief imports. the crescent-shaped baku bay, protected as it is by a small island in front of it, affords a safe anchorage for shipping. it has good ship-yards and is the principal station of the russian fleet in the caspian. since baku became part of the russian empire in 1806 the harbour has been very strongly fortified. the most striking architectural sight in baku is the round maiden's tower by the water edge, from the top of which the lovely daughter of the khan of baku precipitated herself on to the rocks below because she could not marry the man she loved. the most depressing sight in baku is the vegetation, or rather the strenuous efforts of the lover of plants to procure verdure at all costs in the gardens. it is seldom one's lot to see trees and plants look more pitiable, notwithstanding the unbounded care that is taken of them. the terrific heat of baku, the hot winds and sand-storms are deadly enemies to vegetation. nothing will grow. one does not see a blade of grass nor a shrub anywhere except those few that are artificially brought up. the sand is most trying. it is so fine that the wind forces it through anything, and one's tables, one's chairs, one's bed are yellow-coated with it. the tablecloth at the hotel, specklessly white when you begin to dine, gets gradually yellower at sight, and by the time you are half through your dinner the waiter has to come with a brush to remove the thick coating of dust on the table. these are the drawbacks, but there is an air of prosperity about the place and people that is distinctly pleasing, even although one may not share in it. there is quite a fair foreign community of business people, and their activity is very praiseworthy. the people are very hospitable--too hospitable. when they do not talk of naphtha, they drink sweet champagne in unlimited quantities. but what else could they do? everything is naphtha here, everything smells of naphtha, the steamers, the railway engines are run with naphtha. the streets are greasy with naphtha. occasionally--frequently of late--the monotony of the place is broken by fires of gigantic proportions on the premises of over-insured well-owners. the destruction to property on such occasions is immense, the fires spreading with incalculable rapidity over an enormous area, and the difficulty of extinguishing them being considerable. when i was in baku the amir of bokhara was being entertained in the city as guest of the government. his suite was quartered in the grand hotel. he had taken his usual tour through russia and no trouble had been spared to impress the amir with the greatness of the russian empire. he had been given a very good time, and i was much impressed with the pomp and cordiality with which he was treated. neither the governor nor any of the other officials showed him the usual stand-off manner which in india, for instance, would have been used towards an asiatic potentate, whether conquered by us or otherwise. they dealt with him as if he had been a european prince--at which the amir seemed much flattered. he had a striking, good-natured face with black beard and moustache, and dark tired eyes that clearly testified to russian hospitality. i went to see him off on the steamer which he kept waiting several hours after the advertised time of departure. he dolefully strode on board over a grand display of oriental rugs, while the military brass band provided for the occasion played russian selections. everybody official wore decorations, even the captain of the merchant ship, who proudly bore upon his chest a brilliant star--a bokhara distinction received from the amir on his outward journey for navigating him safely across the caspian. [illustration: the amir of bokhara leaving baku to return to his country.] the amir's suite was very picturesque, some of the men wearing long crimson velvet gowns embroidered in gold, others silk-checked garments. all had white turbans. the snapshot reproduced in the illustration shows the amir accompanied by the governor of baku just stepping on board. there is a regular mail service twice a week in summer, from april to the end of october, and once a week in winter, on the caspian between baku and enzeli in persia, the russian government paying a subsidy to the kavkas and mercury steam navigation company for the purpose of conveying passengers, mails (and, in the event of war, troops) into persia and back. there are also a number of coasting steamers constantly plying between the various ports on the caspian both on the russian and persian coast. the hurricane having abated there was a prospect of a fair voyage and the probability of landing at enzeli in persia, so when the tuesday came i went on board the old rickety paddle-steamer (no less than forty-five years old) which was to convey me to that port. she was one of the mercury-caucasus co. fleet, and very dirty she was, too. it is perhaps right to mention that for the first time in russia, purposeless rudeness and insolence came to my notice on the part of the ticket officials of the mercury line. they behaved like stupid children, and were absolutely incompetent to do the work which had been entrusted to them. they were somewhat surprised when i took them to task and made them "sit up." having found that they had played the fool with the wrong man they instantly became very meek and obliging. it is nevertheless a great pity that the mercury company should employ men of this kind who, for some aim of their own, annoy passengers, both foreign and russian, and are a disgrace to the company and their country. on board ship the captain, officers and stewards were extremely civil. nearly all the captains of the caspian steamers were norwegian or from finland, and were jolly fellows. the cabins were very much inhabited, so much so that it was difficult to sleep in them at all. insects so voracious and in such quantities and variety were in full possession of the berths, that they gave one as lively a night as it is possible for mortals to have. fortunately the journey was not a long one, and having duly departed at midnight from baku i reached lenkoran the next day, with its picturesque background of mountains and thickly-wooded country. this spot is renowned for tiger-shooting. our next halt was at astara, where there were a number of wooden sheds and drinking saloons,--a dreadful place, important only because on the perso-russian boundary line formed by the river of the same name. we landed here a number of police officers, who were met by a deputation of some fifty persian-looking men, who threw their arms round their necks and in turn lustily kissed them on both cheeks. it was a funny sight. when we got on board again after a couple of hours on shore the wind rose and we tossed about considerably. another sleepless night on the "living" mattress in the bunk, and early in the morning we reached the persian port of enzeli. chapter iv the port of enzeli--troublesome landing--flat-bottomed boats--a special permit--civility of officials--across the murd-ap lagoon--piri-bazaar--a self-imposed golden rule--where our stock came from--the drive to resht--the bazaar--the native shops and foreign goods--ghilan's trade--the increase in trade--british and russian competitions--sugar--tobacco--hotels--the british consulate--the governor's palace--h.e. salare afkham--a swiss hotel--banks. one calls enzeli a "port" _pour façon de parler_, for persia has no harbours at all on the caspian sea. enzeli, meshed-i-sher or astrabad, the three principal landing places on the persian coast, have no shelter for ships, which have to lie a good distance out at sea while passengers and cargo are transhipped by the company's steam launch or--in rough weather--by rowing boats. in very rough weather it is impossible to effect a landing at all, and--this is a most frequent occurrence on the treacherous caspian--after reaching one's journey's end one has to go all the way back to the starting point and begin afresh. there are people who have been compelled to take the journey four or five times before they could land, until the violent storms which often rage along the persian coast had completely subsided and allowed the flimsy steam-launch at enzeli to come out to meet the steamers, lying about a mile outside. we had passengers on board who had been unable to land on the previous journey, and were now on their second attempt to set foot in persia. we were rolling a good deal when we cast anchor, and after waiting some hours we were informed that it was too rough for the steam-launch to come out. the captain feared that he must put to sea again, as the wind was rising and he was afraid to remain so near the coast. two rowing boats eventually came out, and with some considerable exertion of the rowers succeeded in getting near the steamer. i immediately chartered one, and after a good deal of see-saw and banging and knocking and crackling of wood alongside the steamer, my baggage and i were transhipped into the flat-bottomed boat. off we rowed towards the shore, getting drenched each time that the boat dipped her nose into the sea. the narrow entrance of the enzeli bay is blocked by a sand-bar. the water is here very shallow, only about six feet deep. riding on the top of the breakers was quite an experience, and we occasionally shipped a good deal of water. we, however, landed safely and had to pay pretty dearly for the convenience. the boatmen do not run the risk of going out for nothing, and when they do, take every advantage of passengers who employ them. i was fortunate to get off by giving a backshish of a few _tomans_ (dollars), but there are people who have been known to pay three, four and even five pounds sterling to be conveyed on shore. here, too, thanks to the civility of the persian ambassador in london, i had a special permit for my firearms, instruments, etc., and met with the greatest courtesy from the belgian and persian officers in the customs. it is necessary to have one's passport in order, duly _visé_ by the persian consul in london, or else a delay might occur at enzeli. there is a lighthouse at enzeli, the customs buildings and a small hotel. from this point a lagoon, the murd-ap has to be crossed, either by the small steam-launch or by rowing boat. as there seemed to be some uncertainty about the departure of the launch, and as i had a good deal of luggage, i preferred the latter way. eight powerful men rowed with all their might at the prospect of a good backshish; and we sped along at a good pace on the placid waters of the lagoon, in big stretches of open water, now skirting small islands, occasionally through narrow canals, the banks of which were covered with high reeds and heavy, tropical, confused, untidy vegetation. the air was still and stifling--absolutely unmoved, screened as it was on all sides by vegetation. the sailors sang a monotonous cadence, and the boat glided along for some three hours until we arrived at the mouth of the piri river, hardly wide enough for a couple of boats to go through simultaneously, and so shallow that rowing was no longer practicable. the men jumped off, tied the towing rope that hung from the mast to their belts, and ran along the banks of the piri river, the water of which was almost stagnant. an hour or so later we suddenly came upon a number of boats jammed together in the miniature harbour of piri bazaar--a pool of putrid water a few feet in circumference. as the boat gradually approached, a stone-paved path still separated from you by a thick wide layer of filthy mud wound its way to the few miserable sheds--the bazaar--up above. a few trays of grapes, some persian bread, some earthenware pottery of the cheapest kind, are displayed in the shop fronts--and that is all of the piri-bazaar. on landing at enzeli one hears so much of piri-bazaar that one gets to imagine it a big, important place,--and as it is, moreover, practically the first really typical persian place at which one touches, the expectations are high. upon arrival there one's heart sinks into one's boots, and one's boots sink deep into black stinking mud as one takes a very long--yet much too short--jump from the boat on to what one presumes to be _terra firma_. with boots clogged and heavy with filth, a hundred people like ravenous birds of prey yelling in your ears (and picking your pockets if they have a chance), with your luggage being mercilessly dragged in the mud, with everybody demanding backshish on all sides, tapping you on the shoulder or pulling your coat,--thus one lands in real persia. in the country of iran one does not travel for pleasure nor is there any pleasure in travelling. for study and interest, yes. there is plenty of both everywhere. personally, i invariably make up my mind when i start for the east that no matter what happens i will on no account get out of temper, and this self-imposed rule--i must admit--was never, in all my travels, tried to the tantalising extent that it was in the country of the shah. the persian lower classes--particularly in places where they have come in contact with europeans--are well-nigh intolerable. there is nothing that they will not do to annoy you in every possible way, to extort backshish from you. in only one way do persians in this respect differ from other orientals. the others usually try to obtain money by pleasing you and being useful and polite, whereas the persian adopts the quicker, if not safer, method of bothering you and giving you trouble to such an unlimited degree that you are compelled to give something in order to get rid of him. and in a country where no redress can be obtained from the police, where laws do not count, and where the lower classes are as corrupt and unscrupulous as they are in the more civilised parts of persia (these remarks do not apply to the parts where few or no europeans have been) the only way to save one's self from constant worry and repressed anger--so bad for one's health--is to make up one's mind at once to what extent one is prepared to be imposed upon, and leave the country after. that is to say, if one does not wish to adopt the only other and more attractive alternative of inflicting summary justice on two-thirds of the natives one meets,--too great an exertion, to be sure, in so hot a climate. they say that persia is the country that our stock came from. it is quite possible, and if so we are indeed to be congratulated upon having morally improved so much since, or the persians to be condoled with on their sad degeneration. the better classes, however, are very different, as we shall see later. personally, i adopted the first method suggested above, the easier of the two, and i deliberately put by what i thought was a fair sum to be devoted exclusively to extortion. on leaving the country several months later, much to my astonishment i found that i had not been imposed upon half as much as i expected, although i had stayed in persia double the time i had intended. maybe this can be accounted for by my having spent most of my time in parts not so much frequented by europeans. indeed, if the persian is to-day the perfidious individual he is, we have to a great extent only ourselves to blame for making him so. keeping my temper under control, and an eye on my belongings, i next hired a carriage to convey me to the town of resht, seven miles distant. in damp heat, that made one's clothes moist and unpleasant, upon a road muddy to such an extent that the wheels sank several inches in it and splashed the passenger all over, we galloped through thick vegetation and patches of agriculture, and entered the city of resht. through the narrow winding streets of the bazaar we slowed down somewhat in some places, the carriage almost touching the walls of the street on both sides. the better houses possess verandahs with banisters painted blue, while the walls of the buildings are generally white. one is struck by the great number of shoe shops in the bazaar, displaying true persian shoes with pointed turned-up toes,--then by the brass and copper vessel shops, the ancient and extremely graceful shapes of the vessels and amphoras being to this date faithfully preserved and reproduced. more pleasing still to the eye are the fruit shops, with huge trays of water-melons, cucumbers, figs, and heaps of grapes. the latter are, nevertheless, not so very tasty to the palate and do not compare with the delicate flavour of the italian or spanish grapes. somewhat incongruous and out-of-place, yet more numerous than truly persian shops, are the semi-european stores, with cheap glass windows displaying inside highly dangerous-looking kerosene lamps, badly put together tin goods, soiled enamel tumblers and plates, silvered glass balls for ceiling decoration, and the vilest oleographs that the human mind can devise, only matched by the vileness of the frames. small looking-glasses play an important part in these displays, and occasionally a hand sewing-machine. tinned provisions, wine and liquor shops are numerous, but unfortunate is the man who may have to depend upon them for his food. the goods are the remnants of the oldest stocks that have gradually drifted, unsold, down to baku, and have eventually been shipped over for the persian market where people do not know any better. resht is the chief city in the ghilan province. ghilan's trade in piece-goods is about two-thirds in the hands of russia, while one-third (or even less) is still retained by england,--manchester goods. this cannot well be helped, for there is no direct route from great britain to resht, and all british goods must come through bagdad, tabriz, or baku. the two first routes carry most of the trade, which consists principally of shirtings, prints, cambrics, mulls, nainsooks, and turkey-reds, which are usually put down as of turkish origin, whereas in reality they come from manchester, and are merely re-exported, mainly from constantinople, by native firms either in direct traffic or in exchange for goods received. one has heard a great deal of the enormous increase in trade in persia during the last couple of years or so. the increase has not been in the trade itself, but in the collection of customs dues, which is now done in a regular and business like fashion by competent belgian officials, instead of by natives, to whom the various collecting stations were formerly farmed out. it will not be very easy for the british trader to compete successfully with the russian in northern persia, for that country, being geographically in such close proximity, can transport her cheaply made goods at a very low cost into iran. also the russian government allows enormous advantages to her own traders with persia in order to secure the persian market, and to develop her fast-increasing industrial progress,--advantages which british traders do not enjoy. still, considering all the difficulties british trade has to contend with in order to penetrate, particularly into ghilan, it is extraordinary how some articles, like white manchester shirtings, enjoy practically a monopoly, being of a better quality than similar goods sent by russia, austria, hungary, germany, italy or holland. loaf sugar, which came at one time almost entirely from france, has been cut out by russian sugar, which is imported in large quantities and eventually finds its way all over persia. it is of inferior quality, but very much cheaper than sugar of french manufacture, and is the chief russian import into ghilan. tobacco comes principally from turkey and russia. in going on with our drive through the bazaar we see it sold in the tiny tobacco shops, where it is tastily arranged in heaps on square pieces of blue paper, by the side of russian and turkish cigarettes. [illustration: persian wrestling.] and now for the resht hotels. here is an armenian hotel--european style. from the balcony signs and gesticulations and shouts in english, french, and russian endeavour to attract the passer-by--a youth even rushes to the horses and stops them in order to induce the traveller to alight and put up at the hostelry; but after a long discussion, on we go, and slowly wind our way through the intricate streets crowded with men and women and children--all grumbling and making some remark as one goes by. at one point a circle of people squatting in the middle of a road round a pile of water-melons, at huge slices of which they each bit lustily, kept us waiting some time, till they moved themselves and their melons out of the way for the carriage to pass. further on a soldier or two in rags lay sleeping flat on the shady side of the road, with his pipe (kalian) and his sword lying by his side. boys were riding wildly on donkeys and frightened women scrambled away or flattened themselves against the side walls of the street, while the hubs of the wheels shaved and greased their ample black silk or cotton trousers made in the shape of sacks, and the horses' hoofs splashed them all over with mud. the women's faces were covered with a white cloth reaching down to the waist. here, too, as in china, the double basket arrangement on a long pole swung across the shoulders was much used for conveying loads of fruit and vegetables on men's shoulders;--but least picturesque of all were the well-to-do people of the strong sex, in short frock-coats pleated all over in the skirt. one gets a glimpse of a picturesque blue-tiled pagoda-like roof with a cylindrical column upon it, and at last we emerge into a large quadrangular square, with european buildings to the west side. a little further the british flag flies gaily in the wind above h.m.'s consulate. then we come upon a larger building, the palace of the governor, who, to save himself the trouble and expense of having sentries at the entrances, had life-size representations of soldiers with drawn swords painted on the wall. they are not all represented wearing the same uniform, as one would expect with a guard of that kind, but for variety's sake some have red coats, with plenty of gold braiding on them, and blue trousers, the others blue coats and red trousers. one could not honestly call the building a beautiful one, but in its unrestored condition it is quite picturesque and quaint. it possesses a spacious verandah painted bright blue, and two windows at each side with elaborate ornamentations similarly coloured red and blue. a red-bordered white flag with the national lion in the centre floats over the palace, and an elaborate castellated archway, with a repetition of the persian lion on either side, stands in front of the main entrance in the square of the palace. so also do four useful kerosene lamp-posts. the telegraph office is to the right of the palace with a pretty garden in front of it. the most important political personage living in resht is his excellency salare afkham, called mirza fathollah khan, one of the richest men in persia, who has a yearly income of some twenty thousand pounds sterling. he owns a huge house and a great deal of land round resht, and is much respected for his talent and kindly manner. he was formerly minister of the customs and posts of all persia, and his chest is a blaze of russian, turkish and persian decorations of the highest class, bestowed upon him by the various sovereigns in recognition of his good work. he has for private secretary abal kassem khan, the son of the best known of modern persian poets, chams-echoéra, and himself a very able man who has travelled all over asia, turkestan and europe. persia is a country of disappointments. there is a general belief that the swiss are splendid hotel-keepers. let me give you my experience of the hotel at resht kept by a swiss. "can this be the swiss hotel?" i queried to myself, as the driver pulled up in front of an appallingly dirty flight of steps. there seemed to be no one about, and after going through the greater part of the building, i eventually came across a semi-starved persian servant, who assured me that it was. the proprietor, when found, received me with an air of condescension that was entertaining. he led me to a room which he said was the best in the house. on inspection, the others, i agreed with him, were decidedly not better. the hotel had twelve bedrooms and they were all disgustingly filthy. true enough, each bedroom had more beds in it than one really needed, two or even three in each bedroom, but a _coup-d'oeil_ was sufficient to assure one's self that it was out of the question to make use of any of them. i counted four different coloured hairs, of disproportionate lengths and texture, on one bed-pillow in my room, leaving little doubt that no less than four people had laid their heads on that pillow before; and the pillow of the other bed was so black with dirt that i should imagine at least a dozen consecutive occupants of that couch would be a low estimate indeed. as for the sheets, blankets, and towels, we had better draw a veil. i therefore preferred to spread my own bedding on the floor, and slept there. the hotel boasted of three large dining-rooms in which a few moth-eaten stuffed birds and a case or two of mutilated butterflies, a couple of german oleographs, which set one's teeth on edge, and dusty, stamped cotton hangings formed the entire decoration. to give one an appetite--which one never lost as long as one stayed there--one was informed before dinner that the proprietor was formerly the shah's cook. after dinner one felt very, very sorry for the poor shah, and more so for one's self, for having put up at the hotel. but there was no other place in resht, and i stuck to my decision that i would never get angry, so i stood all patiently. the next day i would start for teheran. one talks of persian extortion, but it is nothing to the example offered to the natives by europeans in persia. the charges at the hotel were exorbitant. one paid as much per day as one would at the very first hotel in london, new york, or paris, such as the carlton, the waldorf, or ritz. only here one got absolutely nothing for it except very likely an infectious disease, as i did. in walking bare-footed on the filthy matting, while taking my bath, some invisible germ bored its way into the sole of my right foot and caused me a good deal of trouble for several weeks after. animal life in all its varieties was plentiful in all the rooms. previous to starting on the long drive to the capital i had to get some meat cooked for use on the road, but it was so putrid that even when i flung it to a famished pariah dog he refused to eat it. and all this, mind you, was inexcusable, because excellent meat, chickens, eggs, vegetables, and fruit, can be purchased in resht for a mere song, the average price of a good chicken, for instance, being about 5_d._ to 10_d._, a whole sheep costing some eight or ten shillings. i think it is only right that this man should be exposed, so as to put other travellers on their guard, not so much for his overcharges, for when travelling one does not mind over-paying if one is properly treated, but for his impudence in furnishing provisions that even a dog would not eat. had it not been that i had other provisions with me i should have fared very badly on the long drive to teheran. it may interest future travellers to know that the building where the hotel was at the time of my visit, august, 1901, has now been taken over for five years by the russian bank in order to open a branch of their business in resht, and that the hotel itself, i believe, has now shifted to even less palatial quarters! the imperial bank of persia has for some years had a branch in resht, and until 1901 was the only banking establishment in the town. chapter v resht--impostors--a visit to the head mullah--quaint notions--arrangements for the drive to teheran--the russian concession of the teheran road--the stormy caspian and unsafe harbours--the great menzil bridge--a detour in the road--capital employed in the construction of the road--mistaken english notions of russia--theory and practice--high tolls--exorbitant fares--a speculator's offer refused--development of the road. resht is an odious place in every way. it is, as it were, the "port said" of persia, for here the scum of armenia, of southern russia, and of turkestan, stagnates, unable to proceed on the long and expensive journey to teheran. one cannot go out for a walk without being accosted by any number of impostors, often in european clothes, who cling like leeches and proceed to try to interest you in more or less plausible swindles. one meets a great many people, too, who are on the look out for a "lift" in one's carriage to the persian capital. i paid quite an interesting visit to a near relation of the shah's, who was the guest of the local head mullah. the approach to the mullah's palace was not attractive. i was conveyed through narrow passages, much out of repair, until we arrived in front of a staircase at the foot of which lay in a row, and in pairs, shoes of all sizes, prices, and ages, patiently waiting for their respective owners inside the house. a great many people were outside in the courtyard, some squatting down and smoking a kalian, which was passed round after a puff or two from one person to the other, care being taken by the last smoker to wipe the mouthpiece with the palm of his hand before handing it to his neighbour. others loitered about and conversed in a low tone of voice. a mullah received me at the bottom of the staircase and led me up stairs to a large european-looking room, with glass windows, cane chairs, and austrian glass candelabras. there were a number of mullahs in their long black robes, white or green sashes, and large turbans, sitting round the room in a semicircle, and in the centre sat the high mullah with the young prince by his side. they all rose when i entered, and i was greeted in a dignified yet very friendly manner. a chair was given me next to the high mullah, and the usual questions about one's family, the vicissitudes of one's journey, one's age, one's plans, the accounts of what one had seen in other countries, were duly gone through. it was rather curious to notice the interest displayed by the high mullah in our south african war. he seemed anxious to know whether it was over yet, or when it would be over. also, how was it that a big nation like great britain could not conquer a small nation like the boers. "it is easier for an elephant to kill another elephant," i replied, "than for him to squash a mosquito." "do you not think," said the mullah, "that england is now an old nation, tired and worn--too old to fight? nations are like individuals. they can fight in youth--they must rest in old age. she has lived in glory and luxury too long. glory and luxury make nations weak. persia is an example." "yes, there is much truth in your sayings. we are tired and worn. we have been and are still fast asleep in consequence. but maybe the day will come when we shall wake up much refreshed. we are old enough to learn, but not to die yet." he was sorry that england was in trouble. tea, or rather sugar with some drops of tea on it was passed, in tiny little glasses with miniature perforated tin spoons. then another cross-examination. "do you drink spirits and wine?" "no." "do you smoke?" "no." "you would make a good mussulman." "possibly, but not probably." "in your travels do you find the people generally good or bad?" "taking things all round, in their badness, i find the people usually pretty good." "how much does your king give you to go about seeing foreign countries?" "the king gives me nothing. i go at my own expense." this statement seemed to take their breath away. it was bad enough for a man to be sent--for a consideration--by his own government to a strange land, but to pay for the journey one's self, why! it seemed to them too preposterous for words. they had quite an excited discussion about it among themselves, the persian idea being that every man must sponge upon the government to the utmost extent. the young prince hoped that i would travel as his guest in his carriage to teheran. unfortunately, however, i had made other arrangements, and was unable to accept his invitation. my visit ended with renewed salaams and good wishes on their part for my welfare on the long journey i was about to undertake. i noticed that, with the exception of the prince, who shook my hand warmly, the mullahs bowed over and over again, but did not touch my hand. now for the business visit at the post station. after a good deal of talk and an unlimited consumption of tea, it had been arranged that a landau with four post horses to be changed every six farsakhs, at each post station, and a _fourgon_--a large van without springs, also with four horses,--for luggage, should convey me to teheran. so little luggage is allowed inside one's carriage that an additional _fourgon_ is nearly always required. one is told that large packages can be forwarded at a small cost by the postal service, and that they will reach teheran soon after the passengers, but unhappy is the person that tries the rash experiment. there is nothing to guarantee him that he will ever see his luggage again. in persia, a golden rule while travelling, that may involve some loss of time but will avoid endless trouble and worry in the end, is never to let one's luggage go out of sight. one is told that the new teheran road is a russian enterprise, and therefore quite reliable, and so it is, but not so the company of transportation, which is in the hands of natives, the firm of messrs. bagheroff brothers, which is merely subsidized by the russian road company. as every one knows, in 1893 the russians obtained a concession to construct a carriage-road from piri-bazaar _via_ resht to kasvin, an extension to hamadan, and the purchase of the road from kasvin to teheran, which was already in existence. nominally the concession was not granted to the russian government itself--as is generally believed in england--but to a private company--the "compagnie d'assurance et de transport en perse," which, nevertheless, is a mere off-shoot of government enterprise and is backed by the russian government to no mean degree. the company's headquarters are in moscow, and in persia the chief office is at kasvin. here it may be well to add that if this important concession slipped out of our hands we have only ourselves to blame. we can in no way accuse the russians of taking advantage of us, but can only admire them for knowing how to take advantage of a good opportunity. we had the opportunity first; it was offered us in the first instance by persia which needed a loan of a paltry sixty million francs, or a little over two million pounds sterling. the concession was offered as a guarantee for the loan, but we, as usual, temporised and thought it over and argued--especially the people who did not know what they were arguing about--and eventually absolutely refused to have anything to do with the scheme. the russians had the next offer and jumped at it, as was natural in people well versed in persian affairs, and well able to foresee the enormous possibilities of such an undertaking. it was, beyond doubt, from the very beginning--except to people absolutely ignorant and mentally blind--that the concession, apart from its political importance, was a most excellent financial investment. not only would the road be most useful for the transit of russian goods to the capital of persia, and from there all over the country, but for military purposes it would prove invaluable. maybe its use in the latter capacity will be shown sooner than we in england think. of course, to complete the scheme the landing at enzeli must still be improved, so that small ships may enter in safety and land passengers and goods each journey without the unpleasant alternative, which we have seen, of having to return to one's point of departure and begin again, two, or three, or even four times. one gentleman i met in persia told me that on one occasion the journey from baku to enzeli--thirty-six hours--occupied him the space of twenty-six days! [illustration: fourgons on the russian road between resht and teheran.] the caspian is stormy the greater part of the year, the water shallow, no protection from the wind exists on any side, and wrecks, considering the small amount of navigation on that sea, are extremely frequent. as we have seen, there are not more than six feet of water on the bar at enzeli, but with a jetty which could be built at no very considerable expense (as it probably will be some day) and a dredger kept constantly at work, enzeli could become quite a possible harbour, and the dangers of long delays and the present risks that await passengers and goods, if not absolutely avoided, would at least be minimised to an almost insignificant degree. the navigation of the lagoon and stream presents no difficulty, and the russians have already obtained the right to widen the mouth of the murd-ap at enzeli, in conjunction with the concession of the piri-bazaar-teheran road. the road was very easy to make, being mostly over flat country and rising to no great elevation, 5,000 feet being the highest point. it follows the old caravan track nearly all the way, the only important detour made by the new road being between paichinar and kasvin, to avoid the high kharzan or kiajan pass--7,500 feet--over which the old track went. considering the nature of the country it crosses, the new road is a good one and is well kept. three large bridges and fifty-eight small ones have been spanned across streams and ravines, the longest being the bridge at menzil, 142 yards long. from resht, _via_ deschambe bazaar, to kudum the road strikes due south across country. from kudum (altitude, 292 feet) to rudbar (665 feet) the road is practically along the old track on the north-west bank of the kizil uzen river, which, from its source flows first in a south-easterly direction, and then turns at menzil almost at a right angle towards the north-east, changing its name into sefid rud (the white river). some miles after passing rudbar, the river has to be crossed by the great bridge, to reach menzil, which lies on the opposite side of the stream. from menzil to kasvin the russian engineers had slightly more trouble in constructing the road. a good deal of blasting had to be done to make the road sufficiently broad for wheeled traffic; then came the important detour, as we have seen, from paichinar to kasvin, so that practically the portion of the road from menzil to kasvin is a new road altogether, _via_ mala ali and kuhim, the old track being met again at the village of agha baba. the width of the road averages twenty-one feet. in difficult places, such as along ravines, or where the road had to be cut into the rock, it is naturally less wide, but nowhere under fourteen feet. the gradient averages 1--20 to 1--24. at a very few points, however, it is as steep as 1 in 15. if the hill portion of the road is excepted, where, being in zig-zag, it has very sharp angles, a light railway could be laid upon it in a surprisingly short time and at no considerable expense, the ground having been made very hard nearly all along the road. the capital of £340,000 employed in the construction of the road was subscribed in the following manner: 1,000 shares of 1,000 rubles each, or 1,000,000 rubles original capital subscribed in moscow; 1,000,000 rubles debentures taken by the russian government, and a further 500,000 rubles on condition that 700,000 rubles additional capital were subscribed, which was at once done principally by the original shareholders. the speculation had from the very beginning a prospect of being very successful, even merely considered as a trade route--a prospect which the british government, capitalist, and merchant did not seem to grasp, but which was fully appreciated by the quicker and more far-seeing russian official and trader. any fair-minded person cannot help admiring the russian government for the insight, enterprise and sound statesmanship with which it lost no time in supporting the scheme (discarded by us as worthless), and this it did, not by empty-winded, pompous speeches and temporising promises, to which we have so long been accustomed, but by supplying capital in hard cash, for the double purpose of enhancing to its fullest extent russian trade and of gaining the strategic advantages of such an enterprise, which are too palpable to be referred to again. so it was, that while we in england relied on the everlasting and ever-idiotic notion that russia would never have the means to take up the loan, being--as we are told--a bankrupt country with no resources, and a government with no credit and no cash,--that we found ourselves left (and laughed at), having lost an opportunity which will never present itself again, and which will eventually cost us the loss of northern persia, if not of the whole of persia. russia--it is only too natural--having once set her foot, or even both feet, on persian soil, now tries to keep out other nations--which, owing to her geographical position, she can do with no effort and no trouble--in order to enhance her youthful but solid and fast-growing industries and trade. in the case of the teheran road, the only one, it must be remembered, leading with any safety to the persian capital, it is theoretically open to all nations. practically, russian goods alone have a chance of being conveyed by this route, owing to the prohibitive customs duties exacted in russia on foreign goods in transit for persia. russia is already indirectly reaping great profits through this law, especially on machinery and heavy goods that have no option and must be transported by this road. there is no other way by which they can reach teheran on wheels. but the chief and more direct profit of the enterprise itself is derived from the high tolls which the russian company, with the authorisation of the persian government, has established on the road traffic, in order to reimburse the capital paid out and interest to shareholders. the road tolls are paid at resht (and at intermediate stations if travellers do not start from resht), and amount to 4 krans == 1_s._ 8_d._ for each pack animal, whether it be a camel, a horse, a mule, or a donkey. a post-carriage with four horses (the usual conveyance hired between resht and teheran) pays a toll of no less than 17_s._ 2_d._ _s._ _d._ a carriage with 3 horses 12 6 " " 2 " 8 4 " " 1 horse 4 2 a _fourgon_, or luggage van, 4 horses, £1 0_s._ 10_d._ passengers are charged extra and above these tolls, so that a landau or a victoria, for instance, actually pays £1 8_s._ for the right of using the road, and a _fourgon_ with one's servants, as much as £1 13_s._ 2_d._ the fares for the hire of the conveyance are very high:- £ _s._ _d._ landau 11 16 7 victoria 10 16 7 coupé 11 4 10 fourgon 10 0 10 as only 72 lbs. of personal luggage are allowed in the landau or 65 lbs. in other carriages, and this weight must be in small packages, one is compelled to hire a second conveyance, a _fourgon_, which can carry 650 lbs. every pound exceeding these weights is charged for at the rate of two shillings for every 13½ lbs. of luggage. the luggage is weighed with great accuracy before starting from resht, and on arrival in teheran. care is taken to exact every half-penny to which the company is entitled on luggage fares, and much inconvenience and delay is caused by the persian officials at the scales. it is advisable for the traveller to be present when the luggage is weighed, to prevent fraud. it may be noticed that to travel the 200 miles, the distance from resht to teheran, the cost, without counting incidental expenses, tips (amounting to some £3 or more), etc., £ _s._ _d._ £ _s._ _d._ £ _s._ _d._ landau, 11 16 7 plus toll, 1 8 0 13 4 7 fourgon, 10 0 10 plus toll, 1 13 2 11 14 0 ----------- total £24 18 7 which is somewhat high for a journey of only 72 to 80 hours. this strikes one all the more when one compares it with the journey of several thousand miles in the greatest of luxury from london across holland, germany, russia, and the caspian to enzeli, which can be covered easily by three five-pound notes. as every one knows, the road from piri-bazaar to kasvin and teheran was opened for wheel traffic in january 1899. i am told that in 1899--before the road was completed--a persian speculator offered the sum of £200 a day to be paid in cash every evening, for the contract of the tolls. the offer was most emphatically refused, as the daily tolls even at that time amounted to between £270 and £300. in these last three years the road has developed in a most astounding manner, and the receipts, besides being now considerably greater, are constantly increasing. the russian shareholders and government can indeed fairly congratulate themselves on the happy success which their well-thought-out investment has fairly won them. chapter vi a journey by landau and four--picturesque coachman--tolls--intense moisture--luxuriant vegetation--deschambe bazaar--the silk industry of ghilan--the cultivation and export of rice--the governor's energy--agriculture and allah--the water question--the coachman's backshish--the white river--olive groves--halting places on the road--the effects of hallucination--princes abundant. we have seen how the road was made. now let us travel on it in the hired landau and four horses driven by a wild-looking coachman, whose locks of jet-black hair protrude on either side of his clean-shaven neck, and match in colour his black astrakan, spherical, brimless headgear. like all good persians, he has a much pleated frockcoat that once was black and is now of various shades of green. over it at the waist he displays a most elaborate silver belt, and yet another belt of leather with a profusion of cartridges stuck in it and a revolver. why he did not run over half-a-dozen people or more as we galloped through the narrow streets of resht town is incomprehensible to me, for the outside horses almost shaved the walls on both sides, and the splash-boards of the old landau ditto. that he did not speaks volumes for the flexibility and suppleness of persian men, women and children, of whom, stuck tight against the walls in order to escape being trampled upon or crushed to death, one got mere glimpses, at the speed one went. the corners of the streets, too, bore ample testimony to the inaccuracy of drivers in gauging distances, and so did the hubs and splash-boards of the post-carriages, all twisted and staved in by repeated collisions. it is with great gusto on the part of the drivers, but with a certain amount of alarm on the part of the passenger, that one's carriage chips off corner after corner of the road as one turns them, and one gets to thank providence for making houses in persia of easily-powdered mud instead of solid stone or bricks. one's heart gets lighter when we emerge into the more sparsely inhabited districts where fields and heavy vegetation line the road, now very wide and more or less straight. here the speed is greatly increased, the coachman making ample use of a long stock whip. in persia one always travels full gallop. after not very long we pull up to disburse the road toll at a wayside collecting house. there are a great many caravans waiting, camels, mules, donkeys, horsemen, _fourgons_, whose owners are busy counting hard silver krans in little piles of 10 krans each--a _toman_, equivalent to a dollar,--without which payment they cannot proceed. post carriages have precedence over everybody, and we are served at once. a receipt is duly given for the money paid, and we are off again. the coachman is the cause of a good deal of anxiety, for on the chance of a handsome backshish he has indulged in copious advance libations of rum or votka, or both, the vapours of which are blown by the wind into my face each time that he turns round and breathes or speaks. that this was a case of the horses leading the coachman and not of a man driving the horses, i have personally not the shade of a doubt, for the wretch, instead of minding his horses, hung backwards, the whole way, from the high box, yelling, i do not know what, at the top of his voice, and making significant gestures that he was still thirsty. coachmen of all countries invariably are. we ran full speed into caravans of donkeys, scattering them all over the place; we caused flocks of frightened sheep to stampede in all directions, and only strings of imperturbable camels succeeded in arresting our reckless flight, for they simply would not move out of the way. every now and then i snatched a furtive glance at the scenery. the moisture of the climate is so great and the heat so intense, that the vegetation of the whole of ghilan province is luxuriant,--but not picturesque, mind you. there is such a superabundance of vegetation, the plants so crammed together, one on the top of the other, as it were, all untidy, fat with moisture, and of such deep, coarse, blackish-green tones that they give the scenery a heavy leaden appearance instead of the charming beauty of more delicate tints of less tropical vegetation. we go through deschambe bazaar, a place noted for its fairs. here you have high hedges of reeds and hopelessly entangled shrubs; there your eyes are rested on big stretches of agriculture,--indian corn, endless paddy fields of rice and cotton, long rows of mulberry trees to feed silkworms upon their leaves. silk is even to-day one of the chief industries of ghilan. its excellent quality was at one time the pride of the province. the export trade of dried cocoons has been particularly flourishing of late, and although prices and the exchanges have fluctuated, the average price obtained for them in resht when fresh was from 20½ krans to 22½ krans (the kran being equivalent to about fivepence). the cocoon trade had until recently been almost entirely in the hands of armenian, french and italian buyers in resht, but now many persian merchants have begun to export bales of cocoons direct to marseilles and milan, the two chief markets for silk, an export duty of 5 per cent. on their value being imposed on them by the persian government. the cocoons are made to travel by the shortest routes, _via_ the caspian, baku, batum, and the black sea. the year 1900 seems to have been an exceptionally good year for the production and export of cocoons. the eggs for the production of silkworms are chiefly imported by levantines from asia minor (gimlek and brussa), and also in small quantities from france. according to the report of mr. churchill, acting-consul at resht, the quantity of cocoons exported during that year showed an increase of some 436,800 lbs. above the quantity exported the previous year (1899); and a comparison between the quantity exported in 1893 and 1900 will show at a glance the enormous apparent increase in the export of dried cocoons from ghilan. 1893 76,160 lbs. value £6,475 1900 1,615,488 " " £150,265 it must, however, be remembered that the value given for 1893 may be very incorrect. large meadows with cattle grazing upon them; wheat fields, vegetables of all sorts, vineyards, all pass before my eyes as in a kaleidoscope. a fine country indeed for farmers. plenty of water--even too much of it,--wood in abundance within a stone's throw. next to the silk worms, rice must occupy our attention, being the staple food of the natives of ghilan and constituting one of the principal articles of export from that province. the cultivation and the export of rice from ghilan have in the last thirty years become very important, and will no doubt be more so in the near future, when the mass of jungle and marshes will be cleared and converted into cultivable land. the governor-general of resht is showing great energy in the right direction by cutting new roads and repairing old ones on all sides, which ought to be of great benefit to the country. in persia, remember, it is not easy to learn anything accurately. and as for persian statistics, unwise is the man who attaches any importance to them. much as i would like to quote statistics, i cannot refrain from thinking that no statistics are a hundredfold better than slip-shod, haphazard, inaccurate ones. and this rule i must certainly apply to the export of rice from ghilan to europe, principally russia, during 1900, and will limit myself to general remarks. extensive tracts of country have been cleared of reeds and useless vegetation, and converted into paddy fields, the natives irrigating the country in a primitive fashion. it is nature that is mostly responsible if the crops are not ruined year after year, the thoughtless inhabitants, with their natural laziness, doing little more than praying allah to give them plenty of rain, instead of employing the more practical if more laborious expedient of artificially irrigating their country in some efficient manner, which they could easily do from the streams close at hand. perhaps, in addition to this, the fact that water--except rain-water--has ever to be purchased in persia, may also account to a certain extent for the inability to afford paying for it. in 1899, for instance, rain failed to come and the crops were insufficient even for local consumption, which caused the population a good deal of suffering. but 1900, fortunately, surpassed all expectations, and was an excellent year for rice as well as cocoons. we go through thickly-wooded country, then through a handsome forest, with wild boars feeding peacefully a few yards from the road. about every six farsakhs--or twenty-four miles--the horses of the carriage, and those of the fourgon following closely behind, are changed at the post-stations, as well as the driver, who leaves us, after carefully removing his saddle from the box and the harness of the horses. he has to ride back to his point of departure with his horses. he expects a present of two krans,--or more if he can get it--and so does the driver of the fourgon. two krans is the recognised tip for each driver, and as one gets some sixteen or seventeen for each vehicle,--thirty-two or thirty-four if you have two conveyances,--between resht and teheran, one finds it quite a sufficient drain on one's exchequer. as one gets towards kudum, where one strikes the sefid river, we begin to rise and the country gets more hilly and arid. we gradually leave behind the oppressive dampness, which suggests miasma and fever, and begin to breathe air which, though very hot, is drier and purer. we have risen 262 feet at kudum from 77 feet, the altitude of resht, and as we travel now in a south-south-west direction, following the stream upwards, we keep getting higher, the elevation at rustamabad being already 630 feet. we leave behind the undulating ground, covered with thick forests, and come to barren hills, that get more and more important as we go on. we might almost say that the country is becoming quite mountainous, with a few shrubs here and there and scenery of moderate beauty, (for any one accustomed to greater mountains), but quite "wildly beautiful" for the ordinary traveller. we then get to the region of the grey olive groves, the trees with their contorted, thickly-set branches and pointed leaves. what becomes of the olives? they are exported to europe,--a flourishing trade, i am told. one bumps a great deal in the carriage, for the springs are not "of the best," and are hidden in rope bandages to keep them from falling apart. the road, too, is not as yet like a billiard table. the doors of the landau rattle continuously, the metal fastenings having long disappeared, and being replaced by bits of string. one travels incessantly, baked in the sun by day and chilled by the cold winds at night, trying to get a little sleep with one's head dangling over the side of the carriage, one's legs cramped, and all one's bones aching. but this is preferable to stopping at any of the halting-places on the road, whether russian or persian, which are filthy beyond words, and where one is mercilessly swindled. should one, however, be compelled to stop anywhere it is preferable to go to a thoroughly persian place, where one meets at least with more courtesy, and where one is imposed upon in a more modest and less aggressive way than at the russian places. it must, however, be stated that the russian places are usually in charge of over-zealous persians, or else in the hands of inferior russian subjects, who try to make all they can out of their exile in the lonely stations. i occasionally halted for a glass of tea at the persian khafe-khanas, and in one of them a very amusing incident happened, showing the serious effects that hallucination may produce on a weak-minded person. i had got off the carriage and had carried into the khafe-khana my camera, and also my revolver in its leather case which had been lying on the seat of the carriage. at my previous halt, having neglected this precaution, my camera had been tampered with by the natives, the lenses had been removed, and the eighteen plates most of them already with pictures on them--that were inside, exposed to the light and thrown about, with their slides, in the sand. so to avoid a repetition of the occurrence, and to prevent a probable accident, i brought all into the khafe-khana room and deposited the lot on the raised mud portion along the wall, seating myself next to my property. i ordered tea, and the attendant, with many salaams, explained that his fire had gone out, but that if i would wait a few minutes he would make me some fresh _chah_. i consented. he inquired whether the revolver was loaded, and i said it was. he proceeded to the further end of the room, where, turning his back to me, he began to blow upon the fire, and i, being very thirsty, sent another man to my fourgon to bring me a bottle of soda-water. the imprisoned gases of the soda, which had been lying for the whole day in the hot sun, had so expanded that when i removed the wire the cork went off with a loud report and unfortunately hit the man in the shoulder blade. by association of ideas he made so certain in his mind that it was the revolver that had gone off that he absolutely collapsed in a semi-faint, under the belief that he had been badly shot. he moaned and groaned, trying to reach with his hand what he thought was the wounded spot, and called for his son as he felt he was about to die. we supported him, and gave him some water and reassured him, but he had turned as pale as death. "what have i done to you that you kill me?" he moaned pitifully. "but, good man, you have no blood flowing,--look!" a languid, hopeless glance at the ground, where he had fallen and sure enough, he could find no blood. he tried to see the wound, but his head could not revolve to a sufficiently wide arc of a circle to see his shoulder-blade, so in due haste we removed his coat and waistcoat and shirt, and after slow, but careful, keen examination, he discovered that not only there were no marks of flowing blood, but no trace whatever of a bullet hole in any of his garments. even then he was not certain, and two small mirrors were sent for, which, by the aid of a sympathising friend, he got at proper angles minutely to survey his whole back. he eventually recovered, and was able to proceed with the brewing of tea, which he served with terribly trembling hand on the rattling saucer under the tiny little glass. "it was a very narrow escape from death, sahib," he said in a wavering voice--"for it might have been the revolver." there is nothing like backshish in persia to heal all wounds, whether real or otherwise, and he duly received an extra handsome one. in persia the traveller is particularly struck by the number of princes one encounters on the road. this is to a certain extent to be accounted for by the fact that the word _khan_ which follows a great many persian names has been translated, mainly by flattering french authors, into the majestic but incorrect word "prince." in many cases the suffix of _khan_ is an equivalent of lord, but in most cases it is no more than our nominal "esquire." i met on the road two fellows, one old and very dignified; the other young, and who spoke a little french. he informed me that they were both princes. he called his friend "_monsieur le prince, mon ami_," and himself "_monsieur le prince, moi!_" which was rather amusing. he informed me that he was a high customs official, and displayed towards his fellow countrymen on the road a great many qualities that revealed a very mean native indeed. the elder one wore carpet slippers to which he had attached--i do not know how--an enormous pair of golden spurs! he was now returning from russia. he was extremely gentleman-like and seemed very much annoyed at the behaviour of his companion. he begged me to believe that not all men in persia were like his friend, and i quite agreed with him. we travelled a great portion of the road together, and the old fellow was extremely civil. he was very well informed on nearly all subjects, and had belonged to the army. he pointed out to me the important sights on the road, such as mount janja (7,489 ft.) to the east. after passing rudbar (665 ft.) the road is mostly in narrow gorges between mountains. it is rocky and arid, with hardly any vegetation. the river has to be crossed by the new bridge, a handsome and solid structure, and we arrive at the village of menjil or menzil. the russian station-house is the most prominent structure. otherwise all is desert and barren. grey and warm reddish tints abound in the dried-up landscape, and only a few stunted olive groves relieve the scenery with some vegetable life. chapter vii menzil and the winds--the historical alamut mountain--a low plateau--volcanic formation--mol-ali--a genuine case of smallpox--characteristic sitting posture--a caravan of mules--rugged country--the remains of a volcanic commotion--the old track--kasvin, the city of misfortunes--the governor's palace and palatial rest house--earthquakes and famine--_kanats_, the marvellous aqueducts--how they are made--manufactures--kasvin strategically. perhaps menzil should be mentioned in connection with the terrific winds which, coming from the north-east and from the south, seem to meet here, and blow with all their might at all times of the year. the traveller is particularly exposed to them directly above the river course on crossing the bridge. menzil is celebrated for these winds, which are supposed to be the worst, in all persia, but unpleasant as they may be to any one who has not experienced worse, they are merely gentle breezes as compared, for instance, with the wind storms of the tibetan plateau. to the east there is a very mountainous region, the biwarzin yarak range, or kuse-rud, averaging from 6,000 to 7,000 ft.; further north a peak of 7,850 ft., and south-west of the janja, 7,489 ft., the high salambar, 11,290 ft. on the historical mt. alamut the old state prisons were formerly to be found, but were afterwards removed to ardebil. from menzil we have left the sefid river altogether, and we are now in a very mountainous region, with a singular low plateau in the centre of an extensive alluvial plain traversed by the road. we cross the shah rud, or river of the king, and at paichinar, with its russian post-house, we have already reached an altitude of 1,800 ft. from this spot the road proceeds through a narrow valley, through country rugged and much broken up, distinctly volcanic and quite picturesque. it is believed that coal is to be found here. perhaps one of the prettiest places we had yet come to was mol-ali, a lovely shady spot with veteran green trees all round. while the horses were being changed i was asked by the khafe-khana man to go and inspect a man who was ill. the poor fellow was wrapped up in many blankets and seemed to be suffering greatly. he had very high fever and his was a genuine case of smallpox. next to him, quite unconcerned, were a number of persian travellers, who had halted here for refreshments. they were squatting on their heels, knees wide apart, and arms balanced, resting above the elbow on their knees--the characteristic sitting posture of all asiatics. very comfortable it is, too, when you learn to balance yourself properly and it leaves the free use of one's arms. the _kalian_ was being passed round as usual, and each had a thimble-full of sugared tea. i was much attracted by a large caravan of handsome mules, the animals enjoying the refreshing shade of the trees. they had huge saddles ornamented with silver pommels and rings and covered over with carpets. variegated cloth or carpet or red and green leather saddle-bags hung on either side of the animals behind the saddles. the bridle and bit were richly ornamented with shells and silver or iron knobs. the few mud houses in the neighbourhood had flat roofs and were not sufficiently typical nor inviting enough for a closer internal inspection. we are now on a tributary of the shah-rud on the new road, instead of the old caravan track, which we have left since paichinar. the country becomes more interesting and wild as we go on. in the undoubtedly volcanic formation of the mountains one notices large patches of sulphurous earth on the mountain-side, with dark red and black baked soil above it. over that, all along the range, curious column-like, fluted rocks. lower down the soil is saturated with sulphurous matter which gives it a rich, dark blue tone with greenish tints in it and bright yellow patches. the earth all round is of a warm burnt sienna colour, intensified, when i saw it, by the reddish, soft rays of a dying sun. it has all the appearance of having been subjected to abnormal heat. the characteristic shape of the peaks of the range is conical, and a great many deep-cut channels and holes are noticeable in the rocky sides of these sugar-loaf mountains, as is frequently the case in mountains of volcanic formation. we rise higher and higher in zig-zag through rugged country, and we then go across an intensely interesting large basin, which must at a previous date have been the interior of an exploded and now collapsed volcano. this place forcibly reminded me of a similar sight on a grander scale,--the site of the ex-bandaisan mountain on the main island of nippon in japan, after that enormous mountain was blown to atoms and disappeared some few years ago. a huge basin was left, like the bottom part of a gigantic cauldron, the edges of which bore ample testimony to the terrific heat that must have been inside before the explosion took place. in the persian scene before us, of a much older date, the basin, corroded as it evidently was by substances heated to a very high temperature and by the action of forming gases, had been to a certain extent obliterated by the softening actions of time and exposure to air. the impression was not so violent and marked as the one received at bandaisan, which i visited only a few days after the explosion, but the various characteristics were similar. in the basin was a solitary hut, which rejoiced in the name of kort. these great commotions of nature are interesting, but to any one given to sound reflection they are almost too big for the human mind to grasp. they impress one, they almost frighten one, but give no reposeful, real pleasure in gazing upon them such as less disturbed scenery does. the contrasts in colour and shape are too violent, too crude to please the eye: the freaks too numerous to be comprehensible at a glance. here we have a ditch with sides perfectly black-baked, evidently by lava or some other hot substance which has flowed through; further on big splashes of violent red and a great variety of warm browns. the eye roams from one spot to the other, trying to understand exactly what has taken place--a job which occupies a good deal of one's time and attention as one drives through, and which would occupy a longer time and study than a gallop through in a post landau can afford. at agha baba we were again on the old track, quite flat now, and during the night we galloped easily on a broad road through uninteresting country till we reached kasvin, 185 _versts_ from resht. kasvin, in the province of irak, is a very ancient city, which has seen better days, has gone through a period of misfortune, and will in future probably attain again a certain amount of prosperity. it is situated at an altitude of 4,094 feet (at the indo-european telegraph office), an elevation which gives it a very hot but dry, healthy climate with comparatively cool nights. the town is handsome, square in form, enclosed in a wall with towers. the governor's palace is quite impressive, with a fine broad avenue of green trees leading from it to the spacious kasvin rest-house. this is by far the best rest-house on the road to the persian capital, with large rooms, clean enough for persia, and with every convenience for cooking one's food. above the doorway the persian lion, with the sun rising above his back, has been elaborately painted, and a picturesque pool of stagnant water at the bottom of the steps is no doubt the breeding spot of mosquitoes and flies, of which there are swarms, to make one's life a misery. [illustration: making a _kanat_.] the palatial rest-house, the governor's palace, a mosque or two, and the convenient bath-houses for mahommedans being barred, there is nothing particular to detain the traveller in kasvin. one hears that kasvin occupied at one time a larger area than teheran to-day. the remains of this magnitude are certainly still there. the destruction of the city, they say, has been due to many and varied misfortunes. earthquakes and famines in particular have played an important part in the history of kasvin, and they account for the many streets and large buildings in ruins which one finds, such as the remains of the sufi palace and the domed mosque. the city dates back to the fourth century, but it was not till the sixteenth century that it became the _dar-el-sultanat_--the seat of royalty--under shah tamasp. it prospered as the royal city until the time of shah abbas, whose wisdom made him foresee the dangers of maintaining a capital too near the caspian sea. isfahan was selected as the future capital, from which time kasvin, semi-abandoned, began its decline. in 1870 a famine devastated the town to a considerable extent, but even previous to that a great portion of the place had been left to decay, so that to-day one sees large stretches of ruined houses all round the neighbourhood and in kasvin itself. the buildings are mostly one-storied, very few indeed boasting of an upper floor. the pleasant impression one receives on entering the city is mostly caused by the quantity of verdure and vegetation all round. one of the principal things which strike the traveller in persia, especially on nearing a big city, is the literal myriads of curious conical heaps, with a pit in the centre, that one notices running across the plains in long, interminable rows, generally towards the mountains. these are the _kanats_, the astounding aqueducts with which dried-up persia is bored in all directions underground, the canals that lead fresh water from the distant springs to the cities, to the villages, and to irrigate the fields. the ancient process of making these _kanats_ has descended unchanged to the modern persian, who is really a marvellous expert--when he chooses to use his skill--at conveying water where nature has not provided it. i watched some men making one of these _kanats_. they had bored a vertical hole about three feet in diameter, over which a wooden windlass had been erected. one man was working at the bottom of the shaft. by means of buckets the superfluous earth was gradually raised up to the surface, and the hole bored further. the earth removed in the excavation is then embanked all round the aperture of the shaft. when the required depth is attained a tunnel is pierced, mostly with the hands and a small shovel, in a horizontal direction, and seldom less than four feet high, two feet wide, just big enough to let the workman through. then another shaft has to be made for ventilation's sake and to raise to the surface the displaced earth. miles of these _kanats_ are thus bored, with air shafts every ten to twenty feet distant. in many places one sees thirty, forty, fifty parallel long lines of these aqueducts, with several thousand shafts, dotting the surface of the ground. near ancient towns and villages one finds a great many of these _kanats_ dry and disused at present, and nearly everywhere one sees people at work making fresh ones, for how to get water is one of the great and serious questions in the land of iran. near kasvin these _kanats_ are innumerable, and the water carried by them goes through the streets of the city, with holes here and there in the middle of the road to draw it up. these holes are a serious danger to any one given to walking about without looking where he is placing his feet. it is mainly due to these artificial water-tunnels that the plain of kasvin, otherwise arid and oppressively hot, has been rendered extremely fertile. there are a great many gardens with plenty of fruit-trees. vineyards abound, producing excellent stoneless grapes, which, when dried, are mostly exported to russia. pomegranates, water-melons, cucumbers, and cotton are also grown. excellent horses and camels are bred here. kasvin being the half-way house, as it were, between resht and teheran, and an important city in itself, is bound--even if only in a reflected manner--to feel the good effects of having through communication to the caspian and the capital made so easy by the completion of the russian road. the silk and rice export trade for bagdad has gone up during the last two years, and in the fertile plain in which kasvin lies agriculture is beginning to look up again, although not quite so much as in the resht district, which is naturally the first to reap benefit from the development of northern persia. the chief manufactures of kasvin are carpets, a kind of coarse cotton-cloth called _kerbas_, velvet, brocades, iron-ware and sword-blades, which are much appreciated by persians. there is a large bazaar in which many cheap european goods are sold besides the more picturesque articles of local manufacture. from a strategical point of view, kasvin occupies a position not to be overlooked, guarding as it does the principal entrance from the south into the ghilan province. chapter viii four thousand feet above sea-level--castellated walls--an obnoxious individual--luggage weighing--the strange figure of an african black--how he saved an englishman's life--teheran hotels--interesting guests--life of bachelors in teheran--the britisher in persia--home early--social sets--etiquette--missionaries--foreign communities--the servant question. a few hours' rest to give one's aching bones a chance of returning into their normal condition and position, and amidst the profound salaams of the rest-house servants, we speed away towards teheran, 130 versts more according to the russian road measurement (about 108 miles). we gallop on the old, wide and flat road, on which the traffic alone diverts one,--long strings of donkeys, of camels, every now and then a splendid horse with a swaggering rider. we are travelling on the top of the plateau, and are keeping at an altitude slightly above 4,000 feet. distant mountains lie to the north, otherwise there is absolutely nothing to see, no vegetation worth mentioning, everything dry and barren. now and then, miles and miles apart, comes a quadrangular or rectangular, castellated mud wall enclosing a cluster of fruit trees and vegetable gardens; then miles and miles again of dreary, barren country. were it not for the impudence of the natives--increasing to a maximum--there is nothing to warn the traveller that one is approaching the capital of the persian empire, and one finds one's self at the gate of the city without the usual excitement of perceiving from a distance a high tower, or a dome or a steeple or a fortress, or a landmark of some sort or other, to make one enjoy the approach of one's journey's end. abdulabad, 4,015 feet, kishslak, 3,950 feet, sankarabad, 4,210 feet, sulimaneh, 4,520 feet, are the principal places and main elevations on the road, but from the last-named place the incline in the plateau tends to descend very gently. teheran is at an altitude of 3,865 feet. six farsakhs from teheran, where we had to change horses, an individual connected with the transport company made himself very obnoxious, and insisted on accompanying the carriage to teheran. he was picturesquely attired in a brown long coat, and displayed a nickel-plated revolver, with a leather belt of cartridges. he was cruel to the horses and a nuisance to the coachman. he interfered considerably with the progress of the carriage and made himself unbearable in every possible way. when i stopped at a khafe-khana for a glass of tea, he actually removed a wheel of the carriage, which we had considerable difficulty in putting right again, and he pounded the coachman on the head with the butt of his revolver, in order, as far as i could understand, that he should be induced to go half-shares with him in the backshish that the driver would receive at the end of the stage. all this provided some entertainment, until we reached the teheran gate. only half a mile more and i should be at the hotel. but man proposes and the persian disposes. the carriage and fourgon were driven into a large courtyard, the horses were unharnessed, all the luggage removed from the fourgon and carriage, and deposited in the dust. a primitive scale was produced and slung to a tripod, and each article weighed and weighed over again so as to take up as much of one's time as possible. various expedients to impose upon me, having failed i was allowed to proceed, a new fourgon and fresh horses being provided for the journey of half a mile more, the obnoxious man jumping first on the box so as to prevent being left behind. at last the hotel was reached, and here another row arose with a profusion of blows among a crowd of beggars who had at once collected and disputed among themselves the right of unloading my luggage. a strange figure appeared on the scene. a powerful, half-naked african, as black as coal, and no less than six foot two in height. he sported a huge wooden club in his hand, which he whirled round in a most dangerous manner, occasionally landing it on people's skulls and backs in a sonorous fashion. the crowd vanished, and he, now as gently as possible, removed the luggage from the fourgon and conveyed it into the hotel. the obnoxious man now hastily descended from his seat and demanded a backshish. "what for?" "oh, sir," intervened a persian gentleman present, "this man says he has annoyed you all the way, but he could not make you angry. he must have backshish! he makes a living by annoying travellers!" in contrast to this low, depraved parasite, the african black seemed quite a striking figure,--a scamp, if you like, yet full of character. he was a dervish, with drunken habits and a fierce nature when under the influence of drink, but with many good points when sober. on one occasion an englishman was attacked by a crowd of persians, and was in danger of losing his life, when this man, with considerable bravery (not to speak of his inseparable mallet which he used freely), went to the rescue of the sahib and succeeded in saving him. for this act of courage he has ever since been supported by the charity of foreigners in teheran. he unfortunately spends all his earnings in drink, and can be very coarse indeed, in his songs and imitations, which he delights in giving when under the influence of liquor. he hangs round the hotel, crying out "_yahu! yahu!_" when hungry--a cry quite pathetic and weird, especially in the stillness of night. there are two hotels in teheran and several european and armenian restaurants. the english hotel is the best,--not a dream of cleanliness, nor luxury, nor boasting of a cuisine which would remain impressed upon one's mind, except for its elaborate monotony,--but quite a comfortable place by comparison with the other european hotels of persia. the beds are clean, and the proprietress tries hard to make people comfortable. more interesting than the hotel itself was the curious crowd of people whom one saw at the dinner-table. i remember sitting down one evening to dinner with nine other people, and we represented no less than ten different nationalities! the tower of babel sank almost into insignificance compared with the variety of languages one heard spoken all round, and one's polyglot abilities were tested to no mean extent in trying to carry on a general conversation. one pleasant feature of these dinners was the amount of talent and good-humour that prevailed in the company, and the absolute lack of distinction of class or social position. side by side one saw a distinguished diplomat conversing with the shah's automobile driver, and a noteworthy english member of parliament on friendly terms with an irish gentleman of the indo-european telegraphs. a burly, jolly dutchman stood drinks all round to members of the russian and english banks alike, and a french _sage-femme_ just arrived discussed her prospects with the hotel proprietress. the shah's a.d.c. and favourite music-composer and pianist came frequently to enliven the evenings with some really magnificent playing, and by way of diversion some wild belgian employees of the derelict sugar-factory used almost nightly to cover with insults a notable "chevalier d'industrie" whose thick skin was amazing. then one met armenians--who one was told had come out of jail,--and curio-dealers, mine prospectors, and foreign generals of the persian army. occasionally there was extra excitement when an engagement or a wedding took place, when the parties usually adjourned to the hotel, and then there was unlimited consumption of beer, nominally (glycerine really, for, let me explain, beer does not stand a hot climate unless a large percentage of glycerine is added to it), and of highly-explosive champagne and french wines, château this and château that--of caspian origin. being almost a teetotaller myself, this mixed crowd--but not the mixed drink--was interesting to study, and what particularly struck me was the _bonhomie_, the real good-heartedness, and manly but thoughtful, genial friendliness of men towards one another, irrespective of class, position or condition, except, of course, in the cases of people with whom it was not possible to associate. the hard, mean, almost brutal jealousy, spite, the petty rancour of the usual anglo-indian man, for instance, does not exist at all in persia among foreigners or english people. on the contrary, it is impossible to find more hospitable, more gentlemanly, polite, open-minded folks than the britishers one meets in persia. of course, it must be remembered, the type of britisher one finds in persia is a specially talented, enterprising and well-to-do individual, whose ideas have been greatly broadened by the study of several foreign languages which, in many cases, have taken him on the continent for several years in his youth. furthermore, lacking entirely the ruling "look down upon the native" idea, so prevalent in india, he is thrown much in contact with the persians, adopting from them the courteous manner and form of speech, which is certainly more pleasant than the absurd rudeness of the "keep-aloof" notion which generally makes us hated by most orientals. the britisher in persia, with few exceptions, is a charming person, simple and unaffected, and ready to be of service if he can. he is not aggressive, and, in fact, surprisingly suave. this abnormal feature in the british character is partly due to the climate, hot but very healthy, and to the exile to which the briton has to reconcile himself for years to come. indeed, persia is an exile, a painful one for a bachelor, particularly. woman's society, which at all times helps to make life sweet and pleasant, is absolutely lacking in persia. european women are scarce and mostly married or about to get married. the native women are kept in strict seclusion. one never sees a native woman except heavily veiled under her _chudder_, much less can a european talk to her. the laws of persia are so severe that anything in the shape of a flirtation with a persian lady may cost the life of juliet or romeo, or both, and if life is spared, blackmail is ever after levied by the police or by the girl's parents or by servants. in teheran all good citizens must be indoors by nine o'clock at night, and any one found prowling in the streets after that hour has to deal with the police. in the european quarter this rule is overlooked in the case of foreigners, but in the native city even europeans found peacefully walking about later than that hour are taken into custody and conveyed before the magistrate, who satisfies himself as to the man's identity and has him duly escorted home. there are no permanent amusements of any kind in teheran. an occasional concert or a dance, but no theatres, no music-halls. there is a comfortable club, where people meet and drink and play cards, but that is all. social sets, of course, exist in the teheran foreign community. there are "the telegraph" set, "the bank," "the legations." there is an uncommon deal of social etiquette, and people are most particular regarding calls, dress, and the number of cards left at each door. it looks somewhat incongruous to see men in their black frock-coats and silk tall hats, prowling about the streets, with mud up to their knees if wet, or blinded with dust if dry, among strings of camels, mules, or donkeys. but that is the fashion, and people have to abide by it. there are missionaries in teheran, american and english, but fortunately they are not permitted to make converts. the english, russian and belgian communities are the most numerous, then the french, the dutch, the austrian, the italian, the american. taking things all round, the europeans seem reconciled to their position in teheran--a life devoid of any very great excitement, and partaking rather of the nature of vegetation, yet with a certain charm in it--they say--when once people get accustomed to it. but one has to get accustomed to it first. the usual servant question is a very serious one in teheran, and is one of the chief troubles that europeans have to contend with. there are armenian and persian servants, and there is little to choose between the two. servants accustomed to european ways are usually a bad lot, and most unreliable; but in all fairness it must be admitted that, to a great extent, these servants have been utterly spoilt by europeans themselves, who did not know how to deal with them in a suitable manner. i repeatedly noticed in teheran and other parts of persia that people who really understood the persian character, and treated subordinates with consideration, had most excellent servants--to my mind, the most intelligent and hard-working in the world--and spoke very highly of them. chapter ix teheran--the seat of the kajar family--the square of the gun--sanctuaries--the top meidan--tramways--a railway--opposition of the mullahs and population--destruction of a train--mosques--habitations--extortion and blackmail--persian philosophy. a description of teheran is hardly necessary here, the city being so well-known, but for the help of people unfamiliar with its character a rough sketch of the place may be given. teheran, it must be remembered, has only been the capital of persia for the last hundred years, when the capital was removed from isfahan. previous to that it was merely a royal resort and nothing more. in shape it was formerly almost circular--or, to be strictly accurate, polygonal, the periphery of the polygon measuring a _farsakh_, four miles. like all persian cities it was enclosed in a mud wall and a moat. since then the city has so increased that an extension has been made to an outer boundary some ten miles in circumference, and marked by an uneven ditch, the excavated sand of which is thrown up to form a sort of battlement. twelve gates, opened at sunrise and closed at night, give access to the town. the citadel, the ancient part of the city, contains the principal public buildings, the private residences of high officials, and the shah's palace. to the south of this are found the extensive domed bazaars and the commercial portion of teheran. to the north lies the european quarter with the legations, banks and european shops. we will not go as far back as the afghan invasion in 1728 when, according to history, teheran was looted and razed to the ground by the afghans, but we will only mention the fact, which is more interesting to us, that it was not till about 1788 that the city was selected on account of its geographical position and of political necessities, as the seat of the kajar dynasty by agha mohammed, who in 1796 became the first king of his family. the kajar, as everybody knows, has remained the reigning dynasty of persia to this day. the most interesting point of teheran, in the very centre of the city, is the old "place du canon," where on a high platform is a gigantic piece of ordnance enclosed by a railing. in the same square is a large reservoir of more or less limpid water, in which at all hours of the day dozens of people are to be seen bathing. but the big gun attracts one's attention principally. a curious custom, which is slowly being done away with, has made this spot a sanctuary. whoever remains within touch or even within the shadow of the gun--whether an assassin, a thief, a bankrupt, an incendiary, a traitor or a highwayman,--in fact, a criminal of any kind cannot be touched by the police nor by persons seeking a personal revenge--the usual way of settling differences in persia. a number of distinctly criminal types can always be observed near the gun and are fed by relations, friends, or by charitable people. persians of all classes are extremely charitable, not so much for the sake of helping their neighbours in distress, as for increasing their claims to a seat in paradise, according to the mussulman religion. these sanctuaries are common in persia. the mosques, the principal shrines, such as meshed, kum, the houses of mullahs, and in many cases the bazaars which are generally to be found adjoining places of pilgrimage, afford most convenient shelter to outlaws. the mullahs are greatly responsible for the protection of miscreants. by exercising it they are able to show their power over the authorities of the country--a fact which impresses the masses. that is why in the neighbourhood of many mosques one sees a great number of ruffianly faces, unmistakable cut-throats, men and boys whose villainy is plainly stamped on their countenances. as long as they remain inside the sacred precincts--which they can do if they like till they die of old age--they can laugh at the law and at the world at large. but let them come out, and they are done for. the shah's stables are considered a very safe sanctuary. houses of europeans, or europeans themselves, were formerly considered sanctuaries, but the habit has--fortunately for the residents--fallen into disuse. i myself, when driving one day in the environs of teheran, saw a horseman leading a man whose neck was tied to a substantial rope. much to my surprise, when near enough, the prisoner jumped into my carriage, and it was only after some persuasion on my side and a few pulls at the rope from the rider at the other end that the unwelcome companion was made to dismount again. [illustration: the murderer of nasr-ed-din shah.] when in the company of high mullahs evil characters are also inviolable. the largest square in teheran is the top meidan or "cannon plain," where several small and antiquated pieces of artillery are enclosed in a fence. two parallel avenues with trees cross the rectangular square at its longest side from north to south. in the centre is a large covered reservoir. the offices of both the persian and indo-european telegraphs are in this square, and also the very handsome building of the bank of persia. the square is quite imposing at first sight, having on two sides uniform buildings with long balconies. the _lunettes_ of the archways underneath have each a picture of a gun, and on approaching the southern gates of the parallelogram a smile is provoked by the gigantic but crude, almost childish representations of modern soldiers on glazed tiles. to the west is the extensive drill ground for the persian troops. another important artery of teheran runs from east to west across the same square. one cannot but be interested on perceiving along the main thoroughfares of teheran a service of horse tramways working quite steadily. but the rolling stock is not particularly inviting outwardly--much less inwardly. it is mostly for the use of natives and armenians, and the carriages are very dirty. the horses, however, are good. the tramway company in the hands of russian jews, i believe, but managed by an englishman and various foreigners--subalterns--was doing pretty fair business, and jointly with the tramways had established a capital service of "voitures de remise," which avoided all the trouble and unpleasantness of employing street cabs. the carriages, mostly victorias, were quite good and clean. among other foreign things, teheran can also boast of a railway--a mere steam tramway, in reality--of very narrow gauge and extending for some six miles south of the city to the shrine of shah abdul hazim. the construction of even so short and unimportant a line met with a great deal of opposition, especially from the priestly class, when it was first started in 1886 by a belgian company--"la société des chemins de fer et des tramways de perse." the trains began to run two years later, in 1888, and it was believed that the enormous crowds of pilgrims who daily visited the holy shrine would avail themselves of the convenience. huge profits were expected, but unluckily the four or five engines that were imported at an excessive cost, and the difficulties encountered in laying down the line, which was continually being torn up by fanatics, and, most of all, the difficulty experienced in inducing pilgrims to travel in sufficient numbers by the line instead of on horses, mules or donkeys were unexpected and insoluble problems which the managers had to face, and which made the shareholders grumble. the expenses far exceeded the profits, and the capital employed in the construction of the line was already vastly larger than had been anticipated. one fine day, furthermore, a much-envied and respected pilgrim, who had returned in holiness from the famous shrine of kerbalah, was unhappily run over and killed by a train. the mullahs made capital of this accident and preached vengeance upon foreign importations, the work of the devil and distasteful to allah the great. the railway was mobbed and the engine and carriages became a mass of débris. there was nearly a serious riot about this in teheran city; the trains continued to run with the undamaged engines, but no one would travel by them. result? "la compagnie des chemins de fer et des tramways de perse" went bankrupt. the whole concern was eventually bought up cheap by a russian company, and is now working again, as far as regards the railway, in a more or less spasmodic manner. the tramway service connects the three principal gates of the outer wall of teheran with the centre of the city "the place des canons" (meidan-top-khaned). although there are a great many mosques in teheran city there is not one of great importance or beauty. the mesjid-i-shah, or the shah's mosque, is the most noteworthy, and has a very decorative glazed tiled façade. then next in beauty is probably the mosque of the shah's mother, but neither is in any way uncommon for size, or wealth, architectural lines, or sacredness. several mosques have colleges attached to them, as is the usual custom in persia. access to the interior of the mosques is not permitted to europeans unless they have embraced the mahommedan religion. outwardly, there are few native houses in teheran that impress one with any remarkable features of wealth or beauty; in fact, they are nearly all wretchedly miserable,--a plastered mud or brick wall with a modest little doorway being all one sees from the street of the dwellings of even the richest and noblest of persians. inside matters are different. frequently a miserable little tumbling-down gate gives access, after going through similarly miserable, narrow, low passages, to magnificent palaces and astoundingly beautiful and luxurious courts and gardens. i asked what was the reason of the poor outward appearance of these otherwise luxurious dwellings. was it modesty,--was it to deceive envious eyes? there are few countries where blackmail and extortion are carried on on a more extensive and successful scale than in persia; all classes and conditions of people are exposed to the danger, and it is only by an assumed air of poverty that a certain amount of security is obtained. a miserable-looking house, it was explained by a persian, does not attract the covetous eye of the passer-by; an unusually beautiful one does. "it is a fatal mistake," he added, "to let anybody's eye rest on one's possessions, whether he be the shah, a minister, or a beggar. he will want to rest his hands upon them next, and then everything is gone. besides," he said, "it is the inside of a house that gives pleasure and comfort to the occupier and his friends. one does not build a house to give pleasure and comfort to the people in the street. that is only vainglory of persons who wish to make their neighbours jealous by outward show. they usually have to repent it sooner or later." there was more philosophy than european minds may conceive in the persian's words--at least, for persian householders. chapter x legations--germany a stumbling-block to russia's and england's supremacy--sir arthur hardinge, british minister in teheran--his talent, tact, and popularity--the british legation--summer quarters--legation guards--removal of furniture. as late as 1872 there were only four legations in teheran: the english, french, russian and turkish; but since then the governments of austria, belgium, holland, and the united states have established legations in the persian capital. by the persians themselves only four are considered of first-class importance, viz.: the british, russian, turkish and belgian legations, as being more closely allied with the interests of the country. the austrian legation comes next to these in importance, then the german. american interests are so far almost a negligible quantity in persia, but germany is attempting to force her trade into persia. in future, if she can realise her railway schemes in asia minor, germany will be a very serious stumbling-block to england's and russia's supremacy, both in north and southern persia. germany's representative in teheran is a man of considerable skill and untiring energy. no doubt that when the opportune time comes and germany is ready to advance commercially in the persian market, england in particular will be the chief sufferer, as the british manufacturer has already experienced great difficulty in contending with the cheap german goods. even in india, where transport is comparatively easy, german goods swamp the bazaars in preference to english goods. much more will this be the case in persia when the railway comes to the persian boundary. the german minister is certainly sparing no efforts to foster german interests in persia, and the enterprising emperor william has shown every possible attention to the shah on his visit to berlin, in order that the racial antipathy, which for some reason or other persians entertain towards germans, may with all due speed be wiped out. to us the british legation is more interesting at present. we may well be proud of our present minister, sir arthur hardinge, a man of whose like we have few in our diplomatic service. i do not think that a man more fit for persia than sir arthur could be found anywhere in the british empire. he possesses quite extraordinary talent, with a quick working brain, a marvellous aptitude for languages--in a few months' residence in persia he had mastered the persian language, and is able to converse in it fluently--and is endowed with a gift which few britishers possess, refined tact and a certain amount of thoughtful consideration for other people's feelings. nor is this all. sir arthur seems to understand orientals thoroughly, and persians in particular. he is extremely dignified in his demeanour towards the native officials, yet he is most affable and cheery, with a very taking, charming manner. that goes a much longer way in persia than the other unfortunate manner by which many of our officials think to show dignity--sheer stiffness, rudeness, bluntness, clumsiness--which offends, offends bitterly, instead of impressing. a fluent and most graceful speaker, with a strong touch of oriental flowery forms of speech in his compliments to officials, with an eye that accurately gauges situations--usually in persia very difficult ones--a man full of resource and absolutely devoid of ridiculous insular notions--a man who studies hard and works harder still--a man with unbounded energy and an enthusiast in his work--a man who knows his subject well, although he has been such a short time in teheran--this is our british minister at the shah's court. nor is this faint praise. sir arthur hardinge has done more in a few months to save british prestige and to safeguard british interests in persia than the public know, and this he has done merely by his own personal genius and charm, rather than by instructions or help from the home government. while in teheran i had much opportunity of meeting a great many high persian officials, and all were unanimous in singing the praises of our new minister. many of them seemed very bitter against some of his predecessors, but whether the fault was in the predecessors themselves or in the home government, it is not for me to say. anyhow, bygones are bygones, and we must make the best of our present opportunities. the staff at our legation and consulate is also first-class. it is to be hoped, now that the south african war is over, that the government will be able to devote more attention to the persian question, a far more serious matter than we imagine; and as extreme ignorance prevails in this country about persia--even in circles where it should not exist--it would be well, when we have such excellent men as sir arthur hardinge at the helm, in whose intelligence we may confidently and absolutely trust, to give him a little more assistance and freedom of action, so as to allow him a chance of safeguarding our interests properly, and possibly of preventing further disasters. it is not easy for the uninitiated to realise the value of certain concessions obtained for the british by sir arthur hardinge, such as, for instance, the new land telegraph line _via_ kerman beluchistan to india. of the petroleum concessions, of which one hears a great deal of late, i would prefer not to speak. the legation grounds in teheran itself are extensive and beautiful, with a great many fine trees and shady, cool avenues. the legation house is handsomely furnished, and dotted all over the gardens are the various other buildings for secretaries, attachés, and interpreters. all the structures are of european architecture--simple, but solid. in summer, however, all the legations shift their quarters to what is called in teheran "_la campagne de_ golahek, de tejerish, de zargandeh,"--by which gracefully misleading and misapplied terms are indicated the suburban residences of the legations, at the foot of the arid, barren, hot, dusty shamran range of mountains. golahek, where the british legation is to be found, does actually boast of a few green trees in the legation grounds; and a cluster or two of nominally "green" vegetation--really whitish brown--can be seen at zargandeh, where the russian and belgian legations are side by side, and tejerish, where the persian foreign office and many persian officials have their summer residences. the drive from teheran to golahek--seven miles--is dusty beyond words. there are wretched-looking trees here and there along the road, so dried and white with dust as to excite compassion. half-way to golahek the monotony of the journey is broken by a sudden halt at a khafe-khana, into which the coachman rushes, leaving the horses to take care of themselves, while he sips refreshing glasses of tea. when it suits his convenience he returns to splash buckets of water between the horses' legs and under their tails. this, he told me, in all seriousness, was to prevent sunstroke (really, the persian can be humorous without knowing it), and was a preventive imported with civilised ways from europe! the ears and manes of the animals are then pulled violently, after which the horses are considered able to proceed. [illustration: persian cossacks (teheran) drilled by russian officers.] the persian government gives each legation a guard of soldiers. the british legation is guarded by infantry soldiers--an untidy, ragged, undisciplined lot, with cylindrical hats worn at all angles on the side of the head, and with uniforms so dirty and torn that it is difficult to discern what they should be like. nearly all other legations are provided with soldiers of the (persian) cossack regiment, who are infinitely better drilled and clothed than the infantry regiments. they are quite military in appearance. it was believed that these cossacks, being drilled by russian military instructors, would not be acceptable at the british legation, hence the guard of infantry soldiers. the russian legation has two additional russian cavalry soldiers. the country residences of all the legations are quite comfortable, pretty and unpretentious, with the usual complement of furniture of folding pattern, so convenient but so inartistic, and a superabundance of cane chairs. really good furniture being very expensive in teheran, a good deal of the upholstery of the teheran legations is conveyed to the country residences for the summer months. perhaps nothing is more amusing to watch than one of these removals to or from the country. chairs, tables, sofas, and most private effects are tied to pack-saddles on ponies, mules or donkeys, with bundles of mattrasses, blankets, and linen piled anyhow upon them, while the more brittle articles of the household are all amassed into a high pyramid on a gigantic tray and balanced on a man's head. rows of these equilibrists, with the most precious glass and crockery of the homestead, can be noticed toddling along on the golahek road, dodging carriages and cavaliers in a most surprising manner. they are said never to break even the smallest and most fragile articles, but such is certainly not the case with the heavily laden donkeys and mules, which often collide or collapse altogether, with most disastrous results to the heavier pieces of furniture. on my arrival in teheran i received a most charming invitation to go and stay at the british legation, but partly owing to the fact that i wished to remain in town and so be more in touch with the natives themselves, partly because i wished to be unbiassed in any opinion that i might form, i decided not to accept anybody's hospitality while in teheran. this i am very glad i did, for i feel i can now express an opinion which, whether right or wrong, is my own, and has not been in any way influenced by any one. chapter xi visits to high persian officials--meftah-es-sultaneh--persian education--a college for orphans--uncomfortable etiquette--the foreign office--h.e. mushir-ed-doulet, minister of foreign affairs--persian interest in the chinese war of 1900--reform necessary. perhaps the description of one or two visits to high persian officials may interest the reader. through the kindness of the persian legation in london i had received letters of introduction which i forwarded to their addresses on my arrival in teheran. the first to answer, a few hours after i had reached teheran, was meftah-es-sultaneh (davoud), the highest person in the foreign office after the minister, who in a most polite letter begged me to go to tea with him at once. he had just come to town from tejerish, but would leave again the same evening. [illustration: the eftetahié college, supported by meftah-el-mulk.] escorted by the messenger, i at once drove to meftah's palace, outwardly, like other palaces, of extremely modest appearance, and entered by a small doorway leading through very narrow passages. led by my guide, we suddenly passed through a most quaint court, beautifully clean and with a pretty fountain in the centre,--but no time was given me to rest and admire. again we entered another dark passage, this time to emerge into a most beautiful garden with rare plants and lovely flowers, with a huge tank, fountains playing and swans floating gracefully on the water. a most beautiful palace in european architecture of good taste faced the garden. i was admitted into a spacious drawing-room, furnished in good european style, where meftah-es-sultaneh--a rotund and jovial gentleman--greeted me with effusion. although he had never been out of persia, he spoke french, with a most perfect accent, as fluently as a frenchman. what particularly struck me in him, and, later, in many other of the younger generation of the upper classes in persia, was the happy mixture of the utmost charm of manner with a keen business head, delightful tact and no mean sense of humour. meftah-es-sultaneh, for instance, spoke most interestingly for over an hour, and i was agreeably surprised to find what an excellent foreign education students can receive without leaving persia. it is true that meftah is an exceptionally clever man, who would make his mark anywhere; still it was nevertheless remarkable how well informed he was on matters not concerning his country. he comes from a good stock. his father, meftah-el-mulk, was minister member of the council of state, a very wealthy man, who devoted much of his time and money to doing good to his country. among the many praiseworthy institutions founded and entirely supported by him was the college for orphans, the dabetsane daneshe, and the eftetahié school. the colleges occupy beautiful premises, and first-rate teachers are provided who instruct their pupils in sensible, useful matters. the boys are well fed and clothed and are made quite happy in every way. meftah told me that his excellency the minister of foreign affairs wished to see me, so it was arranged that i should drive to tejerish the next morning to the minister's country residence. as early as five a.m. the following day i was digging in my trunks in search of my frock-coat, the only masculine attire in persia that is considered decent, and without which no respectable man likes to be seen. then for the tall hat; and with the temperature no less than 98° in the shade i started in an open victoria to drive the nine miles or so to the appointment. not being a persian myself, and not quite sharing the same ideas of propriety, i felt rather ridiculous in my get-up, driving across the sunny, dusty and barren country until we reached the hills. i had to keep my feet under the seat of the carriage, for when the sun's rays (thermometer above 125°) struck my best patent-leather shoes, the heat was well-nigh intolerable. at last, after going slowly up-hill through winding lanes enclosed in mud walls, and along dry ditches with desiccated trees on either side, we arrived at the _campagne de tejerish_, and pulled up in front of a big gate, at the residence of the minister. the trials of the long drive had been great. with the black frock-coat white with dust, my feet absolutely broiled in the patent shoes, and the perspiration streaming down my forehead and cheeks, i really could not help laughing at the absurdity of civilised, or semi-civilised fashions, and at the purposeless suffering inflicted by them. there were a number of soldiers at the gate with clothes undone--they were practical people--and rusty muskets resting idle on a rack. "is meftah-es-sultaneh here?" i inquired. "yes, he is waiting for you," answered a soldier as he sprang to his feet. he hurriedly buttoned up his coat and hitched his belt, and, seizing a rifle, made a military salute in the most approved style. an attendant led me along a well-shaded avenue to the house, and here i was ushered into a room where, round tables covered with green cloth, sat a great many officials. all these men wore pleated frock-coats of all tints and gradations of the colours of the rainbow. one and all rose and politely saluted me before i sat down. through the passage one could see another room in which a number of other officials, similarly clad and with black astrakan caps, were opening and sorting out correspondence. suddenly there was a hurried exit of all present--very much like a stampede. up the avenue a stately, tall figure, garbed in a whitish frock-coat over which a long loose brown coat was donned, walked slowly and ponderously with a crowd of underlings flitting around--like mosquitoes round a brilliant light. it was mushir-ed-doulet, the minister of foreign affairs. he turned round, now to one, then to another official, smiling occasionally and bowing gracefully, then glancing fiercely at another and sternly answering a third. [illustration: h. e. mushir-ed-doulet, minister of foreign affairs.] i was rather impressed by the remarkable facility with which he could switch on extreme courteousness and severity, kindliness and contempt. his face was at no time, mind you, subjected to very marked exaggerated changes or grimaces, such as those by which we generally expect emotions to show themselves among ourselves, but the changes in his expression, though slight, were quite distinct and so expressive that there was no mistake as to their meaning. a soft look of compassion; a hard glance of offended dignity; the veiled eyes deeply absorbed in reflection; the sudden sparkle in them at news of success, were plainly visible on his features, as a clerk approached him bringing correspondence, or asking his opinion, or reporting on one matter or another. a considerable amount of the less important business was disposed of in this fashion, as the minister strode up the avenue to the foreign office building, and more still with two or three of the more important personages who escorted him to his tents some little way from the avenue. meftah-es-sultaneh, who had disappeared with the minister, hurriedly returned and requested me to follow him. on a sofa under a huge tent, sat mushir-ed-doulet, the minister, who instantly rose and greeted me effusively as i entered. he asked me to sit on his right on the sofa while meftah interpreted. his excellency only spoke persian. cigarettes, cigars, coffee and tea were immediately brought. the minister had a most intelligent head. as can be seen by the photograph here reproduced, he might have passed for a european. he was extremely dignified and business-like in his manner. his words were few and much to the point. our interview was a pleasant one and i was able to learn much of interest about the country. the minister seemed to lay particular stress on the friendly relations of russia and england, and took particular care to avoid comments on the more direct relations between persia and russia. one point in our conversation which his excellency seemed very anxious to clear up was, what would be the future of china? he seemed keenly interested in learning whether russia's or england's influence had the supremacy in the heavenly empire, and whether either of these nations was actually feared by the chinese. "will the chinese ever be able to fight england or russia with success? were the chinese well-armed during the war of 1900? if properly armed and drilled, what chances had the chinese army of winning against the allies? would china be eventually absorbed and divided into two or more shares by european powers, or would she be maintained as an empire?" although the minister did not say so himself, i could not help suspecting that in his mind the similarity and probably parallel futures of china and persia afforded ground for reflection. there is no doubt that in many ways the two countries resemble one another politically, although persia, owing to her more important geographical position, may have a first place in the race of european greed. the interest displayed by persians of all classes in the chinese war of 1900 was intense, and, curiously enough, the feeling seemed to prevail that china had actually won the war because the allies had retreated, leaving the capital and the country in the hands of the chinese. "more than in our actual strength," said a persian official once to me, "our safety lies in the rivalry of great britain and russia, between which we are wedged. let those two nations be friends and we are done for!" after my visit to the minister of foreign affairs i had the pleasure of meeting the prime minister, the minister of war, and the minister of public works. i found them all extremely interesting and courteous and well up in their work. but although talent is not lacking in persia among statesmen, the country itself, as it is to-day, does not give these men an opportunity of shining as brightly as they might. the whole country is in such a decayed condition that it needs a thorough overhauling. then only it might be converted into quite a formidable country. it possesses all the necessary requirements to be a first-class nation. talent in exuberance, physical strength, a convenient geographical position, a good climate, considerable mineral and some agricultural resources, are all to be found in persia. all that is wanted at present is the development of the country on a solid, reliable basis, instead of the insecure, unsteady intrigues upon which business, whether political or commercial, is unfortunately carried on in the present state of affairs. no one realises this better than the well-to-do persian, and nothing would be more welcome to him than radical reform on the part of the shah, and the establishment of the land of iran on unshakable foundations. with a national debt so ridiculously small as persia has at present, there is no reason why, with less maladministration, with her industries pushed, with her army reorganised and placed on a serviceable footing, she should not rank as one of the first and most powerful among asiatic independent nations. we have seen what young japan, against all odds, has been able to accomplish in a few years. all the more should a talented race like the persians, situated to begin with in a far less remote position than japan, and therefore more favourably for the acquisition of foreign ways, be able to emulate, and even in a short time surpass, the marvellous success attained by the little islanders of the far east. it is grit that is at present lacking in persia. the country has a wavering policy that is extremely injurious to her interests. one cannot fail to compare her to a good old ship in a dangerous sea. the men at her helm are perplexed, and cannot quite see a clear way of steering. the waves run high and there are plenty of reefs and rocks about. a black gloomy sky closes the horizon, forecasting an approaching cyclone. the ship is leaking on all sides, and the masts are unsteady; yet when we look at the number of rocks and reefs and dangers which she has steered clear through already, we cannot fail to have some confidence in her captain and crew. maybe, if she is able to resist the fast-approaching and unavoidable clash of the wind and sea (figuratively england is the full-blown wind, russia the sea)--she may yet reach her destination, swamped by the waves, dismantled, but not beyond repair. her damage, if one looks at her with the eye of an expert, is after all not so great, and with little present trouble and expense she will soon be as good as new. not, however, if she is left to rot much longer. such is persia at present. the time has come when she must go back into the shelter of a safe harbour, or face the storm. chapter xii the persian army--the persian soldier as he is and as he might be--when and how he is drilled--self-doctoring under difficulties--misappropriation of the army's salary--cossack regiments drilled by russian officers--death of the head mullah--tribute of the jews--the position of europeans--a gas company--how it fulfilled its agreement. a painful sight is the persian army. with the exception of the good cossack cavalry regiment, properly fed, dressed, armed and drilled by foreign instructors such as general kossackowski, and russian officers, the infantry and artillery are a wretched lot. there is no excuse for their being so wretched, because there is hardly a people in asia who would make better soldiers than the persians if they were properly trained. the persian is a careless, easy-going devil, who can live on next to nothing; he is a good marksman, a splendid walker and horseman. he is fond of killing, and cares little if he is killed--and he is a master at taking cover. these are all good qualities in a soldier, and if they were brought out and cultivated; if the soldiers were punctually paid and fed and clothed and armed, there is no reason why persia should not have as good an army as any other nation. the material is there and is unusually good; it only remains to use it properly. [illustration: persian soldiers--the band.] [illustration: recruits learning music.] i was most anxious to see the troops at drill, and asked a very high military officer when i might see them. "we do not drill in summer," was the reply, "it is too hot!" "do you drill in winter?" "no, it is too cold." "are the troops then only drilled in the autumn and spring?" "sometimes. they are principally drilled a few days before the shah's birthday, so that they may look well on the parade before his majesty." "i suppose they are also only dressed and shod on the shah's birthday?" "yes." "what type and calibre rifle is used in the persian army?" "make it plural, as plural as you can. they have every type under the sun. but," added the high military officer, "we use of course 'bullet rifles' (_fusils à balle_) not 'small shot guns'!" this "highly technical explanation" about finished me up. as luck or ill-luck would have it, i had an accident which detained me some four weeks in teheran. while at the resht hotel, it may be remembered how, walking barefooted on the matting of my room, an invisible germ bored its way into the sole of my foot, and i could not get it out again. one day, in attempting to make its life as lively as the brute made my foot, i proceeded to pour some drops of concentrated carbolic acid upon the home of my invisible tenant. unluckily, in the operation my arm caught in the blankets of my bed, and in the jerk the whole contents of the bottle flowed out, severely burning all my toes and the lower and upper part of my foot, upon which the acid had quickly dripped between the toes. with the intense heat of teheran, this became a very bad sore, and i was unable to stand up for several days. some ten days later, having gone for a drive to get a little air, a carriage coming full gallop from a side street ran into mine, turning it over, and i was thrown, injuring my leg very badly again; so with all these accidents i was detained in teheran long enough to witness the shah's birthday, and with it, for a few days previous, the "actual drilling of the troops." i have heard it said, but will not be responsible for the statement, that the troops are nearer their full complement on such an auspicious occasion than at any other time of the year, so as to make a "show" before his majesty. very likely this is true. when i was in teheran a great commotion took place, which shows how things are occasionally done in the land of iran. the ex-minister of war, kawam-ed-douleh, who had previously been several times governor of teheran, was arrested, by order of the shah, for embezzling a half year's pay of the whole persian army. soldiers were sent to his country residence and the old man, tied on a white mule, was dragged into teheran. his cap having been knocked off--it is a disgrace to be seen in public without a hat--his relations asked that he should be given a cap, which concession was granted, on payment of several hundred tomans. a meal of rice is said to have cost the prisoner a few more hundred tomans, and so much salt had purposely been mixed with it that the thirsty ex-minister had to ask for copious libations of water, each tumbler at hundreds of tomans. several other high officials were arrested in connection with these army frauds, and would probably have lost their heads, had it not been for the special kindness of the shah who punished them by heavy fines, repayment of the sums appropriated, and exile. it is a well-known fact in persia that whether the frauds begin high up or lower down in the scale of officials, the pay often does not reach the private soldier, and if it does is generally reduced to a minimum. the food rations, too, if received by the men at all, are most irregular, which compels the soldiers to look out for themselves at the expense of the general public. this is a very great pity, for with what the shah pays for the maintenance of the army, he could easily, were the money not appropriated for other purposes, keep quite an efficient little force, properly instructed, clothed, and armed. the drilling of the soldiers, which i witnessed just before the shah's birthday, partook very much of the character of a theatrical performance. the drilling, which hardly ever lasted more than a couple of hours a day, was limited to teaching the soldiers how to keep time while marching and presenting arms. the brass bands played _fortissimo_--but not _benissimo_--all the time, and various evolutions were gone through in the spacious _place d'armes_ before the italian general, in persian employ, and a bevy of highly-dressed persian officers. there was a great variety of ragged uniforms, and head-gears, from kolah caps to brass and tin helmets, and the soldiers' ages ranged from ten to sixty. the soldiers seemed very good-humoured and obedient, and certainly, when i saw them later before the shah in their new uniforms, they looked quite different and had not the wretched appearance they present in daily life. but these infantry soldiers do not bear comparison with the russian-drilled persian cossacks. the jump is enormous, and well shows what can be done with these men if method and discipline are used. of course perfection could not be expected in such a short time, especially considering the difficulties and interference which foreign officers have to bear from the persians, but it is certainly to be regretted that such excellent material is now practically wasted and useless. there were several other excitements before i left teheran. the head mullah--a most important person--died, and the whole population of teheran turned out to do him honour when his imposing funeral took place. curiously enough, the entire male jewish community marched in the funeral procession--an event unprecedented, i am told, in the annals of persian mussulman history. the head mullah, a man of great wisdom and justice, had, it was said, been very considerate towards the jews and had protected them against persecution: hence this mark of respect and grief at his death. the discovery of the ex-minister of war's frauds, the death of the head mullah, the reported secret attempts to poison the shah, the prospects of a drought, the reported murder of two russians at resht, and other minor sources of discontent, all coming together, gave rise to fears on the part of europeans that a revolution might take place in teheran. but such rumours are so very frequent in all eastern countries that generally no one attaches any importance to them until it is too late. europeans are rather tolerated than loved in persia, and a walk through the native streets or bazaars in teheran is quite sufficient to convince one of the fact. nor are the persians to be blamed, for there is hardly a nation in asia that has suffered more often and in a more shameful manner from european speculators and adventurers than the land of iran. perhaps the country itself, or rather the people, with their vainglory and empty pomp, are particularly adapted to be victimised by impostors and are easy preys to them. some of the tricks that have been played upon them do not lack humour. take, for instance, the pretty farce of the _compagnie générale pour l'éclairage et le chauffage en perse_, which undertook to light the city of teheran with no less than one thousand gas lights. machinery was really imported at great expense from europe for the manufacture of the gas--many of the heavier pieces of machinery are still lying on the roadside between resht and teheran--extensive premises were built in teheran itself, and an elaborate doorway with a suitable inscription on it, is still to be seen; but the most important part of all--the getting of the coal from which the gas was to be extracted--had not been considered. the lalun coal mines, which offered a gleam of hope to the shareholders, were exploited and found practically useless. the company and government came to loggerheads, each accusing the other of false dealing, and the result was that the persians insisted on the company lighting up teheran with the agreed 1,000 lights. if gas could not be manufactured, oil lights would do. there was the signed agreement and the company must stick to it. the company willingly agreed, but as the document did not specify the site where each lamp-post should be situate nearly all were erected, at a distance of only a few feet from one another--a regular forest of them--in the two main streets of the european settlement. one single man is employed after dark to set the lamps alight, and when he has got to the end of the two streets he proceeds on his return journey to blow them all out again. by ten o'clock everything is in perfect darkness. the company now claim that they have fulfilled their agreement! the belgian company for the manufacture of beetroot sugar was another example of how speculations sometimes go wrong, and no wonder. in theory the venture seemed quite sound, for the consumption of sugar in persia is large, and if it had been possible to produce cheap sugar in the country instead of importing it from russia, france and india, huge profits would have been probable; but here again the same mistake was made as by the gas company. the obtaining of the raw material was neglected. the sugar refinery was built at great cost in this case, too, machinery was imported to manufacture the three qualities of sugar most favoured by the persians--loaf sugar, crystallised sugar, and sugar-candy,--but all this was done before ascertaining whether it was possible to grow the right quality of beetroot in sufficient quantities to make the concern pay. theoretically it was proved that it would be possible to produce local sugar at a price which, while leaving the company a huge profit, would easily beat russian sugar, by which french and indian sugar have now been almost altogether supplanted. a model farm was actually started (and is still in existence) near shah-abdul azim, where beetroot was to be grown in large quantities, the experts declaring that the soil was better suited for the crop than any to be found in europe. somehow or other it did not answer as well as expected. moreover, the question of providing coal for the engines proved--as in the case of the gas company--to be another serious stumbling block. an attempt to overcome this difficulty by joining with the gas company in working the lalun mines was made, but, alas! proved an expensive failure. moreover, further difficulties were encountered in obtaining the right manure for the beetroots, in order that the acids, which delay crystallisation, might be eliminated; and the inexperience, carelessness and reluctance with which the natives took up the new cultivation--and, as it did not pay, eventually declined to go on with it--render it by no means strange that the sugar factory, too, which was to make the fortunes of so many became a derelict enterprise. chapter xiii cash and wealth--capital as understood by persians--hidden fortunes--forms of extravagance--unbusiness-like qualities--foreign examples--shaken confidence of natives in foreigners--greed for money--small merchants--illicit ways of increasing wealth--the persian a dreamer--unpunctuality--time no money and no object--hindrance to reform--currency--gold, silver, and copper--absorption of silver--drainage of silver into transcaspia--banknotes--the fluctuations of the kran--how the poorer classes are affected by it--coins old and new--nickel coins--the _shai_ and its subdivisions. the persian does not understand the sound principles on which alone extensive business can be successful. partly owing to prevailing circumstances he is under the misapprehension that hard cash is synonymous with wealth, and does not differentiate between treasure, savings, and savings transformed into capital. this is probably the main cause of the present anaemic state of business in the shah's empire. thus, when we are told there is in persia enormous "capital" to be invested, we are not correctly informed. there are "enormous accumulations of wealth" lying idle, but there is no "capital" in the true meaning of the word. these huge sums in hard cash, in jewellery, or bars of gold and silver, have been hidden for centuries in dark cellars, and for any good they are to the country and commerce at large might as well not exist at all. partly owing to the covetousness of his neighbours, partly owing to a racial and not unreasonable diffidence of all around him, and to the fact that an asiatic always feels great satisfaction in the knowledge that he has all his wealth within his own reach and protection, rich men of persia take particular care to maintain the strictest secrecy about their possessions, and to conceal from the view of their neighbours any signs which might lead them to suspect the accumulation of any such wealth. we have already seen how even the houses of the wealthiest are purposely made humble outwardly so as to escape the notice of rapacious officials, and it is indeed difficult to distinguish from the outside between the house of a millionaire and that of a common merchant. the persian, it must be well understood, does not hide his accumulated treasure from avaricious reasons; on the contrary, his inclinations are rather toward extravagance than otherwise, which extravagance he can only satisfy under a mask of endless lies and subterfuges. no honest ways of employing his wealth in a business-like and safe manner are open to the rich persian under the present public maladministration, nor have the foreign speculations in the country offered sufficient examples of success to induce natives to embark upon them again. far from it; these enterprises have even made persians more sceptical and close than before, and have certainly not shown foreign ways of transacting business at the best. that is why, no other way being open to him, the persian who does wish to get rid of his wealth, prefers to squander his money, both capital and income (the latter if he possesses land), in luxurious jewellery and carpets, and in unhealthy bribery and corruption, or in satisfying caprices which his voluptuous nature may suggest. the result? the persian is driven to live mostly for his vanity and frivolity--two unbusiness-like qualities not tending to the promotion of commercial enterprise on a large scale, although it is true that in a small way his failings give rise and life to certain industries. for instance, even in remote, poor and small centres where food is scarce and the buildings humble, one invariably finds a goldsmith, filigree-workers and embroidery makers, whereas the necessaries of life may be more difficult to obtain. of course persia contains a comparatively small number of persians of a more adventurous nature, men who have travelled abroad and have been bitten with the western desire for speculation to increase their money with speed, if not always with safety; but even these men have mostly retired within their shells since the colossal _fiascos_ of the speculations started in persia by foreign "company promoters." a considerable number of persians, seduced by glowing prospectuses and misplaced faith in everything foreign, were dreadfully taken in by the novel experiments--everything novel attracts the persian considerably--and readily unearthed solid gold and silver bars, that had lain for centuries in subterranean hiding-places, and now came out to be converted into shares in the various concerns, hardly worth the paper on which they were printed, but promising--according to the prospectus--to bring the happy possessors fabulous incomes. we have seen how the sugar refinery, the glass factory, the "gas" company--a more appropriate name could not have been given--and the ill-fated mining company have created well-founded suspicion of foreign ways of increasing one's capital, nor can we with any fairness blame the persians for returning to their old method of slow accumulation. true enough, a fortune, if discovered, has a fair possibility of being seized in the lump by a greedy official, but that is only a possibility; whereas, when invested in some foreign speculations the loss becomes a dead certainty! more even than the actual loss of the money, the persians who burned their fingers by meddling with foreign schemes felt the scorn of their friends, of whom they had become the laughing stock. there is no doubt that to-day the confidence of the natives towards foreigners has been very much shaken, and excepting a few men whom they well know, trust and respect, they regard most europeans as adventurers or thieves. the "treasuring" of capital instead of the investment of it is, therefore, one of the reasons why industries in persia seldom assume large proportions. it is only the small merchant, content to make a humble profit, who can prosper in his own small way while more extensive concerns are distrusted. but it must not be understood that persians do not care for money. there is, on the contrary, hardly a race of people on the face of the earth with whom the greed for money is developed to such an abnormal extent as in all classes in the land of iran! but, you will ask, how can money be procured or increased fast and without trouble in a country where there is no commercial enterprise, where labour is interfered with, where capital cannot have a free outlet or investment? an opening has to be found in illicit ways of procuring wealth, and the most common form adopted is the loan of money at high interest on ample security. as much as 50 per cent., 80 per cent., 100 per cent. and even more is demanded and obtained as interest on private loans, 15 per cent. being the very lowest and deemed most reasonable indeed! (this does not apply to foreign banks.) all this may seem strange in a mussulman country, where it is against all the laws of the koran to lend money at usury, and it is more strange still to find that the principal offenders are the mullahs themselves, who reap large profits from such illegal financial operations. the persian is a dreamer by nature; he cannot be said to be absolutely lazy, for he is always absorbed in deep thought--what the thoughts are it does not do to analyse too closely--but he devotes so much time to thinking that he seldom can do anything else. his mind--like the minds of all people unaccustomed to hard work and steady, solidly-built enterprise--runs to the fantastic, and he ever expects immense returns for doing nothing. the returns, if any, and no matter how large they may be, are ever too small to satisfy his expectations. as for time, there is no country where it is worth less than to the natives of persia. the _mañana_ of the spaniards sinks into perfect insignificance when compared with the habits of the land of iran. punctuality is unknown--especially in payments, for a persian must take time to reflect over everything. he cannot be hurried. a three months' limit of credit--or even six months--seems outrageously short in the eyes of persians. twelve months and eighteen, twenty, or twenty-four months suit him better, but even then he is never ready to pay, unless under great pressure. he does disburse the money in the end, capital and interest, but why people should worry over time, and why it should matter whether payment occurs to-day or to-morrow are quite beyond him. if he does transact business, days are wasted in useless talk and compliments before the subject with which he intends to deal is incidentally approached in conversation, and then more hours and days and weeks, even months have to elapse before he can make up his mind what to do. our haste, and what we consider smartness in business, are looked upon by the persian as quite an acute form of lunacy,--and really, when one is thrown much in contact with such delightful placidity, almost torpor, and looks back upon one's hard race for a living and one's struggle and competition in every department, one almost begins to fancy that we are lunatics after all! [illustration: the arrival of a caravan of silver at the imperial bank of persia.] the persian must have his hours for praying, his hours for ablutions, more hours for meditation, and the rest for sleep and food. whether you hasten or not, he thinks, you will only live the number of years that god wills for you, and you will live those years in the way that he has destined for you. each day will be no longer and no shorter, your life no sadder and no happier. why then hurry? amid such philosophic views, business in european fashion does not promise to prosper. unable to attach a true meaning to words--his language is beautiful but its flowery form conduces to endless misunderstandings--casual to a degree in fulfilling work as he has stipulated to do it; such is the persian of to-day. whether the vicissitudes of his country, the fearful wars, the famines, the climate, the official oppression have made him so, or whether he has always been so, is not easy to tell, but that is how he is now. besides all this, each man is endowed with a maximum of ambition and conceit, each individual fully believing himself the greatest man that ever lived and absolute perfection. moreover the influence of mullahs is used to oppose reform and improvement, so that altogether the economic development of production, distribution and circulation of capital is bound to be hampered to no mean extent. on examining things carefully it seems almost astonishing that the trade of persia should be as well developed as it is. another difficulty in the way is the currency, which offers some interesting lessons, and i am indebted to the author of a paper read before the statistical society for the following details. gold is not produced in persia. bar gold is imported in very small quantities only. gold coin is a mere commodity--is quite scarce, and is mostly used for presents and hoarding. it is minted principally from russian imperials and turkish pounds which drift into persia in small quantities in the course of business. goldsmiths, too, in their work, make use of foreign coins, although some gold and silver bullion is imported for manufacturing purposes. silver, too, is not obtainable in persia except in very small quantities, and the imported silver comes from great britain, _via_ the gulf or _via_ hamburg and russia. in the year 1901 the persian government, in connection with the russian loan, imported some three million tomans' worth of silver to be minted, and the imperial bank of persia another million tomans; while some 500,000 tomans more were brought into the country by other importers. but under normal circumstances the annual output hardly ever exceeds three to four million tomans. in 1900 it was something between 2,000,000 and 2,500,000 tomans. the mint--like all other institutions of persia--is in a tumbling-down condition, with an ancient plant (1877) so obsolete and worn as to be almost useless. partly owing to the insufficient production of coin, partly because of the export in great quantities of persian silver coin into transcaspia, and, last but not least, owing to the persian custom of "making a corner" by speculators, the commercial centres of persia suffer from a normal dearth of silver coins. persian silver coin has for the foregoing reasons a purchasing power of sometimes 20 per cent. beyond its intrinsic value. in distant cities, like yezd or kerman, it is difficult to obtain large sums in silver coin at face value, as it disappears into the villages almost as soon as it arrives by caravan or post. new coin is generally in great demand and commands a premium. so the yearly drain of silver coin from teheran as soon as it is minted is very considerable, especially to the north, north-east and north-west provinces. this coin does not circulate but is almost entirely absorbed and never reappears, the people themselves holding it, as we have seen, as treasure, and huge quantities finding their way into transcaspia and eventually into afghanistan, where persian coin is current and at a premium, especially on the border land. in transcaspia persian coin is cherished because the nominally equivalent persian coin contains a much larger quantity of silver than the russian. russian silver is a mere token of currency, or, at best, stands midway between a token and a standard or international currency, and its difference when compared with the persian coin amounts to no less than 21.92 per cent. in favour of the persian. persian coin, although defective and about 2 per cent. below legal weight and fineness, is a standard or international currency. it appears that a good deal of the silver exported into transcaspia finds its way to chinese turkestan, where it is converted into bars and ingots, and is used for the inland trade to china. the russian government have done all in their power to prevent the competition of persian and russian coins in their transcaspian provinces. a decree was issued some eleven years ago forbidding the importation, and in 1897 a second ukase further prohibited foreign silver from entering the country after the 13th of may (1st of may of our calendar), and a duty of about 20 per cent. was imposed on silver crossing the frontier. all this has resulted in silver entering the provinces by smuggling instead of openly, but it finds its way there in large quantities just the same as before. the government of persia does not issue bank-notes, which would be regarded with suspicion among the people, but it is interesting to find that the monopoly granted to the imperial bank of persia for the issue of paper money has had excellent results, in teheran particularly, where the bank is held in high esteem and the notes have been highly appreciated. in other cities of persia which i visited, however, the notes did not circulate, and were only accepted at the bank's agencies and in the bazaar by some of the larger merchants at a small discount. naturally, with the methods adopted by persians, and the insecurity which prevails everywhere, the process of convincing the natives that a piece of printed paper is equivalent to so many silver krans, and that the silver krans will surely be produced in full on demand is rather a slow one; but the credit of the imperial bank and the popular personality of mr. rabino, the manager, have done much towards dispelling the suspicions, and since 1890 the notes have assumed a considerable place in the circulation. in september 1890 the circulation of them amounted to 29,000 tomans; in 1895 it had gradually increased to 254,000 tomans, and by leaps and bounds had reached the sum of 1,058,000 in 1900.[1] it is rather curious to note that in the previous year, 1899, the note circulation was 589,000 tomans, and became very nearly double in the following twelve months. this only applies to teheran and the principal cities; in the villages, and in out-of-the-way towns, notes are out of the question, and even silver coins are very scarce. a two-kran piece of the newer type is seldom found, and only one-kran pieces, little irregular lumps of silver, are occasionally to be seen. copper is really the currency and is a mere subsidiary or token coinage with a value fluctuating according to local dearth or other causes at almost every place one goes to. the precarious system of farming, accompanied by the corruption of officials, has given an opportunity for most frequent and flagrant abuses in the excessive over-issue of copper coin, so that in many cities copper issued at the nominal value of 20 shais per kran was current at 30, 40, 50, and even, in eastern persia, at 80 shais per kran. i myself, on travelling through persia, never knew exactly what a kran was worth, as in almost every province i received a different exchange of shais for my krans. in birjand and sistan, particularly, the exchange differed very considerably. this state of maladministration affects the poorer classes, for the copper currency forms their entire fortune. on coming to the throne the present shah, with praiseworthy thoughtfulness, endeavoured to put a stop to this cause of misery in his people, and ordered the government to withdraw some 720,000 tomans' worth of copper coins at 25 to 30 shais per kran. this had a good effect, and although much of the depreciated coin is still in circulation, particularly in out-of-the-way places, its circulation in the larger towns has been considerably diminished. lately the government has adopted the measure of supplying the public with nickel coins, one-shai and two-shai pieces, which, although looked at askance at first, are now found very handy by the natives and circulate freely, principally in resht, kasvin, teheran and isfahan. in other cities i did not see any, nor would the natives accept mine in payment, and in villages no one would have anything to do with them as they were absolutely unknown. but wherever it has been possible to commence the circulation of these nickel coins--which were struck at the brussels mint and which are quite pretty--they have been accepted with great pleasure. the old gold coins in circulation in persia--very few and far apart--were the toman, half-toman, and two-kran piece. the gold had a legal fineness of 990. the legal weight in grains troy was: toman, 53.28; half-toman, 26.64; two-kran piece, 10.656. weight in pure gold; toman, 51.7572; half-toman, 26.3736; two-kran piece, 10.54944. the new coins are the two-tomans, one-toman (differentiated in 1879 and subsequent to 1879), half-toman and two-kran pieces, the gold having a legal fineness of 900. legal weight:- | | one toman. | | | two | | subsequent| half | two kran | tomans.| 1879. | to 1879. | toman. | piece. --------------------+---------+--------+-----------+--------+--------grains troy | 100.64 | 50.32 | 44.40 | 22.20 | 8.88 weight in pure gold | 90.576 | 45.288 | 39.96 | 19.98 | 7.992 the new silver coinage consists of 2-kran pieces (five of which make a toman), one-kran, half-kran, and quarter-kran, all keeping to the legal fineness of 900 as in the older coins struck from 1857 to 1878:- | two | one | half | quarter | krans. | kran. | kran. | kran. ---------------------------+---------+--------+--------+-------legal weight (grains troy) | 142.08 | 71.04 | 30.52 | 15.26 weight in grains silver | 127.872 | 63.936 | 27.468 | 13.734 the 1857 to 1878 coins were merely one-kran, half-kran, quarter-kran:- | one kran. | half kran. | quarter kran. ---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------legal weight | 76.96 | 38.48 | 19.24 weight in pure silver| 69.264 | 34.632 | 17.316 the older coinage before 1857, a most irregular coin--of one kran--varied considerably and had an approximate average fineness of 855, an average weight (grains troy) of 75.88, and a weight in pure silver of grains troy 64.877, which is below the correct standard by no less than 6.76 per cent. in the newest coinage of two-kran pieces, the coin most used in cities,--large payments being always made in two-kran pieces--we have an average fineness of 892.166; average weight, grains troy, 119.771; weight in pure silver, grains troy, 124.69, or 2.55 per cent. below the standard. in nickel coinage, composed of 25 per cent. of nickel and 75 per cent. of copper, we have:-two shai pieces (grains troy) 69.45 one shai pieces (grains troy) 46.30 the copper coins are in great variety. there is the _abassi_ (one-fifth of a kran) worth four shais, and very scarce now. the _sadnar_ (one-tenth of a kran) equivalent to two shais. the (one) _shai_ (one-twentieth of a kran). the _pul_ (one-fortieth of a kran), half a shai. and the _jendek_ (one-eightieth of a kran) a quarter shai; this coin only found in circulation in khorassan. when it is remembered that at the present rate of exchange the kran can be reckoned at fivepence in english money, and the toman as roughly equivalent to one american dollar, it will be seen that the subdivisions of the kran are rather minute for the average european mind. [illustration: the imperial bank of persia decorated on the shah's birthday.] yet there are things that one can buy even for a _jendek_; think of it,--the fourth part of a farthing! but that is only in khorassan. footnotes: [1] i understand this figure has since considerably increased. chapter xiv the banks of persia--the imperial bank of persia--the most revered foreigner in persia--loans--the road concession--the action of the stock exchange injurious to british interests--securities--brains and not capital--risks of importing capital--an ideal banking situation--hoarding--defective communication--the key to profitable banking in persia--how the exchange is affected--coins--free trade--the russian bank and mr. de witte--mr. grube an able manager--healthy competition--support of the russian government. the banks of persia can be divided into three classes. one, containing the smaller native bankers, who often combine the jeweller's business with that of the money changer; the larger and purely native banking businesses, and then the foreign banks, such as the imperial bank of persia (english bank), the banque d'escompte et de prêts (russian bank) and the agency of the banque internationale de commerce de moscow (banque poliakoff). there are other foreign firms too, such as ziegler and co., hotz, the persian gulf trading co., etc., which transact banking to a limited extent besides their usual and principal trading business; but these are not banks proper. the imperial bank of persia, being a purely british enterprise, is the most interesting to us. its main offices are in a most impressive building in the principal square of teheran, and it has branch offices at tabriz, isfahan, meshed, yezd, shiraz, in the teheran bazaar, at bushire and kermanshah. it would be useless to go into the various vicissitudes through which the bank has passed since it was first started, and the difficulties which it encountered in meeting the unusual ways of doing business of persians and satisfying the desires of directors and shareholders in simple london town. one thing is, nevertheless, certain, and that is that if the imperial bank of persia maintains the prestige now belonging to it, it owes this to mr. rabino, of egyptian fame, the manager of the bank,--without exception the most revered foreigner in persia. i will not touch on the sore question of the persian loans, eventually secured by russia, but, curiously enough, the capital of the first loan, at least, was in great measure practically transferred from russia to persia by the imperial bank, which had the greatest stock of money in teheran; nor shall i go into the successful and unsuccessful ventures of the bank, such as the road concession, and the mining corporation. as to the road concession, it is beyond doubt that had the bank not become alarmed, and had they held on a little longer, the venture might have eventually paid, and paid well. but naturally, in a slow country like persia, nothing can be a financial success unless it is given time to develop properly. with regard to its relation with the banque d'escompte et de prêts, the russian bank--believed by some to be a dangerous rival--matters may to my mind be seen in two aspects. i believe that the russian bank, far from damaging the imperial bank, has really been a godsend to it, as it has relieved it by sharing advances to the government which in time might have proved somewhat of a burden on one establishment. it is a mistake, too, to believe that in a country like persia there is not room for two large concerns like the two above-mentioned banks, and that one or the other is bound to go. the rumoured enormous successes of the russian bank and its really fast-increasing prestige are indisputable, but the secret of these things is well known to the local management of the imperial bank, which could easily follow suit and quickly surpass the russians if more official and political support were forthcoming. the action of the london stock exchange in depreciating everything persian, for the sake of reprisal, is also injurious to the bank, and more so to the prestige of this country, though we do not seem to see that our attitude has done much more harm to ourselves than to the persians. it is true that persia is a maladministered country, that there is corruption, that there is intrigue, and so forth, but is there any other country, may i ask, where to a greater or smaller extent the same accusation could not be made? nor can we get away from the fact that although persia has been discredited on the london market it is one of the few countries in which the national debt is extremely small and can easily be met. the obligations of the imperial government and of muzaffer-ed-din shah's signature, have never failed to be met, nor has the payment of full interest on mortgages contracted ever been withheld. delays may have occurred, but everything has come right in the end. our absurd attitude towards the persians, when we are at the same time ready to back up enterprises that certainly do not afford one-tenth of the security to be found in persia, is therefore rather difficult to understand. there are few countries in which so much can be done with a comparatively small outlay as in persia. it is not enterprises on a gigantic scale, nor millions of pounds sterling that are needed; moderate sums handled with judgment, knowledge and patient perseverance, would produce unlooked-for results. large imported sums of capital in hard cash are not wanted and would involve considerable risk. first of all, stands the danger of the depreciation of capital by the fall in silver and the gradual rise in exchange due to the excess of imports over exports. then comes the narrowness of the persian markets which renders the return of large sums in cash an extremely long and difficult operation; and last but not least, the serious fact that capital is generally imported at a loss, inasmuch as the intrinsic value of the kran is much below its exchange value. the ideal situation of an english bank trading with the east,[2] is when its capital remains in gold, whilst its operations are conducted in silver by means of its deposits. this, because of the instability in the price of silver as compared with that of gold, and the risks which follow upon holding a metal fluctuating in value almost daily. the situation in persia, partly owing to the constant appreciation of the persian currency, due to the great dearth of silver produced by hoarding as well as by the export of coin to central asia, is quite suitable to the system of banking indicated above. the difference between the intrinsic and the exchange value of the kran, notwithstanding the constant demand for exchange, is quite worthy of note. political preoccupation is the principal cause of the hoarding system in government circles, and in the masses the absence of banking organisations in which the natives have sufficient confidence to deposit their savings. slowly but surely the persian is beginning to feel the good effects of depositing his money in a european-managed bank offering sound guarantees, and it is certain that in time all the money required for trade purposes will be found in persia itself. when better communication between the various commercial centres has been established, the distribution of the funds as required, now a matter of great difficulty and risk, will be greatly facilitated. when the despatching of sums from one city to another instead of taking minutes by telegraph or hours by post occupy, under normal circumstances, days, weeks, a month or even more, because the payments are made in solid silver which has to travel by caravan, it is easy to understand how the dangerous system of hoarding comes to be practised with impunity and facility all over persia. [illustration: a typical persian window. (mr. rabino's house, teheran.)] of course every precaution is taken to foresee abnormal scarcity of funds, by sending specie to the places threatened, in order to help trade. during the summer months, for instance, most of the floating capital is absorbed in the provinces by the opium crop in the yezd and isfahan markets, when the silver krans find their way _en masse_ to the villages, much to the inconvenience of the two cities. in the autumn a similar occurrence hampers trade during the export season of dried fruit and silk from azerbaijan and ghilan, the exchange falling very low owing to scarcity of money. a very important item in the bank's transactions in persia is the constant demand for remittances of revenue to teheran for government purposes, such as payments for the army, officials, etc., and these remittances amount to very large sums. the key to profitable banking in persia is the arbitration of foreign exchanges, which being so intimately connected with internal exchange allows the latter to be worked at a profit, advantage being taken of breaks in the level of prices; but of course, with the introduction of telegraphs and in future of railways, these profits will become more and more difficult to make. in persia the lack of quick communication still affords a fair chance of good remuneration without speculation for the important services rendered by a bank to trade. the exchange of persia upon london is specially affected by two influences. in the north by the value of the ruble, the more important and constant factor, tabriz, the persian centre of the russian exchange, being the nearest approach in persia to a regular market; and in the south by the rupee exchange, which differs from the ruble in its being dependent upon the price of silver. in a country like persia, where the exchange is not always obtainable and money at times is not to be procured, it is easy to conceive the difficulty of a bank. forecasts of movements, based on general causes, are of little or no value in persia. to this must be added the difficulties of examining and counting coins--weighing is not practicable owing to the irregularity of each coin--of the transmission of funds to distant places, and the general ignorance except in mercantile circles--of banking methods as we understand them. the imperial bank is established in persia, not as is believed by some persons to do business for england and english people, but to do business with everybody. "the spirit of free trade alone," said mr. rabino to me, "must animate the management of such a bank. its services must be at the disposal of all; its impartiality to english, russian, austrian, persian, or whatever nationality a customer may belong to, unquestioned. all must have a fair and generous treatment." the interests of the imperial bank are firstly those of its shareholders, secondly those of persia which gives the bank hospitality. the bank has already rendered inestimable services to persia by diffusing sound business principles, which the persians seem slowly but gladly to learn and accept. that the future of a bank on such true principles is bound to be crowned with success seems a certainty, but as has often been pointed out, it would be idle to fancy that a couple of years or three will remove the prejudices and peculiar ways of thinking and of transacting business of an oriental race, whose civilisation is so different from ours, or that the natives will accept our financial system with its exactitude and punctuality, the result of ages of experience, unhesitatingly and immediately. the persian requires very careful handling. he is obstinate, and by mere long, tedious, passive resistance will often get the better in a bargain. by the employment of similar methods however, it is not difficult to obtain one's way in the end. a good deal of patience is required and time _ad libitum_, that is all. there is no need for a large stock of gold and rubles, but what is mostly wanted is a greater number of men who might be sent all over the country, men with good business heads and a polite manner, and, above all, men well suited to the present requirements of the country. the russian, we find,--contrary to our popular ideas, which ever depict him knut in hand,--almost fraternises with the asiatics, and in any case treats them with due consideration as if they had a right to live, at least in their own country. hence his undoubted popularity. but we, the quintessence of christianity and charity towards our neighbours, habitually treat natives with much needless harshness and reserve, which far from impressing the natives with our dignity--as we think--renders us ridiculous in their eyes. a number of younger englishmen are beginning to be alive to this fact, and instruction on this point should form part of the commercial training of our youths whose lives are to be spent in the east. the other important bank in persia upon which great hopes are built, although worked on different lines, is the so-called russian bank, the _société de prêts de perse_, as it was at first called when founded by poliakoff in 1891. it was an experiment intended to discover exactly what was wanted in the country and what was the best way to attract business. the monopoly of public auctions was obtained in conjunction with the mont-de-piété--a scheme which did not work very well at first, the natives not being accustomed to sudden innovations. the concern subsequently developed into the _bank estekrasi_ (bank of loans), or _banque de prêts de perse_, as it styled itself, but financially it did not pay, and at one moment was expected to liquidate. it is said that it then threatened to amalgamate with the imperial bank. mr. de witte, of st. petersburg fame, was consulted in the matter, and took exactly twenty-four hours to make up his mind on what was the best course to pursue. he bought the bank up, the state bank of st. petersburg making an advance on the shares. the minister of finance has a right to name all the officials in the bank, who, for appearance sake, are not necessarily all of russian nationality, and the business is transacted on the same lines as at the state bank of st. petersburg. a most efficient man was sent out as manager; mr. grube, a gentleman of much tact and most attractive manner, and like mr. rabino--a genius in his way at finance; a man with a thorough knowledge of the natives and their ways. in the short time he has been in teheran the bank has made enormous strides, by mere sound, business capability and manly, straightforward enterprise. mr. grube has, i think, the advantage of the manager of the imperial bank in the fact that, when the russians know they have a good man at the helm, they let him steer his ship without interference. he is given absolute power to do what he thinks right, and is in no way hampered by shareholders at home. this freedom naturally gives him a very notable advantage over the imperial bank, which always has to wait for instructions from london. mr. grube, with whom i had a long and most interesting conversation, told me how he spends his days in the bazaar branch of his bank, where he studies the ways and future possibilities of the country and its natives, and the best ways of transacting business compatible with european principles, and in particular carefully analysing the best ways of pushing russian trade and industries in persia. in all this he has the absolute confidence and help of his government, and it is really marvellous how much he has been able to do to further russian influence in persia. there is no trickery, no intrigue, no humbug about it; but it is mere frank, open competition in which the stronger nation will come out first. it was most gratifying to hear in what glowing terms of respect the managers of the two rival banks spoke of each other. they were fighting a financial duel, bravely, fairly, and in a most gentlemanly manner on both sides. there was not the slightest shade of false play on either side, and this i specially mention because of the absurd articles which one often sees in english papers, written by hasty or ill-informed correspondents. russia's trade, owing to its convenient geographical position, is bound to beat the english in northern persia, but it should be a good lesson to us to see, nevertheless, how the russian government comes forward for the protection of the trade of the country, and does everything in its power to further it. russia will even go so far as to sell rubles at a loss to merchants in order to encourage trade in persia, no doubt with the certainty in sight that as trade develops the apparent temporary loss will amply be compensated in due time by big profits. it is, to an englishman, quite an eye-opener to watch how far the russians will go for the absolute benefit of their own trade, and this conduct pursued openly and blamelessly can only be admired by any fair-minded person. it is only a pity that we are not yet wide awake enough to do the same. the russian bank has branches in the principal cities of northern persia, her business being so far merely confined to the north. footnotes: [2] see institute of bankers. chapter xv illegitimate bank-notes--hampering the bank's work--the grand fiasco of the tobacco corporation--magnificent behaviour of the natives--the mullahs and tobacco--the nation gives up smoking--suppression of the monopoly--compensation--want of tact--important european commercial houses and their work--russian and british trade--trade routes--the new persian customs--what they are represented to be and what they are--duties--the employment of foreigners in persia--the maclean incident. the work of the imperial bank has at various times been hampered by speculators who tried to make money by misleading the public. their speculations were always based on the prestige of the bank. for instance, take the bushire company and the fars trading company, limited, companies started by native merchants. they illegally issued bank-notes which, strangely enough, owing to the security found in the imperial bank-notes, found no difficulty in circulating at a small discount, especially in shiraz. naturally, the imperial bank, having in its conventions with the persian government the exclusive right to issue bank-notes payable at sight, protested against this infringement of rights, but for a long time got little redress, and some of the fraudulent bank-notes are to this day circulating in southern persia. sooner or later this was bound to interfere with the bank, as the natives, unaccustomed to bank-notes, confused the ones with the others. moreover, the enemies of the bank took advantage of this confusion to instigate the people against the imperial bank, making them believe that the word "imperial" on the bank-notes meant that the issuing of bank-notes was only a new scheme of the government to supply people with worthless paper instead of a currency of sound silver cash. in the southern provinces this stupid belief spread very rapidly, and was necessarily accentuated by the issue of the illegal bank-notes of local private concerns, which, although bearing foreign names, were merely persian undertakings. necessarily, the many foreign speculations to which we have already referred, cannot be said to have strengthened confidence in anything of european importation; but the grand successive abortions of the belgian and russian factories--which were to make gas, sugar, glass, matches, etc.--are hardly to be compared in their disastrous results to the magnificent english fiasco of the tobacco corporation, which not only came to grief itself, but nearly caused a revolution in the country. it is well-known how a concession was obtained by british capitalists in 1890 to establish a tobacco monopoly in persia, which involved the usual payment of a large sum to the shah, and presents to high officials. the company made a start on a very grand scale in february, 1891, having the whole monopoly of purchase and sale of tobacco all over persia. no sooner had it begun its work than a commission of injured native merchants presented a petition to the shah to protest against it. a decree was, however, published establishing the monopoly of the corporation all over persia, and upon this the discontent and signs of rebellion began. yet this affair of the tobacco monopoly showed what fine, dignified people the persians can be if they choose. the want of tact, the absolute mismanagement and the lack of knowledge in dealing with the natives, the ridiculous notion that coercion would at once force the persians to accept the tobacco supplied by the corporation, fast collected a dense cloud of danger overhead. teheran and the other larger cities were placarded with proclamations instigating the crowds to murder europeans and do away with their work. but the persians, notwithstanding their threats, showed themselves patient, and confident that the shah would restore the nation to its former happiness. in the meantime the company's agents played the devil all over the empire. it seems incredible, even in the annals of persian history, that so little lack of judgment could have been shown towards the natives. the mullahs saw an excellent opportunity to undo in a few days the work of europeans of several scores of years. "allah," they preached to the people, "forbids you to smoke or touch the impure tobacco sold you by europeans." on a given day the mugte halh, or high priest of sacred kerbalah, declared that the faithful throughout the country must touch tobacco no more; tobacco, the most cherished of persian indulgences. mirza hassan ashtiani, _mujtehed_ of teheran, on whom the shah relied to pacify the crowds now in flagrant rebellion, openly preached against his sovereign and stood by the veto of his superior priest at kerbalah. he went further and exhorted the people to cease smoking, not because tobacco was impure, but because the koran says that it is unlawful to make use of any article which is not fairly dealt in by all alike. at a given date all through the shah's dominions--and this shows a good deal of determination--the foreigner and his tobacco were to be treated with contempt. tobacco was given up by all. in the bazaars, in the caravanserais, in the streets, in the houses, where under ordinary circumstances every man puffed away at a _kalian_, a _chibuk_ (small pocket-pipe) or cigarette, not a single soul could be seen smoking for days and days. only the shah made a point of smoking in public to encourage the people, but even his wife and concubines--at the risk of incurring disfavour--refused to smoke, and smashed the _kalians_ before his eyes. in house-holds where the men--ever weaker than women--could, after weeks of abstinence, not resist the temptation in secrecy, their wives destroyed the pipes. for several weeks not a single individual touched tobacco--a most dignified protest which quite terrified the shah and everybody, for, indeed, it was apparent that people so strong-willed were not to be trifled with. in many places the natives broke out into rebellion, and many lives were lost. nasr-ed-din shah, frightened and perplexed, called the high mullah of teheran to the palace (january 5th-6th, 1892). by his advice the tobacco monopoly was there and then abolished by an imperial decree, and the privileges granted for the sale and export of tobacco revoked. furthermore, the mullah only undertook to pacify the people on condition that all foreign enterprises and innovations in persia should be suppressed; that all people imprisoned during the riots should be freed, and the families of those killed fully indemnified. the sudden end of the tobacco corporation necessarily led to much correspondence with the british minister, sir frank lascelles, on the question of compensation and damages to the company which, depending on its monopoly, had entered into agreements, and had already paid out large sums of money. it was finally agreed that the shah should pay £500,000 sterling compensation, and take over the assets of the company, supposed to be some £140,000, subject to realisation. with the assistance of the bank of persia, a six per cent. loan was issued, which was taken up principally by the shareholders of the tobacco corporation. the interest and the sinking fund of this loan were punctually met until the year 1900 when it was repaid in full on the conclusion of the russian loan. in england this failure seems to have been ascribed to russian intrigue, but it must in all fairness be said that had the russians tried a similar scheme in a similar manner, they would have fared even worse than we did. even persian concerns established on european principles have serious troubles to contend with; but it was madness to believe that an entire eastern nation could, at a moment's notice, be forced to accept--in a way most offensive to them--such an article of primary use as tobacco, which, furthermore, was offered at a higher price than their own tobaccos which they liked better. there are in persia a few important european commercial houses, such as ziegler and co., and hotz and son, which have extensive dealings with persians. ziegler and co. deal in english imports and in the exportation of carpets, etc., whereas hotz and son import russian articles, which they find cheaper and of easier sale. both are eminently respectable firms, and enjoy the esteem of everybody. notwithstanding the swiss name, ziegler and co. is an english firm, although, as far as i know, it has not a single english employee in its various branches in persia. the reason, as we have seen, is that foreigners are considered more capable. it has in the various cities some very able swiss agents, who work most sensibly and excellently, and who certainly manage to make the best of whatever business there is to be done in the country. for over thirty years the house has been established in persia, having begun its life at tabriz and then extended to teheran, resht, meshed, isfahan, yezd--the latter so far a non-important branch--and shiraz, bushire, bandar abbas and bagdad, where it has correspondents working for the firm. the house imports large quantities of manchester goods and exports chiefly carpets, cloths, opium and dried fruit. the carpets, which are specially made for the european market, are manufactured chiefly at sultanabad where thousands of hands are employed at the looms, scattered about in private houses of the people and not in a large factory. the firm takes special care to furnish good wool and cottons coloured with vegetable dyes, and not with aniline. ancient patterns are selected and copied in preference to new designs. of course, besides these, other carpets are purchased in other parts of the country. carpets may be divided into three classes. the scarce and most expensive pure silk rugs; the _lamsavieh_ or good quality carpets, and the _mojodeh_ or cheaper kind. there is a good demand for the two latter qualities all over europe and in america. articles specially dealt in are the cotton and wool fabrics called _ghilim_, the designs of which are most artistic; and to a certain extent other fabrics, such as the vividly coloured kashan velvets, the watered silks of resht, the kerman cloths resembling those of cashmir, the silver and gold embroidered brocades of yezd, and the silk handkerchiefs manufactured in the various silk districts, principally tabriz, resht, kashan and yezd. the stamped and hand-drawn _kalamkars_ in stringent colours upon white cotton also find their way in large quantities to europe, but are more quaint than beautiful. large and ill-proportioned figures are frequently attempted in these designs. when of truly persian manufacture the colours are said to be quite permanent under the action of both light and water. the firm of hotz and son deals in well-nigh everything, and has made good headway of late years. it has large establishments at isfahan, shiraz and bushire, and two agencies, one at ahwaz on the karun river, and one in teheran (groeneweg, dunlop, and co.); while it has correspondents in bagdad, busrah, hongkong and rotterdam, the head offices being in london. its carpet manufacturing business in sultanabad is now carried on by the persian manufacturing co. the exports are similar to those of ziegler and co. there are also smaller firms, particularly in teheran, such as the toko, virion, and others who do a retail business in piece goods and articles of any kind, and are entirely in the hands of foreigners, belgians, austrians, and french. without reference to statistics, which are absolutely worthless in a country like persia, the yearly foreign trade of persia, divided between the gulf ports and the north and north-western and south-western frontiers, may be put down roughly at some nine or ten millions sterling. the russian trade in the north may be considered as about equal to the british in the south. then there are the goods brought by the trebizonde-tabriz trade route from turkey and the mediterranean, and by the bagdad-kermanshah, another very important route. the extravagant system of farming prevailing until quite lately in persia, as well as the uncertainties of customs and revenue returns, makes it difficult to give trustworthy figures; but in future, probably this year, we may expect some more reliable data from the new belgian customs office, a really sensible and well-managed administration organised by monsieur naus, who is, indeed, to be congratulated on the success with which his efforts at bringing about so radical a reform in the system of collecting duties have in so short a time been crowned. we often hear in england that the customs of persia are absolutely in the hands of russia, and are worked by russian officials. even serious papers like _the times_ publish misleading statements of this kind, but nothing could be more erroneous. m. naus, at the head of the customs, is a belgian, and so are nearly all the foreign employees (there are one or two french, i believe) in persian employ, but not a single russian is to be found among their number. that the russians hold a comparatively trifling mortgage on the customs as a security for their loan is true, but, as long as persia is able to pay interest on it, russia has no more power over the persian customs than we have. under regular and honest management, like the present, the customs have already given considerable results, and were it not for the weakness of the government in the provinces, the customs receipts might easily be doubled, even without a change in the tariff. the duties levied in persia are determined by the treaty of turkmantchai with russia in 1828, by which a uniform and reciprocal five per cent. for import and export was agreed to, a special convention, nevertheless, applying to turkey, which fixed a reciprocal 12 per cent. export and 6 per cent. import duty, and 75 per cent. on tobacco and salt. an attempt was made to negotiate a new commercial treaty with russia last year, but unfortunately, matters did not go as was expected by m. naus, who was very keen on the subject. a high russian official was despatched to teheran who caused a good deal of trouble, and eventually the whole matter fell through. regarding the employment of foreigners by the persian government, it is not out of place to recall the maclean incident. an agreement had been entered into with mr. maclean, a british subject, and a former employee of the imperial bank, to take charge of the mint, in order to bring it up to date and work it on more business-like principles than at present. this led to a demand from the russians that a similarly high office in the shah's government should be given to a russian, so that this appointment might not be taken as a slight against russia; or, if this were not possible, that two or three russians might be employed instead in minor capacities in the new customs. the persian government would not agree to this, but owing to the pressure that had been brought to bear by the russians they felt obliged to dismiss mr. maclean. the british minister necessarily then stood up for british rights, and a great scandal was made of the whole affair, and as an agreement for three years had been signed, the persian government had to pay the salary in full for that period, although they had only availed themselves of mr. maclean's services for a few months. it is to be regretted that the sadrazam acted in so reckless a manner, for the whole matter might have been settled quietly without the slightest disturbance and unpleasantness. anyhow, this led to a decree being passed (in 1901) that in future _no british subject, no russian, and no turk_ will be accepted in persian employ. this includes the army, with the exception of the special cossack regiment which had previously been formed under russian instructors. it can safely be said that there is not a single russian in any civil appointment in persia, no more than there is any britisher; but, in the customs service particularly, m. naus being a belgian, nearly all the employees are belgian, as i have said, with only one or two french lower subordinates. [illustration: the first position in persian wrestling.] [illustration: palawans, or strong men giving a display of feats of strength.] the customs service is carried on with great fairness to all alike, and the mischievous stories of russian preference and of the violation of rules in favour of russian goods are too ridiculous to be taken into consideration. one fact is certain, that any one who takes the trouble to ascertain facts finds them very different from what they are represented to be by hasty and over-excited writers. chapter xvi russia on the brain--the apprehended invasion of india--absolute nonsense--russia's tariff--in the house of commons--a friendly understanding advisable--german competition--the peace of the world--russia's firm policy of bold advance--an outlet in the persian gulf--the policy of drift--sound knowledge of foreign countries needed--mutual advantages of a russian and british agreement--civilisation--persia's integrity. there is, unfortunately, a class of englishmen--especially in india--who have russia on the brain, and those people see the russian everywhere and in everything. every humble globe-trotter in india must be a russian spy--even though he be an englishman--and much is talked about a russian invasion of india, through tibet, through afghanistan, persia or beluchistan. to any one happening to know these countries it is almost heartrending to hear such nonsense, and worse still to see it repeated in serious papers, which reproduce and comment upon it gravely for the benefit of the public. in explanation, and without going into many details, i will only mention the fact that it is more difficult than it sounds for armies--even for the sturdy russian soldier--to march hundreds of miles across deserts without water for men and animals, or over a high plateau like tibet, where (although suggested by the wise newspaper englishman at home as a sanatorium for british troops in india) the terrific climate, great altitudes, lack of fuel, and a few other such trifles would reduce even the largest european army into a very humble one at the end of a journey across it. then people seem to be ignorant of the fact that, with a mountainous natural frontier like the himahlyas, a maxim gun or two above each of the few passable passes would bring to reason any army--allowing that it could get thus far--that intended to cross over into india! but, besides, have we not got soldiers to defend india? why should we fear the russians? are we not as good as they are? why should we ever encourage the so far unconcerned russian to come to india by showing our fear? it is neither manly nor has it any sense in it. the russian has no designs whatever upon india at present--he does not even dream of advancing on india--but should india eventually fall into russia's hands--which is not probable--believe me, it will never be by a russian army marching into india from the north, or north-west, or west. the danger, if there is any, may be found probably very much nearer home, in our own ignorance and blindness. we also hear much about the infamy of russia in placing a tariff on all goods in transit for persia, and we are told that this is another blow directed at english trade. such is not the case. russia, i am told by people who ought to know, would be only too glad to come to an understanding with england on some sensible basis, but she certainly is not quite so unwise as we are in letting germany, her real enemy, swamp her market with cheap goods. the tariff is chiefly a protection against germany. of course, if we choose to help germany to ruin russia's markets as well as our own, then we must suffer in consequence, but looking ahead towards the future of asia, it might possibly not be unwise to come to some sensible arrangement with russia, by which her commercial interests and ours would mutually benefit instead of suffering as they do at present. in persia we are playing a rapidly losing game. commercially, as i have already said, we have lost northern persia, and russian influence is fast advancing in southern persia. this is surely the time to pull up and change our tactics, or we shall go to the wall altogether. as mr. joseph walton, m.p., very ably put it before the house of commons on january 22nd, 1902, in the case of russia we have at present to contend with abnormal conditions of competition. it would therefore be wise for the british government to reconsider its policy in order to maintain, at least, our commercial interests in southern persia. the government of india, too, should take its share in upholding british interests--being directly concerned in affairs that regard the welfare of persia. russia has gone to great expense to construct two excellent roads from the north into persia to facilitate russian commerce, and it would be advisable if we were to do the same from the south. (one of the roads, the piri bazaar--kasvin road, is said to have cost, including purchase of the kasvin teheran section, something like half a million sterling). it is indeed idle, as mr. walton said, to adhere to methods of the past when foreign governments are adopting modern methods in order to achieve the commercial conquest of new regions. the matter of establishing consulates, too, is of the greatest importance. we find even large trading cities like kermanshah, yezd, shiraz and birjand devoid of british consuls. undoubtedly we should wish a priority of right to construct roads and railways in southern persia--in the event of the persians failing to construct these themselves--to be recognised, and it seems quite sensible and fair to let persia give a similar advantage to russia in northern persia. nothing but a friendly understanding between england and russia, which should clearly define the respective spheres of influence, will save the integrity of persia. that country should remain an independent buffer state between russia and india. but to bring about this result it is more than necessary that we should support persia on our side, as much as russia does on hers, or the balance is bound to go in the latter's favour. the understanding with russia should also--and i firmly believe russia would be only too anxious to acquiesce in this--provide a protection against german commercial invasion and enterprise in the region of the persian gulf. germany--not russia--is england's bitterest enemy--all the more to be dreaded because she is a "friendly enemy." it is no use to try and keep out russia merely to let germany reap any commercial advantages that may be got--and that is the policy england is following at the present moment. the question whether or no we have a secret agreement with germany, in connection with the euphrates valley railway, is a serious one, because, although one cannot but admire german enterprise in that quarter, it would be well to support it only in places where it is not likely to be disastrous to our own trade and interests generally. little or no importance should be attached to the opinion of the russian press in their attacks upon england. the influential men of russia, as well as the emperor himself, are certainly anxious to come to a satisfactory understanding with england regarding affairs not only in persia but in asia generally. an understanding between the two greatest nations in the world would, as long as it lasted, certainly maintain the peace of the world, and would have enormous control over the smaller nations; whereas petty combinations can be of little practical solid assistance or use to us. as i have pointed out before on several occasions,[3] russia is not to-day what she was half a century ago. she has developed enough to know her strength and power, and her soldiers are probably the finest in europe--because the most practical and physically enduring. her steady, firm policy of bold advance, in spite of our namby-pamby, ridiculous remonstrances, can but command the admiration of any fair-minded person, although we may feel sad, very sad, that we have no men capable of standing up against it, not with mere empty, pompous words, but with actual deeds which might delay or stop her progress. as matters are proceeding now, we are only forwarding russia's dream of possessing a port in the persian gulf. she wants it and she will no doubt get it. in chapters xxxiii and xxxiv the question of the point upon which her aims are directed is gone into more fully. the undoubted fact remains that, notwithstanding our constant howling and barking, she invariably gets what she wants, and even more, which would lead one to believe that, at any rate, her fear of us is not very great. we are told that our aggressive--by which is meant retrogressive--policy towards russia is due to our inability to effect an entire reversal of our policy towards that country, but this is not the case at all. at any rate, as times and circumstances have changed, our policy need not be altogether reversed, but it must necessarily be subjected to modifications in order to meet changed conditions. if we stand still while russia is going fast ahead, we are perforce left behind. the policy of drift, which we seem to favour, is bound to lead us to disaster, and when we couple with it inefficacious resistance and bigoted obstruction we cannot be surprised if, in the end, it only yields us bitter disappointment, extensive losses, enmity and derision. the policy of drift is merely caused by our absolute ignorance of foreign countries. we drift simply because we do not know what else to do. we hear noble lords in the government say that the reason we did not lend persia the paltry two and a half millions sterling was because "men of business do not lend money except on proper security, and that before embarking on any such policy the government must be anxious to see whether the security is both sufficient and suitable." yes, certainly, but why did the government not see? had the government seen they certainly would have effected the loan. surely, well-known facts, already mentioned in previous pages, have proved very luminously our folly in taking the advice of incompetent men who judge of matters with which, to say the least, they are not familiar. but the real question appears to be, not how to make a safe and profitable financial investment, which is no part of the functions of the british or any other government, but rather whether it is not better to lay out a certain sum for a valuable political object than to allow a formidable competitor to do so to our prejudice. hence the disadvantageous position in which we find ourselves at present, all over asia, but particularly in persia. it would no doubt be the perfection of an agreement if an amicable understanding could be arrived at with russia, not only regarding persia but including china, manchuria, and corea as well. a frank and fair adjustment of russian and british interests in these countries could be effected without serious difficulty, mutual concessions could advantageously be granted, and mutual advice and friendly support would lead to remarkably prosperous results for both countries. russia, notwithstanding all we hear of her, would only be too glad to make sacrifices and concessions in order to have the friendship and support of england, and russia's friendship to england would, i think, be of very great assistance to british manufacturers. it must be remembered that russia is an enormous country, and that her markets both for exports and imports are not to be despised. in machinery alone huge profits could be made, as well as in cloths, piece goods, fire-arms, manchester goods, worked iron, steel, etc. articles of british manufacture are in much demand in russia and siberia, and, should the british manufacturer see his way to make articles as required by the buyer, very large profits could be made in the russian market. also huge profits will eventually be made by the export of siberian products into england and the continent, a branch of industry which the russians themselves are attempting to push into the british market with the assistance of their government. to return to persia it must not be forgotten that british imports into that country (in 1900) amounted to £1,400,000, whilst russia imported £21,974,952 of british goods. which, after all, is the customer best worth cultivating: persia which takes £1,400,000 of our goods, or russia which buys from us for £21,974,952? it is a mistake to believe that we are the only civilising agents of the world, and that the work of other powers in that direction only tends to the stagnation of eastern peoples. one might affirm with more truth that our intercourse with the civilisation of the east tends to our own stagnation. we do impart to the natives, it is true, some smattering of the semi-barbaric, obsolete ways we possess ourselves, but standing aside and trying to look upon matters with the eye of a rational man, it is really difficult to say whether what we teach and how we teach it does really improve the eastern people or not. personally, with a long experience of natives all over asia, it appears to me that it does not. the russian, though from a british point of view altogether a barbarian, does not appear to spoil the natives quite so much in his work among them. the natives under his _régime_ seem happy, and his work of civilisation is more of the patriarchal style, tending more to enrich the people, to promote commerce and trade on appropriate lines, than to educate the masses according to western methods and laws. the results are most decidedly good, and anyhow lead to much greater contentment among the masses than we can secure, for instance, in india. above all things it makes for peace; the natives are treated with extreme consideration and kindness, but at the same time they know that no nonsense is tolerated, and that is undoubtedly the way most appreciated by asiatics. in persia, it is to be hoped for the peace of all that neither russia nor england will acquire any territorial rights, but that the integrity of the shah's empire may long be preserved. only it would not be unwise to prepare for emergencies in case the country--already half spoiled by european ways--should one day collapse and make interference necessary. the integrity of states in asia intended to serve as buffers is all very well when such states can look after themselves, but with misgovernment and want of proper reform, as in persia, great trouble may be expected sooner than we imagine, unless we on our side are prepared to help persia as much as russia does on her side. if this can be done, with little trouble to ourselves, and in a way agreeable to the persians, there is no reason why, as an independent state, persia should not fully develop her resources, reorganise her government and army, become a powerful nation, and establish a flourishing trade, russia and england profiting equally by the assistance given her. footnotes: [3] see _china and the allies_, heinemann; scribner. chapter xvii education--educated but not instructed--the mullahs--the madrassahs--the royal college in teheran--secular schools--the brain of persian students--hints on commercial education for englishmen--languages a necessity--observation--foreigners and englishmen--the englishman as a linguist--special commercial training in germany--the british manufacturer--ways and ways--our colonies swamped with foreign-made goods--russia fast and firmly advancing. to believe that the persians are illiterate would be a mistake, and to think that the masses of iran were properly educated would be a greater mistake still; but, if i may be allowed the expression, the average persian cannot be better described than by saying he is "educated in ignorance"; or, in other words, the average persian is educated, yes; but instructed, no. if what the people are taught can be called education--and we in england should not be the first to throw stones at others--the average persian is better educated than the average european. but there is education and education. it is difficult to find the commonest man in persian cities who cannot read to a certain extent, and most people can also write a little and have a smattering of arithmetic. the teaching, except in the larger and principal centres, is almost entirely in the hands of the mullahs, so that naturally, as in our clerical schools, religion is taught before all things, verses of the koran are learnt by heart, and the various rites and multiple religious ceremonies are pounded into the children's brains, and accessory religious sanitary duties of ablutions, etc., which are believed to purify the body and bring it nearer to allah, are inculcated. even in remoter villages, the boys are taught these things in the mosques as well as a little reading, and enough writing for daily uses and how to add and subtract and multiply figures. famous bits of national poetry and further passages from the koran are committed to memory. [illustration: iman jumeh. head priest of teheran, and official sayer of prayers to the shah.] in the large cities a higher education can be obtained in the elaborate madrassahs adjoining the mosques, and here, too, entirely at the hands of the mullahs; but these higher colleges, a kind of university, are only frequented by the richer and better people, by those who intend to devote themselves to medicine, to jurisprudence, or to theological studies. literature and art and science, all based mostly on the everlasting koran, are here taught _à fond_, the students spending many years in deep and serious study. these are the old-fashioned and more common schools. but new schools in european or semi-european style also exist and, considering all things, are really excellent. in teheran, a royal college has been in existence for some years. it has first-class foreign teachers, besides native instructors educated in europe, and supplies the highest instruction to the students. modern languages are taught to perfection, the higher mathematics, international jurisprudence, chemistry, philosophy, military strategy, and i do not know what else! i understood from some of the professors that the students were remarkable for their quickness and intelligence as compared with europeans, and i myself, on meeting some of the students who had been and others who were being instructed in the university, was very much struck by their facility in learning matters so foreign to them, and by their astounding faculty of retaining what they had learnt. it must be recollected that the various scientific lessons and lectures were delivered not in persian, but in some foreign language, usually french, which intensified their difficulty of apprehending. other private schools have also been started on similar principles in various parts of the empire. even in yezd a most excellent school on similar lines is to be found and will be described later on. naturally the mullahs look askance upon these government schools, in which foreign methods are adopted. the alliance française of paris, which has a committee in teheran, has opened a french school under the direction of mr. virioz, a certificated professor. the school has nearly 100 pupils, all natives. this is a primary school, of which the studies are in french, but a mullah has been added to the staff to teach the koran and religious subjects. in hamadan, a large jewish centre, the alliance israelite has opened important schools which have largely drained the american presbyterian schools of their jewish pupils. other secular schools, it appears, are to be opened in which foreign education is to be imparted, and no doubt this is a first and most excellent step of persia towards the improvement, if not the actual reform, of the old country. not that the religious education received from the priests was without its good points. the love for literature and poetry, which it principally expounded, developed in the people the more agreeable qualities which have made the persian probably the most polite man on this earth. the clerical education, indeed, worked first upon the heart, then upon the brain; it taught reverence for one's parents, love for one's neighbours, and obedience to one's superiors; it expounded soft, charitable ways in preference to aggression or selfishness--not the right instead of the duty--as is frequently the case in secular schools. but softness, consideration, poetry, and charity are things of the past; they can only be indulged in by barbarians; in civilisation, unluckily, there is very little use for them except for advertisement sake. so the persians were wise to resort to our style of education, which may yet be the means of saving their country. they will lose their courteousness--they are fast beginning to do that already--their filial love, their charity, and all the other good qualities they may possess; only when these are gone will they rank in civilisation quite as high as any european nation! the wealthier people send their sons to be educated abroad in european capitals, and one cannot help being struck by the wonderful ease with which these fellows master not only languages, but science and extremely complex subjects. whether this is due to the brain of young persians being fresher owing to its not having been overtaxed for generations--and therefore the impressions are clearly received and firmly recorded, or whether the mode of life is apt to develop the brain more than any other part of their anatomy is difficult to say, but the quickness and lucidity of the average young persian brain is certainly astounding when compared to that of european brains of the same ages. the persian, too, has a most practical way of looking at things,--when he does take the trouble to do so--not sticking to one point of view but observing his subject from all round, as it were, with a good deal of philosophical humour that is of great help to him in all he undertakes; and it is curious to see how fast and thoroughly the younger persians of better families can adapt themselves to european ways of thought and manner without the least embarrassment or concern. in this, i think, they surpass any other asiatic nation, the small community of the parsees of india alone excepted. and here a word or two on the education of englishmen intending to make a living abroad, especially in asia, and particularly in persia, will not, i hope, be out of place. with the fast-growing intercourse between east and west, sufficient stress cannot be laid upon the fact that sound commercial education on up-to-date principles is chiefly successful in countries undergoing the processes of development, and that, above all, the careful study of foreign languages--the more the better--should occupy the attention of the many students in our country who are to live in asia. there is a great deal too much time absolutely wasted in english schools over latin and greek, not to mention the exaggerated importance given to games like cricket, football, tennis, which, if you like, are all very well to develop the arms and legs, but seem to have quite the reverse effect upon the brain. yet what is required nowadays to carry a man through the world are brains, and not muscular development of limbs. as for a classical education, it may be all right for a clergyman, a lawyer, or for a man with high but unprofitable literary tastes, but not for fellows who are not only to be useful to themselves, but indirectly to the mother country, by developing the industries or trades of lands to be opened up. if i may be permitted to say so, one of the principal qualities which we should develop in our young men is the sense of observation in all its forms--a sense which is sadly neglected in english education. it has always been my humble experience that one learns more of use in one hour's keen observation than by reading all the books in the world, and when that sense is keenly developed it is quite extraordinary with what facility one can do things which the average unobservant man thinks utterly impossible. it most certainly teaches one to simplify everything and always to select the best and easiest way in all one undertakes, which, after all, is the way leading to success. again, when observation is keenly developed, languages--or, in fact, anything else--can be learnt with amazing facility. the "knack" of learning languages is only due to observation; the greatest scientific discoveries have been due to mere observation; the greatest commercial enterprises are based on the practical results of observation. but it is astounding how few people do really observe, not only carefully, but at all. the majority of folks might as well be blind for what they see for themselves. they follow like sheep what they are told to do, and make their sons and grandsons do the same; and few countries suffer more from this than england. when travelling in the east one cannot help being struck by the difference of young englishmen and foreigners employed in similar capacities in business places. the foreigner is usually fluent in four, five or six different languages, and has a smattering of scientific knowledge which, if not very deep, is at any rate sufficient for the purposes required. he is well up in engineering, electricity, the latest inventions, explorations, discoveries and commercial devices. he will talk sensibly on almost any subject; he is moderate in his habits and careful with his money. now, take the young englishman. he seldom knows well more than one language; occasionally one finds fellows who can speak two tongues fluently; rarely one who is conversant with three or four. his conversation generally deals with drinks, the latest or coming races, the relative values of horses and jockeys and subsequent offers to bet--in which he is most proficient. the local polo, if there is any, or tennis tournaments afford a further subject for conversation, and then the lack of discussible topics is made up by more friendly calls for drinks. the same subjects are gone through with variations time after time, and that is about all. now, i maintain that this should not be so, because, taking things all round, the young englishman is really _au fond_ brighter and infinitely more intelligent than foreigners. it is his education and mode of living that are at fault, not the individual himself, and this our cousins the americans have long since discovered; hence their steaming ahead of us in every line with the greatest ease. we hear that the englishman is no good at learning languages, but that is again a great mistake. i do not believe that there is any other nation in europe, after the russians, who have greater facility--if properly cultivated--and are more capable of learning languages to perfection than the english. i am not referring to every shameless holiday tripper on the continent who makes himself a buffoon by using misapplied, mispronounced, self-mistaught french or italian or german sentences, but i mean the rare observant englishman who studies languages seriously and practically. speaking from experience, in my travels--which extend more or less all over the world--i have ever found that englishmen, when put to it, could learn languages perfectly. hence my remarks, which may seem blunt but are true. truly there is no reason why the gift of learning languages should be neglected in england,--a gift which, i think, is greatly facilitated by developing in young people musical qualities, if any, and training the ear to observe and receive sounds correctly,--a fact to which we are just beginning to wake up. it is undoubted that the command of several languages gives a commercial man an enormous advantage in the present race of european nations in trying to obtain a commercial superiority; but the command of a language requires, too, to a limited extent the additional etiquette of ways and manners appropriate to it to make it quite efficient; and these, as well as the proper manner of speaking the language itself, can only, i repeat, be learnt by personal observation. the germans train commercial men specially for the east, men who visit every nook of asiatic countries where trade is to be developed, and closely study the natives, their ways of living, their requirements, reporting in the most minute manner upon them, so that the german manufacturers may provide suitable articles for the various markets. in the specific case of persia, russia, the predominant country in the north, does exactly the same. the russian manufacturer studies his client, his habits, his customs, and supplies him with what he desires and cherishes, and does not, like the british manufacturer, export to eastern countries articles which may very well suit the farmer, the cyclist, or the cabman in england, but not the persian agriculturist, camel-driver, or highwayman. the everlasting argument that the british manufacturer supplies a better article borders very much on the idiotic. first of all, setting apart the doubt whether he does really supply a better article, what is certain is that a "better article" may not be of the kind that is wanted at all by the people. there are in this world climates and climates, peoples and peoples, religions and religions, houses and houses, customs and customs; and therefore the well-made english article (allowing it to be well-made) which suits english people is not always adapted for all other countries, climates, and usages. another prevalent mistake in this country is to believe that the persian, or any other oriental, will only buy cheap things. the oriental may endeavour to strike a bargain--for that is one of the chief pleasures of his existence, though a fault which can easily be counter-balanced--but he is ever ready to pay well for what he really wants. thus, if because of his training in fighting he requires a certain curl and a particular handle to his knife; if he fancies a particular pattern printed or woven in the fabrics he imports, and if because of his religious notions he prefers his silver spoons drilled with holes; there does not seem to be any plausible reason why his wishes should not be gratified as long as he pays for the articles supplied. we, who own half the world, and ought to know better by this time, seem constantly to forget that our customs, and ways, seem as ridiculous to orientals (to some of ourselves, too,) quite as ridiculous as theirs to us. in some cases, even, great offence can be caused by trying to enforce our methods too suddenly upon eastern countries. civilised people may prefer to blow their noses with an expensive silk handkerchief, which they carefully fold up with contents into the most prominent pocket of their coats; the unclean oriental may prefer to close one nostril by pressing it with his finger and from the other forcibly eject extraneous matter to a distance of several feet away, by violent blowing, repeating the operation with the other nostril. this may be thought not quite graceful, but is certainly a most effective method, and possibly cleaner than ours in the end. we may fancy it good manners when in public to show little more of our shirts than the collar and cuffs, but the persian or the hindoo, for instance, prefers to let the garment dangle to its full extent outside so as to show its design in full. again, we may consider it highly unbecoming and improper for ladies to show their lower limbs above the ankle; the persian lady thinks nothing of that, but deems it shocking to show her face. and so we could go on and on; in fact, with the persians, one might almost go as far as saying that, with the exception of eating and drinking and a few other matters, they do most things in a contrary way to ours. they remove their shoes, when we would remove our hats; they shave their heads and let the beard grow; they sleep in the day and sit up the greater portion of the night; they make windows in the roof instead of in the walls; they inoculate smallpox instead of vaccinating to prevent it; they travel by night instead of by day. it would be absurd to believe that we can alter in a day the customs, religions, and manners of millions of natives, and it seems almost incomprehensible that in such long colonial experience as ours we have not yet been able to grasp so simple a fact. but here, again, comes in my contention that our failing is absolute lack of observation; unless it be indeed our conceited notion that other people must rise up to our standard. anyhow, we have lost and are losing heavily by it. we see the germans and austrians swamping our own colonies with goods wherewith our bazaars in india are overflowing; whereas english articles--if cottons are excepted--are seldom to be seen in the bazaars. this seems indeed a curious state of affairs. nor do we need to go to india. england itself is overflowing with foreign-made goods. now, why should it not be possible--and certainly more profitable--to meet the wishes of natives of eastern countries and give them what they want? there is another matter which greatly hampers the british manufacturer, in his dealings with persians particularly. it is well to recollect that the blunt way we have of transacting business does not always answer with orientals. impatience, too, of which we are ever brimful, is a bad quality to possess in dealings with persians. times have gone by when england had practically the monopoly of the trade of the east and could lay down the law to the buyers. the influx of europeans and the extension of trade to the most remote corners of the globe have increased to such an extent during the last few years--and with these competition--that the exporter can no longer use the slack, easy ways of half-a-century ago, when commercial supremacy was in our hands, and must look out for himself. a knowledge of the language, with a conciliatory, courteous manner, a good stock of patience and a fair capacity for sherbet, hot tea and coffee, will, in persia, carry a trader much further in his dealings than the so-called "smarter ways" appreciated in england or america; and another point to be remembered in countries where the natives are unbusiness-like, as they are in persia, is that personal influence and trust--which the natives can never dissociate from the bargain in hand--go a very long way towards successful trading in iran. this is, to my mind, one of the principal reasons of russian commercial successes in northern persia. we will not refer here to the ridiculous idea, so prevalent in england, that russia was never and never will be a manufacturing country. russia is very fast developing her young industries, which are pushed to the utmost by her government, and what is more, the work is done in a remarkably practical way, by people who possess a thorough knowledge of what they are doing. the natives and the geographical features of the country have been carefully studied, and the russian trading scheme is carried firmly and steadily on an unshakable base. we sit and express astonishment at russian successes in persia; the people at home can hardly be made to realise them, and i have heard people even discredit them; but this is only the beginning and nothing to what we shall see later on unless we proceed to work on similar sensible lines. it certainly arouses admiration to see what the russians can do and how well they can do it with ridiculously small capital, when we waste, absolutely waste, immense sums and accomplish nothing, or even the reverse of what we intend to accomplish. but there again is the difference between the observant and the unobservant man. chapter xviii persia's industrial, mineral and agricultural resources--climate of various districts--ghilan's trade--teheran and the surrounding country--khorassan and sistan--the caspian provinces--mazanderan, astrabad and azerbaijan--russian activity and concessions in azerbaijan--hamadan--the malayer and borujird districts--the nomads of kurdistan--naphtha--the tribes of pusht-i-kuh--the pastoral people of luristan--arabistan--farsistan--laristan--shiraz wines--persian beluchistan. the geographical situation of persia, its extent, the altitude of its plateau above the sea level, its vast deserts and its mountain ranges, give the country a good selection of climates, temperatures and vegetation. we have regions of intense tropical heat and of almost arctic cold, we have temperate regions, we have healthy regions, and regions where everybody is fever-stricken. regions with moist air, plenty of water, and big marshes, and dreary waterless deserts. necessarily such natural conditions are bound to give a great variety of resources which show themselves in various guises. a quick survey of the agricultural, industrial and mineral resources of the principal provinces of persia according to up-to-date information may not be out of place, and will help the reader to appreciate the journey through some of the districts mentioned. we have already been through ghilan with its almost temperate climate in the lowlands, but damp in the northern portion, where fever is rampant, but where, at the same time, luxuriant vegetation with thick forests, grass in abundance, paddy fields for the extensive cultivation of rice, olive-groves, vineyards, cotton, wheat, tobacco, sugar-cane, fruit and all kinds of vegetables nourish; while the production of silk for export on a large and fast-increasing scale--it might be increased enormously if more modern methods were adopted--and wool and cotton fabrics, mostly for the persian market, are manufactured. it exports, mostly to russia, great quantities of dried fruit, wool, cotton, and tobacco (made into cigarettes), salt fish, caviare and oil. south-east of ghilan we find teheran on a high plateau, its situation giving it a delightful and healthy climate, but very scanty agricultural resources owing to lack of water. in and near the capital city there are good gardens, grown at considerable expense and trouble, but very little other vegetation. we have seen in previous chapters what the industries of the capital, both native and foreign, are, and what they amount to; there is also a manufacture of glazed tiles, quite artistic, but not to be compared in beauty of design, colour and gloss with the ancient ones. teheran is dependent on the neighbouring provinces and europe for nearly everything. this is not, however, the case with isfahan, the ancient capital, in the province of which cotton, wheat, indian corn, tobacco and opium are grown in fair quantities, the last-named for export. mules and horses are reared, and there are several flourishing industries, such as carpet-making, metal work, leather tanneries, gold and silver work, and silk and wool fabrics. to the east we have khorassan and sistan, a great wheat-growing country with some good pastures, and also producing opium, sugar-cane, dates and cotton. in summer the northerly winds sweeping over the desert are unbearable, and the winter is intensely cold. in the northern part of khorassan snow falls during the coldest months, but in sistan the winter is temperate. life is extremely cheap for natives in sistan, which is a favourite resort for camel men and their beasts, both from afghanistan and beluchistan. northern khorassan is the great centre of turquoise mining; copper and coal are also found there, but its local trade, now that the export of grain is forbidden, is mostly in opium, worked leather, wool and excellent horses, which can be purchased for very little money. camels, both loading and riding (or fast-going camels) are also reared here in the southern portion of the province, the northern part being too cold for them in winter. the handsomest and richest districts of persia, but not the healthiest, are undoubtedly the northern ones on the caspian sea, or bordering on russian territory, such as mazanderan, astrabad, and azerbaijan. in the first two, rice is grown in large quantities, castor-oil, wheat, cotton and barley; and in mazanderan extensive pasturages are found on the hills for sheep; but not so in astrabad, which, owing to its peculiar formation, is exposed to broiling heat on the sandy wastes, and to terrific cold on the mountains, but has a fairly temperate climate in the southern portion of the province. these--if the production of silk is excepted--are mostly agricultural districts. at one time mazanderan had beautiful forests which are now fast being destroyed. considerable bartering is carried on between the towns and the nomad tribes, in rugs, carpets, horses and mules, against grain, rice, felts and woollen cloths of local manufacture. azerbaijan, the most northern province of persia, with tabriz as a centre, is very rich in agricultural products, particularly in rice and wheat. notwithstanding the severe climate in winter, when the snowfall is rather heavy, and the thermometer down to 20° below zero centigrade in february, there are good vineyards in the neighbourhood of tabriz, and most excellent vegetables and fruit. tobacco is successfully grown (and manufactured for the pipe and into cigarettes). the heat in summer is intense, with hot winds and dust storms; but owing to the altitude (4,420 feet at tabriz) the nights are generally cool. in the spring there are torrential rains, and also towards the end of the autumn, but the months of may, june, october and november are quite pleasant. the local trade of azerbaijan is insignificant, but being on the russian border the transit trade has of late assumed large proportions, and is increasing fast. the importation, for instance, of turkey-reds by russia is growing daily, and also the importation of silk, in cocoons and manufactured, velvet, woollen goods, various cotton goods, raw wool, dyes (such as henna, indigo, cochineal and others), and sugar, the principal import of all. with the exception of tea, indigo and cochineal, which come from india, the imports into azerbaijan come almost altogether from russia, turkey, austria-hungary and france. the russian trade in sugar is enormous from this quarter. the carpet trade, which at one time seemed to be dying out, is now about to enter on a prosperous phase; but not so the wool-weaving, which does not go beyond the local market. firearms are manufactured and sold to the kurds, and jewellery is made; but the principal exports are dried fruit, raisins, almonds, pistachios, chiefly to russia and turkey; also gum, oils, raw metals (copper, iron), hides, precious stones, alimentary products (honey and dried vegetables), various kinds of wood, live stock (mainly sheep and oxen), tobacco, raw and manufactured, dyes, and raw and manufactured cotton and silk, carpets, rugs, and cloth. all these exports are to russia and turkey, and do not all necessarily come from azerbaijan. the russians are displaying great activity in this province, and have established an important branch of their "banque d'escompte et de prêts de perse." they have obtained road, railway, and mining concessions, and according to the report of our consul in tabriz, the russian bank makes advances, to the extent of fifty per cent., to merchants dealing in russian goods, especially to native exporters of dried fruit, such advances being repaid in russia by the sale of such produce, or in persia by the sale of corresponding imports of manufactured goods. tabriz itself, being a centre of export of the produce of northern persia, is a promising field for banking enterprise, and will assume greater importance even than it has now when the carriage road scheme, a concession which was granted by the shah, is completed, and furnishes easier communication for trade and travelling purposes. russian engineers are said to have surveyed and mapped the country for the establishment of a railway system in azerbaijan. the mineral resources of azerbaijan are said to be considerable, iron being found in rich deposits of hematite; sulphur, copper and arsenical pyrites, bitumen, lignite, salt, mineral, ferruginous and sulphurous springs, and variegated marble. a similar geological formation is found extending to hamadan, where beds of lignite and anthracite exist, and fine marbles and granites are to be found. here, too, we have a trifling market for local produce, but a considerable transit trade between the capital and kermanshah, bagdad and tabriz. hamadan is mostly famous for its capital tanneries of leather and for its metal work; but its climate is probably the worst in persia, if the suffocating gulf coast is excepted--intensely cold in winter and spring, moist and rainy during the rest of the year. this produces good pasturages and gives excellent vegetables, wine of sorts, and a flourishing poppy culture--a speciality of the province. the same remarks might apply to the adjoining (south) malayer and borujird districts, which, however, possess a more temperate climate, although liable to sudden terrific storms accompanied by torrential rains. there is a great deal of waste lands in these regions; but, where irrigated and properly cultivated, wheat flourishes, as well as fruit trees, vines, vegetables, poppies, cotton and tobacco. the people are extremely industrious, being occupied chiefly in carpet-making for foreign export, and preparing opium and dried fruit, as well as dyed cottons. gold dust is said to be found in beds of streams and traces of copper in quartz. other provinces, such as kurdistan, are inhabited by nomadic peoples, who have a small trade in horses, arms, opium, wool and dates; but the cultivation of land is necessarily much neglected except for the supply of local needs. in many parts it is almost impossible, as for five or six winter months the soil is buried in snow, and the heat of the summer is unbearable. there seem to be no intermediate seasons. the people live mostly on the caravan traffic from bagdad to various trading centres of persia, and they manufacture coarse cloths, rugs and earthenware of comparatively little marketable value. naphtha does exist, as well as other bituminous springs, but it is doubtful whether the quantity is sufficient and whether the naphtha wells are accessible enough to pay for their exploitation. that naphtha does exist, not only in kurdistan, but in pusht-i-kuh, luristan, and all along the zone extending south of the caucasus, is possible; but whether those who bore wells for oil in those regions will make fortunes similar to those made in the extraordinarily rich and exceptionally situated baku region, is a different matter altogether, which only the future can show. [illustration: sahib divan, who was at various periods governor of shiraz and khorassan.] the tribes of pusht-i-kuh are somewhat wild and unreliable. on the mountain sides are capital pasturages. a certain amount of grain, tobacco and fruit are grown, principally for local consumption. in luristan, too, we have partly a nomad pastoral population. being a mountainous region there are extremes of temperature. in the plains the heat is terrific; but higher up the climate is temperate and conducive to good pasturages and even forests. as in the pusht-i-kuh mountain district, here, too, wheat, rice and barley are grown successfully in huge quantities, and the vine flourishes at certain altitudes as well as fruit trees. the local commerce consists principally in live stock, the horses being quite good, and there is a brisk trade in arms and ammunition. there remain now the large districts of khuzistan, better known as arabistan, farsistan and laristan. the heat in these provinces is terrible during the summer, and the latter district is further exposed to the scirocco winds of the gulf, carrying with them suffocating sand clouds. if properly developed, and if the barrage of the karun river at ahwaz were put in thorough repair, the plains of arabistan could be made the richest in persia. wheat, rice and forage were grown in enormous quantities at one time, and cotton, tobacco, henna, indigo and sugar-cane. but this region, being of special interest to britain, a special chapter is devoted to it, as well as to the possibilities of farsistan and laristan, to which future reference will be made. the trade in shiraz wines is fairly developed, and they are renowned all over persia. considering the primitive method in which they are made they are really excellent, especially when properly matured. the better ones resemble rich sherries, madeira and port wine. indigo, horses, mules and carpets form the trade of the province which, they say, possesses undeveloped mineral resources such as sulphur, lead, presumed deposits of coal, mercury, antimony and nickel. persian beluchistan is quite undeveloped so far, and mostly inhabited by nomad tribes, somewhat brigand-like in many parts and difficult to deal with. they manufacture rugs and saddle-bags and breed good horses and sheep. their trade is insignificant, and a good deal of their country is barren. the climate is very hot, and in many parts most unhealthy. chapter xix a persian wedding--polygamy--seclusion of women--match-makers--subterfuges--the _nomzad_, or official betrothal day--the wedding ceremony in the harem--for luck--the wedding procession--festival--sacrifices of sheep and camels--the last obstacle, the _ruhmah_--the bride's endowment--the bridegroom's settlement--divorces--a famous well for unfaithful women--women's influence--division of property. the general european idea about persian matrimonial affairs is about as inaccurate as is nearly every other european popular notion of eastern customs. we hear a great deal about harems, and we fancy that every persian must have dozens of wives, while there are people who seriously believe that the shah has no less than one wife for each day of the year, or 365 in all! that is all very pretty fiction, but differs considerably from real facts. first of all, it may be well to repeat that by the mahommedan doctrine no man can have more than four wives, and this on the specified condition that he is able to keep them in comfort, in separate houses, with separate attendants, separate personal jewellery, and that he will look upon them equally, showing no special favour to any of them which may be the cause of jealousy or envy. all these conditions make it well-nigh impossible for any man of sound judgment to embark in polygamy. most well-to-do persians, therefore, only have one wife. another important matter to be taken into consideration is, that no persian woman of a good family will ever marry a man who is already married. so that the chances of legal polygamy become at once very small indeed in young men of the better classes, who do not wish to ruin their career by marrying below their own level. an exception should be made with the lower and wealthy middle classes, who find a satisfaction in numbers to make up for quality, and who are the real polygamists of the country. but even in their case the real wives are never numerous--never above the number permitted by the koran,--the others being merely concubines, whether temporary or permanent. the shah himself has no more than one first wife, with two or three secondary ones. in a country where women are kept in strict seclusion as they are in persia, the arrangement of matrimony is rather a complicated matter. everybody knows that in mussulman countries a girl can only be seen by her nearest relations, who by law cannot marry her, such as her father, grandfather, brothers and uncles--but not by her cousins, for weddings between cousins are very frequently arranged in persia. it falls upon the mother or sisters of the would-be bridegroom to pick a suitable girl for him, as a rule, among folks of their own class, and report to him in glowing terms of her charms, social and financial advantages. if he has no mother and sisters, then a complaisant old lady friend of the family undertakes to act as middlewoman. there are also women who are professional match-makers--quite a remunerative line of business, i am told. anyhow, when the young man has been sufficiently allured into matrimonial ideas, if he has any common sense he generally wishes to see the girl before saying yes or no. this is arranged by a subterfuge. the women of the house invite the girl to their home, and the young fellow is hidden behind a screen or a window or a wall, wherein convenient apertures have been made for him, unperceived, to have a good look at the proposed young lady. this is done several times until the boy is quite satisfied that he likes her. the primary difficulty being settled, his relations proceed on a visit to the girl's father and mother, and ask them to favour their son with their daughter's hand. if the young man is considered well off, well-to-do, sober and eligible in every way, consent is given. a day is arranged for the nomzad--the official betrothal day. all the relations, friends and acquaintances of the two families are invited, and the women are entertained in the harem while the men sit outside in the handsome courts and gardens. the bridegroom's relations have brought with them presents of jewellery, according to their means and positions in life, with a number of expensive shawls, five, six, seven or more, and a mirror. also some large trays of candied sugar. after a great consumption of tea, sherbet, and sweets, the young man is publicly proclaimed suitable for the girl. music and dancing (by professionals) are lavishly provided for the entertainment of guests, on a large or small scale, according to the position of the parents. some time elapses between this first stage of a young man's doom and the ceremony for the legal contract and actual wedding. there is no special period of time specified, and the parties can well please themselves as to the time when the nuptial union is to be finally effected. when the day comes the parties do not go to the mosque nor the convenient registry office--persia is not yet civilised enough for the latter--but a _mujtehed_ or high priest is sent for, who brings with him a great many other mullahs, the number in due proportion to the prospective backshish they are to receive for their services. the wedding ceremony takes place in the bride's house, where on the appointed day bands, dancing, singing, and sweets in profusion are provided for the great number of guests invited. the high priest eventually adjourns to the harem, where all the women have collected with the bride, the room being partitioned off with a curtain behind which the women sit. the bride and her mother (or other lady) occupy seats directly behind the curtain, while the priest with the bridegroom and his relations take places in the vacant portion of the room. the priest in a stentorian voice calls out to the girl:-"this young man, son of so-and-so, etc., etc., wants to be your slave. will you accept him as your slave?" (no reply. trepidation on the bridegroom's part.) the priest repeats his question in a yet more stentorian voice. again no reply. the women collect round the bride and try to induce her to answer. they stroke her on her back, and caress her face, but she sulks and is shy and plays with her dress, but says nothing. when the buzzing noise of the excited women-folk behind the curtain has subsided, the priest returns to his charge, while the expectant bridegroom undergoes the worst quarter of an hour of his life. the third time of asking is generally the last, and twice the girl has already not answered. it is a terrible moment. evidently she is not over anxious to bring about the alliance, or is the reluctance a mere feminine expedient to make it understood from the beginning that she is only conferring a great favour on the bridegroom by condescending to marry him? the latter hypothesis is correct, for when the priest thunders for the third time his former question, a faint voice--after a tantalizing delay--is heard to say "yes." the bridegroom, now that this cruel ordeal is over, begins to breathe again. the priest is not yet through his work, and further asks the girl whether she said "yes" out of her will, or was forced to say it. then he appeals to the women near her to testify that this was so, and that the voice he heard behind the curtain was actually the girl's voice. these various important points being duly ascertained, in appropriate arabic words the priest exclaims: "i have married this young lady to this man and this man to this young lady." the men present on one side of the curtain nod and (in arabic) say they accept the arrangement. the women are overheard to say words to the same effect from the other side of the partition. congratulations are exchanged, and more sherbet, tea and sweets consumed. the religious ceremony is over, but not the trials of the bridegroom, now legal husband. when sufficient time has elapsed for him to recover from his previous mental anguish, he is conveyed by his mother or women relatives into the harem. all the women are veiled and line the walls of the drawing-room, where a solitary chair or cushion on the floor is placed at the end of the room. he is requested to sit upon it, which he meekly does. a small tray is now brought in with tiny little gold coins (silver if the people are poor) mixed with sweets. the bridegroom bends his head; and sweets and coins are poured upon his back and shoulders. being round--the coins, not the shoulders--they run about and are scattered all over the room. all the ladies present gracefully stoop and seize one pellet of gold, which is kept for good luck; then servants are called in to collect the remainder which goes to their special benefit. this custom is not unlike our flinging rice for luck at a married couple. the bridegroom then returns to the men's quarters, where he receives the hearty congratulations of relatives and friends alike. from this moment the girl becomes his wife, and the husband has the right to see her whenever he chooses, but not to cohabit with her until further ordeals have been gone through. the husband comes to meet his wife for conversation's sake in a specially reserved room in the harem, and each time he comes he brings presents of jewellery or silks or other valuables to ingratiate himself. so that, by the time the real wedding takes place, they can get to be quite fond of one another. there is no special limit of time for the last ceremony to be celebrated. it is merely suited to the convenience of the parties when all necessary arrangements are settled, and circumstances permit. usually for ten days or less before the wedding procession takes place a festival is held in the bridegroom's house, when the mullahs, the friends, acquaintances, relations and neighbours are invited--fresh guests being entertained on each night. music, dancing, and lavish refreshments are again provided for the guests. the men, of course, are entertained separately in the men's quarter, and the women have some fun all to themselves in the harem. on the very last evening of the festival a grand procession is formed in order to convey the bride from her house to that of her husband. he, the husband, waits for her at his residence, where he is busy entertaining guests. all the bridegroom's relations, with smart carriages--and, if he is in some official position, as most persians of good families are,--with infantry and cavalry soldiers, bands and a large following of friends and servants on horseback and on foot proceed to the bride's house. a special carriage is reserved for the bride and her mother or old lady relation, and another for the bridesmaids. she is triumphantly brought back to the bridegroom's house, her relations and friends adding to the number in the procession. guns are fired and fireworks let off along the road and from the bride's and bridegroom's houses. one good feature of all persian festivities is that the poor are never forgotten. so, when the bride is driven along the streets, a great many sheep and camels are sacrificed before her carriage to bring the bride luck and to feed with their flesh the numberless people who congregate round to divide the meat of the slaughtered animals. in the house of the bridegroom, too, any number of sheep are sacrificed and distributed among the poor. there are great rejoicings when the procession arrives at the house, where the bridegroom is anxiously awaiting to receive his spouse. as she alights from the carriage more sheep are sacrificed on the door-step--and the husband, too, is sacrificed to a certain extent, for again he has to content himself with merely conducting his bride to the harem and to leave her there. it is only late in the evening, when all the guests, stuffed with food, have departed, that the husband is led by his best man to a special room prepared for him and his wife in the harem. the bride comes in, heavily veiled, in the company of her father or some old and revered relation, who clasps the hands of husband and wife and joins them together, making a short and appropriate speech of congratulation and good wishes for a happy conjugal existence. then very wisely retreats. there is yet another obstacle: the removal of the long embroidered veil which hangs gracefully over the bride's head down to her knees. this difficulty is easily surmounted by another present of jewellery, known as the _ruhmuhah_ or "reward for showing the face." there is no further reward needed after that, and they are at last husband and wife, not only in theory but in fact. true, some gold coins have to be left under the furniture to appease expecting servants, and the next day fresh trials have to be endured by the bride, who has to receive her lady friends and accept their most hearty congratulations. this means more music, more professional dancing, more sweets, more sherbet, more tea. but gradually, even the festivities die out, and wife and husband can settle down to a really happy, quiet, family life, devoid of temptations and full of fellow-feeling and thoughtfulness. ten days before this last event takes place the wife is by custom compelled to send to the husband's house the endowment which by her contract she must supply: the whole furniture of the apartments complete from the kitchen to the drawing-room, both for the man's quarter and for her own. besides this--which involves her in considerable expense--she, of course, further conveys with her anything of which she may be the rightful owner. her father, if well-off, will frequently present her on her wedding-day with one or more villages or a sum in cash, and occasionally will settle on her what would go to her in the usual course of time after his death. all this--in case of divorce or litigation--remains the wife's property. on the other hand, the bridegroom, or his parents for him, have to settle a sum of money on the bride before she consents to the marriage, and this is legally settled upon her by the mullah in the wedding contract. she has a right to demand it whenever she pleases. it can be seen by all this that a persian legal marriage is not a simple matter nor a cheap undertaking. the expense and formalities connected with each wedding are enormous, so that even if people were inclined to polygamy it is really most difficult for them to carry their desire into effect. among the nobility it has become unfashionable and is to-day considered quite immoral to have more than one wife. partly because the marriages are seldom the outcome of irresistible--but fast burning out--love; partly because it is difficult for a husband and almost impossible for a wife to be unfaithful, divorces in persia are not common. besides, on divorcing a wife, the husband has to pay her in full the settlement that has been made upon her, and this prevents many a rash attempt to get rid of one's better-half. to kill an unfaithful wife is, in the eyes of persians, a cheaper and less degrading way of obtaining justice against an unpardonable wrong. one hears a good deal in persia about a famous and extraordinarily deep well--near shiraz, i believe--into which untrue wives were precipitated by their respective offended husbands, or by the public executioner; and also how dishonoured women are occasionally stoned to death; but these cases are not very frequent nowadays. the persian woman is above all her husband's most intimate friend. he confides all--or nearly all--his secrets to her. she does the same, or nearly the same with him. their interests are mutual, and the love for their own children unbounded. each couple absolutely severed from the outside world, forbidden to get intoxicated by their religion, with no excitements to speak of, and the wife in strict seclusion--there is really no alternative left for them than to be virtuous. women have in persia, as in other countries, great influence over their respective husbands, and through these mediums feminine power extends very far, both in politics and commerce. at the husband's death the property is divided among his children, each male child taking two shares to each one share for every girl's part, after one-eighth of the whole property has been paid to the deceased's widow, who is entitled to that amount by right. most praiseworthy union exists in most persian families, filial love and veneration for parents being quite as strong as paternal or maternal affection. extreme reverence for old age in any class of man is another trait to be admired in the persian character. chapter xx persian women--their anatomy--their eyes--_surmah_--age of puberty--the descendants of mohammed--infanticide--circumcision--deformities and abnormalities--the ear--the teeth and dentistry--the nose--a persian woman's indoor dress--the _yel_--the _tadji_ and other jewels--out-of-door dress--the _chakchur_--the _ruh-band_--the _chudder_. persia, they say, is the country of the loveliest women in the world. it probably has that reputation because few foreign male judges have ever seen them. the persians themselves certainly would prefer them to any other women. still, there is no doubt, from what little one sees of the persian woman, that she often possesses very beautiful languid eyes, with a good deal of animal magnetism in them. her skin is extremely fair--as white as that of an italian or a french woman--with a slight yellowish tint which is attractive. they possess when young very well modelled arms and legs, the only fault to be found among the majority of them being the frequent thickness of the wrists and ankles, which rather takes away from their refinement. in the very highest classes this is not so accentuated. the women are usually of a fair height, not too small, and carry themselves fairly well, particularly the women of the lower classes who are accustomed to carry weights on their head. the better-off women walk badly, with long steps and a consequent stoop forward; whereas the poorer ones walk more firmly with a movement of the hips and with the spine well arched inwards. the neck lacks length, but is nicely rounded, and the head well set on the shoulders. anatomically, the body is not striking either for its beauty or its strength or suppleness. the breasts, except with girls of a very tender age, become deformed, and very pendant, and the great tendency to fatness rather interferes with the artistic beauty of their outlines. the skeleton frame of a persian woman is curiously constructed, the hip-bones being extremely developed and broad, whereas the shoulder blades and shoulders altogether are very narrow and undeveloped. the hands and feet are generally good, particularly the hand, which is less developed and not so coarse as the lower limbs generally and the feet in particular. the fingers are usually long and quite supple, with well-proportioned nails. the thumb is, nevertheless, hardly ever in good proportion with the rest of the hand. it generally lacks length and character. the feet bear the same characteristics as the hands except, as i have said, that they are infinitely coarser. why this should be i cannot explain, except that intermarriage with different races and social requirements may be the cause of it. [illustration: persian woman and child.] [illustration: a picturesque beggar girl.] the head i have left to the last, because it is from an artist's point of view the most picturesque part of a persian woman's anatomy. it may possibly lack fine chiselled features and angularity; and the first impression one receives on looking at a persian woman's face is that it wants strength and character--all the lines of the face being broad, uninterrupted curves. the nose is broad and rounded, the cheeks round, the chin round, the lips large, voluptuous and round--very seldom tightly closed; in fact, the lower lip is frequently drooping. but when it comes to eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows, there are few women in the world who can compete with the persian. there is exuberant fire and expression in the persian feminine organs of vision, large and almond-shaped, well-cut, and softened by eyelashes of abnormal length, both on the upper and lower lid. the powerful, gracefully-curved eyebrows extend far into the temples, where they end into a fine point, from the nose, over which they are very frequently joined. the iris of the eye is abnormally large, of very rich dark velvety brown, with jet black pupils, and the so-called "white of the eye" is of a much darker tinge than with europeans--almost a light bluish grey. the women seem to have wonderful control over the muscles of the eyelids and brows, which render the eyes dangerously expressive. the habit of artificially blackening the under lid with _surmah_, too, adds, to no mean extent, to the luminosity and vivid power of the eyes in contrast to the alabaster-like, really beautiful skin of the younger persian women. i said "younger," for owing to racial and climatic conditions the persian female is a full-grown woman in every way at the age of ten or twelve, sometimes even younger. they generally keep in good compact condition until they are about twenty or twenty-five, when the fast expanding process begins, deforming even the most beautiful into shapeless masses of flesh and fat. they are said, however, to be capable of bearing children till the mature age of forty to forty-five, although from my own observation thirty-five to forty i should take to be the more common average at which persian women are in full possession of prolific powers. in the case of sayids, the descendants of mahommed, both sexes of whom are reputed for their extraordinary powers and vitality, women are said not to become sterile till after the age of fifty. whether this is a fact or not, i cannot say, but it is certain that the sayids are a superior race altogether, more wiry and less given to orgies--drinking and smoking,--which may account for their natural powers being preserved to a later age than with most other natives of persia. their women are very prolific. sayid men and women are noticeable even from a tender age for their robustness and handsome features. they are dignified and serious in their demeanour, honest and trustworthy, and are a fine race altogether. infanticide after birth is not very common in persia, but abortion artificially procured has, particularly of late, become frequent for the prevention of large families that cannot be supported. this is done by primitive methods, not dissimilar to those used in european countries. medicine is occasionally also administered internally. these cases are naturally illegal, and although the law of the country is lenient--or, rather, short-sighted--in such matters, any palpable case, if discovered, would be severely punished. the umbilicus of newly-born children is inevitably tied by a doctor and not by a member of the family, as with some nations. circumcision is practised on male children when at the age of forty days. it is merely performed as a sanitary precaution, and is not undergone for religion's sake. there are few countries where deformities and abnormalities are as common as they are in persia. in women less than in men; still, they too are afflicted with a good share of nature's freaks. the harelip is probably the most common abnormality. webbed and additional fingers and toes come next. birth-marks are very common--especially very large black moles on the face and body. persian ears are very seldom beautiful. they are generally more or less malformed and somewhat coarse in modelling, although they seem to answer pretty well the purpose for which they are created. but although the hearing is very good in a general sense, i found that the persian, of either sex, had great difficulty in differentiating very fine modulations of sounds, and this is probably due to the under-development or degeneration of the auricular organ, just the same as in the ears of purely anglo-saxon races. to an observant eye, to my mind, there is no part of people's anatomy that shows character and refinement more plainly than the ear. much more delicate in texture than the hands or feet, the ear is, on the other hand, less subject to misleading modifications by artificial causes which are bound to affect the other extremities. the ear of a persian is, in the greater percentage of cases, the ear of a degenerate. it is coarse and lumpy, and somewhat shapeless, with animal qualities strongly marked in it. occasionally one does come across a good ear in persia, but very rarely. similar remarks might apply to teeth. when young, men and women have good teeth, of fairly good shape and length, and frequently so very firmly set in their sockets as to allow their possessors to lift heavy weights with them, pulling ropes tight, etc., when the strength of the hands is not sufficient. one frequently notices, however, irregularity, or additional teeth--caused again by intermixture of race--the upper teeth not fitting properly the lower ones, and causing undue friction, early injury to the enamel, and consequent decay. this is also greatly intensified by the unhealthy state of persian blood, especially in people inhabiting the cities, where the worst of venereal complaints has crept in a more or less virulent form into the greater part of the population. add to this, a disorganized digestion, coloration by constant smoking, and the injury to the enamel brought on by the great consumption of sugary stuff; and if one marvels at all it is that persian teeth are as good and serviceable as they are to a fair age. native persian dentistry is not in a very advanced stage. with the exception of extraction by primitive and painful methods, nothing efficient is done to arrest the progress of decay. the persian nose is well shaped--but it is not perfection, mind you--and generally does not perform its duties in a creditable manner. it has nearly all the drawbacks of civilised noses. partly owing to defective digestive organs and the escaping fumes of decayed teeth, the nose, really very well shaped in young children, generally alters its shape as they get older, and it becomes blocked up with mucous matter, causing it unduly to expand at the bridge, and giving it rather a stumpy, fat appearance. the nostrils are not very sharply and powerfully cut in most cases, and are rounded up and undecided, a sign of pliant character. women have better cut and healthier noses than men, as they lead a more wholesome life. in children and young people, however, very handsome noses are to be seen in persia. the sense of odour is not very keen in either sex; in fact, it is probably the dullest of all persian senses, which is not unfortunate for them in a country where potent smells abound. in experimenting upon healthy specimens, it was found that only comparatively strong odours could be detected by them, nor could they distinguish the difference between two different scents, when they did succeed in smelling them at all! a persian woman is not seen at her best when she is dressed. this sounds very shocking, but it is quite true. of all the ugly, inartistic, clumsy, uncomfortable, tasteless, absurd female attires, that of the persian lady ranks first. let us see a persian lady indoors, and describe her various garments in the order in which they strike the observer. first of all one's eye is caught by a "bundle" of short skirts--usually of very bright colours--sticking out at the hips, and not unlike the familiar attire of our ballet girls--only shorter. these skirts are made of cotton, silk or satin, according to the lady's wealth and position. there are various versions of how such a fashion was adopted by persian ladies. it is of comparatively modern importation, and up to fifty or sixty years ago women wore long skirts reaching down to the ankle. the skirts gradually got shorter and shorter as the women got more civilised--so a persian assures me--and when nasr-ed-din shah visited europe and brought back to his harem the glowing accounts of the ladies' dress--or, rather, undress--at the empire and alhambra music-hall ballets, which seem to have much attracted him, the women of his court, in order to compete with their european rivals, and to gain afresh the favour of their sovereign, immediately adopted a similar attire. scissors were busy, and down (or up) were the skirts reduced to a minimum length. as in other countries, fashions in men and women are copied from the court, and so the women from one end of persia to the other, in the cities, took up the hideous custom. one of the principal points in the fashion is that the skirt must stick out at the sides. these skirts are occasionally very elaborate, with heavy gold braiding round them, richly embroidered, or covered all over with small pearls. the shape of the skirt is the same in all classes of women, but of course the difference lies in the material with which the dress is made. under the skirt appear two heavy, shapeless legs, in long foreign stockings with garters, or in tight trousers of cotton or other light material--a most unseemly sight. when only the family are present the latter garments are frequently omitted. perhaps the only attractive part of a woman's indoor toilet is the neat zouave jacket with sleeves, breast and back profusely embroidered in gold, or with pearls. it is called the _yel_. when lady friends are expected to call, some additions are made to the costume. a long veil fastened to the belt and supported on the projecting skirt hangs down to the feet. sometimes it is left to drag behind. it is quite transparent, and its purposeless use none of my persian friends could explain. "the women like it, that is all," was the only answer i could elicit, and that was certainly enough to settle the matter. persian women are extremely fond of jewellery, diamonds, pearls and precious stones. on the head, the hair being plastered down with a parting in the centre and knot behind on the neck, a diadem is worn by the smarter ladies, the _tadji_. those who can afford it have a _tadji_ of diamonds, the shape varying according to fashion; others display sprays of pearls. the _tadji_ is a luxurious, heavy ornament only worn on grand occasions; then there is another more commonly used, the _nim tadji_, or small diadem, a lighter and handsome feathery jewel worn either in the upper centre of the forehead, or very daintily and in a most coquettish way on one side of the head, where it really looks very pretty indeed against the shiny jet black hair of the wearer. heavy necklaces of gold, pearls, turquoises and amber are much in vogue, and also solid and elaborate gold rings and bracelets in profusion on the fingers and wrists. out of doors women in the cities look very different to what they do indoors, and cannot be accused of any outward immodesty. one suspects blue or black bag-like phantoms whom one meets in the streets to be women, but there is really nothing to go by to make one sure of it, for the street costume of the persian lady is as complete a disguise as was ever conceived. before going out a huge pair of loose trousers or bloomers--the _chakchur_--fastened at the waist and pulled in at the ankle, are assumed, and a _ruh-band_--a thick calico or cotton piece of cloth about a yard wide, hangs in front of the face, a small slit some three to four inches long and one and a half wide, very daintily netted with heavy embroidery, being left for ventilation's sake and as a look-out window. this is fastened by means of a hook behind the head to prevent its falling, and is held down with one hand at the lower part. over all this the _chudder_--a black or blue piece of silk or cotton about two yards square and matching the colour of the trousers, covers the whole from head to foot, and just leaves enough room in front for the ventilating parallelogram. in public places this cloak is held with the spare hand quite close to the chin, so that, with the exception of a mass of black or blue clothing and a tiny bit of white embroidery over the eyes, one sees absolutely nothing of the persian woman when she promenades about the streets. with sloping shoulders, broad hips, and huge bloomers, her silhouette is not unlike a soda-water bottle. her feet are socked in white or blue, and she toddles along on dainty slippers with no back to the heels. a husband himself could not recognise his wife out of doors, nor a brother his sister, unless by some special mark on her clothing, such as a spot of grease or a patch--otherwise, poor and rich, young and old, are all dressed alike. of course the diadem and other such ornaments are only worn in the house, and the _chudder_ rests directly on the head. yet with some good fortune one occasionally gets glimpses of women's faces, for face-screens and _chudders_ and the rest of them have their ways of dropping occasionally, or being blown away by convenient winds, or falling off unexpectedly. but this is only the case with the prettier women, the ugly old ones being most particular not to disillusion and disappoint the male passers-by. this is possibly another reason why hasty travellers have concluded that persian women must all be beautiful. chapter xxi the shah's birthday--illuminations--the shah in his automobile--ministers in audience--etiquette at the shah's court--the shah--a graceful speaker--the shah's directness of speech--the kajars and the mullahs--the _défilé_ of troops--a blaze of diamonds. there are great rejoicings in teheran and all over persia on the shah's birthday and the night previous to it, when grand illuminations of all the principal buildings, official residences and business concerns take place. large sums of money are spent in decorating the buildings suitably on such an auspicious occasion, not as in our country with cheap, vari-coloured cotton rags and paper floral ornaments, but with very handsome carpets, numberless looking-glasses of all sizes and shapes, pictures in gold frames, plants and fountains. nor are the lights used of a tawdry kind. no, they are the best candles that money can purchase, fitted in nickel-plated candlesticks with tulip globes--thousands of them--and crystal candelabras of austrian make, or rows of paraffin lamps hired for the occasion. it is customary in teheran even for foreign business houses to illuminate their premises lavishly, and the atabeg azam or prime minister and other high officials go during the evening to pay calls in order to show their appreciation of the compliment to their sovereign, and admire the decorations of the leading banks and merchants' buildings. in front of each illuminated house carpets are spread and a number of chairs are prepared for friends and guests who wish to come and admire the show. sherbet, tea, coffee, whisky, brandy, champagne, cigarettes and all sorts of other refreshments are provided, and by the time you have gone round to inspect all the places where you have been invited, you have been refreshed to such an extent by the people, who are very jolly and hospitable, that you begin to see the illuminations go round you of their own accord. the show that i witnessed was very interesting and really well done, the effect in the bazaar, with all the lights reflected in the mirrors, and the gold and carpets against the ancient wood-work of the caravanserais, being quite picturesque. the crowds of open-mouthed natives were, as a whole, well behaved, and quite amusing to watch. they seemed quite absorbed in studying the details of each bit of decoration. the bank of persia was decorated with much artistic taste. side by side, in the wind, two enormous flags--the british and the persian--flew on its façade. fireworks were let off till a late hour of the night from various parts of the town, and bands and strolling musicians played in the squares, in the bazaar, and everywhere. the following morning the shah came in his automobile to town from his country residence, driven, as usual, by a frenchman. the persian and foreign ministers were to be received in audience early in the morning, and i was to be presented after by sir arthur hardinge, our minister at the shah's court. the strict etiquette of any court--whether european or eastern--does remind one very forcibly of the comic opera, only it is occasionally funnier. [illustration: ruku sultaneh, brother of the present shah.] as early as 9 a.m. we left the legation in a procession--all on horseback--the officials in their diplomatic uniforms, with plenty of gold braiding, and cocked hats; i in my own frock-coat and somebody else's tall hat, for mine had unluckily come to grief. we rode along the very dusty streets and arrived at the palace, where we got off our horses. we entered the large court of the alabaster throne. there were a great many dismounted cavalry soldiers, and we were then led into a small ante-room on the first floor where all the foreign representatives of other nations in teheran were waiting, received by a persian high official. we were detained here for a considerable time, and then marched through the garden to another building. by the number of pairs of shoes lining both sides of the staircase in quadruple rows, it was evident that his majesty had many visitors. we were ushered into the jewelled globe room adjoining the shah's small reception room. after some adjustment of clothes and collars in their correct positions, and of swords and belts, the door opened and the ministers were let in to the shah's presence. one peculiarity of the shah's court is that it is etiquette to appear before the sovereign with one's hat on, and making a military salute. in former days carpet slippers were provided for the ministers to put on over the shoes, but the custom has of late been abandoned, as it looked too ludicrous, even for a court, to see the ministers, secretaries, and attachés in their grand uniforms dragging their feet along for fear of losing a _pantoufle_ on the way. there was the usual speech of greeting and congratulation on the part of the _doyen_ minister, and presently the crowd of foreign representatives returned to the ante-room in the most approved style, walking backwards and stooping low. my turn came next. as we entered, the shah was standing almost in the centre of the room, with the familiar aigrette in his _kolah_ (black headgear) and his chest a blaze of diamonds. he rested his right hand on a handsome jewelled sword. he looked pale and somewhat worn, but his features were decidedly handsome, without being powerful. one could plainly see depicted on his face an expression of extreme good-nature--almost too soft and thoughtful a face for a sovereign of an eastern country. his thick underlip added a certain amount of obstinate strength to his features, which was counter-balanced by the dreamy, far-away look of his eyes heavily shadowed by prominent lids. his thick black eyebrows and huge moustache were in great contrast to the shah's pallid face. his majesty appeared bored, and was busy masticating a walnut when we entered, the shell of which lay in _débris_ by the side of two additional entire walnuts and a nut-cracker on a small jewelled side-table. we stood at attention with our hats on while sir arthur, who, as we have seen, is a linguist of great distinction, delivered to the sovereign, a most charming and graceful speech in persian with an oriental fluency of flowery language that nearly took my breath away. the shah seemed highly delighted at the nice compliments paid him by our minister, and graciously smiled in appreciation. then sir arthur broke forth in french--which he speaks like a frenchman--and with astounding grace proceeded to the presentation. the shah was curt in his words and much to the point, and i was greatly delighted at the charming directness of his remarks. there was no figure of speech, no tawdry metaphor in the compliment paid me. i had presented his majesty with two of my books. "_vous écrivez livres?_" thundered the shah to me in lame french, as he stroked his moustache in a nervous manner. "_malheureusement pour le public, oui, majesté_," (unfortunately for the public, yes, your majesty), i replied, touching my hat in military fashion. "_combien de livres avez vous écrits?_" (how many books have you written?) "_quatre, majesté._" (four, your majesty.) "_combien livres avez vous envoyé moi?_" (how many books have you sent me?) he roared again in his perso adaptation of french. "_deux, majesté._" (two, your majesty.) "_envoyez encore deux autres._" (send the other two.) and with a nod the conversation was over, and we retreated backwards through the glass door, but not before sir arthur hardinge had completed the interview with another most appropriate and graceful little speech. the foreign ministers departed, but i was allowed to remain in the palace grounds to witness the various native officials and representatives paying their salaams to the shah. after us the foreigners in persian employ were received in audience, and it was interesting to notice that they had adopted the persian headgear, and some even the persian pleated frock-coat. the shah's reception room had a very large window overlooking the garden. the glass was raised and a throne was placed close to the edge of the window on which the shah seated himself with a _kalian_ by his side. then began the _défilé_ of native representatives. the _kajars_ in their grand robes and white turbans paraded before the window, and then forming a semicircle salaamed the head of their family. one of them stepped forward and chanted a long poem, while the shah puffed away at the _kalian_ and stroked his luxuriant moustache. every now and then the sovereign bowed in acknowledgment of the good wishes paid him, and his bow was repeated by the crowd below in the court. after the kajars came the mullahs. again another recitation of poetry, again more bows, more _kalian_ smoking. then foreign generals stood before the window, and native officers, court servants and eunuchs. the _défilé_ of troops, colleges, merchant associations and schools came next, and was very interesting. persian cossacks in their nice long white uniforms and formidable chest ornamentations; bandsmen with tin helmets and linoleum top boots; hussars with plenty of braiding on cotton coats and trousers; infantrymen, artillerymen, military cadets,--all were reviewed in turn by his majesty, who displayed his royal satisfaction by an occasional bow. there were no shrieks of enthusiasm, no applause, no hurrahs, as they went, but they all walked past the royal window in a quiet, dignified way--no easy matter, considering the extraordinary clothing that some were made to wear. one had a sort of suspicion that, not unlike the armies marching on the stage, one recognised the same contingents marching past several times to make up for numbers, but that did not take away from the picturesqueness of the scene, in the really beautiful garden, with lovely fountains spouting and flowers in full bloom. the procession with banners and music went on for a very long time, but at last the garden was cleared of all people. his majesty wished to descend for a little walk. absolutely alone, the shah sauntered about, apparently quite relieved that the ordeal was over. the atabeg azam was signalled to approach, and prime minister and sovereign had a friendly conversation. although personally not fond of jewellery, i must confess that i was much impressed by the resplendent beauty of the shah's diamonds when a ray of sun shone upon them. his chest and the aigrette on the cap were a blaze of dazzling light, with a myriad of most beautiful flashing colours. the great social excitement of the year in teheran was the prime minister's evening party on the shah's birthday, when all the higher persian officials were invited, and nearly all the europeans resident in teheran, regardless of their grade or social position. this evening party was preceded by an official dinner to the members of the legations. elaborate fireworks were let off in the beautiful gardens and reflected in the ponds in front of the house, and the gardens were tastefully illuminated with vari-coloured lanterns and decorated with flags. the house itself was full of interesting objects of art, and had spacious rooms in the best european style. persian officials, resplendent in gold-braided uniforms, their chests a mass of decorations, were politeness itself to all guests. excellent persian bands, playing european airs, enlivened the evening, and it was quite interesting to meet the rank and file and beauty of teheran official and commercial life all here assembled. persian ladies, naturally, did not appear, but a few armenian ladies of the better classes were to be observed. [illustration: the shah in his automobile.] [illustration: the sadrazam's (prime minister's) residence, teheran.] the gentle hint given to the guests to depart, when the prime minister got tired and wanted to retire, was quaintly clever. a soft music was heard to come from his bedroom. it was the signal. all hastened to make their best bows and departed. chapter xxii the shah's palace--the finest court--alabaster throne hall--a building in european style--the museum--a chair of solid gold and silver--the _atch_--paintings--the banqueting room--the audience room--beautiful carpets--an elaborate clock--portraits of sovereigns and their places--pianos and good music--the jewelled-globe room--queen victoria's photograph--moving pictures--conservatory--roman mosaics--toys--adam and eve--royal and imperial oil paintings--a decided slight--the picture gallery--valuable collection of arms--strange paintings--coins--pearls--printing press--shah's country places. one is told that one must not leave teheran without carefully inspecting the shah's palace, its treasures and its museum. a special permit must be obtained for this through the legation or the foreign office. the first large court which i entered on this second visit has pretty tiled buildings at the sides, with its rectangular reservoir full of swans, and bordered by trees, is probably the most impressive part of the palace. fountains play in the centre, the spouts being cast-iron women's heads of the cheapest european kind. the lofty throne hall stands at the end, its decorative curtains screening its otherwise unwalled frontage. for my special benefit the curtains were raised, leaving exposed the two high spiral stone columns that support the roof in front. the bases of these columns bore conventionalized vases with sunflowers and leaf ornamentations, while the capitols were in three superposed fluted tiers, the uppermost being the largest in diameter. the frieze of the ceiling was concave, made of bits of looking-glass and gold, and the ceiling itself was also entirely composed of mirrors. the back was of shiny green and blue, with eight stars and two large looking-glasses, while at the sides there was a blue frieze. two large portraits of nasr-ed-din shah, two battle scenes and two portraits of fath-ali-shah decorated the walls. the two side doors of the throne-hall were of beautifully inlaid wood, and the two doors directly behind the throne were of old shiraz work with ivory inscriptions upon them in the centre. the lower part of the wall was of coloured alabaster, with flower ornaments and birds, principally hawks. there were also other less important pictures, two of which i was told represented nadir and mahmud shah, and two unidentified. high up in the back wall were five windows, of the usual persian pattern, and also a cheap gold frame enclosing a large canvas that represented a half-naked figure of a woman with a number of fowls, a cat and a dog. two gold _consoles_ were the only heavy articles of movable furniture to be seen. the spacious throne of well-marked yellow alabaster was quite gorgeous, and had two platforms, the first, with a small fountain, being reached by three steps, the second a step higher. the platform was supported by demons, "guebre" figures all round, and columns resting on the backs of feline animals. on the upper platform was spread an ancient carpet. on leaving this hall we entered a second court giving entrance to a building in the european style, with a wide staircase leading to several reception rooms on the first floor. one--the largest--had a billiard table in the centre, expensive furniture along the walls, and curtains of glaring yellow and red plush, the chairs being of the brightest blue velvet. taken separately each article of furniture was of the very best kind, but it seemed evident that whoever furnished that room did his utmost to select colours that would not match. there were two parisian desks and a fine old oak inlaid desk, a capital inlaid bureau, manufactured by a russian in teheran, and some sultanabad carpets not more than fifty years old. on the shelves and wherever else a place could be found stood glass decorations of questionable artistic taste, and many a vase with stiff bunches of hideous artificial flowers. let us enter the adjoining museum, a huge room in five sections, as it were, each section having a huge chandelier of white and blue austrian glass, suspended from the ceiling. there are glass cases all round crammed full of things arranged with no regard to their value, merit, shape, size, colour or origin. beautiful chinese and japanese _cloisonné_ stands next to the cheapest vienna plaster statuette representing an ugly child with huge spectacles on his nose, and the most exquisite sèvres and other priceless ceramic ware is grouped with empty bottles and common glass restaurant decanters. in company with these will be a toy--a monkey automatically playing a fiddle. costly jade and cheap prints were together in another case; copies of old paintings of saints and the virgin, coloured photographs of theatrical and music-hall stars, and of picturesque scenery, a painting of the shah taken in his apartments, jewels, gold ornaments inlaid with precious stones, a beautiful malachite set consisting of clock, inkstand, vases, and a pair of candlesticks; meteoric stones and fossil shells--all were displayed in the utmost confusion along the shelves. at the further end of the museum, reached by three steps, was a gaudy throne chair of solid gold and silver enamelled. the throne had amphoras at the sides and a sunflower in diamonds behind it. the seat was of red brocade, and the chair had very small arms. it rested on a six-legged platform with two supports and two ugly candelabras. a glance at the remaining glass cases of the museum reveals the same confusion; everything smothered in dust, everything uncared for. one's eye detects at once a valuable set of china, and some lovely axes, pistols and swords inlaid in gold, ivory and silver. then come busts of bismarck and moltke, a plaster clown, tawdry painted fans and tortoiseshell ones; a set of the most common blue table-service, and two high candelabras, green and white; a leather dressing-bag with silver fittings (unused), automatic musical figures, shilling candlesticks, artificial coloured fruit in marble, and a really splendid silver dinner-service. from the museum we passed into the _atch_, a kind of store-room, wherein were numberless cigar-boxes, wicker-work baskets, and badly-kept tiger skins. here were photographs of some of the shah's favourites, a great assortment of nut-crackers--the persians love walnuts--cheap prints in profusion, and some good antelope-skins. this led into the banqueting room, in the european style--and quite a good, sober style this time. the room was lighted by column candelabras, and there was a collection of the shah's family portraits in medallions; also a large-sized phonograph, which is said to afford much amusement to his majesty and his guests. the paintings on the walls ran very much to the nude, and none were very remarkable, if one excepts a life-size nude figure of a woman sitting and in the act of caressing a dove. it is a very clever copy of a painting by foragne in the shah's picture gallery, and has been done by a persian artist named kamaol-el-mulk, who, i was told, had studied in paris. most interesting of all in the room, however, was the exquisite old carpet with a delightful design of roses. it was the carpet that nasr-ed-din shah brought to europe with him to spread under his chair. the dining-room bore evident signs of his majesty's hasty departure for the country. on the tables were piled up anyhow mountains of dishes, plates, wine-glasses, and accessories, the table service made in europe being in most excellent taste, white and gold with a small circle in which the persian "lion and sun" were surmounted by the regal crown. [illustration: in the shah's palace grounds, teheran.] we go next into the shah's favourite apartments, where he spends most of his time when in teheran. we are now in the small room in which i had already been received in audience by his majesty on his birthday, a room made entirely of mirrors. there was a low and luxurious red couch on the floor, and we trod on magnificent soft silk carpets of lovely designs. one could not resist feeling with one's fingers the deliciously soft kerman rug of a fascinating artistic green, and a charming red carpet from sultanabad. the others came from isfahan and kashan. the most valuable and beautiful of all, however, was the white rug, made in sultanabad, on which the shah stands when receiving in audience. next after the carpets, a large clock by benson with no less than thirteen different dials, which told one at a glance the year, the month, the week, the day, the moon, the hour, minutes, seconds, and anything else one might wish to know, was perhaps the most noticeable item in the shah's room. there was nothing in the furniture to appeal to one, the chairs and tables being of cheap bamboo of the familiar folding pattern such as are commonly characteristic of superior boarding-houses. in the way of art there was a large figure of a woman resting under a palm tree, a photographic enlargement of the shah's portrait, and on the shah's writing-desk two handsome portraits of the emperor and empress of russia, the emperor occupying the highest place of honour. two smaller photographs of the czar and czarina were to be seen also in shilling plush frames on another writing-desk, by the side of an electric clock and night-light. the eye was attracted by three terrestrial globes and an astronomical one with constellations standing on a table. a number of very tawdry articles were lying about on the other pieces of furniture; such were a metal dog holding a ten-shilling watch, paper frames, cheap imitation leather articles, numerous photographs of the shah, a copy of the _petit journal_ framed, and containing a representation of the attempt on the shah's life, an amber service, and last, but not least, the nut-cracker and the empty nutshells, the contents of which the shah was in process of eating when i had an audience of him some days before, still lying undisturbed upon a small desk. the shah's special chair was embroidered in red and blue. all this was reflected myriads of times in the diamond-shaped mirror ceiling and walls, and the effect was somewhat dazzling. the room had a partition, and on the other side was an ample couch for his majesty to rest upon. in each reception room is to be seen a splendid grand piano, the music of which, when good, the shah is said passionately to enjoy. one of his aides de camp--a european--is an excellent pianist and composer. we now come to the world-renowned "jewelled-globe" room, and of course one makes at once for the priceless globe enclosed in a glass case in the centre of the room. the frame of the large globe is said to be of solid gold and so is the tripod stand, set in rubies and diamonds. the globe, to do justice to its name, is covered all over with precious stones, the sea being represented by green emeralds, and the continents by rubies. the equator line is set in diamonds and also the whole area of persian territory. there is nothing else of great artistic interest here, and it depressed one to find that, although the portraits in oil and photographs of the emperors of russia and austria occupied prominent places of honour in the shah's apartments, the only image of our queen victoria was a wretched faded cabinet photograph in a twopenny paper frame, thrown carelessly among empty envelopes and writing paper in a corner of his majesty's writing desk. princess beatrice's photograph was near it, and towering above them in the most prominent place was another picture of the emperor of russia. we, ourselves, may attach little meaning to these trifling details, but significant are the inferences drawn by the natives themselves. in this room, as in most of the others, there is bohemian glass in great profusion, and a "one year chronometer" of great precision. a really beautiful inlaid ivory table is disfigured by a menagerie of coloured miniature leaden cats, lions, lizards, dogs, a children's kaleidoscope, and some badly-stuffed birds, singing automatically. on another table were more glass vases and a variety of articles made of cockle shells on pasteboard, cycle watches, and brass rings with imitation stones. adjoining this room is a small boudoir, possessing the latest appliances of civilisation. it contains another grand piano, a large apparatus for projecting moving pictures on a screen, and an ice-cream soda fountain with four taps, of the type one admires--but does not wish to possess--in the new york chemists' shops!! the shah's, however, lacks three things,--the soda, the ice, and the syrups! less modern but more reposeful is the next ante-room with white walls and pretty wood ceiling. it has some military pictures of no great value. on going down ten steps we find ourselves in a long conservatory with blue and yellow tiles and a semi-open roof. a channel of water runs in the centre of the floor, and is the outlet of three octagonal basins and of spouts at intervals of ten feet. there is a profusion of lemon and orange trees at the sides of the water, and the place is kept deliciously cool. here we emerge again into the gardens, which are really beautiful although rather overcrowded, but which have plenty of fountains and huge tanks, with handsome buildings reflected into the water. the high tiled square towers, one of the landmarks of teheran, are quite picturesque, but some of the pleasure of looking at the really fine view is destroyed by numerous ugly cast-iron coloured figures imported from austria which disfigure the sides of all the reservoirs, and are quite out of keeping with the character of everything round them. we are now conducted into another building, where roman mosaics occupy a leading position, a large one of the coliseum being quite a valuable work of art; but on entering the second room we are suddenly confronted by a collection of hideous tin ware and a specimen case of ordinary fish hooks, manufactured by messrs. w. bartlett and sons. next to this is a framed autograph of "nina de muller of st. petersburg," and a photographic gathering of gay young ladies with suitable inscriptions--apparently some of the late shah's acquaintances during his european tours. here are also stuffed owls, an automatic juggler, an imitation snake, japanese screens, and an amusing painting by a persian artist of adam and eve in the garden of eden--the forbidden fruit already missing. previous to entering the largest room we come to an ante-room with photographs of scenery and events belonging to the shah's tour to europe. in the large gold room the whole set of furniture, i am told, was presented to nasr-ed-din shah by the sultan of turkey, and there are, besides, six large oil-paintings hanging upon the walls in gorgeous gold frames. they represent the last two shahs, the emperor and empress of russia, the crown prince at the time of the presentation, and the emperor of austria. a smaller picture of victor emmanuel also occupies a prominent place, but here again we have another instance of the little reverence in which our beloved queen victoria was held in the eyes of the persian court. among the various honoured foreign emperors and kings, to whom this room is dedicated, queen victoria's only representation is a small, bad photograph, skied in the least attractive part of the room--a most evident slight, when we find such photographs as that of the emperor william occupying a front and honoured place, as does also the photograph of queen wilhelmina of holland with her mother. yet another palpable instance of this disregard for the reigning head of england appears in a series of painted heads of sovereigns. the shah, of course, is represented the biggest of the lot, and king humbert, emperor william, the sultan of turkey and the emperor of austria, of about equal sizes; whereas the queen of england is quite small and insignificant. the furniture in this room is covered with the richest plush. we now come upon the royal picture gallery (or, rather, gallery of painted canvases), a long, long room, where a most interesting display of persian, afghan, beluch and turkish arms of all kinds, ancient and modern, gold bows and arrows, jewelled daggers, damascus swords, are much more attractive than the yards of portraits of ladies who have dispensed altogether with dressmakers' bills, and the gorgeously framed advertisements of brooks' machine cottons, and other products, which are hung on the line in the picture gallery! the pictures by persian art students--who paint in european style--are rather quaint on account of the subjects chosen when they attempt to be ideal. they run a good deal to the fantastic, as in the case of the several square yards of canvas entitled the "result of a dream." it contains quite a menagerie of most suggestive wild animals, and dozens of angels and demons in friendly intercourse playing upon the surface of a lake and among the entangled branches of trees. in the background a pyrotechnic display of great magnitude is depicted, with rockets shooting up in all directions, while ethereal, large, black-eyed women lie gracefully reclining and unconcerned, upon most unsafe clouds. the result on the spectator of looking at the "result of a dream," and other similar canvases by the same artist, is generally, i should think, a nightmare. there are some good paintings by foreign artists, such as the life-size nude with a dove by folagne, which we have already seen, most faithfully and cleverly copied by a persian artist, in the shah's dining-room. then there are some pretty dutch and italian pictures, but nothing really first-rate in a purely artistic sense. the cases of ancient and rare gold and silver coins are, however, indeed worthy of remark, and so are the really beautiful persian, afghan and turkish gold and silver inlaid shields, and the intensely picturesque and finely ornamented matchlocks and flintlocks. here, too, as in china, we find an abnormally large rifle--something like the _gingal_ of the celestials. these long clumsy rifles possess an ingenious back sight, with tiny perforations at different heights of the sight for the various distances on exactly the principle of a lyman back sight. the persians who accompanied me through the palace seemed very much astonished--almost concerned--at my taking so much interest in these weapons--which they said were only very old and obsolete--and so little in the hideous things which they valued and wanted me to admire. they were most anxious that i should stop before a box of pearls, a lot of them, all of good size but not very regular in shape. anything worth big sums of money is ever much more attractive to persians (also, one might add, to most europeans) than are objects really artistic or even pleasing to the eye. next to the pearls, came dilapidated butterflies and shells and fossils and stuffed lizards and crocodiles and elephants' tusks, and i do not know what else, so that by the time one came out, after passing through the confusion that reigned everywhere, one's brain was so worn and jumpy that one was glad to sit and rest in the lovely garden and sip cup after cup of tea, which the palace servants had been good enough to prepare. but there was one more thing that i was dragged to see before departing--a modern printing-press complete. his majesty, when the fancy takes him, has books translated and specially printed for his own use. with a sigh of relief i was glad to learn that i had now seen everything, quite everything, in the shah's palace! the shah has several country seats with beautiful gardens on the hills to the north of teheran, where he spends most of the summer months, and in these residences, too, we find the rooms mostly decorated with mirrors, and differing very little in character from those in the teheran palace, only not quite so elaborate. european influence has frequently crept in in architectural details and interior decorations, but not always advantageously. the andarun or harem, the women's quarter, is generally less gaudy than the other buildings, the separate little apartments belonging to each lady being, in fact, quite modest and not always particularly clean. there is very little furniture in the bedrooms, persian women having comparatively few requirements. there is in addition a large reception room, furnished in european style, with elaborate coloured glass windows. this room is used when the shah visits the ladies, or when they entertain friends, but there is nothing, it may be noted, to impress one with the idea that these are regal residences or with that truly oriental, gorgeous pomp, popularly associated in europe with the shah's court. there is probably no court of any importance where the style of life is simpler and more modest than at the shah's. all the houses are, nevertheless, most comfortable, and the gardens--the principal feature of all these country places--extremely handsome, with many fountains, tanks, and water channels intersecting them in every direction for the purpose of stimulating the artificially reared vegetation, and also of rendering the places cooler in summer. unlike most natives of the asiatic continent, the persian shows no reluctance in accepting foreign ways and inventions. he may lack the means to indulge in foreign luxuries, but that is a different matter altogether; the inclination to reform and adopt european ways is there all the same. more forward in this line than most other persians is the shah's son, a very intelligent, bright young fellow, extremely plucky and charmingly simple-minded. he takes the keenest interest in the latest inventions and fads, and, like his father the shah, fell a victim to the motor car mania. only, the shah entrusts his life to the hands of an expert french driver, whereas the young prince finds it more amusing to drive the machine himself. this, of course, he can only do within the palace grounds, since to do so in the streets of the town would be considered below his dignity and would shock the people. at the country residences he is said to have a good deal of amusement out of his motor, but not so the shah's ministers and friends who are now terrified at the name "motor." the young prince, it appears, on the machine being delivered from europe insisted--without previous knowledge of how to steer it--on driving it round a large water tank. he invited several stout ministers in all their finery to accompany him, which they did with beaming faces, overcome by the honour. the machine started full speed ahead in a somewhat snake-like fashion, and with great destruction of the minor plants on the way; then came a moment of fearful apprehension on the part of spectators and performers alike. the car collided violently with an old tree; some of the high dignitaries were flung into the water, others though still on dry land lay flat on their backs. [illustration: the shah and his suite. prime minister. general kossakowski.] it speaks volumes for the young prince's pluck that, when the car was patched up, he insisted on driving it again; but the number of excuses and sudden complaints that have since prevailed among his father's friends when asked to go for a drive with the prince are said to be quite unprecedented. the prince is a great sportsman and much beloved by all for his frankness and geniality. chapter xxiii the selection of a servant--a persian _diligence_--shah-abdul-azim mosque--rock carving--the round tower--beggars--the _kerjawa_--hasanabad--run-away horses--misplaced affection--characteristics of the country--azizawad--salt lake of daria-i-nimak--aliabad--sunsets. i had much difficulty in obtaining a really first-class servant, although many applied with glowing certificates. it has always been my experience that the more glowing the certificates the worse the servant. for my particular kind of travelling, too, a special type of servant has to be got, with a constitution somewhat above the average. i generally cover very great distances at a high speed without the least inconvenience to myself, but i find that those who accompany me nearly always break down. after inspecting a number of applicants i fixed upon one man whose features showed firmness of character and unusual determination. he was a man of few words--one of the rarest and best qualities in a travelling servant, and--he had no relations dependent upon him--the next best quality. he could shoot straight, he could stick on a saddle, he could walk. he required little sleep. he was willing to go to any country where i chose to take him. he required a high salary, but promised by all he held most sacred that he would die before he would give me the slightest trouble. this seemed all fair, and i employed him. only one drawback did this man have--he was an excellent european cook. i had to modify him into a good plain cook, and then he became perfection itself. his name was sadek. on october 2nd i was ready to start south. my foot was still in a bad condition, but i thought that the open air cure would be the best instead of lying in stuffy rooms. riding is my favourite way of progression, but again it was necessary to submit to another extortion and travel by carriage as far as kum on a road made by the bank of persia some few years ago. the speculation was not carried on sufficiently long to become a success, and the road was eventually sold to a persian concern. the same company runs a service of carriages with relays of horses between the two places, and if one wishes to travel fast one is compelled to hire a carriage, the horses not being let out on hire for riding purposes at any of the stations. this time i hired a large diligence--the only vehicle in the stables that seemed strong enough to stand the journey. it was painted bright yellow outside, had no windows, and was very properly divided into two compartments, one for men and one for women. the money for the journey had to be paid in advance, and the vehicle was ordered to be at the door of the hotel on friday, october 4th, at 5.30 a.m. it arrived on sunday evening, october 6th, at 6.30 o'clock. so much for persian punctuality. sadek said i was lucky that it did come so soon; sometimes the carriages ordered come a week later than the appointed time; occasionally they do not come at all! sadek, much to his disgust, was made to occupy the ladies' compartment with all the luggage, and i had the men's. we were off, and left the city just in time before the south gate was closed. there were high hills to the south-east, much broken and rugged, and to the north beyond the town the higher ones above golahek, on which snow caps could be perceived. damovend (18,600 ft.), the highest and most graceful mountain in persia, stood with its white summit against the sky to the north-east. even two hundred yards away from the city gate there was nothing to tell us that we had come out of the capital of persia--the place looks so insignificant from every side. a green-tiled dome of no impressive proportions, a minaret or two, and a few mud walls--that is all one sees of the mass of houses one leaves behind. barren country and dusty road, a graveyard with its prism-shaped graves half-buried in sand, are the attractions of the road. one comes to an avenue of trees. poor trees! how baked and dried and smothered in dust! a couple of miles off, we reached a patch of verdure and some really green trees and even signs of agriculture. to our left (east) lay the narrow-gauge railway line--the only one in persia--leading to the shah-abdul azim mosque. the whole length of the railway is not more than six miles. to the right of the road, some little distance before reaching the mosque, a very quaint, large high-relief has been sculptured on the face of a huge rock and is reflected upside down in a pond of water at its foot. men were bathing here in long red or blue drawers, and hundreds of donkeys were conveying veiled women to this spot. an enormous tree casts its shadow over the pool of water in the forenoon. [illustration: rock sculpture near shah-abdul-azim.] [illustration: author's diligence between teheran and kum.] it is interesting to climb up to the high-relief to examine the figures more closely. the whole sculpture is divided into three sections separated by columns, the central section being as large as the two side ones taken together. in the centre is fath-ali-shah--legless apparently--but supposed to be seated on a throne. he wears a high cap with three aigrettes, and his moustache and beard are of abnormal length. in his belt at the pinched waist he disports a sword and dagger, while he holds a bâton in his hand. there are nine figures to his right in two rows: the naib sultaneh, hussein ali, taghi mirza, above; below, mahommed, ali mirza, fatali mirza, abdullah mirza, bachme mirza, one figure unidentified. to the shah's left the figures of ali-naghi mirza and veri mirza are in the lower row; malek mirza, the last figure to the left, hedar mirza and moh-allah-mirza next to fath-ali-shah. all the figures are long-bearded and garbed in long gowns, with swords and daggers. on fath-ali-shah's right hand is perched a hawk, and behind his throne stands an attendant with a sunshade, while under the seat are little figures of muchul mirza and kameran mirza. there are inscriptions on the three sides of the frame, but not on the base. a seat is carved in the rock by the side of the sculpture. a few hundred yards from this well-preserved rock carving, a round tower 90 or 100 feet in height has been erected. its diameter inside is about 40 feet and the thickness of the wall about 20 feet. it has two large yellow doors. why this purposeless structure was put up, nobody seems to know for certain. one gets a beautiful view from the top of the wall--teheran in the distance on one side; the shah-abdul-azim mosque on the other. mountains are close by to the east, and a patch of cultivation and a garden all round down below. near the mosque--as is the case with all pilgrimage places in persia--we find a bazaar crammed with beggars, black bag-like women riding astride on donkeys or mules, depraved-looking men, and stolid-looking mullahs. there were old men, blind men, lame men, deaf men, armless men, men with enormous tumours, others minus the nose or lower jaw--the result of cancer. millions of flies were buzzing about. one of the most ghastly deformities i have ever seen was a tumour under a mullah's foot. it was an almost spherical tumour, some three inches in diameter, with skin drawn tight and shining over its surface. it had patches of red on the otherwise whitish-yellow skin, and gave the impression of the man resting his foot on an unripe water-melon with the toes half dug into the tumour. non-mussulmans are, of course, forbidden to enter the mosque, so i had to be content with the outside view of it--nothing very grand--and must take my reader again along the flat, uninteresting country towards kum. the usual troubles of semi-civilised persia are not lacking even at the very first stage. there are no relays of horses, and those just unharnessed are too tired to proceed. they are very hungry, too, and there is nothing for them to eat. several hours are wasted, and sadek employs them in cooking my dinner and also in giving exhibitions of his temper to the stable people. then follow endless discussions at the top of their voices, in which i do not take part, for i am old and wise enough not to discuss anything with anybody. the prospects of a backshish, the entreaties and prayers being of no avail, sadek flies into a fury, rushes to the yard, seizes the horses and harness, gives the coachman a hammering (and the post master very nearly another), and so we are able to start peacefully again at three a.m., and leave chah-herizek behind. but the horses are tired and hungry. they drag and stumble along in a most tiresome manner. there is moonlight, that ought to add poetry to the scenery--but in persia there is no poetry about anything. there are a great many caravans on the road--they all travel at night to save the animals from the great heat of the day--long strings of camels with their monotonous bells, and dozens of donkeys or mules, some with the covered double litters--the _kerjawa_. these _kerjawas_ are comfortable enough for people not accustomed to ride, or for women who can sleep comfortably while in motion inside the small panier. the _kerjawa_ is slung over the saddle like two large hampers with a roof of bent bands of wood. a cloth covering is made to turn the _kerjawa_ into a small private room, an exact duplicate of which is slung on the opposite side of the saddle. two persons balancing each other are required by this double arrangement, or one person on one side and an equivalent quantity of luggage on the other so as to establish a complete balance--a most important point to consider if serious accidents are to be avoided. every now and then the sleepy voice of a caravan man calls out "salameleko" to my coachman, and "salameleko" is duly answered back; otherwise we rattle along at the speed of about four miles an hour, bumping terribly on the uneven road, and the diligence creaking in a most perplexing manner. at hasanabad, the second stage, i was more fortunate and got four good horses in exchange for the tired ones. one of them was very fresh and positively refused to go with the others. the driver, who was brutal, used his stock-whip very freely, with the result that the horse smashed part of the harness and bolted. the other three, of course, did the same, and the coachman was not able to hold them. we travelled some few hundred yards off the road at a considerable speed and with terrible bumping, the shaky, patched-up carriage gradually beginning to crumble to pieces. the boards of the front part fell apart, owing to the violent oscillations of the roof, and the roof itself showed evident signs of an approaching collapse. we were going down a steep incline, and i cannot say that i felt particularly happy until the horses were got under control again. i feared that all my photographic plates and cameras might get damaged if the diligence turned over. while the men mended the harness i had a look at the scenery. the formation of the country was curious. there were what at first appeared to be hundreds of small mounds like ant-hills--round topped and greyish, or in patches of light brown, with yellow sand deposits exposed to the air on the surface. on getting nearer they appeared to be long flat-topped ridges evidently formed by water-borne matter--probably at the epoch when this was the sea or lake bottom. "_khup es!_" (it is all right!) said the coachman, inviting me to mount again--and in a sudden outburst of exuberant affection he embraced the naughty horse and kissed him fondly on the nose. the animal reciprocated the coachman's compliment by promptly kicking the front splashboard of the carriage to smithereens. we crossed a bridge. to the east the water-level mark, made when this valley was under water, is plainly visible on the strata of gravel with reddish mud above, of which the hills are formed. then, rising gradually, the diligence goes over a low pass and along a flat plateau separating the first basin we have left behind from a second, more extensive, of similar formation. the hills in this second basin appear lower. to the s.s.e. is a horseshoe-shaped sand dune, much higher than anything we had so far encountered, and beyond it a range of mountains. salt can be seen mixed with the pale-brownish mud of the soil. then we drive across a third basin, large and flat, with the scattered hills getting lower and seemingly worn by the action of weather. they are not so corrugated by water-formed channels as the previous ones we had passed. twenty feet or so below the summit of the hills a white sediment of salt showed itself plainly. the fourth basin is at a higher level than the others--some 100 feet or so above the third--and is absolutely flat, with dark, gravelly soil. azizawad village has no special attraction beyond the protecting wall that encloses it--like all villages of persia--and the domed roofs of houses to which one begins to get reconciled. next to it is the very handsome fruit garden of khale-es-sultan. at khale mandelha the horses are changed. the road becomes very undulating, with continuous ups and downs, and occasional steep ascents and descents. glimpses of the large salt lake, daria-i-nimak, or the masileh, as it is also called, are obtained, and eventually we had quite a pretty view with high blue mountains in the background and rocky black mounds between the spectator and the silvery sheet of water. aliabad has a large caravanserai with a red-columned portico to the east; also a special place for the sadrazam, the prime minister, when travelling on this road; a garden with a few sickly trees, and that is all. on leaving the caravanserai one skirts the mountain side to the west, and goes up it to the horse station situated in a most desolate spot. from this point one gets a bird's-eye view of the whole lake. its waters, owing to evaporation, seem to withdraw, leaving a white sediment of salt along the edge. the road from the khafe-khana runs now in a perfectly straight line s.w., and, with the exception of the first short incline, is afterwards quite flat, passing along and very little above the lake shore, from which the road is about one mile distant. the lake is to the s.e. of the road at this point. to the s.w., w., n.w., n., lies a long row of dark-brown hills which circle round the valley we are about to cross. the sunset on that particular night was one in which an amateur painter would have revelled. a dirty-brown foreground as flat as a billiard-table--a sharp cutting edge of blue hill-tops against a bilious lemon-yellow sky blending into a ghastly cinabrese red, which gradually vanished into a sort of lead blue. there are few countries where the sun appears and disappears above and from the earth's surface with less glow than in persia. of course, the lack of moisture in the atmosphere largely accounts for this. during the several months i was in the country--though for all i know this may have been my misfortune only--i never saw more than half a dozen sunsets that were really worth intense admiration, and these were not in western persia. the usual sunsets are effects of a washed-out sort, with no force and no beautiful contrasts of lights and colours such as one sees in egypt, in morocco, in spain, italy, or even, with some amount of toning down, in our little england. the twilight in persia is extremely short. chapter xxiv severe wind--kum, the holy city--thousands of graves--conservative mullahs--ruin and decay--leather tanning--the gilt dome--another extortion--ingenious bellows--damovend--the scenery--passangun--evening prayers--a contrivance for setting charcoal alight--putrid water--post horses--sin sin--mirage--nassirabad--villages near kashan. on a deserted road, sleepy and shaken, with the wind blowing so hard that it tore and carried away all the cotton curtains of the carriage, i arrived at kum (3,200 feet above sea level) in the middle of the night. the distance covered between teheran and kum was twenty-four farsakhs, or ninety-six miles. as we approached the holy city there appeared to be a lot of vegetation around, and sadek and the coachman assured me that this was a region where pomegranates were grown in profusion, and the castor-oil plant, too. cotton was, moreover, cultivated with success. kum is, to my mind, and apart from its holiness, one of the few really picturesque cities of persia. i caught the first panoramic glimpse of the shrine and mosque at sunrise from the roof of the post house, and was much impressed by its grandeur. amidst a mass of semi-spherical mud roofs, and beyond long mud walls, rise the gigantic gilded dome of the mosque, two high minarets, and two shorter ones with most beautifully coloured tiles inlaid upon their walls, the general effect of which is of most delicate greys, blues and greens. then clusters of fruit trees, numerous little minarets all over the place, and ventilating shafts above the better buildings break the monotony agreeably. kum, i need hardly mention, is one of the great pilgrimages of mahommedans. happy dies the man or woman whose body will be laid at rest near the sacred shrine, wherein--it is said--lie the remains of matsuma fatima. corpses are conveyed here from all parts of the country. even kings and royal personages are buried in the immediate neighbourhood of the shrine. round the city there are thousands of mud graves, which give quite a mournful appearance to the holy city. there are almost as many dead people as living ones in kum! innumerable mullahs are found here who are very conservative, and who seem to resent the presence of european visitors in the city. access to the shrine is absolutely forbidden to foreigners. immense sums of money are brought daily to the holy city by credulous pilgrims, but no outward signs of a prosperous trade nor of fine streets or handsome private buildings can be detected on inspecting the bazaar or streets of the town. on the contrary, the greater part of the residences are in a hopeless state of decay, and the majority of the inhabitants, to all appearance, little above begging point. leather, tanned with the bark of the pomegranate, and cheap pottery are the chief industries of the holy city. on inquiring what becomes of all the wealth that comes into the town, a persian, with a significant gesture, informed me that the mullahs get it and with them it remains. the handsome dome over the shrine was begun by order of hussein nadir shah, but the gorgeous gilding of the copper plates was not finished till a few years ago by nasr-ed-din shah. a theological college also exists at this place. there is a station here of the indo-european telegraphs, with an armenian in charge of it. much to my disgust, i was informed that the owner of the post-house had the monopoly of the traffic on the track for six or seven farsakhs more, and so travellers were compelled to submit to a further extortion by having to hire another wheeled conveyance instead of being able to ride. this time i chartered a victoria, and off we went as usual at a gallop. two horses had to be sent ahead while the carriage was driven with only two animals through the narrow streets of the bazaar, covered over with awnings or with domed perforated roofs. the place had a tawdry, miserable appearance, the leather shops being the only interesting ones, with the many elaborate saddles, harness, saddle-bags, and horses' ornamentations displayed on nails along the walls. i saw in a blacksmith's shop an ingenious device to create a perpetual draught with bellows. the big bellows were double and allowed sufficient room to let two boys stand between the two. the boys clinging to handles in the upper part of the bellows and using the weight of their bodies now to the right, then to the left, inflated first one then the other, the wind of each bellow passing through a common end tube and each being in turn refilled with air while the other was blowing. this human pendulum arrangement was carried on with incredible rapidity by the two boys, who dashed their bodies from one side to the other and back, keeping steady time and holding their feet stationary, but describing an almost complete semicircle with the remainder of the body, the whole length of the boy forming the radius. there was a shop or two where glass was being blown, and numerous fruit-shops with mountains of pomegranates, water-melons and grapes. at the entrance of the mosques crowds of people stood waiting for admission, some praying outside. once out of the town the extra two horses, which were waiting at the gate, were harnessed, and as we sped along, the lungs rejoiced in the pure air of which the stuffy, cellar-like bazaar had afforded none. behind, in the far distance, damovend mountain, covered with snow, could still be seen rising high above everything. it was undoubtedly a good-looking mountain. to the south-west and west lay indented hills of the most curious shapes and colours--one, particularly, like a roof, with a greenish base surmounted by a raw-sienna top; a twin-sister hill further west presented the same peculiarities. in the distant mountains to the west the same characteristics were apparent, the greenish stratum below extending all along and increasing in depth towards the south. the road--if one may call it so--was extremely bad and hardly fit for wheeled traffic. after leaving kum the vegetation ceased, and it was only at langherut village that a patch of green refreshed the eye. a few strolling wayfarers crowded round when the carriage stopped to give the horses a rest under the shade of a tree, and sadek was cross-examined about the sahib whom he was accompanying. it was quite amusing to hear one's self and one's doings commented upon in the most open manner, regardless of one's personal feelings, which are better discarded altogether while travelling in persia. there is absolutely nothing private in the land of iran. one's appearance, one's clothes, the quantity of food one eats, the amount of money one carries, where one comes from and where one goes, whom one knows, one's servants, one's rifles, one's cameras,--everything is remarked upon, as if one were not present. if one possesses no false pride and a sense of humour, a deal of entertainment is thus provided on the road. passangun could be perceived in the distance, and a dreary, desolate place it was when one got there. in the way of architecture, we found a large tumbling-down caravanserai, a tea-shop, and the chappar khana (the post-house). as to vegetation, thirteen sickly trees, all counted. barren, uninteresting country surrounded the halting place. i spent here a pleasant hour while waiting for my luggage to arrive on pack animals. a caravan of some fifty horses and mules had halted at sunset, and a number of pilgrims, with beards dyed bright-red, were making their evening salaams towards mecca. having removed shoes and duly washed their feet and hands, they stood erect on the projecting platform of the caravanserai, and after considerable adjusting of caps and head-scratching, assumed a meditative attitude, head bent forward, and muttered prayers with hands down. then the hands were raised flat before the face, with a bow. kneeling followed, with hands first resting on the knees, then raised again to cover the face, after which, with the palms of the hands resting flat on the ground, the head was brought down until it touched the ground too. a standing position was further assumed, when the temples were touched with the thumb while prayers were recited, and then the petitioners stooped low and fell a second time on their knees, saying the beads of their rosaries. the forehead was made to touch the ground several times before the evening prayers were over. next, food was cooked in the small fire places of the caravanserai, and tea brewed in large quantities. the inevitable kalian was called for, and the caravanserai boy brought out his interesting little arrangement to set charcoal quickly alight for the large cup of the kalian. to a string three feet long, hung a small perforated iron cup, which he filled with charcoal, one tiny bit being already alight. by quickly revolving the contrivance as one would a sling, the draught forced through the apertures in the cup produced quick combustion, and charcoal was at once distributed alight among the kalians of the impatient guests. much amusement and excitement was caused among the pilgrims by a fight between a puppy-dog and five or six small goats. only one of these at a time fought the dog, while the others occupied a high point of vantage on which they had hastily climbed, and from that place of security displayed a keen interest in the fight. the water at passangun was extremely bad. there were two tanks of rain water drained from the hillside along a dirty channel filled with animal refuse. the wells were below the ground level, and were walled and domed over to prevent too rapid an evaporation by the sun's rays. the water was pestilential. it had a nasty green look about it, and patches of putrid matter decomposing visibly on its surface. the stench from it when stirred was sickening. yet the natives drank it and found it all right! there is no accounting for people's taste, not even in persia. at last, from this point, the positive torture of driving in carriages was over, and _chappar_ horses were to be obtained. the saddles were got ready, and with five horses we made a start that same evening for sin sin. after the wretched bumping and thumping and being thrown about in the wheeled conveyance on the badly-kept road, it seemed heavenly to be ambling along at a fairly good pace, even on these poor, half-starved animals, which could not in all honesty be considered to afford perfect riding. indeed, if there ever was a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, it should have begun its work along the persian postal roads. the poor brutes--one can hardly call them horses--are bony and starved, with sore backs, chests and legs, with a bleeding tongue almost cut in two and pitifully swollen by cruelly-shaped bits, and endowed with stinking digestive organs and other nauseous odours of uncared-for sores heated by the friction of never-removed, clumsy, heavy pads under the saddles. it requires a pretty strong stomach, i can tell you, to ride them at all. yet the poor devils canter along, when they do not amble, and occasionally gallop clumsily on their unsteady, skeleton-like legs. so that, notwithstanding everything, one generally manages to go at the rate of six or seven miles an hour. if the horses at the various post-stations have just returned from conveying the post-bags, an extra sorry time is in store for the traveller. the poor animals are then so tired that they occasionally collapse on the road. i invariably used all the kindness i could to these wretches, but it was necessary for me to get on, as i intended to proceed in the greatest haste over the better known parts of persia. it is important to see the horses fed before starting from all the post-houses, but on many occasions no food whatever could be procured for them, when, of course, they had to go without it. changing horses about every 20 to 28 miles, and being on the saddle from fourteen to twenty hours out of the twenty-four, i was able to cover long distances, and kept up an average of from 80 to 120 miles daily. one can, of course, cover much greater distances than these in one day, if one is fortunate enough to get good and fresh horses at the various stations, and if one does not have to keep it up for a long period of time as i had to do. from sin sin we go due south along a flat trail of salt and mud. we have a barrier of mountains to the south-west and higher mountains to the south. to the south-east also a low ridge with another higher behind it. to the north we leave behind low hills. sin sin itself is renowned for its water-melons, and i, too, can humbly certify to their excellence. i took a load of them away for the journey. from here we began to see the wonderful effects of deceitful mirage, extremely common all over persia. one sees beautiful lakes of silvery water, with clusters of trees and islands and rocks duly reflected upside down in their steady waters, but it is all an optical deception, caused by the action of the heated soil on the expanding air immediately in contact with it, which, seen from above and at a distance, is of a bluish white tint with exactly the appearance and the mirror-like qualities of still water. although in central persia one sees many of these effects every day, they are sometimes so marvellous that even the most experienced would be deceived. the country is barren and desolate. kasimabad has but two buildings, both caravanserais; but nassirabad, further on, is quite a large village, with domed roofs and a couple of minarets. on the road is a large caravanserai, with the usual alcoves all round its massive walls. except the nice avenue of trees along a refreshing brook of limpid water, there was nothing to detain us here but the collision between one of my pack-horses and a mule of a passing caravan, with disastrous results to both animals' loads. but, with the assistance of one or two natives commandeered by sadek, the luggage scattered upon the road was replaced high on the saddles, the fastening ropes were pulled tight by sadek with his teeth and hands, while i took this opportunity to sit on the roadside to partake of my lunch--four boiled eggs, a cold roast chicken, persian bread, some cake, and half a water-melon, the whole washed down with a long drink of clear water. riding at the rate i did, the whole day and the greater part of the night, in the hot sun and the cold winds at night, gave one a healthy appetite. as we got nearer kashan city, the villages got more numerous; aliabad and the yaze (mosque) and nushabad to my left (east), with its blue tiled roof of the mosque. but the villages were so very much alike and uninteresting in colour and in architecture, that a description of each would be unimportant and most tedious, so that i will only limit myself to describing the more typical and striking ones with special features that may interest the reader. in the morning of october 9th i had reached the city of kashan, seventeen farsakhs (sixty-eight miles) from kum, and forty-one farsakhs or 164 miles from teheran, in two days and a half including halts. chapter xxv kashan--silk manufactories--indo-european telegraph--the zein-ed-din tower--the meh-rab shrine--the madrassah shah--the panja shah--the hand of nazareth abbas--the fin palace--hot springs--the tragic end of an honest prime minister--ice store-houses--cultivation--in the bazaar--brass work--silk--the mullahs and places of worship--wretched post-horses--the gyabrabad caravanserai--an imposing dam--fruit-tree groves--picturesque kohrut village. kashan, 3,260 feet above sea level, is famous for its gigantic and poisonous scorpions, for its unbearable heat, its capital silk works, and its copper utensils, which, if not always ornamental, are proclaimed everlasting. the silk manufactories are said to number over three hundred, including some that make silk carpets, of world-wide renown. the population is 75,000 souls or thereabouts. nothing is ever certain in persia. there are no hotels in the city, and it is considered undignified for europeans to go to a caravanserai--of which there are some three dozen in kashan--or to the chappar khana. the indo-european telegraphs have a large two-storied building outside the north gate of the city, in charge of an armenian clerk, where, through the courtesy of the director of telegraphs, travellers are allowed to put up, and where the guests' room is nice and clean, with a useful bedstead, washstand, and a chair or two. a capital view of kashan is obtained from the roof of the telegraph building. a wide road, the one by which i had arrived, continues to the north-east entrance of the bazaar. the town itself is divided into two sections--the city proper, surrounded by a high wall, and the suburbs outside. to the south-west, in the town proper, rises the slender tower of zein-ed-din, slightly over 100 feet high, and not unlike a factory chimney. further away in the distance--outside the city--the mosque of taj-ed-din with its blue pointed roof, adjoins the famous meh-rab shrine, from which all the most ancient and beautiful tiles have been stolen or sold by avid mullahs for export to europe. then we see the two domes of the mosque and theological college, the madrassah shah, where young future mullahs are educated. to the west of the observer from our high point of vantage, and north-west of the town, lies another mosque, the panja shah, in which the hand of one of the prophets, nazareth abbas, is buried. a life-size hand and portion of the forearm, most beautifully carved in marble, is shown to devotees in a receptacle in the east wall of the mosque. the actual grave in which the real hand lies is covered with magnificent ancient tiles. it is with a certain amount of sadness that one gazes on the old fin palace, up on the hills some six miles to the west, and listens to the pathetic and repellent tragedy which took place within its garden walls. the square garden is surrounded by a high wall, and has buildings on three sides. marble canals, fed by large marble tanks, in which run streams of limpid water, intersect the garden in the middle of a wide avenue of dark cypresses. the garden was commenced by shah abbas. the palace, however, was built by fath-ali-shah, who also much improved the gardens and made this a favourite residence during the hot summer months. there is here a very hot natural spring of sulphur water, and copper, which is said to possess remarkable curative qualities, especially for rheumatism and diseases of the blood. one bath is provided for men and another for women. the palace, with its quaint pictures and decorations is now in a state of abandonment and semi-collapse. the tragic end (in 1863 or 1864, i could not clearly ascertain which) at this place of mirza-taki khan, then prime minister of persia--as honest and straightforward a politician as persia has ever possessed--adds a peculiar gloom to the place. a man of humble birth, but of great genius, mirza-taki khan, rose to occupy, next to the shah, the highest political position in his country, and attempted to place the government of persia on a firm basis, and to eradicate intrigue and corruption. to this day his popularity is proverbial among the lower classes, by whom he is still revered and respected for his uprightness. the shah gave him his only sister in marriage, but unhappily one fine day his enemies gained the upper hand at court. he fell into disgrace, and was banished to kashan to the fin palace. executioners were immediately sent to murder him by order of the shah. mirza-taki khan, when their arrival was announced, understood that his end had come. he asked leave to commit suicide instead, which he did by having the arteries of his arms cut open. he bled to death while in his bath. royal regret at the irreparable loss was expressed, but it was too late. the body of the cleverest statesman persia had produced was conveyed for burial to the sanctuary of karbala. one cannot help being struck, in a stifling hot place like kashan, to find large ice store-houses. yet plenty of ice is to be got here during the winter, especially from the mountains close at hand. these ice-houses have a pit dug in the ground to a considerable depth, and are covered over with a high conical roof of mud. to the north-east, outside the city, in the suburbs a great many of these ice store-houses are to be seen, as well as a small, blue-tiled roof of a mosque, the pilgrimage of habbib-mussah. there is some cultivation round about kashan, principally of cotton, tobacco, melons and water-melons, which one sees in large patches wherever there is water obtainable. kashan is protected by mountains to the south and west, and by low hills to the north-west, but to the north and north-east the eye roams uninterrupted over an open, flat, dusty, dreary plain of a light brown colour until it meets the sky line on the horizon, softly dimmed by a thick veil of disturbed sand. due east lie the siah kuh (mountains), then comes another gap in the horizon to the south-east. in the dark and gloomy bazaar the din of hundreds of wooden hammers on as many pieces of copper being made into jugs, trays, pots or pans, is simply deafening, echoed as it is under the vaulted roofs, the sound waves clashing in such an unmusical and confused way as to be absolutely diabolical. a few of these copper vessels are gracefully ornamented and inlaid, but the majority are coarse in their manufacture. they are exported all over the country. the manufactured silk, the other important product of kashan, finds its way principally to russia. the inhabitants are most industrious and, like all industrious people, are extremely docile, amenable to reason, and easy to manage. the mullahs are said to have much power over the population, and, in fact, we find in kashan no less than 18 mosques with five times that number of shrines, counting large and small. i experienced some difficulty in obtaining relays of fresh post horses, the mail having been despatched both north and south the previous night, and therefore no horses were in the station. at seven in the evening i was informed that five horses had returned and were at my disposal. twenty minutes later the loads were on their saddles, and i was on the road again. after travelling under the pitch-dark vaulted bazaars (where, as it was impossible to see where one was going, the horses had to be led), and threading our way out of the suburbs, we travelled on the flat for some time before coming to the hilly portion of the road where it winds its way up at quite a perceptible gradient. we had no end of small accidents and trouble. the horses were half-dead with fatigue. they had gone 48 miles already with the post, and without rest or food had been sent on with me for 28 more miles! the poor wretches collapsed time after time on the road under their loads, although these were very light, and my servant and i and the chappar boy had to walk the whole way and drag the animals behind us, for they had not sufficient strength to carry us. even then their knees gave way every now and then, and it was no easy job to get them to stand up again. one of them never did. he died, and, naturally, we had to abandon him. it came on to blow very hard, and with the horses collapsing on all sides and the loads getting constantly undone owing to the repeated falls of the animals, we could not cover more than one mile, or two, an hour. caravans generally take the road over these mountains during the day, so that now the road was quite deserted and we could get no assistance from any one. the loss of one horse increased our difficulty, as it involved putting more weight on the other horses. at 3.30 a.m. we managed to reach the caravanserai in the mountains at gyabrabat (gabarabat), the sight of which was enough to settle all the horses. they one and all threw themselves down on reaching the door, and it was not possible to make them stand again. to continue the journey to kohrut (kohrud) through the night, as i had intended, was absolutely out of the question, so we roused the keeper of the hostelry and demanded admission. the man was extremely uncivil, as he said he had some grievance against a previous english traveller, but on being assured that i would pay with my own hands for all i got and not through servants--a rule which i always follow, and which saves much unpleasantness and unfair criticism from the natives--he provided me with all i required. first of all i fed the horses. then sadek cooked me a capital supper. then i gave the horses and myself some four hours rest--that refreshed us all very much. the caravanserai was filthy. all the small rooms and alcoves were occupied, and i preferred to sleep out in the yard, sheltered from the wind behind the huge doorway. i had with me some boxes of my own invention and manufacture, which had accompanied me on several previous journeys, and which, besides a number of other purposes, can serve as a bedstead. they came in very usefully on that particular occasion. from gyabrabad to kohrut the region is supposed to be a famous haunt of robbers. undoubtedly the country lends itself to that kind of enterprise, being mountainous and much broken up, so that the occupation can be carried on with practical impunity. the road is among rocks and boulders. although there are no very great elevations in the mountains on either side, the scenery is picturesque, with black-looking rocky slopes, at the bottom of which a tiny and beautifully limpid stream descends towards kashan. the track is mostly along this stream. [illustration: the track along the kohrut dam.] [illustration: between gyabrabad and kohrut.] after a steep, stony incline of some length, half-way between gyabrabad and the kohrut pass, one comes across a high and well-made dam, the work of a speculator. in winter and during the rains the water of the stream is shut up here into a large reservoir, a high wall being built across the two mountain slopes, and forming a large lake. the water is then sold to the city of kashan. if in due course of time the purchase-money is not forthcoming, the supply is cut off altogether by blocking up the small aperture in the dam--which lets out the tiny stream the course of which we have been following upwards. the persian post-horse is a most wonderful animal. his endurance and powers of recovery are simply extraordinary. having been properly fed, and enjoyed the few hours' rest, the animals, notwithstanding their wretched condition and the bad road, went fairly well. on nearing kohrut one is agreeably surprised to find among these barren mountains healthy patches of agriculture and beautiful groves of fruit-trees. the fruit is excellent here,--apples, plums, apricots, walnuts, and the kohrut potatoes are said (by the people of kohrut) to be the best in the world. the most remarkable thing about these patches of cultivation is that the soil in which they occur has been brought there--the mountain itself being rocky--and the imported earth is supported by means of strong stone walls forming long terraces. this speaks very highly for the industry of the natives, who are extremely hardworking. we go through these delightful groves for nearly one mile, when suddenly we find ourselves in front of kohrut village, most picturesquely perched on the steep slope of the mountain. the houses are of an absolutely different type from the characteristically domed persian hovels one has so far come across. they have several storeys, two or even three--an extremely rare occurrence in persian habitations. the lower windows are very small, like slits in the wall, but the top windows are large and square, usually with some lattice woodwork in front of them. the domed roofs have been discarded, owing to the quantity of wood obtainable here, and the roofs are flat and thatched, supported on long projecting beams and rafters. just before entering the village a great number of ancient graves can be seen dotted on the mountain-side, and along the road. the view of the place, with its beautiful background of weird mountains, and the positions of the houses, the door of one on the level with the roof of the underlying one, against the face of the rock, are most striking. [illustration: the interior of chappar khana at kohrut.] the inhabitants of this village are quite polite and friendly, and lack the usual aggressiveness so common at all the halting places in persia. fresh horses were obtained at the chappar khana, and i proceeded on my journey at once. we still wound our way among mountains going higher and higher, until we got over the kuh-i-buhlan (the pass). from the highest point a lovely view of the valley over which we had come from the north-west displayed itself in dark brown tints, and to the east we had a mass of barren mountains. chapter xxvi crossing the pass--held up by robbers--amusing courtesy--brigands to protect from brigands--parting friends--soh--biddeshk--copper and iron--robber tribes--an englishman robbed--a feature of persian mountains--a military escort--how compensation is paid by the persian government--murchikhar--robbers and the guards--ghiez--distances from teheran to isfahan. it was not till after sunset that we crossed the pass, and, the horses being tired, my men and i were walking down the incline on the other side to give the animals a rest. it was getting quite dark, and as the chappar boy had warned me that there were brigands about the neighbourhood i walked close to my horse, my revolver being slung to the saddle. the place seemed absolutely deserted, and i was just thinking how still and reposeful the evening seemed, the noise of the horses' hoofs being the only disturbing element amid quiescent nature, when suddenly from behind innocent-looking rocks and boulders leapt up, on both sides of the road, about a dozen well-armed robbers, who attempted to seize the horses. before they had time to put up their rifles they found themselves covered by my revolver and requested to drop their weapons or i would shoot them. they hastily complied with my request, and instead of ransacking my baggage, as they had evidently designed to do, had to confine themselves to polite remarks. "you are very late on the road, sahib?" said one brigand, in a voice of assumed kindness and softness. "please put back your revolver. we will not harm you," said suavely and persuasively another, who displayed a most gaudy waistcoat which he evidently did not want perforated. sadek was in a great state of excitement, and entreated me not to shoot. "persian robbers," he assured me, with a logic of his own, "do not kill the master until the servant has been killed, because it is the servant who is in charge of the luggage. . . . . they would not steal anything now, but i must be kind to these fellows." as is usual with persons accustomed to stalk other persons, i did not fail to notice that, while trying to attract my attention by conversation, my interlocutors were endeavouring to surround us. but i checked them in this, and warned them that i had met many brigands before, and was well acquainted with their ways. i hoped they would not compel me to shoot, which i would most certainly do if they attempted any tricks. they well understood that it was risky to try their luck, so they changed tactics altogether. the conversation that ensued was amusing. "sahib," shouted a boisterous robber, very gaily attired, and with cartridges in profusion in his belt, "there are lots of brigands near here and we want to protect you." "yes, i know there are brigands not far from here," i assented. "we will escort you, for you are our friend, and if we lead you safely out of the mountains, maybe, sahib, you will give us backshish." i felt certain that i could have no better protection against brigands than the brigands themselves, and preferred to have them under my own supervision rather than give them a chance of attacking us unexpectedly again some miles further on. anyhow, i resolved to let them come as far as the next pass we had to cross, from which point the country would be more open and a sudden surprise impossible. so i accepted their offer with a politely expressed condition that every man must keep in front of me and not raise his rifle above his waist or i would send a bullet through him. in the middle of the night we parted on the summit of the pass, and i gave them a good backshish--not so much for the service they had rendered me as for relieving for a few hours the monotony of the journey. they were grateful, and were the most civil brigands i have ever encountered. while resting on the pass we had an amicable conversation, and i asked them where they got their beautiful clothes and the profusion of gold and silver watch-chains. "it is not everybody we meet, sahib, that has a formidable revolver like yours," answered the boisterous brigand, with a fit of sarcastic merriment, echoed by all of us. "yes," i retorted in the same sarcastic spirit, "if it had not been for the revolver, possibly next time i came along this road i might meet the company dressed up like sahibs, in my clothes!" i advised them to put up a white flag of truce next time they sprang out from behind rocks with the intention of holding up another englishman, or surely some day or other there would be an accident. we all laughed heartily, and parted with repeated salaams--and my luggage intact. in the moonlight i took the precaution to see them well out of sight on one side of the pass before we began to descend on the other, and then we proceeded down the steep and rocky incline. we reached soh (8,000 feet) early in the morning, and went on to the chappar house at biddeshk. here one abandons the region of the kehriz kohrud and kale karf mountains, west and east of the road respectively, and travels over a flat sandy country devoid of vegetation and water. copper and iron are to be found at several places in the mountains between kashan and soh, for instance near gudjar, at dainum, and at kohrut. october is the month when the backhtiari tribes are somewhat troublesome previous to their return to winter quarters. a great many caravans are attacked and robbed on this road, unless escorted by soldiers. daring attempts have even been made to seize caravans of silver bullion for the bank of persia. only a few days before i went through, an english gentleman travelling from isfahan was robbed between soh and murchikhar of all his baggage, money, and clothes. the country lends itself to brigandage. one can see a flat plain for several miles to the north and south, but to the west and east are most intricate mountain masses where the robber bands find suitable hiding places for themselves and their booty. to the north-west we have flat open country, but to the west from biddeshk there are as many as three different ranges of mountains. to the east rises the peak kehriz natenz. a great many low hill ranges lie between the main backbone of the high and important range extending from north-west to south-east, and the route we follow, and it is curious to notice, not only here but all over the parts of persia i visited, that the great majority of sand dunes, and of hill and mountain ranges face north or north-east. in other words, they extend either from north-west to south-east, or roughly from west to east; very seldom from north to south. from biddeshk two soldiers insisted on escorting my luggage. i was advised to take them, for in default, one cannot claim compensation from the persian government should the luggage be stolen. in the case of _bona fide_ european travellers, robbed on the road, the persian government is extremely punctual in making good the damage sustained and paying ample compensation. the method employed by the local governor, responsible for the safety of travellers on the road, is to inflict heavy fines on all the natives of the district in which the robbery has occurred,--a very simple and apparently effective way, it would seem, of stopping brigandage, but one which, in fact, increases it, because, in order to find the money to pay the fines, the natives are driven to the road, each successive larceny going towards part payment of the previous one. [illustration: chapparing--the author's post horses.] [illustration: persian escort firing at brigands.] one or two domed reservoirs of rain-water are found by the road-side, but the water is very bad. the soldiers, laden with cartridges, ran along by the side of my horses and pretended to keep a sharp look-out for robbers. every now and then they got much excited, loaded their rifles, and fired away shot after shot at phantom brigands, whom, they said, they perceived peeping above sand hills a long way off. at murchikhar there is nothing to be seen. the post-horses were very good here and i was able to go through this uninteresting part of the road at a good speed of from six to seven miles an hour. to the west the mountains were getting quite close, and, in fact, we had hills all round except to the south-east. murchikhar is at a fairly high altitude, 5,600 ft. one still heard much about brigands. soldiers, armed to the teeth, insisted on accompanying my luggage. this, of course, involved endless backshish, but had to be put up with, as it is one of the perquisites of the guards stationed at the various stages. i have heard it stated that if one does not require their services it is often these protectors themselves who turn into robbers. there is a guard-house on the road, and the two soldiers stationed there told us that a large band of thirty robbers had visited them during the early hours of the morning, and had stolen from them all their provisions, money and tobacco! we were not troubled in any way, and, with the exception of some suspicious horsemen a long way off making for the mountains, we hardly met a soul on the road. a curious accident happened to one of my luggage horses. for some reason of his own he bolted, and galloped to the top of one of the _kanat_ cones, when getting frightened at the deep hole before him he jumped it. his fore-legs having given way on the steep incline on the other side, he fell on his head and turned a complete somersault, landing flat on his back, where, owing to the packs, he remained with his legs up in the air until we came to his aid and freed him of the loads. on nearing ghiez the track is over undulating country, but after that the road to isfahan is good and flat, but very sandy and dusty. i got to ghiez in the evening but proceeded at once to isfahan. we galloped on the twelve miles, and in less than two hours i was most hospitably received in the house of mr. preece, the british consul-general in isfahan. the distances from teheran are as follows:-from teheran to kum 24 farsakhs 96 miles. " kum to kashan 17 " 68 " " kashan to kohrut 7 " 28 " " kohrut to biddeshk 6 " 24 " " biddeshk to murchikhar 6 " 24 " " murchikhar to ghiez 6 " 24 " " ghiez to isfahan 3 " 12 " - - total 69 farsakhs or 276 miles. the time occupied in covering the whole distance, including halts and delays, was somewhat less than four days. chapter xxvii missionary work in persia--educational and medical work--no mahommedan converts--bibles--julfa--armenian settlement--conservative customs--armenian women--their education--the armenian man--europeans--a bird's-eye view of isfahan--armenian graveyard--a long bridge--the rev. james loraine garland--mission among the jews. there is little to say of interest in connection with missionary work in persia, except that a considerable amount of good is being done in the educational and medical line. there are well-established schools and hospitals. the most praiseworthy institution is the supply of medicinal advice and medicine gratis or at a nominal cost. as far as the work of christianising is concerned, it must be recollected that missionaries are only allowed in persia on sufferance, and are on no account permitted to make converts among the mahommedans. any mussulman, man, woman, or child, who discards his religion for christianity, will in all probability lose his life. if any christianising work is done at all it has to be done surreptitiously and at a considerable amount of risk to both convert and converter. some interest in the christian religion is nevertheless shown by mussulmans of the younger generation--who now are practically atheists at heart--but whether this interest is genuine or not it is not for me to say. there is much in the bible that impresses them, and i understand that constant applications are made for copies of translations into the persian language. to avoid the great waste which occurred when bibles were given away for nothing, a nominal charge is now made so as to prevent people throwing the book away or using it for evil purposes. in isfahan itself there are no missionaries among the mahommedans, but some are to be found at julfa, a suburb of isfahan, on the south bank of the zindah-rud (river). julfa was in former days a prosperous armenian settlement of some 30,000 inhabitants, but is now mostly in ruins since the great migration of armenians to india. there is an armenian archbishop at julfa. he has no real power, but is much revered by the armenians themselves. he provides priests for the armenians of india. a handsome cathedral, with elaborate ornamentations and allegorical pictures, is one of the principal structures in julfa. one cannot help admiring the armenians of julfa for retaining their conservative customs so long. within the last few years, however, rapid strides have been made towards the abandonment of the ancient dress and tongue. at julfa the armenians have to a great extent retained their native language, which they invariably speak among themselves, although many of the men are equally fluent in persian; but in cities like teheran, where they are thrown into more direct contact with persians, the armenians are almost more conversant with persian than with their own tongue. the men and women of the better classes have adopted european clothes, in which they might easily be mistaken for southern italians or spaniards. but in julfa such is not the case, and the ancient style of dress is so far maintained. one is struck by the great number of women in the streets of julfa and the comparative lack of men. this is because all able-bodied men migrate to india or europe, leaving their women behind until sufficient wealth is accumulated to export them also to foreign lands. the education of the armenian women of the middle and lower classes consists principally in knitting socks--one sees rows of matrons and girls sitting on the doorsteps busily employed thus,--and in various forms of culinary instruction. but the better class woman is well educated in european fashion, and is bright and intelligent. the armenian woman, in her ample and speckless white robes, her semi-covered face, and beautiful soft black eyes, is occasionally captivating. the men, on the other hand, although handsome, have something indescribable about them that does not make them particularly attractive. the armenian man--the true type of the levantine--has great business capacities, wonderful facility for picking up languages, and a persuasive flow of words ever at his command. sceptical, ironical and humorous--with a bright, amusing manner alike in times of plenty or distress--a born philosopher, but uninspiring of confidence,--with eyes that never look straight into yours, but are ever roaming all over the place,--with religious notions adaptable to business prospects,--very hospitable and good-hearted, given to occasional orgies,--such is the persian-armenian of to-day. the more intelligent members of the male community migrate to better pastures, where they succeed, by steady hard work and really practical brains, in amassing considerable fortunes. the less enterprising remain at home to make and sell wine. personally, i found armenians surprisingly honest. in julfa the europeans--of whom, except in business, there are few--have comfortable, almost luxurious residences. the principal streets of the settlement are extremely clean and nice for persia. the indo-european telegraph office is also here. but the best part of julfa--from a pictorial point of view--is the extensive armenian cemetery, near a picturesque background of hills and directly on the slopes of mount sofia. there are hundreds of rectangular tombstones, many with neatly bevelled edges, and epitaphs of four or five lines. a cross is engraved on each grave, and some have a little urn at the head for flowers. from the roof of a house situated at the highest point of the inclined plane, one obtains a magnificent bird's-eye view of isfahan, its ancient grandeur being evinced by the great expanse of ruins all round it. the walls of isfahan were said at one time to measure twenty-four miles in circumference. like all other cities of persia, isfahan does not improve by too distant a view. the mud roofs are so alike in colour to the dried mud of the streets that a deadly monotony must follow, as a matter of course; but the many beautiful green gardens round about and in isfahan itself are a great relief to the eye, and add much attraction to the landscape. most prominent of all buildings in the city are the great semi-spherical dome of the mesjid-i-shah, with its gracefully ornamented tiles; the madrassah; the multi-columned, flat-roofed palace, and the high minarets in couples, dotted all over the city. then round about, further away, stand any number of curious circular towers, the pigeon towers. the bed of the river between isfahan and julfa is over six hundred feet wide, and is spanned by three bridges. one of these, with thirty-four arches, is no less than 1,000 ft. in length, but is much out of repair. the armenian christians of julfa are enjoying comparative safety at present, but until quite recently were much persecuted by the mahommedans, the mullahs being particularly bitter against them. one sees a great many priests about julfa, and as i visited the place on a sunday the people looked so very demure and sanctimonious--i am speaking of the armenians--on their way out of church; taciturn and with head low or talking in a whisper, all toddling alongside the wall--as people from church generally do,--that i must confess i was glad when i left this place of oppressive sanctity and returned to isfahan. somehow, julfa impresses one as a discordant note in persian harmony--although a very fine and pleasing note in itself. until quite recently the persians objected to foreigners residing even in isfahan itself. the officials of the bank of persia were the first to take up their abode within the city wall, then soon after came mr. preece, our able and distinguished consul-general. there is now a third englishman residing in jubareh, the jewish quarter, the revd. james loraine garland, of the london society for promoting christianity amongst the jews of isfahan. why such a society should exist at all seems to any one with a sense of humour bewildering, but on getting over the first shock of surprise one finds that of all the missions to persia it is probably the most sensible, and worked on practical, sound, useful lines. much as i am unfavourably inclined towards religious missions of any kind, i could not help being impressed with mr. garland's very interesting work. the first time i saw mr. garland i was nearly run over by him as he was riding a race with a sporting friend on the golahek road near teheran--raising clouds of dust, much to the concern of passers-by. the same day i met mr. garland in teheran, when he was garbed in the ample clothes of the sporting friend, his own wardrobe having been stolen, with his money and all other possessions, by robbers on the isfahan-kashan road. in fact, he was the englishman referred to in chapter xxvi. being somewhat of a sportsman myself, this highly-sporting clergyman appealed to me. extremely gentlemanly, courteous, tactful, sensible and open-minded, he was not a bit like a missionary. he was a really good man. his heart and soul were in his work. he very kindly asked me to visit his mission in isfahan, and it was a real pleasure to see a mission worked on such sensible lines. the first mission to the jews of persia and chaldea was established in 1844 by the reverend dr. stern, who resided part of the year in bagdad, and the remainder in isfahan. the work was up-hill, and in 1865 the mission was suspended. chapter xxviii the mission among jews--schools for boys and girls--a practical institution--the jews of persia--persecution by persians--characteristics of jews--girls--occupations--taxation--the social level of jews. from october, 1889, to december, 1891, a christianised jew of teheran, named mirza korollah, worked in isfahan as the representative of the society for promoting christianity among the jews. a bible depôt was opened, and a school started at the request of the jews themselves. in december, 1891, however, mirza korollah was banished from the city, and the work was again interrupted. in 1897, mr. garland volunteered to undertake the work in persia, and his offer was gladly accepted. on his arrival in isfahan he found, he told me, a prosperous boys' school, that had been re-opened in 1894 by a native jewish christian, who rejoiced in the name of joseph hakim, and who carried on the educational work under the supervision of members of the church missionary society resident in julfa. it was deemed advisable to commence a night-school, as many of the boys were unable to attend day classes. the scheme answered very well, and has been steadily continued. as many as 200 boys attended the school daily in february, 1898, a fact that shows the success of the new enterprise from the very beginning. at the invitation of a number of jewesses, miss stuart, the bishop of waiapu's daughter, kindly consented to go over twice a week to the jewish quarter to instruct them in the holy scriptures. this led to the commencement of a girls' school with twelve pupils, at a time of great turmoil and anxiety. however, the experiment had the happiest results. it was not, nevertheless, till 1899 that mr. garland was able to take up his abode in the jewish quarter. he met with no opposition whatever from mahommedans or jews. the usual sunday service, attended by converts and inquirers, and a saturday afternoon class were commenced in 1899, and have uninterruptedly continued to the present time. to me, personally, the most important part of the mission, and one to which more time is devoted than to praying, was the excellent carpentry class for boys, begun in 1900, and the carpet-weaving apparatus set up on the premises for the girls. the former has been a great success, even financially, and is paying its way. the latter, although financially not yet a success, is of great value in teaching the girls how to weave. necessarily, so many hands have to be employed in the manufacture of a large carpet, and the time spent in the manufacture is so long, that it is hardly possible to expect financial prosperity from mere beginners; but the class teaches the girls a way to earn money for themselves in future years. both trades were selected by mr. garland, particularly because they were the most suitable in a country where jews are excluded from the more honest and manly trades, and jewesses often grow up to be more of a hindrance than a help to their husbands. worse still is the case of jews who become christians; they have the greatest difficulty in earning their living at all. these industrial occupations are a great practical help to the studies of the pupils, who are taught, besides their own language, persian and hebrew, and, if they wish, english, geography, etc. more frivolous but less remunerative forms of recreation, such as cricket, tennis, football, or gymnastic drills,--which invariably accompany christianity in the east, and develop most parts of a convert's anatomy except his brain,--have not been deemed of sufficient importance among the jews of isfahan, who would, moreover, think our best english games or muscle-developers in the highest degree indecorous and unseemly. on the whole the society's work among the jews of teheran, hamadan and isfahan has been most encouraging, and this is to be put down entirely to the tact and personal influence of mr. garland, who is greatly respected by jews and mahommedans alike. no better testimony to the appreciation of his work could exist than the fact that in his interesting journeys through persia, he is frequently invited to preach in crowded synagogues. it seems probable that the jews of persia are descendants of the ten tribes, and more probable still that jews have resided in isfahan from its earliest foundation. in the tenth century--under the dilemi dynasty--isfahan consisted of two cities, yahoodieh (jewry) and shehristan (the city). in the middle of the twelfth century, according to benjamin of tudela, the jews of isfahan numbered 15,000. at present they number about 5,000. they are mostly pedlars by profession, or engaged in making silk thread (abreesham kâr, charkhtâbee, etc.). there are a few merchants of comparative influence. jewellers and traders in precious stones, brokers and wine-sellers are frequent, but the majority consists almost entirely of diviners, musicians, dancers--music and dancing are considered low, contemptible occupations in persia--scavengers, and beggars. the jews of isfahan, like those of all other cities in persia, have been subjected to a great deal of oppression. there is a story that timour-i-lang (tamerlane--end of 14th century) was riding past a synagogue in isfahan, where the mesjid-i-ali now stands, and that the jews made such a horrible noise at their prayers (in saying the "shema, israel" on the day of atonement) that his horse bolted and he was thrown and lamed. hence his name, and hence also a terrible massacre of the jews, which reduced their number to about one-third. even to this day it is not easy for jews to obtain justice against mahommedans. only as recently as 1901 a jew was murdered in cold blood a few miles from isfahan, and his body flung into the river. although the murder had been witnessed, and the murderer was well known, no punishment was ever inflicted upon him. [illustration: jewish girls, isfahan.] [illustration: an isfahan jew.] the jews of isfahan possess striking features, as can be seen by a characteristic head of a man reproduced in the illustration. the face is generally very much elongated, with aquiline nose of abnormal length and very broad at the nostrils. the brow is heavy, screening deeply-sunken eyes revealing a mixed expression of sadness and slyness, tempered somewhat by probable abuse of animal qualities. of a quiet and rather sulky nature--corroded by ever-unsatisfied avidity--assumedly courteous, but morose by nature,--with a mighty level head in the matter of business; such is the jew of isfahan. he is extremely picturesque, quite biblical in his long loose robe and skull cap, with turban wound tight round his head. jewish girls when very young are nice-looking without being beautiful, very supple and pensive, and with expressive eyes. they lack the unsteady, insincere countenance of the men, and have reposeful, placid faces, with occasional good features. there is a good deal of character in their firmly closed lips, the upper lip being slightly heavy but well-shaped. the inside of the mouth is adorned with most regular, firm, and beautiful teeth. curiously enough, the typical jewish nose--so characteristic in men--is seldom markedly noticeable in women. i have even seen jewish girls with turned-up noses. their arms are beautifully modelled, and the hands as a whole extremely graceful, with unusually long and supple fingers, but with badly-shaped nails of an unwholesome colour. jewesses in persia are not kept in seclusion and go about with uncovered faces, which exposes them to constant and unpleasant insult from the mahommedans. they dress differently from persian women, with a long skirt of either black, blue, or coloured cotton. the head is framed in a white kerchief, leaving exposed the jet black hair parted in the middle and covering the temples. over that is worn a long cloak, either black or white, almost identical with the persian "chudder." jewesses are said to be most affectionate and devoted to their husbands and their families. they are extremely amenable to reason--except in cases of jealousy, which is one of the leading characteristics of the race in general and of jewish women in particular. they are hard-working, intelligent, thrifty. they take life seriously: are endowed with no sense of humour to speak of--it would be difficult to have any under their circumstances--and whether owing to severe anæmia, caused by wretched and insufficient food, or to some external influence, are often affected by melancholia. soft and shy in manner and speech, under normal circumstances, pale and silent, the jewish woman is not unattractive. one of the few occupations open to jewesses is the practice of midwifery. hunted as the jews are by everybody in the streets, and in the bazaar, insulted, spat upon, the women often compelled to prostitution, it is to be marvelled that any honesty at all is left in them. the higher persian schools and colleges do not admit jews as students, nor is education permitted to them even in the lower persian schools. therefore, the welcome work of mr. garland is much needed and appreciated. a special quarter is reserved in which the jews must live, huddled together, the majority of them in abject poverty. until of late no peace was given them. their customs were interfered with in every way by vagabond persians, and the little money they made by industrious habits was extorted from them by officials or by the enterprising persian to whom the jewish community was farmed out. the jews of a city are taxed a certain sum, usually beyond what they can afford to pay. some speculator undertakes to pay the amount for them to the local governor and receives authority to compensate himself from the jewish community as best he can, either by making them work, or trade, or by selling their clothes or depriving them of the few articles of furniture they may possess. until quite lately, at public festivities the meek and resigned jews were driven before an insulting mob who held them in derision, and exposed them to most abject treatment; some of their number ending by being pitched into the water-tank which adorns the courtyard or garden of most residences. little by little, however, with the spread of civilisation, jews have been spared the torture of these baths. the jew is looked upon as unclean and untrustworthy by the persian, who refuses to use him as a soldier, but who gladly employs him to do all sorts of dirty jobs which persian pride would not allow him to do himself. his social level therefore stands even lower than that of the shotri of india, the outcast who does not stop at the basest occupations. the majority of the older jews are illiterate, but not unintelligent. each city has one or more rabbis or priests, but they have no power and receive a good share of the insults in the persian bazaars. whatever feeling of repulsion towards the race one may have, the position of the jews in persia--although infinitely better than it was before--is still a most pathetic one. chapter xxix the square of isfahan--the palace gate--the entrance to the bazaar--beggars--formalities and etiquette--the bazaar--competition--how persians buy--long credit--arcades--hats--cloth shops--sweet shops--butchers--leather goods--saddle-bags--the bell shop--trunks. the great square of isfahan is looked upon as the centre of the city. it is a huge oblong, with the great and beautiful dome of the mesjid-i-shah on one side of the long rectangle, and another high domed mosque with two high minarets at the end. the very impressive red and white quadrangular palace gate, flat-topped, and with a covered blue verandah supported on numerous slender columns, stands on the side of the square opposite the mesjid-i-shah mosque. to the north of the great square one enters the bazaar by a high gate, handsomely tiled with flower ornamentations; this gateway has three lower windows and a triple upper one, and a doorway under the cool shade of the outer projecting pointed archway. to the right of the entrance as one looks at it, rises a three-storied building as high as the gate of the bazaar. it has a pretty upper verandah, the roof of which is supported on transverse sets of three wooden columns each, except the outer corner roof-supports, which are square and of bricks. in front is an artistic but most untidy conglomeration of awnings to protect from the sun pedlars, merchants and people enjoying their kalians, or a thimbleful of tea. there are men selling fruit which is displayed upon the dirty ground, and there are tired horses with dismounted cavaliers sleeping by their side, the reins fastened for precaution to a heavy stone or slung to the arm. one sees masses of children of all ages and conditions of health, from the neatly attired son of the wealthy merchant, who disports himself with his eldest brother, to the orphan boy, starving, and in rags covered with mud. there is a little cripple with a shrunken leg, and further, an old man with lupus in its most ghastly form. disreputably-clothed soldiers lie about in the crowd, and a woman or two with their faces duly screened in white cloths may be seen. the sight of a sahib always excites great curiosity in persia. followed by a crowd of loafers and most insistent beggars, one forces one's way into the crowded bazaar, while the ghulams of the consulate--without whom it would be indecorous to go anywhere--shove the people on one side or the other without ceremony, drive the donkeys, laden with wood or panniers of fruit, into the shops--much to the horror of the shopman,--and disband the strings of mules and the horsemen to make room for the passing sahib. it is very difficult, under such circumstances, to stop any length of time at any particular spot to study the shops, the shop-people, and the buyers, for instead of being an unobserved spectator, one is at all times the principal actor in the scene and the centre of attention, and therefore a most disturbing element in the crowd. there are so many complicated and tiresome formalities to be adhered to in order to avoid offending the natives, or the officials, or the susceptibilities of foreign residents, who seem to feel responsible for the doings of every traveller--and who, at all events, remain to suffer for the untactful deeds of some of them,--and there are so many things one must not do for fear of destroying the prestige of one's country, that, really, if one possesses a simple and practical mind, one gets rather tired of persian town life, with its exaggerated ties, its empty outward show and pomp and absolute lack of more modest aims which, after all, make real happiness in life. [illustration: the square, isfahan.] as for european ladies it is considered most improper to be seen with uncovered faces in the bazaar. in fact, walking anywhere in the town they are generally exposed to insult. i once took a walk through the various bazaars, but the second time, at our consul's recommendation, was advised to ride in state, with gold-braided, mounted consulate ghulams preceding and following me, while i myself rode a magnificent stallion presented by zil-es-sultan to our consul. the horse had not been ridden for some time and was slightly fresh. the place to which we directed our animals was the brass bazaar, the most crowded and diabolically noisy place in the shah's dominions. the sudden change from the brilliant light of the sun to the pitch darkness of the vaulted bazaar, affected one's sight, and it was some few seconds before one could distinguish anything, although one could hear the buzzing noise of an excited crowd, and the cries of the ghulams ordering the people to make room for the cavalcade. in nearly all bazaars of the principal cities of persia a very good custom prevails. one or more streets are devoted entirely to the same article, so that the buyer may conveniently make comparisons, and the various merchants are also kept up to the mark by the salutary competition close at hand thus rendered unavoidable. a persian does not go to a shop to buy anything without going to every other shop in the bazaar to ask whether he can get a similar article better and cheaper. such a convenience as fixed prices, alike for all, does not exist in the persian bazaar, and prices are generally on the ascending or descending scale, according to the merchant's estimate of his customer's wealth. it is looked upon as a right and a duty to extort from a rich man the maximum of profit, whereas from a poor fellow a few shais benefit are deemed sufficient. to buy anything at all in the bazaar involves great loss of time--and patience,--excessive consumption of tea plus the essential kalian-smoking. two or three or more visits are paid to the stall by persian buyers before they can come to an agreement with the merchant, and when the goods are delivered it is the merchant's turn to pay endless visits to his customer's house before he can obtain payment for them. long credit is generally given by merchants to people known to them. there is comparatively little ready money business done except in the cheapest goods. we shoved our way along through the very narrow streets with a long row before us of sun columns, piercing through the circular openings in the domed arcade of the bazaar, and projecting brilliant patches of light now on brightly-coloured turbans, now on the black chudder of a woman, now on the muddy ground constantly sprinkled with water to keep the streets cool. there are miles of bazaar, in teheran and isfahan, roofed over in long arcades to protect the shops and buyers from the sun in summer, from the rain and snow in winter. the height of the arcade is from thirty to sixty feet, the more ancient ones being lower than the modern ones. to any one well acquainted with other eastern countries there is absolutely nothing in a persian bazaar that is worth buying. the old and beautiful objects of art have left the country long ago, and the modern ones have neither sufficient artistic merit nor intrinsic value to be worth the trouble and expense of sending them home. for curiosity's sake--yes, there are a few tawdry articles which may amuse friends in europe, but what i mean is that there is nothing that is really of intense interest or skilful workmanship, such as one can find in japan, in china, in morocco or egypt. we ride through the street of hatters, each shop with walls lined with piles of _kolah_ hats, black and brimless, shaped either in the section of a cone or rounded with a depression on the top. they are made of astrakan or of black felt, and are worn by the better people; but further on we come to cheaper shops, where spherical skull caps of white or light brown felt are being manufactured for the lower classes. as we ride along, a stinging smell of dyes tells us that we are in the cloth street, indigo colours prevailing, and also white and black cottons and silks. one cannot help pitying the sweating shopman, who is busy unrolling cloths of various makes before a number of squatting women, who finger each and confabulate among themselves, and request to have the roll deposited by their side for further consideration with a mountain of other previously unrolled fabrics,--just like women at home. the rolls are taken from neat wooden shelves, on which, however, they seldom rest. soiled remnants of european stocks play a very important part in this section of the bazaar. on turning round a corner we have shoes and boots, foreign made, of the favourite side-elastic pattern, or the native white canvas ones with rope soles--most comfortable and serviceable for walking. the local leather ones have strong soles with nails and turned-up toes, not unlike the familiar turkish shoe; while the slippers for women have no back to them at the heel and have fancy toes. then come the attractive sweet-shops, with huge trays of transparent candy, and the _pash mak_ pulled sugar, as white and light as raw silk, most delicious but sticky. in bottles above, the eye roams from highly coloured confetti to _abnabad_ and _kors_ or other deadly-looking lozenges, while a crowd of enraptured children deposit shais in the hands of the prosperous trader, who promptly weighs and gives in exchange a full measure of _rahat-ul-holkoom_, "the ease of the throat," or candied sugar, duly packed in paper bags. there is nothing very attractive in the butchers' bazaar; the long rows of skinned animals black with flies, and in various degrees of freshness, made even less artistic by ornamentations of paper rosettes and bits of gold and silver paper. beef, camel, mutton, game and chickens, all dead and with throats cut--the mahommedan fashion of killing--can be purchased here, but the smell of meat is so strong and sickening that we will promptly adjourn to the leather-work bazaar. for a man, this is probably the most typical and interesting section of the persian retail commerce. there is something picturesque and artistic in the clumsy silver or brass or iron mounted saddles, with handsome red, or green, or brown ample leather flaps, gracefully ornamented with more or less elaboration to suit the pockets of different customers. then the harness is pretty, with its silver inlaid iron decoration, or solid silver or brass, and the characteristic stirrups, nicely chiselled and not unlike the mexican ones. the greater part of the foot can rest on the stirrup, so broad is its base. then come the saddlebags of all sizes, the _horjin_, in cloth, in sacking, in expensive leather, in carpeting, of all prices, with an ingenious device of a succession of loops fastening the one into the other, the last with a padlock, to secure the contents of the bag from intrusive hands. these _horjins_--or double bags--are extremely convenient and are the most usual contrivance in persia for conveying luggage on horseback or mules. then in the lower part of the shop there is a grand display of leather purses, sheaths for knives, and a collection of leather stock whips, gracefully tied into multiple knots. in this same bazaar, where everything in connection with riding or loading animals can be purchased, are also to be found the bell shops. these confine themselves particularly to horses', mules' and camels' neck decorations. long tassels, either red or black, in silk or dyed horsehair, silk or leather bands with innumerable small conical shrill bells, and sets of larger bells in successive gradations of sizes, one hanging inside the other, are found here. then there are some huge cylindrical bells standing about two and a half feet high, with scrolls and geometrical designs on their sides. these are for camels and are not intended to hang from the neck. they are slung on one side under the lighter of the two loads of the pack. [illustration: the palace gate, isfahan.] next, one is attracted by a shop full of leather trunks, of the reddest but not the best morocco, stretched while wet upon a rough wooden frame. primitive ornamentations are painted on the leather, and the corners of each box are strengthened with tin caps and rings. the trunks for pack animals are better made than the others, and are solidly sewn, with heavy straps and rings to sling them upon the saddles. gaudy revolver pouches, cartridge belts, and slings for daggers are to be purchased in the same shop. chapter xxx the brass bazaar--mirror shop--curdled milk--a tea shop--fruit and vegetable bazaar--the walnut seller--the auctioneer--pipe shops--barber--headdress--bread shops--caravanserais--the day of rest. winding our way through the labyrinth of narrow streets, and meeting a crescendo of diabolical din as we approach it, we emerge into a more spacious and lighter arcade, where hundreds of men are hammering with all their might upon pieces of copper that are being shaped into trays, pots with double spouts, or pans. this is the coppersmiths' bazaar. on a long low brick platform, extending from one end to the other on both sides of the street, is tastefully arranged the work already finished. huge circular trays have coarse but elaborate ornamentations of figures, trees and birds chiselled upon them--not unlike the indian benares trays in general appearance, but not in the character of the design. copper vases with spouts are gracefully shaped, the ancient persian models being maintained. they are much used by persians in daily life. more elaborate is the long-necked vessel with a circular body and slender curved spout, that rests upon a very quaint and elegantly designed wash-basin with perforated cover and exaggerated rim. this is used after meals in the household of the rich, when an attendant pours tepid water scented with rose-water upon the fingers, which have been used in eating instead of a fork. these vessels and basins are usually of brass. all along the ground, against the wall, stand sets of concentric trays of brass, copper and pewter, and metal tumblers innumerable, having execrable designs upon them, and rendered more hideous by being nickel-plated all over. each shop, about ten to twenty feet long and eight to fifteen wide, has a furnace in one corner. considering the few and primitive tools employed, it is really wonderful that the work is as good as it is. the polishing of trays is generally done with their feet by boys, who stand on them and with a circular motion of the body revolve the tray to the right and left upon a layer of wet sand until, after some hours of labour, a sufficiently shiny surface is obtained by friction. i became much interested in watching a man joining together two pieces of metal to be turned into an amphora, but the noise made the horse i rode very restless. it was impossible to hear any one speak, the din of the hammered metal being so acute and being echoed in each dome of the arcade. the horse became so alarmed when the bellows began to blow upon the fire that he tried to throw me, first by standing on his fore-legs and scattering the crowd of yelling natives with his hindlegs, then by standing up erect the other way about. in a moment the place was clear of people; some had leapt on to the side platform: others had rushed inside the shops. the horse delighted in pirouetting about, kicking the nearest metal vases and trays all over the place, and causing quite a commotion. it was rather amusing to watch the rapidity with which the merchants a little way off withdrew their goods to safety inside the premises to prevent further damage. the horse, being then satisfied that he could not shake me off, continued the journey more or less peacefully through the bazaar. here is a mirror shop--imports from austria. there the flourishing grain merchants, whose premises are the neatest and cleanest of the whole bazaar. each merchant tastily displays his various cereals in heaps on speckless enormous brass trays, and by the side of them dried fruit, in which he also deals extensively. his shop is decorated with silvered or red or blue glass balls. further on is another very neat place, the curdled-milk retailer's, with large flat metal tanks filled with milk, and a great many trays, large and little, in front of his premises. he, too, keeps his place and belongings--but not himself--most beautifully clean. he does a flourishing business. every now and then we come upon a very spacious and well-lighted room, with gaudy candelabras of bohemian glass, and a large steaming samovar. this is a tea-shop. there are plenty of men in it, in green or brown or blue long coats, and all squatting lazily, cross-legged, sipping tea from tiny glasses and being helped to sugar from a large tray containing a mountain of it. the fruit and vegetable bazaar is always a feature of persian city markets, water-melons, cucumbers, grapes, apples, pomegranates, almonds and walnuts playing a prominent part in the various displays. then there is the retailer of peeled walnuts, a man who wears a red cap and green coat, and who sells his goods spread on a brass tray. the walnuts as soon as peeled from their skin are thrown into a large basin full of water, and when properly washed are spread on the tray to dry, ready for consumption. the walnut man is generally a character. he keeps his stall open even at night, when other shops are closed, and has plenty to say to all the passers-by on the merits of his walnuts. to enumerate all one sees in the bazaar would take a volume to itself, but on glancing through we see the excited auctioneer in his white turban calling out figures on an ascending scale, and tapping on a piece of wood when a sufficient sum is offered and no more bids are forthcoming. he has assistants showing round the various articles as they are being sold,--umbrellas, tooth-brushes, mirrors, knives, etc. the pipe shops are small--with black and red and blue earthenware cups for the kalian. there is not much variety in the shape of the pipes except that some are made to be used in the joined hands as a draw-pipe for the smoke, the cup being held between the thumbs. others, the majority of them, are intended for the top part of the kalian. the barber's shop is a quaint one, remarkably clean with whitewashed walls and a brick floor. up to some five feet along the walls is nailed a cloth, usually red, against which the customers rest their heads while being shaved. hung upon the walls are scissors of all sizes, razors, and various other implements such as forceps for drawing teeth, sharp lancets for bleeding, the knives used for the operation of circumcision, and a variety of wooden combs and branding irons. yes, the persian barber has multifarious occupations. he is surgeon, dentist and masseur, besides being an adept with comb and razor. he is--like his brother of the west--an incessant talker, and knows all the scandal of the town. while at work he has a bowl of clean water by his side which he uses on the patient's face or top of the skull and neck, which are in male persians all clean-shaved. no soap is used by typical persian barbers. their short razors, in wooden cases, are stropped on the barber's arm, or occasionally leg, and are quite sharp. the younger folks of persia shave the top of the skull leaving long locks of hair at the side of the head, which are gracefully pushed over the ear and left hanging long behind, where they are cut in a straight horizontal line round the neck. this fashion is necessitated by the custom in persia of never removing the heavy headgear. the elder people, in fact, shave every inch of the scalp, but balance this destruction of hair by growing a long beard, frequently dyed bright red or jet black with henna and indigo. the bread-shops of persia are quaint, a piece of bread being sometimes as big as a small blanket and about as thick. these huge flat loaves are hung up on slanting shelves. in central and southern persia, however, the smaller kind of bread is more commonly used, not unlike an indian _chapati_. a ball of flour paste is well fingered and pawed until it gets to a semi-solid consistency. it is then flung several times from one palm of the hand into the other, after which it is spread flat with a roller upon a level stone slab. a few indentations are made upon its face with the end of the baker's fingers; it is taken up and thrown with a rapid movement upon the inner domed portion of a small oven, some three to four feet high, within which blazes a big charcoal fire. several loaves are thus baked against the hot walls and roof of the oven, which has an aperture at the top, and when properly roasted and beginning to curl and fall they are seized with wonderful quickness and brought out of the oven. gloves on the hands and a cover over the baker's face are necessary to prevent burns and asphyxia from the escaping gases of the charcoal from the aperture over which the man must lean every time. in the bazaars of large cities one finds every now and then large caravanserais, handsome courts with a tank of water in the centre and shops all round. it is here that wholesale dealers and traders have their premises, and that caravans are accommodated on their arrival with goods. there are generally trees planted all round these courts to shade the animals and buyers, and often a high and broad platform or verandah all round, where the goods are spread for inspection. some of the richer caravanserais are quite handsome, with neat latticed windows and doors. the walls are painted white. the court is crammed with tired camels, mules, beggars and loafers. the camel men squat in one corner to smoke their pipes and eat their bread, while the merchants form another ring up above on the verandah, where prices are discussed at the top of their voices, a crowd of ever-to-be-found loafers taking active part in the discussion. on a friday, the day of rest of the mahommedan, the bazaar, so crowded on other days, is absolutely deserted. all the shops--if a hatter or two be excepted--are barricaded with heavy wooden shutters and massive padlocks of local or russian make. barring a dog or two either lying asleep along the wall, or scraping a heap of refuse in the hope of satisfying hunger--there is hardly a soul walking about. attracted by a crowd in the distance, one finds a fanatic gesticulating like mad and shouting at the top of his voice before an admiring crowd of ragamuffins squatting round him in a circle. on these holidays, when the streets are clear, the effect of the columns of sunlight pouring down from the small circular apertures from each dome of the arcade, and some twenty feet apart, is very quaint. it is like a long colonnade of brilliant light in the centre of the otherwise dark, muddy-looking, long, dirty tunnel. at noon, when the sun is on the meridian, these sun columns are, of course, almost perfectly vertical, but not so earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon. chapter xxxi a carpet factory--children at work--the process of carpet-making--foreign influence in the design--aniline dyes--"ancient carpets" manufactured to-day--types of carpets--kerman carpets--isfahan silk carpets--kurdistan rugs--birjand and sultanabad carpets--carpets made by wandering tribes--jewellers--sword-makers and gunsmiths--humming birds. a visit to a carpet factory proves interesting. the horses must be left, for it is necessary to squeeze through a low and narrow door in order to enter the shed where the carpets are made. every one is familiar with the intricate and gorgeous designs of persian carpets, and one imagines that only veteran skilful artisans can tackle such artistic work. one cannot, therefore, help almost collapsing with surprise on seeing mere children from the age of six to ten working away at the looms with a quickness and ease that makes one feel very small. in badly lighted and worse ventilated rooms, they sit perched in long rows on benches at various altitudes from the floor, according to the progression and size of the carpet, the web of which is spread tight vertically in front of them. occasionally when the most difficult patterns are executed, or for patterns with european innovations in the design, a coloured drawing is hung up above the workers; but usually there is nothing for them to go by, except that a superintendent--an older boy--sings out the stitches in a monotonous cadence. a row of coloured balls of the various coloured threads employed in the design hang from the loom just within reach of the boys' hands. [illustration: boys weaving a carpet.] [illustration: cotton cleaners.] the process of carpet-making is extremely simple, consisting merely of a series of twisted--not absolutely knotted--coloured worsted threads, each passing round one of the main threads of the foundation web. the catching-up of each consecutive vertical thread in the web, inserting the coloured worsted, giving it the twist that makes it remain in its position, and cutting it to the proper length, is done so quickly by the tiny, supple fingers of the children that it is impossible to see how it is done at all until one requests them to do it slowly for one's benefit. after each horizontal row of twisted threads, a long horizontal thread is interwoven, and then the lot is beaten down with a heavy iron comb with a handle to it, not unlike a huge hair-brush cleaner. there are different modes of twisting the threads, and this constitutes the chief characteristic of carpets made in one province or another. the labour involved in their manufacture is enormous, and some carpets take several years to manufacture. the children employed are made to work very hard at the looms--seldom less than twelve or fourteen hours a day--and the exertion upon their memory to remember the design, which has taken them several months to learn by heart, is great. the constant strain on the eyes, which have to be kept fixed on each successive vertical thread so as not to pick up the wrong one, is very injurious to their sight. many of the children of the factories i visited were sore-eyed, and there was hardly a poor mite who did not rub his eyes with the back of his hand when i asked him to suspend work for a moment. the tension upon their pupils must be enormous in the dim light. although made in a primitive method, the carpet weaving of persia is about the only manufacture that deserves a first-class place in the industries of iran. the carpets still have a certain artistic merit, although already contaminated to no mean extent by european commerciality. instead of the beautiful and everlasting vegetable dyes which were formerly used for the worsted and silks, and the magnificent blue, reds, greens, greys and browns, ghastly aniline dyed threads--raw and hurtful to the eye--are very commonly used now. also, of the carpets for export to europe and america the same care is not taken in the manufacture as in the ancient carpets, and the bastard design is often shockingly vulgarised to appease the inartistic buyer. but even with all these faults, persian carpets, if not to the eye of an expert, for all general purposes are on the whole better than those of any other manufacture. they have still the great advantage of being made entirely by hand instead of by machinery. it is not unwise, before buying a persian carpet, to rub it well with a white cloth. if it is aniline-dyed, some of the colour will come off, but if the old persian dyes have been used no mark should remain on the cloth. however, even without resorting to this, it must be a very poor eye indeed that cannot recognise at once the terrible raw colours of aniline from the soft, delicious tones of vegetable dyes, which time can only soften but never discolour. to manufacture "ancient carpets" is one of the most lucrative branches of modern persian carpet-making. the new carpets are spread in the bazaar, in the middle of the street where it is most crowded, and trampled upon for days or weeks, according to the age required, foot-passengers and their donkeys, mules and camels making a point of treading on it in order to "add age" to the manufacturer's goods. when sufficiently worn down the carpet is removed, brushed, and eventually sold for double or treble its actual price owing to its antiquity! there are some thirty different types of carpets in persia. the kerman carpets are, to my mind, the most beautiful i saw in persia, in design, colour and softness. they seem more original and graceful, with conventional plant, flower and bird representations of delicate and very varied tints, and not so much geometrical design about them as is the case in the majority of persian carpets. less successful, in fact quite ugly, but quaint, are those in which very large and ill-proportioned figures are represented. one feels arab influence very strongly in a great many of the kerman designs. they say that kerman sheep have extremely soft and silky hair, and also that the kerman water possesses some chemical qualities which are unsurpassable for obtaining most perfect tones of colour with the various dyes. the principal carpet factory is in the governor's palace, where old designs are faithfully copied, and really excellent results obtained. the present governor, h. e. ala-el-mulk, and his nephew take particular interest in the manufacture, and devote much attention to the carpets, which retain the ancient native characteristics, and are hardly contaminated by foreign influence. the isfahan silk carpets are also very beautiful, but not quite so reposeful in colour nor graceful in design. those of kurdistan are principally small prayer rugs, rather vivid in colour, and much used by mahommedans in their morning and evening salaams towards mecca. in khorassan, meshed, sultanabad, kaian (kain) and birjand, some very thick carpets are made, of excellent wear, but not so very artistic. in the birjand ones, brown camel-hair is a prevailing colour, used too freely as a background, and often taking away from the otherwise graceful design. sultanabad is probably the greatest centre of carpet-making for export nearly every household possessing a loom. the firm of ziegler & co. is the most extensive buyer and exporter of these carpets. the herat (afghanistan) carpets are also renowned and find their way mostly to europe. in shiraz and faristan we find the long narrow rugs, as soft as velvet, and usually with geometrical designs on them. red, blue and white are the prevalent colours. it would be too long to enumerate all the places where good carpets are made; but kermanshah, tabriz, yezd,--in fact, nearly all big centres, make carpets, each having special characteristics of their own, although in general appearance bearing to the uninitiated more or less similar semblance. the rugs made by the wandering tribes of south-east and south-west persia are quaint and interesting. the persian beluch rugs are somewhat minute and irregular in design, deep in colour, with occasional discords of tones, but they recommend themselves by being so strongly made that it is almost impossible to wear them out. they are generally small, being woven inside their tents by the women. in northern persia turcoman carpets--the most adaptable of all for european houses--are seldom to be found now, as they are generally bought up for russia. dark red, warm and extremely soft is the striking note in these carpets, and the design is quite sedate. carpets, except the cheaper ones, are seldom sold in the bazaars nowadays. they are purchased on the looms. the best ones are only made to order. there are, of course, a few rug shops, and occasionally an old carpet finds its way to a second-hand shop in the bazaar. next in attraction to carpets come the jewellers' shops. the goldsmiths' and silversmiths' shops are not very numerous in the bazaars, nor, when we come to examine the work carefully, do they have anything really worth buying. the work is on good gold or silver of pure quality, but, with few exceptions, is generally clumsy in design and heavily executed. figures are attempted, with most inartistic results, on silver cases and boxes. the frontage of a goldsmith's shop has no great variety of articles. bracelets, rings, necklaces, tea and coffee pots, stands for coffee cups, and enamelled pipe heads; a silver kalian or two, an old cigar-box full of turquoises, and another full of other precious stones--or, rather, imitations of precious stones--a little tray with forgeries of ancient coins; that is about all. pearls and diamonds and really valuable stones are usually concealed in neat paper parcels carried on the person by the jeweller and produced on the demand of customers. the swordmaker and gunsmith displays many daggers and blades of local make and a great number of obsolete belgian and russian revolvers; also a good many martini and snider rifles, which have found their way here from india. occasionally a good modern pistol or gun is to be seen. good rifles or revolvers find a prompt sale in persia at enormous figures. nearly every man in the country carries a rifle. had i chosen, i could have sold my rifles and revolvers twenty times over when in persia, the sums offered me for them being two or three times what i had paid for them myself. but my rifles had been very faithful companions to me; one, a 256· mannlicher, had been twice in tibet; the other, a 30·30 take-down winchester, had accompanied me through the chinese campaign, and i would accept no sum for them. one is carried back a few score of years on seeing the old rings for carrying gun-caps, and also gunpowder flasks, and even old picturesque flintlocks and matchlocks; but still, taking things all round, it is rather interesting to note that there is a considerable number of men in iran who are well-armed with serviceable cartridge rifles, which they can use with accuracy. cartridge rifles are at a great premium, and although their importation is not allowed, they have found their way in considerable quantities from all sides, but principally, they tell me, from india, _via_ the gulf. one of the notes of the bazaar is that in almost every shop one sees a cage or two with humming-birds. in the morning and evening a male member of the family takes the cage and birds out for a walk in the air and sun, for the dulness and darkness of the bazaar, although considered sufficiently good for persians themselves, is not regarded conducive to sound health and happiness for their pets. chapter xxxii the grand avenue of isfahan--the madrassah--silver gates--the dome--the palace--the hall of forty columns--ornamentations--the picture hall--interesting paintings--their artistic merit--nasr-ed-din shah's portrait--the ceiling--the quivering minarets. the grand avenue of isfahan, much worn and out of repair, and having several lines of trees along its entire length of half a mile or so down to the river, is one of the sights of the ancient capital of persia. about half-way down the avenue the famous madrassah is to be found. it has a massive, handsome silver gate, in a somewhat dilapidated condition at present, and showing evident marks of thieving enterprise. at the entrance stand fluted, tiled columns, with alabaster bases, in the shape of vases some ten feet in height, while a frieze of beautiful blue tiles with inscriptions from the koran, and other ornamentations, are to be admired, even in their mutilated condition, on tiles now sadly tumbling down. so much for the exterior. inside, the place bears ample testimony to former grandeur and splendour, but at present hopeless decay is rampant here as everywhere else in persia. the madrassah is attributed to shah sultan hussein, the founder of the shrine at kum, and some magnificent bits of this great work yet remain. one can gaze at the beautiful dome, of a superb delicate greenish tint, surmounted by a huge knob supposed to be of solid gold, and at the two most delightful minarets, full of grace in their lines and delicately refined in colour, with lattice work at their summit. [illustration: handsome doorway in the madrassah, isfahan.] in the courts and gardens are some fine old trees, amid a lot of uncouth vegetation, while grass sprouts out between the slabs of stone on the paths and wherever it should not be; the walls all round, however, are magnificent, being built of large green tiles with ornamentations of graceful curves and the favourite leaf pattern. in other places white ornamentations, principally curves and yellow circles, are to be noticed on dark blue tiles. in some of the courts very handsome tiles with flower patterns are still in good preservation. there are in the college 160 rooms for students to board and lodge. the buildings have two storeys and nearly all have tiled fronts, less elaborate than the minarets and dome, but quite pretty, with quaint white verandahs. when i visited the place there were only some fifty students, of all ages, from children to old men. much time is devoted by them to theological studies and some smattering of geography and history. one cannot leave isfahan without visiting the old palace. in a garden formerly beautiful but semi-barren and untidy now, on a pavement of slabs which are no longer on the level with one another, stands the palace of the twenty columns, called of "the forty columns," probably because the twenty existing ones are reflected as in a mirror in the long rectangular tank of water extending between this palace and the present dwelling of h. e. zil-es-sultan, governor of isfahan. distance lends much enchantment to everything in persia, and such is the case even in this palace, probably the most tawdrily gorgeous structure in north-west persia. the palace is divided into two sections, the open throne hall and the picture hall behind it. the twenty octagonal columns of the open-air hall were once inlaid with venetian mirrors, and still display bases of four grinning lions carved in stone. but, on getting near them, one finds that the bases are chipped off and damaged, the glass almost all gone, and the foundation of the columns only remains, painted dark-red. the lower portion of the column, for some three feet, is ornamented with painted flowers, red in blue vases. the floor under the colonnade is paved with bricks, and there is a raised platform for the throne, reached by four stone steps. there is a frieze here of graceful although conventional floral decoration with gold leaves. in the wall are two windows giving light to two now empty rooms. the end central receptacle or niche is gaudily ornamented with venetian looking-glasses cut in small triangles, and it has a pretty ceiling with artichoke-leaf pattern capitals in an upward crescendo of triangles. the ceiling above the upper platform is made entirely of mirrors with adornments in blue and gold and glass, representing the sky, the sun, and golden lions. smaller suns also appear in the ornamentation of the frieze. the ceiling above the colonnade and the beams between the columns are richly ornamented in blue, grey, red, and gold. this ceiling is divided into fifteen rectangles, the central panel having a geometrical pattern of considerable beauty, in which, as indeed throughout, the figure of the sun is prominent. the inner hall must have been a magnificent room in its more flourishing days. it is now used as a storeroom for banners, furniture, swords, and spears, piled everywhere on the floor and against the walls. one cannot see very well what the lower portion of the walls is like, owing to the quantity of things amassed all round, and so covered with dust as not to invite removal or even touch; but there seems to be a frieze nine feet high with elaborate blue vases on which the artist called into life gold flowers and graceful leaves. the large paintings are of considerable interest apart from their historical value. in the centre, facing the entrance door, we detect nadir shah, the napoleon of persia, the leader of 80,000 men through khorassan, sistan, kandahar and cabul. he is said to have crossed from afghanistan through the khyber pass to peshawar, and from there to delhi, where his presence led to a scene of loot and carnage. but to him was certainly due the extension of the persian boundary to the indus towards the east and to the oxus on the north. in the picture he is represented on horseback with a great following of elephants and turbaned figures. to the right we have a fight, in which shah ismail, who became shah of persia in 1499, is the hero, and a crowd of bokhara warriors and afghans the secondary figures. evidently the painting is to commemorate the great successes obtained by ismail in khorassan, samarkand and tashkend. the third is a more peaceful scene--a bokhara dancing girl performing before shah tamasp, eldest of four sons of ismail and successor to his throne. the shah is represented entertaining the indian emperor humaiyun in 1543. the lower portion of this picture is in good preservation, but the upper part has been patched up with hideous ornamentations of birds and flowers on red ground. over the door shah ismail, wearing a white turban, is represented riding a white horse and carrying a good supply of arrows. the shah is in the act of killing a foe, and the painting probably represents one of his heroic deeds at the battle of khoi against salim. to the right of the door there is a picture of dancing and feasting, with shah abbas offering drink in sign of friendship to abdul mohmek khan osbek. finally, to the left of the front door we have pictorially the most pleasing of the whole series, another scene of feasting, with the youthful figure of shah abbas ii. (died 1668), a man of great pluck, but unfortunately given to drunkenness and licentious living, which developed brutal qualities in him. it was he who blinded many of his relations by placing red-hot irons in front of their eyes. considering this too lenient a punishment he ordered their eyes to be extracted altogether. we see him now, sitting upon his knees, garbed in a red tunic and turban. in the foreground a most graceful dancing-girl, in red and green robes, with a peculiar waistband, and flying locks of hair. the artist has very faithfully depicted the voluptuous twist of her waist, much appreciated by persians in dancing, and he has also managed to infuse considerable character into the musicians, the guitar man and the followers of the shah to the left of the picture, as one looks at it, and the tambourine figure to the right. fruit and other refreshments lie in profusion in vessels on the floor, elaborately painted. this picture is rectangular, and is probably not only the most artistic but the best preserved of the lot. [illustration: one of zil-es-sultan's eunuchs.] [illustration: the "hall of the forty columns," isfahan.] great labour and patience in working out details have been the aim of the artists of all these pictures, rather than true effects of nature, and the faces, hands, and poses are, of course, as in most persian paintings, conventionalized and absolutely regardless of proportion, perspective, fore-shortening or atmospherical influence or action--generally called aerial perspective. the objection, common in nearly all countries, england included, to shadows on the faces is intensified a thousand-fold in persian paintings, and handicaps the artist to no mean degree in his attempts to give relief to his figures. moreover, the manipulation and concentration of light, and the art of composing a picture are not understood in old persian paintings, and the result is that it is most difficult to see a picture as an _ensemble_. the eye roams all over the painting, attracted here by a patch of brilliant yellow, there by another equally vivacious red, here by some bright detail, there by something else; and like so many ghosts in a haunted room peep out the huge, black, almond-shaped eyes, black-bearded heads, all over the picture, standing like prominent patches out of the plane they are painted on. the pictures are, nevertheless, extremely interesting, and from a persian's standpoint magnificently painted. such is not the case with the modern and shocking portrait of nasr-ed-din shah, painted in the best oil colours in european style, his majesty wearing a gaudy uniform with great wealth of gold and diamonds. this would be a bad painting anywhere in persia or europe. the ceiling of this hall is really superb. it has three domes, the centre one more lofty than the two side ones. the higher dome is gilt, and is most gracefully ornamented with a refined leaf pattern and twelve gold stars, while the other two cupolas are blue with a similar leaf ornamentation in gold. there is much quaint irregularity in the geometrical design of the corners, shaped like a kite of prettily-arranged gold, blue and green, while other corners are red and light blue, with the sides of green and gold of most delicate tones. these are quite a violent contrast to the extravagant flaming red patches directly over the paintings. the hall is lighted by three windows at each end near the lower arch of the side domes, and three further double windows immediately under them. there is one main entrance and three exits (one large and two small) towards the throne colonnade. through narrow lanes, along ditches of dirty water, or between high mud walls, one comes six miles to the west of isfahan to one of the most curious sights of persia,--the quivering minarets above the shrine and tomb of a saint. these towers, according to persians, are at least eight centuries old. enclosed in a rectangular wall is the high sacred domed tomb, and on either side of the pointed arch of the mesjid rise towards the sky the two column-like minarets, with quadrangular bases. a spiral staircase inside each minaret, just wide enough to let a man through, conveys one to the top, wherein four small windows are to be found. by seizing the wall at one of the apertures and shaking it violently an unpleasant oscillation can be started, and continues of its own accord, the minaret diverging from the perpendicular as much as two inches on either side. presently the second minaret begins to vibrate also in uniformity with the first, and the vibration can be felt along the front roof-platform between the two minarets, but not in other parts of the structure. a large crack by the side of one of the minarets which is said to have existed from time immemorial foretells that some day or other minarets and front wall will come down, but it certainly speaks well for the elasticity of minarets of 800 years ago that they have stood up quivering so long. the minarets are not very high, some thirty-five feet above the roof of the mesjid, or about seventy-five feet from the ground. the whole structure, of bricks and mud, is--barring the dangerous crack--still in good preservation. on the outside, the minarets are tiled in a graceful, geometrical transverse pattern of dark and light blue. a visit to the sacred shrine of the quivering minarets has miraculous powers--say the persians--of curing all diseases or protecting one against them, hence the pilgrimage of a great number of natives afflicted with all sorts of complaints. beggars in swarms are at the entrance waiting, like hungry mosquitoes, to pounce upon the casual visitor or customary pleasure-seeker of isfahan, for whom this spot is a favourite resort. chapter xxxiii isfahan the commercial heart of persia--dangers of maps in argument--bandar abbas--the possibility of a russian railway to bandar abbas--bandar abbas as a harbour--the caravan road to bandar abbas--rates of transport--trade--british and russian influence--shipping--a russian line of steamers--customs under belgian officials--lingah--its exports and imports. isfahan is for england the most important city, politically and commercially, in western persia. it is the central point from which roads radiate to all parts of the shah's empire. it is the commercial heart, as it were, of persia, and the future preponderance of russian or british influence in isfahan will settle the balance in favour of one or the other of the two countries and the eventual preponderance in the whole of western iran. khorassan and sistan stand on quite a different footing, being severed from the west by the great salt desert, and must be set apart for the moment and dealt with specially. [illustration: the quivering minarets near isfahan.] a reliable map ought to be consulted in order to understand the question properly, but it should be remembered that it is ever dangerous to base arguments on maps alone in discussing either political or commercial matters. worse still is the case when astoundingly incorrect maps such as are generally manufactured in england are in the hands of people unfamiliar with the real topography and resources of a country. to those who have travelled it is quite extraordinary what an appalling mass of nonsensical rubbish can be supplied to the public by politicians, by newspaper penny-a-liners, and by home royal geographo-parasites at large, who base their arguments on such unsteady foundation. it is quite sufficient for some people to open an atlas and place their fingers on a surface of cobalt blue paint in order to select strategical harbours, point out roads upon which foreign armies can invade india, trade routes which ought to be adopted in preference to others, and so on, regardless of sea-depth, currents, winds, shelter, and climatic conditions. in the case of roads for invading armies, such small trifles as hundreds of miles of desert, impassable mountain ranges, lack of water, and no fuel, are never considered! these are only small trifles that do not signify--as they are not marked on the maps--the special fancy of the cartographer for larger or smaller type in the nomenclature making cities and villages more or less important to the student, or the excess of ink upon one river course rather than another, according to the cartographer's humour, making that river quite navigable, notwithstanding that in reality there may not be a river nor a city nor village at all. we have flaming examples of this in our government maps of persia. i myself have had an amusing controversy in some of the london leading papers with no less a person than the secretary of a prominent geographical society, who assured the public that certain well-known peaks did not exist because he could not find them (they happened to be there all the same) on his map! such other trifles as the connecting of lakes by imaginary rivers to maintain the reputation of a scientific impostor, or the building of accurate maps (_sic_) from badly-taken photographs--the direction of which was not even recorded by the distinguished photographers--are frauds too commonly perpetrated on the innocent public by certain so-called scientific societies, to be here referred to. although these frauds are treated lightly, the harm they do to those who take them seriously and to the public at large, who are always ready blindly to follow anybody with sufficient bounce, is enormous. without going into minor details, let us take the burning question of the fast-expanding russian influence in the south of persia. we are assured that russia wishes an outlet in the persian gulf, and suspicions are strong that her eye is set on bandar abbas. on the map it certainly appears a most heavenly spot for a harbour, and we hear from scribblers that it can be made into a strong naval base and turned into a formidable position. the trade from meshed and khorassan and teheran, isfahan, yezd, and kerman is with equal theoretical facility switched on to this place. even allowing that russia should obtain a concession of this place--a most unlikely thing to be asked for or conceded while persia remains an independent country--matters would not be as simple for russia as the man in the street takes them to be. it would first of all be necessary to construct a railway connecting the trans-caspian line with bandar abbas, a matter of enormous expense and difficulty, and likely enough never to be a profitable financial enterprise. the political importance is dubious. a long railway line unguarded in a foreign country could but be of little practical value. it must be remembered that persia is a very thinly populated country, with vast tracts of land, such as the salt desert, almost absolutely uninhabited, and where the construction of such a railway would involve serious difficulties, owing to the lack of water for several months of the year, intense heat, shifting sands, and in some parts sudden inundations during the short rainy season. moreover, bandar abbas itself, although ideally situated on the maps, is far from being an ideal harbour. the water is shallow, and there is no safe shelter; the heat unbearable and unhealthy. at enormous expense, of course, this spot, like almost any other spot on any coast, could be turned into a fair artificial harbour. the native town itself--if it can be honoured with such a name--consists of a few miserable mud houses, with streets in which one sinks in filth and mud. the inhabitants are the most miserable and worst ruffians in persia, together with some hindoos. there is a european community of less than half-a-dozen souls. the _british india_ and other coasting steamers touch here, and therefore this has been made the starting-point for caravans to kerman and yezd and sistan _via_ bam. but for isfahan and teheran the more direct and shorter route _via_ bushire is selected. the caravan road from bandar abbas to kerman and yezd is extremely bad and unsafe. several times of late the track has been blocked, and caravans robbed. during 1900, and since that date, the risk of travelling on the road seems to have increased, and as it is useless for persians to try and obtain protection or compensation from their own government the traffic not only has been diverted when possible to other routes, principally bushire, but the rates for transport of goods inland had at one time become almost prohibitive. in the summer of 1900, it cost 18 tomans (about £3 9_s._) to convey 900 lbs. weight as far as yezd, but in the autumn the charges rose to 56 tomans (about £10 13_s._) or more than three times as much for the same weight of goods. eventually the rates were brought down to 22 tomans, but only for a short time, after which they fluctuated again up to 28 tomans. it was with the greatest difficulty that loading camels could be obtained at all, owing to the deficiency of exports, and this partly accounted for the extortionate prices demanded. an english gentleman whom i met in kerman told me that it was only at great expense and trouble that he was able to procure camels to proceed from bandar abbas to kerman, and even then he had to leave all his luggage behind to follow when other animals could be obtained. according to statistics furnished by the british vice-consul, the exports of 1900 were half those of 1899, the exact figures being £202,232 for 1899; £102,671 for 1900. opium, which had had the lead by far in previous years, fell from £48,367 to £4,440. raw cotton, however, not only held its own but rose to a value of £18,692 from £6,159 the previous year. in the years 1888, 1889, 1890, and 1891 the exports of raw cotton were abnormal, and rose to about £35,000 in 1890, the highest record during the decade from 1888 to 1897. large quantities of henna and opium are also exported from this spot, as it is the principal outlet of the kerman and yezd districts, but the trade may be said to be almost entirely in british hands at present, and russian influence so far is infinitesimal. we find that, next to opium, fruit and vegetables, especially dates, constitute a large part of the export, then wool, drugs and spices, salt, carpets and woollen fabrics, piece goods, silk (woven), seeds, skins and tanned leather, wheat and cereals, and cotton raw and manufactured. perfumery--rose-water--was largely exported from 1891 to 1896. the exportation of tobacco seems to decrease, although it is now beginning to look up again a little. dyes and colouring substances are also exported. the value of imports is very nearly double that of the exports. cotton goods have the lead by a long way, then come tea, and piece goods, loaf-sugar, powdered sugar, indigo, metals, wheat and cereals, spices, drugs, wool and woollen fabrics, jute fabrics, cheap cutlery, coffee, tobacco, mules, horses, donkeys, etc., in the succession enumerated. it is pleasant to find that the shipping increases yearly at bandar abbas, and that, second only to persian vessels, the number of british sailing vessels entering bandar abbas in 1900 was nearly double (48) of the previous year (28). steamers were in the proportion of 101 to 64. although in number of sailing vessels the persians have the priority, because of the great number of small crafts, the total tonnage of the persian vessels was 5,320 tons against 75,440 tons in 1899, and 139,164 tons in 1900 british. turkish steamers occasionally ply to bandar abbas and muscat and also arab small sailing crafts. it is rather curious to note that in 1899 the imports into bandar abbas came entirely from india, great britain and france, and in a small measure from muscat, zanzibar, the arab coast, bahrain and persian ports, whereas the following year, 1900, the imports from india fell to less than half their previous value, from £435,261 to £204,306, and from the united kingdom there was a diminution from £86,197 to £69,597; whereas france doubled hers in 1900 and other countries entered into competition. the chinese empire, curiously enough, was the strongest, to the value of £18,419, presumably with teas, and austria-hungary £10,509. germany and turkey imported to the value of some £2,174 and £2,147 respectively. belgium £2,254, java £7,819, mauritius £3,564, muscat £692, the canaries £637, america £600, and arabia £494. japan contributed to the amount of £305, sweden £273, italy £82, and switzerland the modest sum of £8. a most significant point is that russia, with all her alleged aims and designs, only contributed to the small amount of £572. nothing was exported from bandar abbas to russia. it would appear from this that at least commercially russia's position at bandar abbas was not much to be feared as late as 1900. since then a russian line of steamers has been established from the black sea to the persian gulf ports, but i have no accurate statistics at hand. it is said not to be a financial success. the establishment of customs under belgian officials in 1900 caused some trouble at first, and may have been responsible for a portion of the falling-off in trade, but it is now agreed by everybody that the system is carried on in a fair and honest manner, preferable to the extortionate fashion employed by the former speculators who farmed out the customs. i rather doubt whether russia's aim is even directed towards lingah, to the south-west of bandar abbas, as has been supposed by others. although this port would afford a deeper and better anchorage and a breakwater, it has the same difficulties of approach by land from russia as bandar abbas--in fact, greater ones, being further south. lingah is a more prosperous port than bandar abbas, its exports being roughly two-thirds larger than those of bandar abbas, and its imports one-third in excess. in value the export and import of pearls form the chief item, next come wheat and cotton. very little tea is disembarked at lingah, but dates and firearms were landed in considerable quantities, especially in 1897. coffee and tobacco were more in demand here than at bandar abbas, and metals were largely imported. white sea-shells found their way in huge quantities to beluchistan, where the women use them for decorating their persons. bangles and necklaces are made with them, and neck-bands for the camels, horses and mules, as well as ornamentations on the saddle bags. with these two exceptions the imports and exports of lingah are made up of larger quantities of articles similar to those brought to and from bandar abbas. chapter xxxiv mahommerah--where russia's aims are directed--advantages of mahommerah--the navigation of the karun river--traffic--rates on the ahwaz-isfahan track--the government's attitude--wheat--russian influence--backhtiari chiefs--up and down river trade--gum--cotton goods--sugar--caravan route--steamers--disadvantages of a policy of drift--russian enterprise. so much for bandar abbas and lingah. i will not touch on bushire, too well known to english people, but mahommerah may have a special interest to us, and also to russia. it is rather curious to note that it has never struck the british politician nor the newspaper writer that russia's aims, based usually on sound and practical knowledge, might be focussed on this port, which occupies the most favourable position in the persian gulf for russia's purposes. even strategically it is certainly as good as bandar abbas, while commercially its advantages over the latter port are a thousandfold greater. these advantages are a navigable river, through fertile country, instead of an almost impassable, waterless desert, and a distance as the crow flies from russian territory to mahommerah one-third shorter than from bandar abbas. a railway through the most populated and richest part of persia could easily be constructed to ahwaz. the climate is healthy though warm. another most curious fact which seems almost incredible is that the british government, through ignorance or otherwise, by a policy of drift may probably be the cause of helping russia to reap the benefit of british enterprise on the karun river, in the development of which a considerable amount of british capital has already been sunk. the importance, political and commercial, of continuing the navigation of the karun river until it does become a financial success--which it is bound to be as soon as the country all round it is fully developed--is too obvious for me to write at length upon it, but it cannot be expected that a private company should bear the burden and loss entirely for the good of the mother country without any assistance from the home government. the british firm, who run the steamers, with much insight and praiseworthy enterprise improved the existing caravan track from isfahan to ahwaz on the karun river, the point up to which the river is navigable by steamers not drawing more than four feet. they built two fine suspension bridges, one over the karun at godar-i-balutak and the other, the pul-amarat (or built-bridge) constructed on the side of an ancient masonry bridge. the track has thus been rendered very easy and every assistance was offered to caravans, while a regular service of river steamers plied from mahommerah to ahwaz, to relieve the traffic by water. the s.s. _blosse lynch_, 250 tons, was sent up at first, but was too large, so the s.s. _malamir_, 120 tons, was specially built for the karun navigation. matters were very prosperous at first, until many obstacles came in the way. the road has been open to traffic some three years. the first year traffic was healthy and strong, but the second year, owing to famine in arabistan, the traffic suddenly dropped and nothing would induce muleteers to travel by that route. although they were offered as much as 100 (£2) to 110 krans (£2 4_s._) per load from isfahan to ahwaz, a distance of 17 stages--277 miles--they preferred to take 70 krans (£1 9_s._ 2_d._) to bushire, a journey of about 30 stages, over a distance of 510 miles. the caravan men in persia are curious people to deal with, and it takes a very long time to imbue their minds with new ideas. in the case of the ahwaz road it was partly conservatism and fear instigated by the mullahs that prevented their taking loads to the steamers. it was fully expected that the route could not pay its way for at least five years from its inauguration, and the british government--which at that time seemed to understand the value of the undertaking--agreed to give in equal shares with the government of india a collective guarantee against losses up to £3,000 for the first two years, then of £2,000 for five years. for some unaccountable reason the government of india, which the scheme mostly concerned, dropped out, and the guarantee was further reduced to £1,000 payable by the home government only. as a result of this the steamers have been run since at a considerable loss, and had it not been for the patriotism of lynch brothers, and the prospects to which they still cling of a successful issue, the navigation of the karun would have already come to an untimely end. the principal article of export of any importance was wheat, grown in enormous quantities in the fertile plains of arabistan; and were its export legal, the export of grain would be infinitely greater than the whole of the present imports. but the persian government unfortunately prohibited the export of grain from persia, nominally to allay and prevent famine in the country, in fact to enrich local governors by permitting illicit export. consequently, the peasants could not sell their produce in the open market and had to sell it, accepting what they could get from speculators at about half the actual value. this led to the discontinuance of the cultivation of wheat. when for three years the exportation of grain was permitted, the acreage under cultivation was enormous and yielded very large returns, but as soon as the prohibition was set in force it dwindled year by year until it became approximately the fifth part of what it originally was. on the top of all this a severe drought occurred and a famine resulted. it seems very likely that the british government may now fall out also and stop the meagre guarantee of £1,000. this may have disastrous results, for it cannot be expected that a private firm will continue the navigation of the karun at a great loss. this is, in a few words, what it may lead to. should the british abandon the work already done, russia will step in--she has had her eye upon the karun more than upon any other spot in persia--and reap the benefit of the money and labour that has been spent by us. in the plain of arabistan russian influence is not yet very far advanced, but among the backhtiaris it is spreading fast. intrigue is rampant. the russian agents endeavour to get the tribesmen into disgrace with the government and they succeed to a great extent in their aim. isphandiar khan, who has the title of sirdar assad, is the head chief of the backhtiaris, and with his cousin sephadar keeps going the various branches of the family, but serious family squabbles are very frequent and may eventually cause division. the two above named men manage to keep all together except hadji-riza kuli khan, who is an opposing factor. he is an uncle of isphandiar khan, and his rancour arises from having been ousted from the chieftainship. he is said to have fallen very badly under russian influence, and instigated his followers to rebellion, the cause being, however, put down not to family squabbles and jealousy--the true causes--but to disapproval of the new road and the influence exercised by it upon the backhtiari country. only about one-fifth of foreign imports into mahommerah find their way up the karun river. it is certainly to be regretted that no articles direct from the united kingdom are forced up the river. the trade with india in 1900 only amounted to some £43,062 against £30,149 the previous year, france, turkey, and egypt being the only other importers. the total imports into mahommerah for transhipment to karun ports amounted to £59,194 in 1900, and showed a considerable increase on 1899. piece goods find their way up the river in considerable quantities. then loaf-sugar and soft sugar are the principal articles of import; dates, iron, and treacle come next; while various metals, tea and matches come last. in regard to local commerce the river trade for 1900 was £100,437, showing an increase of £37,449 upon the trade of 1899. this ought to be regarded as satisfactory, considering the slowness of oriental races in moving from their old grooves. the down river trade falls very short of the up river commerce, and consists mostly of wheat, oil seeds, opium, wool, gum, flour, beans, cotton, rice, tobacco, piece goods, glue. in 1900 the decrease in the carriage of wheat was enormous, and also the trade in oil seeds. although gum was carried down stream in much larger quantities, owing to the yield being unusually abundant, the price obtained was very poor, owing to the falling london market. gum tragacanth was conveyed principally by the isfahan-ahwaz route. notwithstanding all this there was an increase of £17,000 in 1900 over the trade of 1899, which shows that the route is nevertheless progressing and is worth cultivating. cotton goods, which are reimported from india mostly by parsee and jewish firms, originally come from manchester and are in great demand. they consist of grey shirtings, prints (soft finish), lappets, imitation turkey red, tanjibs and jaconets. marseilles beetroot sugar is holding its own against other cheaper sugars imported lately and finds its way to isfahan by the ahwaz road. caravans usually employ twenty days on the ahwaz-isfahan journey, but the distance can easily be covered in fifteen days and even less. a fortnightly steamer is run by the euphratis and tigris steam navigation company to ahwaz. mahommerah exports chiefly to india, then to turkey, the united kingdom, hong kong, the persian gulf ports, egypt and france. in 1900 the exports were to the value of £115,359. the imports were similar to those of bandar abbas, viz.:--cotton goods, sugar, coffee, silk, iron, tea, manufactured metal, thread, spices, etc. they amounted to an aggregate sum of £281,570 in 1900, against £202,492 in 1899.[4] if i have gone into details it is to show the mistake made by the british government in letting such a valuable position, of absolute vital importance to our interest, drift slowly but surely into russian hands. russia's aims in the gulf are at present concentrated on the karun river; our movements are closely watched, and nothing could be more probable than, that if we abandon the karun, russia will at once fill our place and turn the whole business into a formidable success. the russian government have now granted a subsidy of £5,000 per round voyage to the russian steam navigation to run three steamers a year from odessa to bussorah, touching at all the principal ports of the persian gulf. the s.s. _kornilof_ made two voyages in 1901, arriving in bussorah in april and november. on her first voyage she landed most of her cargo in bushire, and only conveyed 8,000 cases of petroleum and a quantity of wood for date boxes; but on her second journey 16,500 cases of petroleum were landed at bussorah and a further supply of wood, besides a great number of samples of russian products, such as flour, sugar and matches. on the second return journey the _kornilof_ took back to odessa freight for two thousand pounds from bussorah, principally dates, a cargo which had been previously carried by british steamers to port said and then transhipped for the black sea. the appearance of the russian boats excited considerable interest among the natives and merchants, both british and indigenous. comments are superfluous on the grant given by the russian government to further russian trade, and the wavering attitude of the british government in safeguarding interests already acquired. footnotes: [4] see diplomatic and consular reports, trade of persian gulf for the year 1900. foreign office. h.m. stationery office. chapter xxxv the british consul-general in isfahan--russia's influence in southern persia--h.r.h. zil-es-sultan--departure for yezd--pigeon towers--a persian telegraph line--ghiavaz--characteristics of the scenery--a village in ruins--types--saigsi--mud dunes--mirage--a reservoir--kanats--scarcity of fodder. i only halted a few days in isfahan, during which time i was the guest of mr. preece, the british consul-general. mr. preece's hospitality and popularity are proverbial among europeans and natives all over persia. a step in the right direction was taken by the british government in making a consulate-general in isfahan, and another good step was that of furnishing the consulate with a guard of mounted indian soldiers. prestige and outward show go much together in persia, and no matter to what extent one's private feelings may rebel at the idea, we must make a display, i suppose. we have in mr. preece a very able and intellectual officer; a man who understands the persians thoroughly, and a gentleman of uncommon tact and kindliness. his artistic taste has served him well, so that the consulate and grounds have been rendered most comfortable and delightful, and the collections of carpets and silver which he has made during his many years' residence in persia are very interesting. it is true that russian influence is spreading fast towards the south, and that the establishment of a russian consulate in isfahan, with its guard of cossacks, has made considerable impression on the population, but no doubt mr. preece will be able to maintain british prestige high, if the government at home show grit and enable him to do so. it is most important, i think, to come to some sound conclusion on the policy to be followed towards russia in persia, either to check her advance immediately and firmly, or to come to some satisfactory agreement with her so that her interests and ours may not altogether clash; but it cannot be impressed too often upon our minds that our present policy of drift and wavering is most disastrous to our interests. we have lost northern persia. southern persia will soon slip from our grip unless we pull up soon and open our eyes wide to what is happening. we place too much reliance on the fact that zil-es-sultan, the shah's brother and now governor of isfahan, was once extremely pro-british. we have a way of getting ideas into our heads and nothing will drive them out again, but we forget that things and people change in persia as everywhere else, and what was accurate fifteen years ago may not be so now. also it must be remembered that zil-es-sultan, although in high power, does not occupy the same high position politically as before the late shah's death. he and his family are kept under strict control of the shah, and any pro-english ideas which they may still have are discouraged, if not promptly eradicated. his highness's sons have been forbidden to be educated in europe or to travel abroad, although a visit to russia only might be allowed. beyond the secondary power of a high governor, zil-es-sultan has no other influence, and has to conform to superior orders. he is now no longer very young, and his popularity, although still very great, cannot be said to be on the increase. [illustration: h. r. h. zil-es-sultan, governor of isfahan.] while in isfahan i had an audience of his highness. one could not help being struck at first glance by the powerful countenance of the prince, and the mixture of pride and worry plainly depicted on his face. he spoke very intelligently but was most guarded in his speech. one of his sons baharam mirza--a wonderfully clever young man, who spoke french and english fluently although he had never been out of persia--interpreted. i was much impressed by the kindliness of the zil-es-sultan towards his children, and in return by the intense respect, almost fear, of these towards their father. after a pleasant visit and the usual compliments and refreshments, coffee was brought, the polite signal that the audience should come to a close. the prince accompanied the consul and myself to the door of the room--a most unusual compliment. there were many soldiers, and servants and attendants with silver-topped maces who escorted us out of the grounds, where we found the consular guard again, and returned to the consulate. two days later i departed for yezd. there is no high road between the two cities; only a mere track. no postal service and relays of horses are stationed on the track, but, by giving notice some days previous to one's departure, horses can be sent out ahead from isfahan to various stages of the journey, until the kashan-nain-yezd road is met, on which post horses can again be obtained at the chappar khanas. this, however, involved so much uncertainty and exorbitant expense that i preferred to make up my own caravan of mules, the first part of the journey being rather hilly. on leaving isfahan there are mountains to the south, the urchin range, and also to the east, very rugged and with sharply defined edges. to the north-east stand distant elevations, but nothing can be seen due north. we go through a great many ruins on leaving the city, and here, too, as in other cities of persia, one is once more struck by the unimportant appearance of the city from a little distance off. the green dome of the mosque, and four minarets are seen rising on the north-east, five more slender minarets like factory chimneys--one extremely high--then everything else the colour of mud. the traffic near the city is great. hundreds of donkeys and mules toddle along both towards and away from the city gate. the dust is appalling. there is nothing more tantalizing than the long stretches of uninteresting country to be traversed in persia, where, much as one tries, there is nothing to rest one's eye upon; so it is with great relief--almost joy--that we come now to something new in the scenery, in the shape of architecture--a great number of most peculiar towers. [illustration: agriculture and pigeon towers near isfahan.] these are the pigeon towers--a great institution in central persia. they are cylindrical in shape, with castellated top, and are solidly built with massive walls. they stand no less than thirty to forty feet in height, and possess a central well in which the guano is collected--the object for which the towers are erected. a quadrangular house on the top, and innumerable small cells, where pigeons lay their eggs and breed their young, are constructed all round the tower. these towers are quite formidable looking structures, and are so numerous, particularly in the neighbourhood of isfahan, as to give the country quite a strongly fortified appearance. the guano is removed once a year. after passing khorasgun, at ghiavaz--a small village--one could count as many as twenty-four of these pigeon houses. some amusement could be got from the way the persian telegraph line had been laid between isfahan and yezd, _via_ nain. there were no two poles of the same height or shape; some were five or six feet long, others ten or fifteen;--some were straight, some crooked; some of most irregular knobby shapes. as to the wire, when it did happen to be supported on the pole it was not fastened to an insulator, as one would expect, but merely rested on a nail, or in an indentation in the wood. for hundreds of yards at a time the wire lay on the ground, and the poles rested by its side or across it. telegrams sent by these persian lines, i was told, take several days to reach their destination, if they ever do reach at all; and are usually entrusted for conveyance, not to the wire, but to caravan men happening to travel in that particular direction, or to messengers specially despatched from one city to the other. some two farsakhs from isfahan we went through a passage where the hills nearly meet, after which we entered a flat plain, barren and ugly. in the distance to the south-east lay a line of blackish trees, and another in front of us in the direction we were travelling, due east. then we saw another bunch of pigeon towers. leaving behind the hills nearer to us to the north-west, west, and south-west, and the more distant and most fantastically shaped range to the south, my mules gradually descend into the plain. for an angle of 40° from east to s.s.e. no hills are visible to the naked eye, but there is a long range of comparatively low hills encircling us from n.n.w. to s.s.e. and n.e. of the observer, the highest points being at 80° (almost n.e.e.). to the north we have a long line of _kanats_. following the drunken row of telegraph poles we arrive at gullahbad (gulnabad)--a village in ruins. from this point for some distance the soil is covered with a deposit of salt, giving the appearance of a snow-clad landscape, in sharp contrast with the terrific heat prevailing at the time. this road is impassable during the rainy weather. as one nears the hills to the n.e. tufts of grass of an anæmic green cover the ground (altitude 5,250 feet). under a scorching sun we reached saigsi (8 farsakhs from isfahan) at six o'clock in the afternoon, and put up in the large caravanserai with two rooms up stairs and ten down below around the courtyard. the difference in the behaviour of the natives upon roads on which europeans do not frequently travel could be detected at once here. one met with the greatest civility and simplicity of manner and, above all, honesty, which one seldom finds where european visitors are more common. there are few countries where the facial types vary more than in persia. the individuals of nearly each town, each village, have peculiar characteristics of their own. at saigsi, for instance, only 32 miles from isfahan, we find an absolutely different type of head, with abnormally large mouth and widely-expanded nostrils, the eyes wide apart, and the brow overhanging. the latter may be caused by the constant brilliant refraction of the white soil in the glare of the sun (altitude of saigsi 5,100 feet). about four miles east of saigsi and north of the track we come across five curious parallel lines of mud-heaps or dunes stretching from north to south. each of these heaps is precisely where there is a gap in the mountain range to the north of it, and each has the appearance of having been gradually deposited there by a current passing through these gaps when the whole of this plain was the sea-bottom. these mud heaps are flat-topped and vary from 20 to 40 feet in height, the central row of all being the highest of the series. this is a grand place for wonderful effects of mirage all round us. to the w. spreads a beautiful lake in the depression of the plain--as complete an optical deception as it is possible to conceive, for in reality there is no lake at all. water is not at all plentiful here. one finds a reservoir made for caravans along this track. it is a tank 25 feet by 10 feet sunk deep into the ground and roofed over with a vault. the water is sent to it by means of a channel from the small village of vartan north of it. we gradually rise to 5,550 feet and again we have before us another beautiful effect of mirage in the shape of a magnificent lake with a village and cluster of trees apparently suspended in the air. my caravan man assures me that the village, which appears quite close by, is many miles off. long rows of _kanats_, ancient and modern, to the south-east warn us of the approach of a small town, and on the road plenty of skeletons of camels, donkeys, and mules may be seen. fodder is very scarce upon this track, and many animals have to die of starvation. also animals caught here during the rains cannot proceed in the sinking soft ground, and eventually die. chapter xxxvi khupah--sunken well--caravanserai--night marching--kudeshk--the fishark and sara ranges--lhas--the pass--whirlwinds--robbers--fezahbad--the dangers of a telegraph wire--an accident--six villages--deposits of sand and gravel--bambis--the people--mosquitoes--a persian house--weaving loom--type of natives--clothing--sayids. early in the afternoon khupah (altitude 5,920 feet) was reached, with its very large and dirty caravanserai to the west, just outside the town wall. from the roof--the only clean part of the hostelry--one obtains a good panoramic view of the town. it is built in a most irregular shape, and is encircled by a castellated mud wall with round turrets. there is a humble dome of a mosque rising somewhat higher than all the other little domes above each dwelling. feeble attempts at raising a bazaar have been made on different sites in the town, where bits of arcades have been erected, but there are no signs about the place of a flourishing industry or trade. the majority of houses, especially in the northern part of the city, are in ruins. the principal thoroughfare is picturesque enough, and on the occasion of my visit looked particularly attractive to me, with its huge trays of delicious grapes. they were most refreshing to eat in the terrific heat of the day. one peculiarity of the place is that most doorways of houses are sunk--generally from one to three feet--below the level of the street. between the caravanserai and the city is a sunken well with flat roof and four ventilating shafts to keep the water cool. further away, are seven more buildings--probably dead-houses--and a garden. the little range north of the city is quite low, and has in front of it a pyramidal dune--a similar deposit to those we have already noticed to the north-west in the morning on our march to this place, but much higher. south of the town many trees and verdant gardens are visible, and to the west the immense stretch of flat--some sixty miles of it that we had travelled over from isfahan. for want of a better amusement i sat on the roof to watch the sunset, while sadek cooked my dinner. the nearer hills, of a bright cobalt blue, faded into a light grey in the distance, the sky shone in a warm cadmium yellow, and beneath stretched the plain, of a dark-brown bluish colour, uninterrupted for miles and miles, were it not for one or two tumbled-down huts in the immediate foreground, and a long, snake-like track winding its way across the expanse until it lost itself in the dim distance. directly below, in the courtyard of the caravanserai, four camels squatted round a cloth on which was served straw mixed with cotton seeds, that gave flavour to their meal. the camels slowly ground their food, moving their lower jaws sideways from right to left, instead of up and down as is usual in most other animals; and some of the caravan men placidly smoked their kalians, while others packed up their bundles to make ready for their departure as soon as the moon should rise. in another corner of the courtyard my own caravan man groomed the mules, and around a big flame a little further off a crowd of admiring natives gazed open-mouthed at sadek boiling a chicken and vegetables for my special benefit. we were to make a night march, as the heat of the day was too great to travel in. at three in the morning, yawning and stretching our limbs when we were roused by the charvadar,[5] we got on the mules and made our departure. the cold was intense, and the wind blowing with all its might from the west. six miles off we passed kamalbek, then six miles further the large village of moshkianuh in ruins, with a few green trees near it. the plain on which we are travelling rises gently up to the village of kudeshk at the foot of the mountain (altitude 6,750 feet). we ascend gradually between hills to the north and south and find ourselves in another flat valley, about three quarters of a mile broad and one mile and a half long. (altitude 7,200 feet.) we are surrounded by hills, and find two villages, one to the east, the other to the west of the valley. the latter possesses buildings with masonry walls instead of the usual mud ones, and also masonry enclosures round wheat-fields and fruit-tree groves. we continue to rise until the highest point of the plain is reached, 7,620 feet. two or three smaller hamlets are found in the centre of the plain. a second basin is found on proceeding east, with here and there miserable clusters of trees; otherwise everything is as barren as barren could be. on the reddish hills the rocky portion shows through at the summit only, whereas the bases are enveloped in a covering of sand and salt. to the north the fishark and sara mountain range extends in a general direction of n.w. to s.e., and its formation is quite interesting. due north of us the eye is attracted by a peculiar hill, a double cone, two pointed, and much redder in colour than the hills near it. on nearing the mountains many small villages appear. yazih village has a solid stone wall round it. wheat is cultivated by the natives, good water being obtainable here in small but limpid streams. then we have the old village of lhas, now rejoicing in the new name of mazemullahmat, and near it, fezahbad, where i halted. i strolled in the afternoon a mile from the latter village to the pass, 8,000 feet above sea level. directly in front of the pass (at 110° bearings magnetic) stands a high peak, and beyond it to the right of the observer (at 140° b.m.) another and higher summit. we leave behind to the w.n.w. the high sara mountain range, no peaks of which, i estimated, rose above 10,000 feet. w.n.w. (at 280° b.m.) is a most curious conical hill, standing isolated and very high above the plain. among the most common sights of these parts are the whirlwinds--the _tourbillons_,--each revolving with terrific rapidity round its own axis and raising to the sky a cylindrical column of dust. they further move along the country in a spasmodic manner, but never so fast that they cannot be avoided. the diameter of the wind columns i observed by the dust carried with it, varied from 3 feet to 20 feet. the mountains we are travelling on are said to be somewhat unsafe, the villagers being given to attacking caravans, and robber bands coming here for shelter when it becomes unsafe for them to be on the kashan-yezd high road. in fact, while resting in the house of haji-mulla ahmed at fezahbad, a curious lot of men appeared, who, notwithstanding the remonstrances of sadek and haji, broke into the house in a most boisterous manner, demanding food of the landlord. they were armed with revolvers and old martini rifles, and had plenty of cartridges about their persons. they seemed quite taken aback to find a european inside the room. they changed their attitude at once, and became quite polite. i entertained them to tea, of which they drank gallons. i cannot say that i was particularly charmed with their faces, but their manner was certainly most courteous. they showed me their rifles--english martinis with additional gold ornamentations of lion and sun, such as one sees in thousands all over persia. i asked them where they got them from. they said they came from the persian gulf. haji mulla ahmed, the founder of the village, was a fine old fellow with a kindly face, eyes shining like beads under an overhanging brow, and a crimson beard dyed with henna. he appeared rather sulky at this unwonted visit, and more sulky still later when the visitors left me and he had to provide food for them. he said that the robbers frequently called upon him, and were a great drain on his supplies. when we left at 1.45 a.m. to go across the pass, he advised sadek and myself to load our rifles and keep a sharp look-out. as i had already measured the altitude of the pass in the afternoon i had no particular object in keeping awake, so i slung the rifle to my saddle and dozed off on my mule as we were slowly winding our way up to the summit. the long night marches were so dreary and the sound of the mules' bells so monotonous that it was most difficult to keep awake. one gradually learns to balance one's self quite well on the saddle while asleep, and it does shorten the long hours of the night very considerably. occasionally one wakes up abruptly with a jolt, and one fancies that one is just about to tumble over, but although i suppose i must have ridden in my life hundreds of miles while asleep on the saddle, i have never once had a fall in the natural course of affairs. the animals, too, are generally so intelligent that they do for one the balancing required and manage to keep under the rider. on that particular night i was extremely sleepy. i opened my eyes for a second when we reached the pass and began to descend on the other side, but sleepiness overcame me again. i was riding the first mule in the caravan. unexpectedly i received a fearful blow in the face, and i was very nearly torn off the saddle. there was a curious metallic buzzing resounding in the air, and before i had time to warn those that came after, sadek, who came next, was knocked down, and the mules, frightened at this unusual occurrence, stampeded down the steep incline. it was the telegraph wire hanging loose right across the road that had caused the accident. the road was in zig-zag, and was crossed several times by the wire which was laid more or less in a straight line. but this, of course, i did not know, so a few minutes later, before we had time to bring the runaway mules to a stop, the wire, unseen, was again met with a foot or so above the ground. it caught the mules on the legs, and as they were tied to one another, and were carried on by the impetus of the pace at which we were going, all the animals tumbled down one on the top of the other in a heap. the packs got mercilessly undone, and it took us the best part of an hour to disentangle all and get things straight again. the cold was bitter. some two miles east of the pass there were two roads, one leading to nain, the other to nao gombes. we took the latter and shorter route, and with some sense of relief now we left the telegraph line, which proceeds to nain. on the plateau east of the pass, we found six small villages, the most eastern--eshratawat (ishratabad)--being the largest (altitude 6,800 ft.). when the sun was about to rise we more clearly distinguished a grey, sombre, mountainous mass to the east, sharply indented at its summit, like the teeth of a gigantic saw, and ending abruptly on the northern terminus. we had come between mountains, and some twelve miles from fezahbad we reached kudarz (altitude 6,580 ft.), a village situated at the foot of the range we had crossed. as the sun peeped above the mountains close by to the east a large plain disclosed itself before the observer. a long mountain range, bluish and indistinct, could just be perceived in the distance, bounding the plain to the north. some low, semi-spherical and a few conical hills, and also a somewhat higher and rugged rocky elevation, were found on entering the plain from the west. oskholun village lies in the plain 16 miles from fezahbad. at the foot of the mountains on one's right one notices a curious deposit of sand and gravel, cushion shaped, rising in a gentle incline up the mountain side to a height of 150 feet. it would be interesting to find out exactly how these accumulations have formed, and whether the wind or water or both are responsible for them. on arriving at bambis (altitude 5,660 ft.) sadek was in a great state of mind to find a suitable house where we could put up, as there were no caravanserais. several of the principal people in the town offered me their own houses, and eventually, after careful inspection, i accepted the cleanest. of course, in small, out-of-the-way villages no great luxury could be expected even in dwellings of well-to-do people, but after entering by a miserable door and going through a filthy passage, one came to a nice little court with an ornamental tank of somewhat fetid water. swarms of mosquitoes rose from the floating leaves of the water plants as soon as we appeared and gave us a very warm reception. in a few seconds we were stung all over. the women folks were made to stampede to the upper storey on our arrival, where they remained concealed while we stayed in the house, and the younger male members of the family hastily removed all the bedding and personal belongings from the principal room, which i was to occupy. clouds of dust were raised when an attempt was made to sweep the dried mud floor. out of the windows of the upper storey the women flung handsome carpets, which sadek duly spread upon the floor. the room was a very nice one, plastered all over and painted white, enriched with adhering dried leaves of red roses forming a design upon the ceiling. there were nine receptacles in the walls, and four more in the sides of the chimney piece. next to this room was another similar one, and opposite in the courtyard a kind of alcove was used as a kitchen. it had a raised part of mud bricks some three feet high and about as broad, on which was fixed the weaving loom that stretched right across the court when in use. a hole was made in the raised portion, in which the weaver sat when at work, so as to keep the legs under the loom. [illustration: persian spinning wheels and weaving looms.] the loom is simple enough, the two sets of long horizontal threads being kept at high tension by an iron bar fixed into the cylindrical wooden rollers, round which the threads are rolled. there is then a vertical arrangement for moving the long horizontal sets of threads alternately up and down by means of pedals, a cross thread being passed between them with a spool, and beaten home each time with the large comb suspended in a vertical position. the threads are kept in position by two additional combs which represent the width of the cloth, and in which each horizontal thread is kept firm in its central position by a clever device of inverted loops between which it is passed and clenched tight. the cloth is rolled round a wooden cylinder. it is extremely strong and durable. almost each house has a weaving loom. on one side of the court was a recess in the wall for valuables. the padlock was closed by means of a screw. by the side of the kitchen one found the lumber and refuse room, and there were corresponding arrangements on the floor above. unlike other persian houses this was lighted by windows with neat woodwork, instead of by the usual skylight hole in the dome of the room. the natives at this village were very handsome. there was a touch of the afghan type in the men, and the women had fine faces with magnificent eyes. one found firm mouths with well-cut and properly developed lips, in contrast to the weak, drooping mouths of the people one had met in the western cities; and the noses were finely chiselled, with well-defined nostrils. there was no unsteadiness in the eyes, so common to the persians of the north-west,--and these fellows consequently presented quite an honest appearance, while the overhanging brow added a look of pensiveness. the skull was peculiarly formed, slanting upwards considerably from the forehead to an abnormal height, and giving the cranium an elongated shape. the ears, too, generally malformed or under-developed in most persians, were better shaped in these people, although by no means perfect. they, nevertheless, showed a certain refinement of blood and race. in the matter of men's clothing it was gratifying to find the ugly pleated frockcoats discarded--or, rather, never adopted--and long picturesque shirts and ample trousers worn instead, held together by a kamarband. over all was thrown a brown burnous, not unlike that of the bedouins, and the head was wound in an ample turban of the hindoo pattern. children wore short coats ornamented with embroidery and shells at the back and pretty silver buttons in front. their little caps, too, were embellished with shells, beads, or gold braiding. nearly all male natives, old and young, suffered from complaints of the eyes, but not so the women,--probably because they spent most of the time in the house and did not expose themselves to the glare of the sun and salty dust, which seemed to be the principal cause of severe inflammation of the eyes. bambis village was greatly dependent upon isfahan for its provisions, and therefore everything was very dear. excellent vegetables, _shalga_, _sardek_, _churconda_, and pomegranates were nevertheless grown, by means of a most elaborate and ingenious way of irrigation, but the water was very brackish and dirty. felt filters were occasionally used by the natives for purifying the drinking water. there were a number of sayids living at bambis, who looked picturesque in their handsome green turbans; they were men of a splendid physique, very virile, simple in manner, serious and dignified, and were held in much respect by their fellow villagers. footnotes: [5] charvadar--caravan man. chapter xxxvii bambis--the kashsan-yezd high road--the kevir plain--minerals--chanoh--sand deposits--sherawat--kanats--agdah--stone cairns--kiafteh--an isolated mount--a long sand bar--a forsaken village--picturesque biddeh--handsome caravanserai at meiboh--rare baths--shamsi--sand-hills--hodjatabad--fuel--a "tower of silence"--a split camel--thousands of borings for water--a four-towered well. we left bambis at ten o'clock on sunday evening and travelled on a flat plain the whole night. one village (arakan) was passed, and eventually we entered the teheran-kashan-yezd high road which we struck at nao gombes. here there were a chappar khana and an ancient caravanserai--the latter said to be of the time of shah abbas--but we did not stop, and continued our journey along a broad, immense stretch of flat country consisting of sand and gravel. my men were fast asleep on their mules, but the animals seemed to know their way well, as they had been on this road many times before. the night was extremely cold. we were now at an altitude of 4,240 feet in what is called the "kevir," a small salt desert plain, enclosed to the south-west of the track by the south-easterly continuation of the sara and keble range; to the north-east by the mehradji, turkemani, and duldul mountains; and to the north by the aparek and abiane mountains. during the rainy weather the drainage of the latter two ranges is carried in large volumes into the plain between them, and eventually into the kevir, in which it loses itself. to the south-east the ardakan mountains form a barrier, having, however, a gap between them and the andjile mountains, through which the road crosses in a south-easterly direction. antimony is found in the mehradji mountains, and copper, lead (in several localities), nickel and antimony in the anarek region. silver is said to have been found in the andjile. to the north-east, almost in the middle of the kevir, stands the isolated high mountain of siakuh. thirty-six miles from bambis we reached chanoh, a most desolate place, with a rest-house in ruins and a couple of suspicious-looking wells. we arrived here at eight in the morning, after having travelled since ten o'clock the previous evening, but we only allowed ourselves and our mules four hours' rest for breakfast, and we were again in the saddle at noon. there is nothing to interest the traveller on this part of the road except an occasional passing caravan, and the scenery is dreary beyond words. long, long stretches of flat, uninteresting sand and gravel, or sand alone in places. on nearing the spot where the track passes between the andjile and ardakan mountains we find sand deposits stretching out for nearly two miles from the mountain ranges to the south-west and south. shehrawat (shehrabad) village differs from most we have seen in the shape of its few roofs, which are semi-cylindrical, like a vault, and not semi-spherical. a mud tower rises above them, and there are a few fields and some fruit-trees near the habitations. about a mile further, more sand dunes are to be found, and a long row of kanats carrying water to the village of nasirabad, half a mile east of the track. further on we come upon an open canal, and we can perceive a village about two miles distant, also to the east of the track. just before arriving at agdah the earth has positively been disembowelled in search of water, so numerous are the kanats of all sizes and depths among which we wind our way. the large village of agdah itself stands on a prominence (4,080 ft.) against a background of mountains, and is embellished with a great many orchards tidily walled round. it is a famous place for pomegranates, which are really delicious. as usual a number of ruined houses surround those still standing, and as we skirt the village wall over 30 feet high we observe some picturesque high round towers. the telegraph wire (which we had met again at nao gombes) was here quite an amusing sight. in the neighbourhood of the village it was highly decorated with rags of all colours, and with stones tied to long strings which, when thrown up, wind themselves round and remain entangled in the wire. there were some 300 habitations in agdah, the principal one with a large quadrangular tower, being that of the governor; but both the chappar khana and the caravanserai were the filthiest we had so far encountered. a number of sayids lived here. we halted at four in the afternoon on monday, october 19th. the mules were so tired that i decided to give them twelve hours' rest. it may be noticed that we had travelled from ten o'clock the previous evening until four in the afternoon--eighteen hours--with only four hours' rest,--quite good going for caravan marching. the mules were excellent. at 4 a.m. on the tuesday we rode out of the caravanserai, and still travelled south-east on a flat gravel plain, with the high ardakan mountains to the east. fourteen miles or so from agdah the country became undulating with large pebble stones washed down from the mountain-sides. cairns of stone had been erected on the first hillock we came to near the road. we passed two villages, one on the track, the other about a mile north of it, and near this latter two or three smaller hamlets were situated. sixteen miles from agdah we halted for an hour or so at the village of kiafteh (chaftah)--altitude 3,960 feet--with its round tower and the mosque of semur-ed-din one mile north of it. here there was a chappar khana. the labourers wore a short blue shirt and ample trousers, with white turban and white shoes. having partaken of a hearty breakfast we were off again on the road in the broiling sun at 10.30 a.m. beautiful effects of mirage were before us like splendid lakes, with the mountains reflected into them, and little islands. as we go through the gap in the mountains that are now to the south-west and north-east of us the plain narrows to a width of some four miles, and the direction of the track is east-south-east. to the south-east the hillocks of a low range stretch as far as the mountains on the south-west, and several parallel ranges lie on the north-east. south, very far off, is the high shirkuh mountain. eight miles from kiafteh we cross over the low hill range by a pass (4,090 ft.) about 100 feet above the plain (3,990 ft.). there is a mournful look about the soil of black sand, and also about the gloomy shingle hill range extending from the north-east to the south-west. the black underlying rock where exposed to the air shows numberless holes corroded in it, as by the action of moving salt water. an inexplicable isolated hill stands in the centre of the valley, which here is not perfectly flat, but in a gentle incline, higher at its south-western extremity than at its north-eastern edge. a formation of mud dunes similar to those we had encountered near saigsi is here to be noticed, this time, however, not directly in front of each gap in the mountain range, but opposite them near the range in front, that forms a kind of bay. these dunes were probably caused by the deposit of sand and gravel left by a current that met the barrier of mountains on the opposite side of the bay. on crossing the hill range some eighteen miles from kiafteh, we come across a sand-bar which stretches in a semi-circle half way across the valley, where it then suddenly turns south-east. it is about 80 feet high. to all appearance the sand deposited upon this bar seems to have travelled in a direction from north north-east to south south-west. a mile further it meets another sand dune, stretching in a general direction of south-west to north-east. where the higher dune comes to an end half-way across the valley we find a village, having the usual quadrangular mud enclosure with towers, an abandoned caravanserai fast tumbling down, and a few domed mud hovels. the larger and better preserved village of bafru, one mile to the east of the track, is well surrounded by a long expanse of verdant trees. south of it is the other flourishing settlement of deawat (deabad). the abandoned village of assiabo gordoneh, now in ruins, tells us a sad story. the village at one time evidently ran short of water. hundreds of borings can be seen all round it in all directions, but they must have been of no avail. the place had to be forsaken. the sand dune is here 80 feet high. the space between these two sand dunes--plateau-like--is nicely cultivated in patches where some water has been found. we arrived in the evening at biddeh, a very large and most weird place, with habitations partly cut into the high mud banks. the houses were several storeys high. the greater number of buildings, now in ruins, show evidence of the former importance of this place and the wonderful ancient aqueducts with the water carried over a high bridge from one side of a ravine to the other are of great interest. this must have been a prosperous place at one time. the whitish clay soil has been quaintly corroded by the action of water, and one finds curious grottoes and deep, contorted, natural channels. a mosque and several impressive buildings--the adjective only applies when you do not get too near them--stand high up against the cliff side. the whole place is quite picturesque. the mules go along a narrow lane between walled fields, and then by a steepish ascent among ruined houses and patches of cultivation we reach the summit of the clay dune, on which the newer village of meiboh (maibut)--3,940 feet--is situated. there is a most beautiful (for persia) caravanserai here with a delightful domed tank of clear spring water, in which i then and there took a delicious bath, much to the horror of the caravanserai proprietor who assured me--when it was too late--that the tank was no _hammam_ or bath, but was water for drinking purposes. his horror turned into white rage when, moreover, he declared that my soap, which i had used freely, would kill all the fish which he had carefully nursed for years in the tank. we spent most of the evening in watching the state of their health, and eventually it was with some relief that we perceived all the soap float away and the water again become as clear as crystal. to the evident discomfiture of the caravanserai man, when we paid the last visit to the tank at 4 a.m. just previous to my departure, no deaths were to be registered in the tank, and therefore no heavy damages to pay. there is nothing one misses more than baths while travelling in central and eastern persia. there is generally hardly sufficient water to drink at the various stages, and it is usually so slimy and bad that, although one does not mind drinking it, because one has to, one really would not dream of bathing or washing in it! hence my anxiety not to lose my chance of a good plunge at meiboh. on leaving meiboh at 4 a.m. we passed for a considerable distance through land under cultivation, the crop being principally wheat. a large flour-mill was in course of construction at meiboh. after that we were again travelling on a sandy plain, with thousands of borings for water on all sides, and were advancing mainly to the south-west towards the mountains. we continued thus for some twelve miles as far as shamsi, another large village with much cultivation around it. after that, there were sand and stones under our mules' hoofs, and a broiling sun over our heads. on both sides the track was screened by mountains and by a low hill range to the north-east. about eight miles from shamsi we entered a region of sand hills, the sand accumulations--at least, judging by the formation of the hills--showing the movement of the sand to have been from west to east. this fact was rather curious and contrasted with nearly all the other sand accumulations which we found later in eastern persia, where the sand moved mostly in a south-westerly direction. no doubt the direction of the wind was here greatly influenced and made to deviate by the barriers of mountains so close at hand. there were numerous villages, large and small, on both sides of the track. hodjatabad, our last halt before reaching yezd, only sixteen miles further, had a handsome caravanserai, the porch of which was vaulted over the high road. it was comparatively clean, and had spacious stabling for animals. delicious grapes were to be obtained here, and much of the country had been cleared of the sand deposit and its fertile soil cultivated. fuel was very expensive in persia. at the entrance of nearly every caravanserai was displayed a large clumsy wooden scale, upon which wood was weighed for sale to travellers, and also, of course, barley and fodder for one's animals. the weights were generally round stones of various sizes. jaffarabad, a very large and prosperous place, stood about one mile to the north-west of the caravanserai, and had vegetation and many trees near it; this was also the case with the other village of medjamed, which had innumerable fields round it. firuzabad came next as we proceeded towards yezd, and then, after progressing very slowly,--we sank deep in sand for several miles--we perceived upon a rugged hill a large round white "tower of silence," which had been erected there by the guebres (or parsees) for the disposal of their dead. we skirted the mud wall of elawad--where the women's dress was in shape not unlike that of turkish women, and consisted of ample, highly-coloured trousers and short zouave jacket. the men resembled afghans. i here came across the first running camel i had seen in persia, and on it was mounted a picturesque rider, who had slung to his saddle a sword, a gun, and two pistols, while round his waistband a dagger, a powder-flask, bullet pouch, cap carrier, and various such other warlike implements hung gracefully in the bright light of the sun. a few yards further we came upon a ghastly sight--a split camel. the poor obstinate beast had refused to cross a narrow stream by the bridge, and had got instead on the slippery mud near the water edge. his long clumsy hind-legs had slipped with a sudden _écart_ that had torn his body ripped open. the camel was being killed as we passed, and its piercing cries and moans were too pitiful for words. the mountain on which the huge tower of silence has been erected--by permission of zil-es-sultan, i was told--is quadrangular with a long, narrow, flat-topped platform on the summit. the best view of it is obtained from the south. sadek told me in all seriousness from information received from the natives, that the bodies are placed in these towers in a sitting position with a stick under the chin to support them erect. when crows come in swarms to pick away at the body, if the right eye is plucked out first by a plundering bird, it is said to be a sure sign that the ex-soul of the body will go to heaven. if the left eye is picked at first, then a warmer climate is in store for the soul of the dead. after leaving behind the guebre tower we come again upon thousands of borings for water, and ancient _kanats_, now dry and unused. the country grows less sandy about eight miles from yezd, and we have now gradually ascended some 320 feet from the village of meiboh (maibut) to an altitude of 4,230 feet. here we altogether miss the flourishing cultivation which lined the track as far as the guebre tower, and cannot detect a single blade of grass or natural vegetation of any kind on any side. there are high mountains to the south-west and east. on the right (west) side of the track, eight miles from yezd, is the neat mud wall of nusseratabad, with a few trees peeping above it, but to the left of us all is barren, and we toddled along on grey, clayish sand. half-way between nusseratabad and yezd a four-towered well is to be found, and a quarter of a mile further the mazereh sadrih village, one and a-half farsakhs from yezd. the mules sank deep in the fine sand. there were a good many guebres about, mostly employed in carrying manure on donkeys. one of them, who was just returning from one of these errands, addressed me, much to my surprise, in hindustani, which he spoke quite fluently. he told me that he had travelled all over india, and was about to start again for bombay. [illustration: halting at a caravanserai.] [illustration: a street in yezd, showing high _badjirs_ or ventilating shafts.] some "_badjir_"--high ventilating shafts--and a minaret or two tell us that we are approaching the town of yezd--the ancient city of the parsees--and soon after we enter the large suburb of mardavoh, with its dome and graceful tower. a track in an almost direct line, and shorter than the one i had followed, exists between isfahan and yezd. it passes south of the gao khanah (salt lake) to the south-east of isfahan. chapter xxxviii yezd--water supply--climate--cultivation--products--exports and imports--population--trade--officials--education--persian children--public schools--the mushir school--the parsee school--c.m.s. mission school--the medical mission--the hospital--christianizing difficult--european ladies in persia--tolerance of race religions. yezd is the most central city of persia, but from a pictorial point of view the least interesting city in the shah's empire. there are a great many mosques--it is said about fifty--but none very beautiful. the streets are narrow and tortuous, with high walls on either side and nothing particularly attractive about them. curious narrow arches are frequently to be noticed overhead in the streets, and it is supposed that they are to support the side walls against collapse. there is not, at least i could not find, a single building of note in the city except the principal and very ancient mosque,--a building in the last degree of decay, but which must have formerly been adorned with a handsome frontage. there is a very extensive but tumbling-down wall around the city, and a wide moat, reminding one of a once strongly fortified place. to-day the greater portion of yezd is in ruins. the water supply is unfortunately very defective and irregular. there are no perennial streams of any importance, and all the irrigation works are dependent on artificial subterranean canals and kanats, and these in their turn are mostly subject to the rain and snow fall on the hills surrounding yezd. unluckily, the rains are now neither frequent nor abundant, and the land has in consequence been suffering severely from want of water. snow falls in winter and to a great extent feeds the whole water supply of yezd and its neighbourhood. it is not surprising, therefore, that more than three-quarters of the province of yezd is barren land, cultivation being under the circumstances absolutely out of the question. some portions of the province, however, where water is obtainable are quite fertile. towards the west the hills show some signs of vegetation, mainly fruit trees. but nothing larger than a bush grows wild, if we except occasional stunted fig-trees. surrounded by mountains as yezd is, there are two different climates close at hand: that of the "kohestan" or hills, temperate in summer but piercing cold in winter, and the other, much warmer, of the low-lying land. in the eastern lowlands the summer heat is excessive, in autumn just bearable, and in the spring the climate is quite delightful. in all seasons, however, with few exceptions, it is generally dry and always healthy and pure. where some moisture is obtainable the soil is very fertile and is cultivated by the natives. the chief cultivated products are wheat, barley, and other cereals, cotton, opium, and tobacco. the vine flourishes near yezd, and the wines used by the parsees are not unpalatable. mulberries are cultivated in large quantities. silk is probably the most important product of the yezd district. wild game is said to be plentiful on the mountains. with the exception of salt, the mineral products of the district are insignificant. yezd is a great trading centre, partly owing to its geographical position, partly because its inhabitants are very go-ahead and enterprising. yezd men are great travellers and possess good business heads. they go across the salt desert to khorassan and afghanistan, and they trade, with india principally, via kerman, bandar abbas, and lingah, and also to a small extent via sistan. previously the trade went entirely by shiraz and bushire, but now that road is very unsafe, owing to robbers. yezd traders travel even much further afield, as far as china, india, java. during my short stay i met quite a number of people who had visited bombay, calcutta, russia, bokhara, and turkestan. the settled population of yezd consists mostly of shia mahommedans, the descendants of the ancient persian race, with an intermixture of foreign blood; the parsees or zoroastrians, who still retain their purity of race and religious faith, and who are principally engaged in agriculture and commerce; a very small community of european christians, including a few armenian natives of julfa (isfahan). then there are about one thousand jews, who live mostly in abject poverty. the mahommedan population of the town may be approximately estimated at sixty thousand. here, even more noticeably than in any other persian town, there is very little outward show in the buildings, which are of earth and mud and appear contemptible, but the interiors of houses of the rich are pleasant and well-cared for. the miserable look of the town, however, is greatly redeemed by the beauty of the gardens which surround it. it is to be regretted that the roads in and around yezd are in a wretched condition, being absolutely neglected, for were there safer and more practicable roads trade would be facilitated and encouraged to no mean degree. as things stand now, indigenous trade is increasing slowly, but foreign trade is making no headway. the silk and opium trades, which were formerly the most profitable, have of late declined. cottons and woollens, silk, the _kasb_ and _aluhi_ of very finest quality, shawls, cotton carpets and noted felts equal if not superior to the best of kum, are manufactured both for home use and for export. the exports mainly consist of almonds and nuts, tobacco, opium (to china), colouring matters, walnut-wood, silk, wool, cotton carpets, felts, skins, assafoetida, shoes, copper pots, country loaf-sugar, sweetmeats, for which yezd is celebrated, etc. henna is brought to yezd from minab and bandar abbas to be ground and prepared for the persian market, being used with _rang_ as a dye for the hair. the chief imports are spices, cotton goods, yarn, prints, copper sheeting, tin slabs, indian tea, broadcloth, jewellery, arms, cutlery, watches, earthenware, glass and enamel wares, iron, loaf-sugar, powdered sugar, etc. the government of yezd, as of other cities of persia, is purely despotic, limited only by the power and influence of the mahommedan priests, the mullahs, and by the dread of private vengeance or an occasional insurrection. it is true that the actions of hakims and governors and their deputies are liable to revision from the teheran authorities, but this does not prevent exactions and extortions being carried on quite openly and on a large scale. the present governor, salal-ud-dauleh--"glory of the state,"--eldest son of zil-es-sultan, is an intelligent and well-to-do young man, sensibly educated, who tries his best to be fair to everybody; but it is very difficult for him to run alone against the strong tide of corruption which swamps everything in persia. he is not in good health, and spends much of his time hunting wild game at his country place in the hills near yezd. his town residence is a kind of citadel--not particularly impressive, nor clean--inside the city wall. the naib-ul-kukumat was the deputy-governor at the time of my visit. he seemed quite an affable and intelligent man. near the palace in the heart of the city are the covered bazaars, old and new, and well stocked with goods, but they are in character so exactly like those of teheran and isfahan, already described in previous chapters, that a repetition is quite unnecessary. the streets are irregularly planned, and the older ones are very dark and dingy, but the newer arcades are lofty and handsome. the merchants seem--for persia--quite active and business-like. at the beginning of the nineteenth century the population of yezd is said to have been one hundred thousand souls, and to have dwindled down to less than thirty thousand in 1868-1870 during the terrific famine which took place at that time. whether this is correct or not, it is difficult to ascertain, but to-day the city is on the increase again, and the population, as already stated, is certainly not less than sixty thousand. there are numerous mahommedan _hammams_ (baths)--some 65 or more--in yezd, but europeans are not allowed to enter them. the yezd people are very forward in educational matters. i inspected some of the schools and colleges, and was much impressed by the matter-of-fact, sensible way in which some of the more modern institutions were conducted. they would indeed put to shame a great many of our schools in england, and as for the talent of children, as compared with english children of the same age, one had better say nothing at all. with no exaggeration, children aged six analysed and reasoned out problems placed before them in a way that would in this country baffle men of six times that age. the quickness of the persian child's brain is well-nigh astounding, and as for their goodness and diligence, there is only one word that fits them: they are simply "angelic." their intense reverence for the teachers, their eagerness really to learn, and their quiet, attentive behaviour were indeed worthy of admiration. but it must be well understood that these angelic traits are confined to the school-days only. when they leave school the "angelic" wears off very soon, and the boys, unluckily, drift into the old and demoralized ways with which persia is reeking. there are about a dozen public schools in yezd, but the one conducted on most modern lines is the new school started by the mushir. if i understood aright, the mushir provided the buildings and money to work the school for a period of time, after which if successful it will be handed over to be supported by the city or by private enterprise. the school was excellent. there were a hundred pupils from the ages of six to fifteen, and they were taught arabic, persian, english, french, geography, arithmetic, &c. there was a mudir or head master who spoke french quite fluently, and separate teachers for the other various matters. the school was admirably conducted, with quite a military discipline mingled with extreme kindness and thoughtfulness on the part of the teachers towards the pupils. by the sound of a bell the boys were collected by the mudir in the court-yard, round which on two floors were the schoolrooms, specklessly clean and well-aired. while i was being entertained to tea, sherbet, and coffee, on a high platform, i was politely requested to ascertain for myself the knowledge of the boys--most of whom had only been in the school less than a year. it was rather interesting to hear little chaps of six or eight rattle off, in a language foreign to them and without making a single mistake, all the capitals of the principal countries in the world, and the largest rivers, the highest mountains, the biggest oceans, and so on. and other little chaps--no taller than three feet--summed up and subtracted and divided and multiplied figures with an assurance, quickness and accuracy which i, personally, very much envied. then they wrote english and french sentences on the slate, and persian and arabic, and i came out of the school fully convinced that whatever was taught in that school was certainly taught well. these were not special pupils, but any pupil i chose to pick out from the lot. i visited another excellent institution, the parsee school--one of several teaching institutions that have been established in yezd by the bombay society for the amelioration of persian zoroastrians,--in a most beautiful building internally, with large courts and a lofty vaulted hall wherein the classes are held. the boys, from the ages of six to fifteen, lined the walls, sitting cross-legged on mats, their notebooks, inkstands, and slate by their side. at the time of my visit there were as many as 230 pupils, and they received a similar education, but not quite so high, as in the mushir school. in the parsee school less time was devoted to foreign languages. ustad javan mard, a most venerable old man, was the head-master, and ustad baharam his assistant. the school seemed most flourishing, and the pupils very well-behaved. although the stocks for punishing bad children were very prominent under the teacher's table, the head-master assured me that they were seldom required. another little but most interesting school is the one in connection with the clerical work done by the rev. napier malcolm. it is attended principally by the sons of well-to-do mussulmans and by a few parsees, who take this excellent opportunity of learning english thoroughly. most of the teaching is done by an armenian assistant trained at the c. m. s. of julfa. here, too, i was delightfully surprised to notice how intelligent the boys were, and mr. malcolm himself spoke in high terms of the work done by the students. they showed a great facility for learning languages, and i was shown a boy who, in a few months, had picked up sufficient english to converse quite fluently. the boys, i was glad to see, are taught in a very sensible manner, and what they are made to learn will be of permanent use to them. the church missionary society is to be thanked, not only for this good educational work which it supplies in yezd to children of all creeds, but for the well-appointed hospital for men and women. a large and handsome caravanserai was presented to the medical mission by mr. godarz mihri-ban-i-irani, one of the leading parsees of yezd, and the building was adapted and converted by the church missionary society into a hospital, with a permanent staff in the men's hospital of an english doctor and three armenian assistants. there is also a smaller women's hospital with an english lady doctor, who in 1901 was aided by two ladies and by an armenian assistant trained at julfa. there are properly disinfected wards in both these hospitals, with good beds, a well appointed dispensary, and dissecting room. the natives have of late availed themselves considerably of the opportunity to get good medical assistance, but few except the very poorest, it seems, care actually to remain in the hospital wards. they prefer to take the medicine and go to their respective houses. a special dark room has been constructed for the operation and cure of cataract, which is a common complaint in yezd. the health of yezd is uncommonly good, and were it not that the people ruin their digestive organs by excessive and injudicious eating, the ailments of yezd would be very few. the population is, without exception, most favourable to the work of the medical mission, and all classes seem to be grateful for the institution in the town. the school work of the mission necessarily appeals to a much smaller circle, but there is no doubt whatever about its being appreciated, and, further, there seems to be exceedingly little hostility to such religious inquiry and teaching as does not altogether collide with or appear to tend to severance from the mussulman or parsee communities. this is very likely due to the fast extending influence of the behai sect, the members of which regard favourably an acquaintance with other non-idolatrous religions. these people, notwithstanding their being outside of official protection and in collision with the mullahs, form to-day a large proportion of the population of yezd, and exercise an influence on public opinion considerably wider than the boundaries of their sect. as for actual missionary work of christianization going beyond this point, the difficulties encountered and the risks of a catastrophe are too great at present for any sensible man to attempt it. the european staff of the c.m.s. mission, employed entirely in educational and medical work in yezd, consists of the rev. napier malcolm, m.a., a most sensible and able man, and mrs. malcolm, who is of great help to her husband; george day esq., l.r.c.p. & s., and mrs. day; miss taylor, l.r.c.p. & s., miss stirling, miss brighty. the work for ladies is somewhat uphill and not always pleasant, for in mussulman countries women, if not veiled, are constantly exposed to the insults of roughs; but people are beginning to get reconciled to what appeared to them at first the very strange habits of european women, and no doubt in time it will be less unpleasant for ladies to work among the natives. so far the few english ladies who have braved the consequences of undertaking work in persia are greatly to be admired for their pluck, patience, and tact. the yezd c.m.s. mission was started in may, 1898, by dr. henry white, who had a year's previous experience of medical work at julfa and isfahan. he was then joined in december of the same year by the rev. napier malcolm, who had just come out from england. the european community of yezd is very small. besides the above mentioned people--who do not always reside in yezd--there are two englishmen of the bank of persia, and a swiss employed by the firm of ziegler & co. that is all. the fact that the persian government recognizes the "race religions," such as those of armenians, parsees and jews, has led many to believe that religious liberty exists in persia. there is a relative tolerance, but nothing more, and even the parsees and jews have had until quite lately--and occasionally even now have--to submit to considerable indignities on the part of the mullahs. for new sects like the behai, however, who abandon the mussulman faith, there is absolutely no official protection. great secrecy has to be maintained to avoid persecution. there seems, nevertheless, to be a disposition on the part of the government to go considerably beyond this point of sufferance, but wider toleration does not exist at present, nor is it perfectly clear to what length the government of the country would be prepared to go. chapter xxxix the guebres of yezd--askizar--the sassanian dynasty--yezdeyard--the name "parsees"--the arab invasion of persia--a romantic tale--zoroaster--parsees of india--why the parsees remained in yezd and kerman--their number--oppression--the teaching of the zoroastrian religion and of the mahommedan--a refreshing quality--family ties--injustice--guebre places of worship--the sacred fire--religious ceremonies--three excellent points in the zoroastrian religion--the parsees not "fire worshippers"--purification of fire--no ancient sacred books--attire--no civil rights--the "jazia" tax--occupations--the bombay parsees amelioration society and its work--the pioneers of trade--a national assembly--ardeshir meheban irani--establishment of the association--naturalized british subjects--consulates wanted--the bombay parsees--successful traders--parsee generosity--mr. jamsetsji tata. yezd is extremely interesting from a historical point of view, and for its close association with that wonderful race the "guebres," better known in europe by the name of parsees. the ancient city of askizar was buried by shifting sands, in a desert with a few oases, and was followed by the present yezd, which does not date from earlier than the time of the sassanian dynasty. [illustration: ardeshir meheban irani and the leading members of the anguman-i-nasseri (parsee national assembly), yezd.] yezdeyard, the weak and unlucky last king of the sassan family, which had reigned over persia for 415 years, was the first to lay the foundations of the city and to colonize its neighbourhood. it is in this city that, notwithstanding the sufferings and persecution of mussulmans after the arab invasion of persia, the successors of a handful of brave people have to this day remained faithful to their native soil. to be convinced that the parsees of yezd are a strikingly fine lot of people it is sufficient to look at them. the men are patriarchal, generous, sober, intelligent, thrifty; the women, contrary to the usage of all asiatic races, are given great freedom, but are renowned for their chastity and modesty. the name of parsees, adopted by the better-known guebres who migrated to india, has been retained from fars or pars, their native country, which contained, before the arab invasion, persepolis as the capital, with a magnificent royal palace. from this province the whole kingdom eventually adopted the name. it is not necessary to go into the history of the nine dynasties which ruled in persia before it was conquered by the arabs, but for our purpose it is well to remind the reader that of all these dynasties the sassanian was the last, and yezdeyard, as we have seen, the ultimate king of the sassan family. one is filled with horror at the romantic tale of how, through weakness on his part and treachery on that of his people, the fanatic arabs, guided by the light of allah the prophet, conquered persia, slaying the unbelievers and enforcing the mahommedan religion on the survivors. the runaway yezdeyard was treacherously slain with his own jewelled sword by a miller, in whose house he had obtained shelter after the disastrous battle of nahavand and his flight through sistan, khorassan and merv. persia, with every vestige of its magnificence, was lost for ever to the persians, and the supremacy of mahommedanism, with its demoralizing influence, its haughty intolerance and fanatic bigotism, was firmly established from one end of the country to the other. the fine temples, the shrines of the zoroastrians, were mercilessly destroyed or changed into mosques. zoroaster, the prophet of the parsees, had first promulgated his religion during the reign of gushtasp (b.c. 1300) of the kayanian family, but after centuries of vicissitudes and corruption it was not till the time of the sassanian dynasty (a.d. 226) that ardeshir babekhan, the brave and just, restored the zoroastrian religion to its ancient purity. it is this religion--the true religion of ancient persia--that was smothered by the conquered arabs by means of blood and steel, and is only to-day retained in a slightly modified character by the few remaining guebres of yezd and kerman, as well as by those who, sooner than sacrifice their religious convictions and their independence, preferred to abandon their native land, migrating to india with their families, where their successors are to be found to this day still conservative to their faith. it is not too much to say that, although--in the conglomeration of races that form the indian empire--the parsees are few in number, not more than 100,000 all counted, they nevertheless occupy, through their honesty, intelligence and firmness of character, the foremost place in that country. but with these parsees who migrated we have no space to deal here. we will merely see why the remainder escaped death at the hands of the mahommedans, and, while ever remaining true to their religion, continued in yezd and kerman when, under the new rulers, almost the whole of the zoroastrian population of persia was compelled to embrace the religion of islam. the fact that yezd and kerman were two distant and difficult places of access for the invading moslems, may be taken as the likely cause of the zoroastrians collecting there. also for the same reason, no doubt, the arabs, tired of fighting and slaying, and having given way to luxury and vice, had become too lazy to carry on their wholesale slaughter of the zoroastrian population. this leniency, however, has not done away entirely with constant tyrannical persecution and oppression of the unbelievers, so that now the number of zoroastrians of yezd does not exceed 7,000, and that of kerman is under 3,000. a great many zoroastrians have, notwithstanding their unwillingness, been since compelled to turn mahommedans. even fifty years ago the zoroastrians of yezd and kerman called in persia contemptuously "guebres," were subjected to degradations and restrictions of the worst kind. now their condition, under a stronger government and some foreign influence, has slightly ameliorated, but is not yet entirely secure against the cruelty, fanaticism, and injustice of the mullahs and officials in the place. if yezd is, for its size, now the most enterprising trading centre of persia, it is mostly due to the guebres living there. although held in contempt by the mullahs and by the mahommedans in general, these guebres are manly fellows, sound in body and brain, instead of lascivious, demoralized, effeminate creatures like their tyrants. hundreds of years of oppression have had little effect on the moral and physical condition of the guebres. they are still as hardy and proud as when the whole country belonged to them; nor has the demoralizing contact of the present race, to whom they are subject, had any marked effect on their industry, which was the most remarkable characteristic in the ancient zoroastrians. the zoroastrian religion teaches that every man must earn his food by his own exertion and enterprise,--quite unlike the mahommedan teaching, that the height of bliss is to live on the charity of one's neighbours, which rule, however, carries a counterbalancing conviction that the more money dispensed in alms, the greater the certainty of the givers obtaining after death a seat in heaven. one of the most refreshing qualities of the guebres (and of the parsees in india) is that they are usually extraordinarily truthful for natives of asia, and their morality, even in men, is indeed quite above the average. there are few races among which marriages are conducted on more sensible lines and are more successful. the man and woman united by marriage live in friendly equality, and are a help to one another. family ties are very strong, and are carried down even to distant relations, while the paternal and maternal love for their children, and touching filial love for their parents, is most praiseworthy and deserves the greatest admiration. the mussulmans themselves, although religiously at variance and not keen to follow the good example of the guebres, admit the fact that the zoroastrians are honest and good people. it is principally the mullahs who are bitter against them and instigate the crowds to excesses. there is not such a thing for the guebres as justice in persia, and even up to quite recent times their fire temples and towers of silence were attacked and broken into by mussulman crowds, the fires, so tenderly cared for, mercilessly put out: the sacred books destroyed, and the temples desecrated in the most insulting manner. there are a number of guebre places of worship in yezd, and in the surrounding villages inhabited by guebre agriculturists, but the principal one is in the centre of the guebre quarter of yezd city. it is a neat, small structure, very simple and whitewashed inside, with a fortified back room wherein the sacred fire is kept alight, well covered with ashes by a specially deputed priest. it is hidden so as to make it difficult for intending invaders to discover it; and the strong door, well protected by iron bars, wants a good deal of forcing before it can be knocked down. the religious ceremony in the temple of the guebres is very interesting, the officiating priests being dressed up in a long white garment, the _sudra_, held together by a sacred girdle, and with the lower portion of the face covered by a square piece of cloth like a handkerchief; on the head they wear a peculiar cap. various genuflexions, on a specially spread carpet, and bows are made and prayers read. [illustration: parsee priests of yezd officiating during ceremony in their fire temple.] the priests belong generally to the better classes, and the rank is mostly hereditary. certain ceremonies are considered necessary before the candidate can attain the actual dignity of a prelate. first of the ceremonies comes the _navar_, or six days' retreat in his own dwelling, followed by the ceremony of initiation; four more days in the fire temple with two priests who have previously gone through the _yasna_ prayers for six consecutive mornings. although after this he can officiate in some ceremonies, such as weddings, he is not fully qualified as a priest until the _bareshnun_ has been undergone and again the _yasna_. the following day other prayers are offered to the guardian spirit, and at midnight the last ceremony takes place, and he is qualified to the degree of _maratab_, when he can take part in any of the zoroastrian rituals. as a preliminary, great purity of mind and body are required from candidates, and they are made to endure lavish ablutions of water and cow urine, clay and sand--an ancient custom, said to cleanse the body better than modern soaps. after that the candidate is secluded for nine whole days in the fire temple, and is not permitted to touch human beings, vegetation, water nor fire, and must wash himself twice more during that time, on the fourth day and on the seventh. it is only then that he is considered amply purified and able to go through the _navar_ ceremony. the zoroastrian religion is based on three excellent points--"good thoughts, good words, good deeds"--and as long as people adhere to them it is difficult to see how they can go wrong. they worship god and only one god, and do not admit idolatry. they are most open-minded regarding other people's notions, and are ever ready to recognise that other religions have their own good points. perhaps no greater libel was ever perpetrated on the parsees than when they were put down as "fire-worshippers," or "worshippers of the elements." the parsees are god-worshippers, but revere, not worship, fire and the sun as symbols of glory, heat, splendour, and purity; also because fire is to human beings one of the most necessary things in creation, if not indeed the most necessary thing; otherwise they are no more fire-worshippers than the roman catholics, for instance, who might easily come under the same heading, for they have lighted candles and lights constantly burning in front of images inside their churches. besides, it is not the fire itself, as fire, that parsees nurse in their temples, but a fire specially purified for the purpose. the process is this: several fires, if possible originally lighted by some natural cause, such as lightning, are brought in vases. over one of these fires is placed a flat perforated tray of metal on which small pieces of very dry sandal-wood are made to ignite by the mere action of the heat, but must not actually come in contact with the flame below. from this fire a third one is lighted in a similar manner, and nine times this operation is repeated, each successive fire being considered purer than its predecessor, and the result of the ninth conflagration being pronounced absolutely pure. it is really the idea of the purifying process that the parsees revere more than the fire itself, and as the ninth fire alone is considered worthy to occupy a special place in their temples, so, in similarity to it, they aim in life to purify their own thoughts, words, and actions, and glorify them into "good thoughts, true words, noble actions." this is indeed very different from fire-worshipping of which the parsees are generally accused. in yezd the guebres told me that they possessed very few sacred books in their temple (or if they had them could not show them). they said that all the ancient books had been destroyed by the mahommedans or had been taken away to india. there were also several smaller temples in the neighbourhood of yezd, which had gone through a good many vicissitudes in their time, but now the parsees and their places of worship are left in comparative peace. parsee men and women are still compelled to wear special clothes so as to be detected at once in the streets, but this custom is gradually dying out. the women are garbed in highly-coloured striped garments, a short jacket and a small turban, leaving the face uncovered. the men are only allowed to wear certain specially-coloured cloaks and are not allowed to ride a horse in the streets of yezd. parsees do not enjoy the civil rights of other citizens in persia, and justice was until quite lately out of the question in the case of differences with mussulmans. at death a man's property would be lawfully inherited by any distant relation who had adopted the religion of moslem, instead of by the man's own children and wife who had remained faithful to their creed; and in the matter of recovering debts from mussulmans the law of persia is certainly very far indeed from helping a guebre. this is necessarily a great obstacle in commercial intercourse. worst of all the burdens formerly inflicted upon the guebres--as well as upon armenians and jews of persia--was the "jazia" tax. some thousand or so male guebres of yezd were ordered to pay the tax yearly, which with commissions and "squeezes" of governors and officials was made to amount to some two thousand tomans, or about £400 at the present rate of exchange. much severity and even cruelty were enforced to obtain payment of the tax. the parsees were, until quite lately, debarred from undertaking any occupation that might place them on a level with mahommedans. with the exception of a few merchants--who, by migrating to india and obtaining british nationality, returned and enjoyed a certain amount of nominal safety--the majority of the population consists of agriculturists and scavengers. mainly by the efforts of the bombay amelioration society of the parsees, the guebres of yezd and kerman fare to-day comparatively well. the "jazia" has been abolished, and the present shah and the local government have to be congratulated on their fairness and consideration towards these fine people. may-be that soon they will be permitted to enjoy all the rights of other citizens, which they indeed fully deserve. many steps have been made in that direction within the last few years. the parsees are a most progressive race if properly protected. they are only too anxious to lead the way in all reformation, and, with all this, are remarkable for their courteousness and refined manner. the most prominent members of the yezd community, especially the sons of meheban rustam, have been the pioneers of trade between yezd and india. besides the excellent parsee school, several other institutions have been established in yezd and its suburbs by the bombay society, supported by a few charitable parsees of bombay and some of the leading members of the parsee community in yezd. the bombay society has done much to raise the zoroastrians of persia to their present comparatively advanced state, but trade and commerce also have to a great extent contributed to their present eminence. the bombay society nominates and sends an agent to reside in teheran, the capital of persia, to look after the interests of helpless zoroastrians, and the parsees of yezd have moreover a national assembly called the anguman-i-nasseri. i was entertained by this interesting body of men, and received from their president, ardeshir meheban irani, much of the valuable information here given about the yezd parsees. the association has an elected body of twenty-eight members, all honorary, the most venerable and intelligent of the community, and its aims are to advocate the social rights of the zoroastrians as a race, to settle disputes arising between the individuals of the community, to defend helpless parsees against moslem wantonness, and to improve their condition generally. the association was established on the 3rd of february, 1902, by the late mr. kaikosroo firendaz irani, the then agent of the bombay society. in this work he had the advice and help of the leading men of the community. there are several naturalised british subjects in yezd, including the president of the association--who speaks and writes english as well as any englishman--but it is greatly to be regretted that these men cannot obtain proper protection from the british government. yet these fellows could be of very great assistance to england in spreading british influence in yezd, not to speak of increasing british trade--which they are only too anxious to do, if a chance is given them--in conjunction with the representatives of their race in bombay--the most anglicised, except in religion, of all our subject races of india. there was formerly a british vice-consul in yezd, but for some reason known to the government, while russia finds it expedient to establish consular agents in all the principal centres of persia, we have actually withdrawn our representative even from so important a city as yezd! the parsee communities of yezd and bombay are in constant communication with each other, and it is well known what marvellous prosperity these fugitives of fars have now attained in bombay, through their honesty and hard work, especially since their connection with the british, whose civilisation, with the exception of religion and the hat, they have entirely adopted. most of them speak perfect english, and many of the sons of the wealthier parsees have been educated at universities in england. we find them working banking houses on a large scale, and cotton mills, running lines of steamers and shipbuilding yards. they trade considerably with the far east and far west, and with every nook in asia. even as far as samarkand, bokhara, siberia, nijni-novgorod, and st. petersburg, parsee traders are to be found, and in japan, china, the united states, and canada. with england they carry on a very extensive trade, and through them as intermediaries much of the import trade into india finds its way into neighbouring markets more difficult of access to the direct british exporter. one of the most noticeable traits of the flourishing parsees of bombay is their extreme generosity, often hampered by petty, stupid, anglo-indian officialdom, which they seem to stand with amazing patience and good-nature. we find well appointed hospitals erected by them; schools, clubs, and only lately one of the richest of all parsees, mr. jamsetsji tata, has given the city of bombay no less a gift than a quarter of a million pounds for the erection of a university on the most modern lines in that city. chapter xl _badjirs_--below the sand level--chappar service between yezd and kerman--the elasticity of a farsakh--sar-i-yezd--an escort--where three provinces meet--etiquette--robbers' impunity--a capital story--zen-u-din--the serde kuh range--desert--sand accumulations--kermanshah--the darestan and godare hashimshan mountains--chappar khana inscriptions and ornamentations by travellers--shemsh. the most characteristic objects in yezd are the _badjirs_, a most ingenious device for catching the wind and conveying it down into the various rooms of dwelling. these _badjirs_ are on the same principle as the ventilating cowls of ships. the ventilating shafts are usually very high and quadrangular, with two, three, or more openings on each side at the summit and corresponding channels to convey the wind down into the room below. the lower apertures of the channels are blocked except on the side where the wind happens to blow, and thus a draught is created from the top downwards, sweeping the whole room and rendering it quite cool and pleasant even in the hottest days of summer. the reason that one finds so many of these high _badjirs_ in yezd is probably that, owing to constant accumulations of sand, the whole city is now below the level of the surrounding desert, and some device had to be adopted to procure fresh air inside the houses and protect the inhabitants from the suffocating lack of ventilation during the stifling heat of the summer. the _badjirs_ are certainly constructed in a most scientific or, rather, practical manner, and answer the purpose to perfection. when we leave yezd the city itself cannot be seen at all, but just above the sand of the desert rise hundreds of these quadrangular towers, some very large indeed, which give the place a quaint appearance. from yezd to kerman there is again a service of post-horses, so i availed myself of it in order to save as much time as possible. the horses were not much used on this road so they were excellent. i departed from yezd on october 26th, and soon after leaving the city and riding through the usual plentiful but most unattractive ruins, we were travelling over very uninteresting country, practically a desert. we passed two villages--najafabat and rachmatabad--and then wound our way through avenues of dried-up mulberry trees at mahommedabad or namadawat, a village where silk-worms are reared in quantities, which accounts for the extensive mulberry plantations to provide food for them. the village is large and is three farsakhs from yezd, or something like ten miles. the "farsakh"--the most elastic measure ever invented--decreases here to just above three miles, whereas further north it averaged four miles. in a strong wind we rode on, first on sand, then on gravelly soil, ever through dreary, desolate country. the villages, taghiabad, zehnawat, etc., get smaller and poorer and further apart, and some eight farsakhs from yezd we eventually reach the small town of sar-i-yezd. from namadawat the country was an absolutely flat gravel plain with no water. [illustration: interior of old caravanserai with central water tank.] at sar-i-yezd (altitude 4,980 feet) we were detained some time. the highest official in the place had received orders from the governor of yezd not to let me proceed without a strong guard to accompany me. this was rather a nuisance than otherwise, for, although the country between sar-i-yezd and anar was reported infested by robbers, we really should have been able to hold our own against them even without the rabble that was sent to accompany us. after a delay of some hours five soldiers--as picturesque as they would have been useless in case of danger--put in an appearance. they had old long muzzle loaders, which must have been more dangerous to the person firing them than to the ones fired at, and they wore elaborate leather belts with two ample pouches for lead bullets, two gunpowder flasks made of desiccated sheep testicles, a leather bag for small shot, and a large iron ring with small clips for caps. horses could not be procured for these men, so they had to follow my baggage on foot, which caused a further delay. we left shortly before sunset as i intended marching the whole night. there was a great discussion among these soldiers about crossing over into kerman territory, four farsakhs beyond sar-i-yezd, and just at the point where the robbers are supposed to attack caravans the guard, whether through fear or otherwise, declined to come on. sadek remonstrated most bitterly, but three of them left us, while two said they had been entrusted with orders to see me and my luggage safely to the place where another guard could be obtained and would continue. i tried to persuade them to go back too, but they would not. it appears that between sar-i-yezd and zen-u-din there is an expanse of waste land near the boundary of the yezd, kerman and farsistan (shiraz) provinces, the possession of which is declared by the governors of all these provinces not to belong to them, the boundary having never been properly defined. so robbers can carry on their evil deeds with comparative immunity, as they do not come under the jurisdiction of any of the three governors in question. moreover, if chased by yezd soldiers, they escape into shiraz or kerman territory, and if pursued by kerman troops they escape into either of the neighbouring provinces, while the governor of shiraz, being the furthest and least interested in that distant corner of his province, really never knows and probably does not care to learn what takes place in so remote and barren a spot. in any case he will not be held responsible for anything happening there. it would certainly involve him in too great expense and difficulty to send soldiers to live so far into the desert, and unless in great force they could be of little assistance to caravans; so that, as things stand, robber bands have it all their own way. strict etiquette is observed between governors of provinces and their subordinates, and an encroachment on one's neighbour's territory would be considered a most outrageous breach of good manners and respective rights. still travelling quite fast across sand, and with no brigands in sight, we went on, pleasantly entertained by the astounding yarns of the two remaining soldiers. we were told how, twenty years ago, a foreign doctor--nationality unknown--being attacked by a band of thirty robbers, produced a small bottle of foreign medicine--presumably a most highly concentrated essence of chloroform--from his waistcoat pocket and, having removed the cork, the thirty brigands immediately fell on all sides in a deep sleep. the doctor and his party then continued their journey quietly, and returned several days later with a number of soldiers, who had no trouble in despatching the robbers from a temporary into an eternal sleep, without their waking up at all! on being asked how it was that the doctor himself remained awake when such a powerful narcotic was administered, the narrator did not lose his presence of mind nor his absence of conscience, and said the doctor had, during the operation, held his nose tight with his two fingers. the doctor had since been offered thousands of tomans for the precious bottle, but would not part with it. the soldiers told us a great many more stories of this type, and they recounted them with such an _aplomb_ and seriousness that they nearly made one fall off one's saddle with laughter. every now and then they insisted on firing off their rifles, which i requested them to do some distance away from my horses. there were no mishaps. at sar-i-yezd i had not been able to obtain fresh horses, so the yezd horses had been taken on, with an additional donkey. they had gone splendidly, and we arrived at zen-u-din shortly after ten o'clock at night. solitary, in the middle of the desert, and by the side of a salt water well, stands zen-u-din (alt. 5,170 feet). there is a chappar station, and a tumbling-down, circular caravanserai with massively built watch-towers. these appeared much battered as if from the result of repeated attacks. we left our soldier protectors behind here, and two more military persons, in rags and with obsolete guns, insisted on accompanying us, but as they were on foot and would have delayed us considerably i paid them off, a hundred yards from zen-u-din, and sent them back. there are mountains extending from the north-east to the south-east, the serde kuh range, and to the south-east they are quite close to the track and show low passes a mile or so apart by which the range could easily be crossed. to the west also we have high hills, some three or four miles apart from the mountains to the north-east, and to the north an open desert as far as yezd. we notice here again the curious accumulations of sand high up on the south mountain side, and also to the south-west of the mountain range east of us. [illustration: typical caravanserai and mud fort in the desert between yezd and kerman.] [illustration: a trade caravanserai, kerman.] at ten in the morning, after a dreary ride through desolate country, we reached the small village of kermanshah (5,300 feet), where a post station and caravanserai were to be found, a few trees and, above all, some good drinking water. from zen-u-din to kermanshah, a distance of sixteen miles (five farsakhs), we had seen only one solitary tree to the south-west of the track. we had now rugged mountains about a mile to the west and south-west. these were ranges parallel to one another, the darestan mountains being the nearest to us and the godare hashimshan behind them further south-west. while i was waiting for fresh horses to be got ready i amused myself at every station studying the curious inscriptions and ornamentations by scribbling travellers on the caravanserai and post-house walls. laboriously engraved quotations from the koran were the most numerous, then the respective names of travellers, in characters more or less elaborate according to the education of the writer, and generally accompanied by a record of the journey, place of birth, and destination of the scribbler. occasionally one was startled by a french inscription in sickening terms of humility, the work of persian minor officials in government employ, who thus made a public exhibition of their knowledge of a foreign language and expounded in glowing terms their servile admiration for superiors. more interesting were the records of illiterate travellers who, in default of literature, placed one arm and hand upon the whitewashed wall and traced their silhouette with the point of a knife or a bit of charcoal or a brush held in the other hand. then came those still more artistically inclined, who ventured into conventionalised representations of the peacock with widely-expanded tail--the most favourite and frequent of persian outbursts of chappar khana art, and probably the most emblematic representation of persian character. the conventionalised peacock is represented in a few lines, such as one sees on the familiar persian brass trays. the shah's portrait with luxuriant moustache is met in most chappar khanas scraped somewhere upon the wall, and not infrequently other whole human figures drawn in mere lines, such as children do in our country, but with a greater profusion of anatomical detail. very frequent indeed are the coarse representations of scenes in daily life, which we generally prefer to leave unrecorded--in fact, the artistic genius of the persian traveller seems to run very much in that direction, and these drawings are generally the most elaborate of all, often showing signs of multiple collaboration. horses fully harnessed are occasionally attempted, but i never saw a camel represented. only once did i come across a huge representation of a ship or a boat. small birds drawn with five or six lines only, but quite characteristic of conventionalised persian art, were extremely common, and were the most ingeniously clever of the lot. centipedes and occasional scorpions were now and then attempted with much ingenuity and faithfulness of detail but no artistic merit. all these ornamentations, studied carefully, taught one a good deal of persian character. that the persian is very observant and his mind very analytical, is quite out of the question, but his fault lies in the fact that in art as in daily life minor details strike him long before he can grasp the larger and more important general view of what he sees. he prefers to leave that to take care of itself. we find the same characteristics not only in his frivolous chappar khana art--where he can be studied unawares and is therefore quite natural--but in his more serious art, in his music, in his business transactions, in his political work. the lack of simplicity which we notice in his rude drawings can be detected in everything else he does, and the evident delight which he takes in depicting a peacock with its tail spread in all its glory is nothing more and nothing less than an expression of what the persian feels within himself in relation to his neighbours. nothing has a greater fascination for him than outward show and pomp. he cares for little else, and a further proof of this unhappy vainglory is obtained by the study of the wall scrolls of the travelling public--whether travelling officially or for trading purposes--representing in persia usually the most go-ahead and intelligent section of the persian population. on we go along the dreary track, again on flat, desolate country of sand and stones at the spur of the mountains to the west and south-west. sand deposits rise at a gentle gradient up to half the height of these mountains, well padding their slopes. the track here leads us due south to a low pass at an altitude of 5,680 feet. one gets so tired of the monotonous scenery that one would give anything to perceive something attractive; nor is the monotony of the journey diminished by two other miserable nagging soldiers who have clung to us as an escort from kermanshah, and who are running after our horses moaning and groaning and saying they are starved and tired and have not received their pay nor their food from the government for several months. on the other side of the pass there is a basin encircled by mountains, except to the south-east, where we find an open outlet. the track goes south-south-east through this yellow plain, and on proceeding across we find several conical black mounds with curious patches of a verdigris colour. to the east rises a low sand dune. we come in sight of shemsh, a most forlorn, cheerless place. sadek gallops ahead with the _horjins_, in which he has the cooking pans, some dead fowls, and a load of vegetables and pomegranates, and i slow down to give him time to prepare my lunch. i arrived at the place at 2.45 p.m. there was only a desolate caravanserai and a chappar khana. on the yezd-kerman track there are not more than three horses at each post station--at some there are only two,--and as i required no less than five horses, or, if possible, six, i always had to take on the deficient number of horses from the previous stations. i generally gave these horses two or three hours' rest, but it made their marches very long indeed, as it must be remembered that on my discharging them they must at once return to their point of departure. fortunately, the traffic was so small by this road that the horses were in good condition, and so i was able to proceed at a good rate all along. occasionally, one or two horses had to be taken on for three consecutive stages, which, taking as an average six farsakhs for each stage, made the distance they had to travel, including return journey, six stages, or some 120 miles in all. the altitude of shemsh was 5,170 feet. chapter xli desolate scenery--anar--a word for persian servants--sadek's english--bayas village--sand deposits--robber villagers--kushkuhyeh chappar khana--the post contractor, his rifle--cotton cultivation--fast growing rafsenju--trade tracks--hindu merchants--sadek and the chappar boy--kafter-han--photography and women--a flat, salty stretch of clay and sand--the kuh djupahr peaks--robat women--baghih--attractive girls--_mirage_--arrival in kerman. i left shemsh two hours later, at 4.30, and we travelled over slightly undulating country on sandy ground with occasional tracts of stones and gravel. if possible, this part was even more desolate than the scenery we had found before reaching here, and not a vestige of vegetation or animal life could be detected anywhere. when night descended upon us we had glorious moonlight to brighten our way, and we marched on gaily--this time without the nuisance of an escort--until we arrived at anar at 9.30 p.m.--seven farsakhs (about 22 miles) from shemsh. from what one could see during our short stay in the night there appeared to be a large village, mostly in ruins, with a few trees and a mud fort. we had gradually descended here to 4,800 feet. the water was quite good. we only allowed ourselves three hours to have our dinner and sleep, and i ordered the horses to be ready shortly after midnight. and here, whatever other faults they may have, a word of commendation must be put in for the endurance of persian servants. it is all very well for one's self to do with little sleep, but servants who will go days and days without any at all, and without a word of complaint or sign of collapse, are retainers not easily found and not to be despised. certainly, one seldom obtains such qualities in european servants. after doing fifty or sixty miles on the saddle we would get off, and i rested awhile, writing up my notes or, if at night, changing plates in my cameras, but sadek never had any rest at all. no sooner had we jumped off our horses than he had to undo the saddles and unpack the baggage and kill fowls and cook my meals, which all took him some little time; then he had to wash or clean up everything and repack, and run about the villages to purchase provisions, and all this kept him well employed until the hour of departure; so that, even when i could put in a couple of hours' sleep of a night, he never had time to sleep at all. sleeping on the saddle, of course, was usual when we travelled by caravan, but was impossible when chapparing. so that he had to go several days at a time without a moment's wink. the remarkable facility with which, under these trying circumstances, he got most excellent meals ready at all hours of the day or night and in the most outlandish places, and the magic way in which he could produce fuel and make a fire out of the most unlikely materials, was really extraordinary. true, he took himself and his work most seriously and his pride lay principally in having no reproach about the cooking. he had a smattering of english that was very quaint. everything above ground he called "upstairs"; anything on the ground or below was "downstairs." thus, to mount and dismount a horse was laconically expressed "horse upstairs," "horse downstairs." similarly, to lie down was "downstairs," to get up "upstairs." anything involving violent motion was "shoot," by which single word to fall, to kick, to bite, to drop, to jump, to throw away, were defined. he possessed a good vocabulary of swear words--which he had learnt from sailors at bushire--and these served him well when anything went wrong; but i forbade him to use them in my presence as i wished to have the monopoly myself, and thus his english vocabulary was very much curtailed. the remainder of his english conversation applied entirely to cooking chickens. shortly after midnight we moved out of the chappar khana, and, barring some slight cultivation in the immediate neighbourhood of the village, we soon entered again upon the flat, sandy desert. we had a lovely full moon over us, which added to the pleasure of travelling, and we rode on to bayas (five farsakhs), some seventeen or eighteen miles, where we arrived at five in the morning. the altitude of this place was exactly the same as that of anar, 4,800 feet. bayas is a tiny village with a few mulberry trees and a small stream of water. it has a fair caravanserai. we rested the horses for a couple of hours, while i had breakfast, and by 7.30 a.m. we were again in our saddles. to the south-west and north-east by east we again perceived the familiar high sand deposits, all along the base of the mountain ranges, and they reached up to two-thirds of the height of the mountains, forming a smooth, inclined plane rising very gently from the flat desert on which we were travelling. to the north-east by east the sand-banks rose nearly to the summit of the hill range. sadek and the chappar boy pointed out to me a village to the north-east of the track, and informed me that all its inhabitants were robbers and murderers. in fact upon the road, we came across a poor boy crying, and bruised all over. we asked him what was the matter. he pointed to three men in the distance who were running away, and said they had beaten him and stolen his money, two krans, and two pomegranates. sure enough, when we galloped to the men and stopped them they did not wait to be accused but handed me at once both fruit and money to be returned to their rightful owner. these folks had very brutal faces, framed in flowing locks of shaggy hair. they were garbed in long thick coats of white felt, made entirely of one piece, and quite stiff, with sleeves sticking out at the sides, into which the arms were never to be inserted. there were two red and blue small circular ornamentations at the bottom of the coat in front, and one in the centre of the back, as on japanese kimonos. we began to see more habitations now, and about one mile north-east of the track we perceived the villages of esmalawat, aliabad, and sher-i-fabad,--the latter quite a large place. we still went on over sand and white salt deposits. poor sadek was so tired and sleepy that he fell off his horse a couple of times. the soil got very stony on getting near kushkuhyeh (altitude 4,900 feet), where we entered the chappar khana exactly at noon. the contractor of the postal service lived at this village, and he was extremely civil. as many as eight horses were in his stable, and he ordered that the best should be given me. he entertained me to tea and took the keenest interest in my rifles. he also possessed one of the familiar discarded british martini military rifles, specially decorated for the persian market--a rifle worth at its most a pound sterling, or two, but for which he had paid no less than 100 tomans (about £20). the smugglers of firearms must have made huge profits on the sale of these antiquated weapons, for firearms are among the few articles for which large sums of ready money can be obtained in persia. this particular man now took a great fancy to my .256 mannlicher, and jokingly said he would not let me proceed until i had sold it to him. he produced large sums in solid silver to tempt me, about four times the value of the rifle, and was greatly upset when i assured him that i would not part with the rifle at all. when i left, he accompanied me part of the way, some few hundred yards, and he took with him his martini and a belt full of cartridges; his servant who followed him was also similarly armed. on inquiring of him why master and servant loaded themselves with arms and ammunition to go such a short distance, he replied that it was not safe for him to go unarmed even one yard out of his house. one of his friends had been murdered only a few days before, and one never knows in persia when one's turn will come next. in out-of-the-way places in persia private revenge is extremely common, which generally takes the form of shooting one's adversary in the back. there seemed to be abundance of water at kushkuhyeh, and the fields were properly irrigated. cultivation seemed prosperous, and vast cotton plantations were to be seen all round. when we passed, hundreds of men, women and children were busy taking in the cotton, and scores of camels, donkeys, sheep and goats grazing were dotting the green patch in the landscape. this gay scene of active life and verdure was all the more refreshing after the many miles of sand and gravel and barren hills of which we had grown so weary since leaving yezd. two hours were wasted for lunch, and off we went again. on leaving behind kushkuhyeh we also left behind vegetation, and again we sank in sand. a few tamarisk shrubs were scattered here and there on the large plain we were traversing, bounded on all sides by distant mountains. three and a half farsakhs (about 13 miles) saw us at hemmatawat, a large walled enclosure. at 6.30 p.m. we entered the small town of barawamad (bahramabad)--altitude 5,150 feet--or rafsenju as it is called now by its new name. this is a fast-growing place of quite modern origin, and it owes most of its prosperity to the extensive cultivation of cotton, exported from here direct to the persian gulf and india. besides the route on which we are travelling there are several other tracks leading out of barawamad. a minor one runs in a north-easterly direction, over the dehring mountains to the seroenan district, where many villages are to be found, and then turns sharply south-east _viâ_ zerend to kerman. it is also possible, when once one has crossed into seroenan, to continue to lawah (rawar) and then, across the salt desert, to meshed or to birjand. to the persian gulf there are three tracks. one south-west by west to sher-i-balek, from which place the traveller has the option to travel to bushire (_viâ_ shiraz) or to lingah or to bandar abbas _viâ_ forg. two different tracks, to reshitabad and bidu, join at melekabad (south-west) and these eventually enter the kerman-shiraz-bushire track; while another track, the most in use, goes almost due south, direct to bidu, skirting the pariz mountains on their westerly slopes. this track, too, crosses the kerman-shiraz route at saidabad, and proceeds due south to bandar abbas. the few hindoo merchants of kerman come here during the cotton season to make their purchases and send their goods direct to bandar abbas for shipment to india. pottery of an inferior kind is manufactured at rafsenju. we left the chappar khana at midnight in a terrific cold wind, and this time on shockingly bad horses. they were tired and lame, the cold wind probably intensifying the rheumatic pains from which most of them were suffering. the country was undulating and we gradually rose to 5,700 feet. the horses gave us no end of trouble and we had to walk the greater portion of the night. sadek, five feet two in height, and the chappar boy, six feet two, came to words and soon after to most sonorous blows. to add to our comfort, the chappar boy, who got the worst of the scrimmage, ran away, and it was only at sunrise that we perceived him again a long way off following us, not daring to get too near. eventually, by dint of sending him peaceful messages by a caravan man who passed us, sadek induced him to return, and still struggling in the sand of the desolate country all round us, and our horses sinking quite deep into it, we managed to drag men, horses, and loads into kafter-han (kebuter-han)--altitude 5,680 feet--at 8.30 in the morning, where we were glad to get relays of fresh steeds. we had gone about twenty-eight miles from the last station. a few mud huts, an ice store-house, a flour mill, a high building, said to have been an arsenal, the usual caravanserai, and a dingy chappar khana were all, quite all one could rest one's eye upon at kafter-han. there was some cultivation, but nothing very luxuriant. the few inhabitants were quite interested in the sudden appearance of a _ferenghi_ (a foreigner). the women, who were not veiled here, were quite good-looking, one girl particularly, whose photograph i snatched before she had time to run away to hide herself--the usual effect of a camera on persian women, quite the reverse to its effects on the european fair sex. we left almost directly on better animals, and proceeded south-east having lofty rugged hills to the north-east, east, and south of us, with the usual high sand accumulations upon their sides. to the south-east we could just discern the distant mountains near kerman. the track itself, on the sandy embankment at the foot of the hillside to the south-west, is rather high up and tortuous, owing to a very long salt marsh which fills the lower portion of the valley during the rainy weather and makes progress in a straight line impossible. but now, owing to the absolute absence of rain for months and months, the marsh was perfectly dry and formed a flat white plastered stretch of clay, sand and salt, as smooth as a billiard-table, and not unlike an immense floor prepared for tennis-courts. the dried salt mud was extremely hard, our horses' hoofs leaving scarcely a mark on it. i reckoned the breadth of this flat, white expanse at one and a half miles, and its length a little over eleven miles. two high peaks stood in front of us to the south-east, the kuh djupahr, forming part of a long range extending in a south-east direction. at a distance of four farsakhs (about thirteen miles), and directly on the other side of the dried-up salt stretch, we came to another chappar khana, at the village of robat. there were a good many women about in front of the huge caravanserai, and they looked very ridiculous in the tiny short skirts like those of ballet girls, and not particularly clean, over tight trousers quite adhering to the legs. we have the same mountains on both sides, and we continue over undulating ground, the valley getting somewhat narrower as we proceed towards baghih. six or seven miles from kafter-han was esmaratabad village, a mass of ruins, and ten miles or so a large village, still in fair preservation, sadi, with some vegetation, principally wheat. the track lay mostly over a stony, barren desert, with here and there, miles and miles apart, a forced patch of green. baghih, our last halt before reaching kerman, was nine farsakhs from kafter-han. it stood at an elevation of 5,740 feet, and had plenty of excellent water. the village was large, with handsome walled gardens and nicely-kept wheat-fields all round. the inhabitants were most affable and civil, and the women and children particularly simple and attractive. the girls were attired in longer and more graceful skirts than the damsels of robat, and did not leave the leg exposed even as high as the knee. over it they had an ample shirt with wide short sleeves, showing their gracefully modelled and well rounded arms, adorned with metal bracelets. on the head was a kerchief neatly bound quite tight over the head by means of a ribbon. it was not possible to get fresh horses here, and mine were very tired or i would have continued to kerman the same evening, completing the journey from yezd (220 miles) in three days. we had arrived early in the afternoon, and had i not been compelled to take on the tired horses for the remaining four farsakhs (13 miles) i could have easily reached kerman before the gates of the city were closed at sunset. as it was, i had to give it up, and had to sleep the night at baghih, making an early start on wednesday, the 30th. baghih is actually south-west of kerman, and the track makes this long detour to avoid the bademan mountains to the north. it thus passes over comparatively level land in the valley between that range and the kuh djupahr, the track turning here sharply to the north-east, in which direction, when we get to the highest point of the track (5,980 feet) one and a half farsakhs from baghih, we can almost discern kerman in the distance. except to the north-west we have high mountains all round, the highest being the djupahr to the south-east, and of which we now get a most lovely view, and also of the whole kerman plain with its innumerable semi-spherical sand-hills. at the foot of the djupahr below us we see the two villages of kheirabad and akhibarabad, with many trees and some cultivation round them. on descending into the kerman plain we have deceiving effects of mirage, lovely lakes on both sides and streams of water, but on the rising of a gentle breeze, limpid lakes and streams suddenly disappear, and the whole plain is nothing but a big undulating stretch of yellow sand, until we arrive within almost a stone's-throw of the city gates of kerman. at 11 a.m. on wednesday, october the 30th, i halted at the palatial chappar khana of kerman, just outside the city wall, in a handsome garden, having accomplished the journey from yezd in four days, including halts. chapter xlii kerman--the _ark_ or citadel--civility of the natives--europeans--the british consulate--major phillott--h. e. ala-el-mulk, governor of kerman--soldiers--teaching music to recruits--preparation for the campaign against the beluch--cloth manufacture. it was my intention to pay my respects to the british consul for whom i had letters of introduction from the minister at teheran, and i at once proceeded through the city, entering first the "ark" or citadel, and then the south-west gate with two side columns of green and blue tiles in a spiral design and pointed archway, into the meidan--a fine rectangular square of great length and breadth. sentries posted at the gates of the city and at the sides of the square saluted, and also many of the people along the road. this extraordinary civility was very refreshing in a country where one only expects extreme rudeness from the lower classes. we entered the vaulted bazaar, the main big artery of kerman city, intersected about half-way by a tortuous street from north to south and by other minor narrow lanes, and crowded with people, donkeys, camels and mules; and here, too, one was rather surprised to see various merchants get up in their shops salaaming as i passed, and to receive a "salameleko" and a bow from most men on the way. the bazaar itself, being in appearance more ancient than those of yezd, isfahan and teheran, was more alluring and had many quaint bits. it bore, however, very much the same characteristics as all other bazaars of persia. at the end of it on the north-east we emerged into an open space with picturesque awnings, suspended mats, and spread umbrellas shading innumerable baskets of delicious green figs, trays of grapes, and pomegranates, piles of water-melons and vegetables of all sorts. [illustration: h. e. ala-el-mulk, governor of kerman, in his palace.] no europeans live within the wall of kerman city itself, and at the time of my visit there were only four europeans altogether residing in the neighbourhood of the town. two missionaries, husband and wife; a gentleman who, misled by representations, had been induced to come from india to dig artesian wells at great expense--in a country where the natives are masters at finding water and making aqueducts--and our most excellent consul, major phillott, one of the most practical and sensible men that ever lived. the consulate was at zeris or zirisf, some little distance to the east of the town. we passed through a graveyard on leaving the inhabited district, and had in front of us some ancient fortifications on the rocky hills to the south, which we skirted, and then came to some huge conical ice-houses--very old, but still in excellent preservation. we passed the solidly-built and foreign-looking gateway of the bagh-i-zeris, and a little further at the end of a short avenue the british flag could be seen flying upon a gate. as i came upon him a ragged infantry soldier, who, being at his dinner, was busy licking his fingers, sprang to his feet and made a military salute. having passed through a court and a garden and a series of dismantled rooms i found myself in the consulate, where i was greeted effusively by major phillott, who had no idea i was coming, and who, owing to my being very much sun-tanned, had at first mistaken me for a persian! he would not hear of my remaining at the chappar khana, and most kindly sent at once for all my luggage to be brought up to the consulate. the hospitality of englishmen in persia is really unbounded. h. e. ala-el-mulk, governor of kerman, called on the consul that same afternoon, and i was able to present the letter i had brought to him. having lived long in europe ala-el-mulk is a most fluent french scholar, and, being a man of considerable talent, sense, and honesty he is rather adverse to the empty show and pomp which is ever deemed the necessary accompaniment of high-placed officials in persia. he can be seen walking through the town with only a servant or two, or riding about inspecting every nook of his city hardly attended at all. this, curiously enough, has not shocked the natives as people feared, but, on the contrary, has inspired them with intense respect for the new governor, whose tact, gentleness, consideration and justice were fully appreciated by the whole town; so that, after all, it is pleasant to notice that the lower classes of persia have more common sense and power of differentiation than they have hitherto been credited with. "when i want anything well done," said the governor to me, "i do it myself. i want the welfare of my people and am only glad when i can see with my own eyes that they get it. i inspect my soldiers, i see them drilled before me; i go to the bazaar to talk to the people, and any one can come to talk to me. nobody need be afraid of coming to me; i am ever ready to listen to all." although this innovation in the system of impressing the crowds created somewhat of a sensation at first, the governor soon managed to impress the people with his own personality, and he is now extraordinarily popular among all classes, except the semi-official, who cannot carry on their usual extortions with impunity. he asked me to go and inspect his troops, whom he had drilled before his own eyes every morning, and undoubtedly, of all the soldiers i had seen in persia, they were the only ones--barring the cossack regiments drilled by russians--that had a real military appearance and were trained according to a method. they were better dressed, better fed, and more disciplined even than the soldiers of teheran. the teaching of music to recruits for the band was quite interesting. the musical notes were written on a black-board and the young fellows were made to sing them out in a chorus until they had learnt the whole melody by heart. the boys had most musical voices and quite good musical ears, while their powers of retention of what they were taught were quite extraordinary, when it was considered that these fellows were recruited from the lowest and most ignorant classes. the garrison of kerman was armed with vrandel rifles, an old, discarded european pattern, but quite serviceable. anyhow, all the men possessed rifles of one and the same pattern, which was an advantage not noticeable in the teheran troops, for instance. for persians, they went through their drill in an accurate and business-like manner, mostly to the sound of three drums, and also with a capital band playing european brass instruments. the governor took special delight in showing me several tents which he had had specially manufactured for his approaching campaign, in conjunction with british troops from british beluchistan, against marauding beluch tribes who had been very troublesome for some time, and who, being so close to the frontier, were able to evade alike persian, beluch, and british law, until a joint movement against them was made from west and east. h. e. ala-el-mulk told me that he intended to command the expedition himself. ala-el-mulk, a man extraordinarily courteous and simple in manner, was former persian ambassador in constantinople. through no fault of his own, owing to certain customs prevalent at the sultan's court, the shah during his visit to constantinople was unreasonably displeased, and the ambassador was recalled. the governorship of distant kerman was given him, but a man like ala-el-mulk, one of the ablest men in persia, would be more useful in a higher position nearer the capital, if not in the capital itself. kerman is a very out-of-the-way place, and of no very great importance just yet, although, if persia develops as she should, it will not be many years from the present time before kerman becomes a place of great importance to england. however, ala-el-mulk is, above all, a philosopher, and he certainly makes the best of his opportunities. he has to contend with many difficulties, intrigue, false dealing, and corruption being rampant even among some of the higher officials in the town; but with his sound judgment and patience he certainly manages to keep things going in a most satisfactory manner. besides his official business, and with the aid of his nephew, he superintends the manufacture, as we have already seen, of the best, the most characteristically persian carpets of the finest quality and dyes. there are a great many looms in the buildings adjacent to the palace and hundreds of hands employed in the governor's factories. he also possesses a good collection of very ancient carpets, from which the modern ones are copied. i returned his visit at his palace, where the consul and i were received most cordially and had a lengthy and most interesting conversation with his excellency. then he showed me all the buildings in the ark. kerman is celebrated for its cloth manufacture and felts. the cloth is of fine worsted, and is generally in pieces six yards long by three quarters of a yard wide. it is much used by the natives, both for hangings and for making clothes for men and women, being very soft and durable. embroidered turbans and kamarbands are made from these cloths, especially in white cloth, generally of a fine quality. the process of weaving these cloths, called inappropriately "kerman shawls," is identical with that of the loom described at the village of bambis in chapter xxxvi. the material used for the best quality is the selected fine wool, growing next to the skin of goats. these dyed threads are cut into short lengths and woven into the fabric by the supple and agile fingers of the children working, packed tight together, at the looms. some of the best cloths, not more than ten feet in length, take as long as a month per foot in their manufacture, and they realise very high prices, even as much as nine or ten pounds sterling a yard. the design on the more elaborate ones is, as in the carpets, learnt by heart, the stitches being committed to memory like the words of a poem. this is not, however, the case with the simpler and cheaper ones, which are more carelessly done, a boy reading out the design from a pattern or a book. [illustration: tiled walls and picturesque windows in the madrassah, kerman.] [illustration: sirkar agha's son, the head of the sheikhi sect, kerman.] the carpet factories of kerman are very extensive, the process being similar to that already described in a previous chapter. chapter xliii the madrassah--"peace on abraham"--the _hammam_--trade caravanserais--the hindoo caravanserai--parsees--ancient fortifications--the kala-i-dukhtar, or virgin fort--speculation--the kala-ardeshir--a deep well--why it was made. a visit to the madrassah on the north side of the bazaar was extremely interesting, it being the best preserved building of that type i had so far seen in persia. the consul and i were shown round it by the son of sirkar agha, the head of the sheikhi sect, a most dignified individual with long black cloak and ample white turban, and with a beard dyed as black as ink. he conversed most intelligently and took great delight in showing every nook of the building. the college is only some ninety years old. its courts, its walls, its rooms, its dome, are most beautifully tiled all over, and, strange to say, it is kept in good repair and the gardens are well looked after. there is a handsome lecture-hall, with four strong receptacles high up in the corners of the room, and fret-work at the windows, not unlike egyptian _musharabeahs_. four very high ventilating shafts are constructed over the buildings to keep the rooms cool. "peace on abraham" reads an elaborate inscription, quoted from the koran, but applying in this case, sirkar agha's son tells me, to the founder of the institution. there are other inscriptions on the towers and ventilating shafts. at the time of my visit the number of pupils was two hundred. the adjoining hammam belonging to the college was, to our astonishment, also shown us. such baths are underground and are reached by steps or by a slippery incline. these particular ones were very superior and had a beautifully tiled entrance, but the door itself was small and always kept closed. the first room was domed with a fountain playing in the centre and platforms, three feet high all round, on the matting of which lay spread a great many cotton towels, red and blue. the only light came from a centre aperture in the dome. high earthen jugs stood artistically resting against one another, and a few people were dressing or undressing preparatory to taking or after having taken a bath. this was all that was done in this room. through a narrow slippery passage we entered another room, where the steamy heat was considerable. there were small sections round the room divided by a wall, like the cells of a monastery, and in each cell was a tap of cold water. then we ascended through a small aperture into another and warmer room, spacious enough, but stifling with a sickening acid odour of perspiration and fumes of over-heated human skins. the steam heat was so great that one saw everything in a haze, and one felt one's own pores expand and one's clothes get quite wet with the absorbed damp in the atmosphere over-saturated with moisture. there were two or three men, stripped and only with a loin cloth, lying down flat on their backs,--one undergoing massage, being thumped all over; another having the hair of his head and beard dyed jet-black. the reason that the persian hair-dyes are so permanent is principally because the dyeing is done at such a high temperature and in such moist atmosphere which allows the dye to get well into the hair. when the same dyes are used at a normal temperature the results are never so successful. further, a third man was being cleansed by violent rubbing. he needed it badly; at least, judging by the amount of black stuff that rolled from his skin under the operator's fingers. the attendants, too, barring a loin-cloth, were naked. with perspiration streaming down my cheeks i took the photographs here reproduced, and then proceeded to a yet hotter small room--as suffocating a place as one may wish to enter in one's lifetime, or after! one received a positive scorching blow in the face as one entered it, the heat was so great. this is the last chamber, and in a corner is a tap of cold water with which the skin is repeatedly rinsed and made to sweat several times until the pores are considered absolutely clean. there were two people lying down in a semi-unconscious state, and although i was only there a few minutes i came out quite limp and rag-like. it ruined my watch, and only by very careful nursing i was able to save my camera from falling to pieces. on returning to the previous hot chamber it seemed quite cool by comparison, and when we emerged again into the open air, thermometer about 90° in the shade, one felt quite chilled. the various trade caravanserais, of which there were over a dozen in kerman on either side of the main bazaar street, were quite interesting. they were large courts with high platforms, six to ten feet high, all round them, the centre well, enclosed by them, being tightly packed with camels, mules and donkeys. above on the broad platform lay all the packs of merchandise which had arrived from birjand and afghanistan, from beluchistan or from india _via_ bandar abbas. the shops and store rooms were neat and had wood-work in front, with gigantic padlocks of a primitive make. some, however, had neat little english padlocks. [illustration: the interior of a hammam or bath--first room.] the most interesting to us, but not the most beautiful, was the hindoo caravanserai, where some forty british hindoo merchants carried on their commerce. the place looked old and untidy, and the shops overcrowded with cheap articles of foreign make, such as are commonly to be seen in india,--paraffin lamps, knives, enamelled ware, cotton goods, indigo, tea, sugar and calicos being prominent in the shops. the piece goods come mostly from germany and austria, the cottons from manchester. the hindoos were very civil and entertained us to tea, water melon, and a huge tray of sweets, while a crowd outside gazed at the unusual sight of europeans visiting the caravanserais. the merchants said that the trade in cotton, wool, gum and dates was fairly good, and that, taking things all round, matters went well, but they had a great many complaints--they would not be hindoos if they had not--of petty quarrels to be settled among themselves and with the persians. these, of course, arose mostly out of matters of money. they seemed otherwise quite jolly and happy, notwithstanding the exaggerated hats and curious costumes they are compelled to wear, so that they may be distinguished at a glance from the persians themselves. here, too, as has been already said, there is a small parsee community of about 3,000 souls. they are, however, rather scattered nowadays, and are not so prominent as in yezd. the side streets leading out of the bazaar are narrow and dingy, covered up in places with awnings and matting. there is very little else worth seeing in the city, but the many ruins to the east of the town and the ancient fortifications are well worth a visit. it is to the east of the city that the ancient fortifications are found, on the most western portion of the crescent-shaped barrier of mountains. according to some natives the smaller fort, the kala-i-dukhtar, or virgin fort, on the terminal point of the range, at one time formed part of ancient kerman. the fort, the kala-i-dukhtar is on the ridge of the hill, with a fairly well-preserved castellated wall and a large doorway in the perpendicular rock at the end of the hill range. in a long semicircular wall at the foot of the hill a row of niches can be seen, but whether these made part of an ancient stable for horses, or were used for other purposes, i could not quite ascertain. some people said that they were a portion of a _hammam_; others said they might have been cells of a prison, but what remained of them was not sufficient to allow one to come to a satisfactory conclusion. [illustration: the hot room in a persian bath.] [illustration: the kala-i-dukhtar or virgin fort. (kala ardeshir on summit of mountain) kerman.] the outside wall of the fort was very high, and had strong battlements and towers. inside the lower wall at the foot of the hill was a moat from twenty-five to thirty feet wide and fifteen feet deep. the upper wall went along the summit of two ridges and was parallel to the lower one, which had four large circular turrets, and extended down to and over the flat for some 120 yards. there was another extensive but much demolished fortress to the east of this on the lower part of the hill range, guarding the other side of the entrance of the pass, and this, too, had two large walled enclosures in the plain at its foot. a great many fragments of pottery with angular geometrical patterns and small circles upon them were to be found here and in the neighbourhood. the fort of kala-i-dukhtar is attributed by the people to king ardishir, and is one of the three mentioned by mukaddasi in the tenth century, who, in describing the city of bardasir, unmistakably identified with the present kerman, speaks of the three famous impregnable castles--the _hisn_ defended by a ditch, evidently the one above described, directly outside the city gate, and the old castle, the kala-i-kuh, on the crest of the hill. it has been assumed that the third castle mentioned by mukaddasi, was where the _ark_ or citadel is now, but personally i doubt whether this is correct. the citadel, the residence of the present governor, is to my mind of much more recent origin. there is every sign to make one doubt whether kerman extended in those days as far west as the citadel, which to-day occupies the most western point outside the city; whereas in the accounts of mukaddasi one would be led to understand that the third fortress was well within the city near a great mosque. in persian chronicles, too, the hill castle, the old, and the new castles are often referred to, but personally i believe that these three castles were adjoining one another on the same chain of hills. an ascent to the kala ardeshir well repays the trouble of getting there. it is not possible to reach the castle from the south side, where the rocky hills are very precipitous, and even from the north it is not easy of access. on the north-west side, facing the british consulate, there is a somewhat narrow and slippery track in the rock along a ravine, by which--in many places "on all fours"--one can get up to the top. the gateway is very much blocked with sand, but squeezing through a small aperture one can get inside the wall, within which are several small courts, and a series of tumbled-down small buildings. in the walls can still be seen some of the receptacles in which grain and food were formerly stored. [illustration: graveyard and kala-i-dukhtar or virgin fort, kerman.] although the exterior of the castle, resting on the solid rock and built of sun-dried bricks so welded together by age as to form a solid mass, appears in fair preservation from a distance, when one examines the interior it is found to be in a dreadful state of decay. the courts and spaces between the walls are now filled up with sand. there is a well of immense depth, bored in the rock, the fort standing some five hundred feet above the plain; but although this is said by some writers to have been a way of escape from this fortress to as distant a place as khabis, some forty-five miles as the crow flies to the east of kerman, i never heard this theory expounded in kerman itself, but in any case, it is rather strange that the well should have been made so small in diameter as hardly to allow the passage of a man, its shaft being bored absolutely perpendicular for hundreds and hundreds of feet and its sides perfectly smooth, so that an attempt to go down it would be not a way of escape from death, but positive suicide. the well was undoubtedly made to supply the fort with water whenever it became impracticable to use the larger wells and tanks constructed at the foot of the hills within the fortification walls. chapter xliv the deserted city of farmidan--more speculation--the afghan invasion--kerman surrenders to agha muhammed khan--a cruel oppressor--luft-ali-khan to the rescue--the zoroastrians--mahala giabr--second afghan invasion--luft-ali-khan's escape--seventy thousand human eyes--women in slavery--passes--an outpost--fire temples--gigantic inscriptions--a stiff rock climb--a pilgrimage for sterile women--a russian picnic--a persian dinner--fatabad--the trials of abundance--a persian menu--rustamabad--lovely fruit garden. the very large deserted city of farmidan lies directly south of the mountainous crescent on which are found the fortifications described in the previous chapter. the houses of the city do not appear very ancient, their walls being in excellent preservation, but not so the domed roofs which have nearly all fallen in. the houses are entirely constructed of sun-dried mud bricks, now quite soldered together by age and reduced into a compact mass. a few of the more important dwellings have two storeys, and all the buildings evidently had formerly domed roofs. in order that the conformation of each house may be better understood, a plan of one typical building is given. on a larger or smaller scale they all resembled one another very closely, and were not unlike the persian houses of to-day. there was a broad main road at the foot of the mountains along the southern side of which the city had been built, with narrow and tortuous streets leading out of the principal thoroughfare. curiously enough, however, this city appeared not to have had a wall round it like most other cities one sees in persia. it is possible that the inhabitants relied on taking refuge in the strength and safety of the forts above, but more probable seems the theory that farmidan was a mere settlement, a place of refuge of the zoroastrians who had survived the terrible slaughter by agha muhammed khan. it may be remembered that when the afghan determined to regain his throne or die, he came over the persian frontier from kandahar. he crossed the salt desert from sistan, losing thousands of men, horses and camels on the way, and with a large army still under his command, eventually occupied kerman. kerman was in those days a most flourishing commercial centre, with bazaars renowned for their beauty and wealth, and its forts were well manned and considered impregnable. so unexpected, however, was the appearance of such a large army that the inhabitants made no resistance and readily bowed to the sovereignty of agha muhammed. they were brutally treated by the oppressors. luft-ali-khan hastened from the coast to the relief of the city, and fiercely attacked and defeated the afghan invader, who was compelled to retreat to kandahar; but kerman city, which had undergone terrible oppression from the entry of the afghans, fared no better at the hands of the persians. the zoroastrians of kerman particularly were massacred wholesale or compelled to adopt the mahommedan religion. it is not unlikely--although i assume no responsibility for the statement--that at that time the zoroastrians, who were still numerous in kerman, driven from their homes by the invading afghan and persian armies, settled a few miles from the city, unable to proceed further afield owing to the desolate nature of the country all round. with no animals, no means of subsistence, it would have been impossible for them with their families to go much further _en masse_ in a country where food and even water are not easily obtainable. the name of the town--farmidan--also would point to the conclusion that it had been inhabited by fars, and the age attributed to the city by the natives corresponds roughly with the epoch of the afghan invasion. to the north of kerman city we have another similar settlement, now deserted, mahala-giabr (a corruption of guebre), of which there is little doubt that it was inhabited by zoroastrians. one of the reasons that these cities are now deserted may be found in the fact that agha muhammed, having raised another army in afghanistan, proceeded a second time to the conquest of persia. the zoroastrians, who had fared worse at the hands of luft-ali-khan than under the afghan rule, were persuaded to join agha muhammed against their perso-arab oppressors, in hopes of obtaining some relief to their misery, but history does not relate what became of them. they were never heard of again. one fact only is known, that very few of those living in kerman at the time succeeded in escaping massacre. that previous to this the zoroastrians must have been very numerous in kerman can be judged by the remains of many fire-temples to be seen, especially in the neighbourhood of the city. [illustration: ruined houses of farmitan.] [illustration: plan of house at farmitan.] in his second invasion of persia agha muhammed again reached kerman in 1795 and besieged the city defended by luft-ali-khan. the inhabitants, who had suffered at the hands of their saviours as much if not more than at those of their oppressors, made a half-hearted resistance and eventually, in the thick of the fighting, the city gates were opened by treachery. luft-ali-khan and a handful of his faithful men fought like lions in the streets of the city, but at last, seeing that all hope of victory had vanished, and forsaken by most of his men, luft-ali-khan rode full gallop in the midst of the afghans. according to chronicles, he defiantly ran the gauntlet with only three followers, and they were able to force their way through the kajar post and escape to bam-narmanshir, the most eastern part of the kerman province, on the borders of sistan. agha muhammed demanded the surrender of luft-ali-khan; the city was searched to find him, and when it was learned that he had succeeded in effecting an escape, the wrath of the afghan knew no bounds. the people having declared that they could not find luft-ali, he ordered 70,000 eyes of the inhabitants to be brought to him on trays, and is said to have counted them himself with the point of a dagger. but this punishment he believed to be still too lenient. a general massacre of the men was commanded, and no less than 20,000 women and children were made into slaves. to this day the proverbially easy morals of the kerman women are attributed to the afghan invasion, when the women became the concubines of soldiers and lost all respect for themselves; and so is the importation of the dreadful disease which in its most virulent form is pitifully common in a great portion of the population of the present kerman city. according to some the city was razed to the ground, but whether this was so or not, there is no doubt that kerman has never recovered from the blow received, and from the subsequent oppression at the hands of this barbarous conqueror. in the south-west part of the mountainous crescent are three very low passes, by which the hill range can be crossed. one pass between the kala-i-dukhtar and the kala-ardeshir forts; one between the kala-ardeshir and the ruins south of it along the southern continuation of the range; and the third at the most southern point of the crescent, where the precipitous rocky hill-ranges are separated by a narrow gap, level with the flat plains on either side. one can still see the remains of a ruined wall on the east side of this entrance, a round, outpost mud turret, with other buildings and a large walled enclosure directly outside the pass on the flat to the south; while on the lower slope of the eastern mountain stands a tall square building, now roofless, erected on a strong quadrangular base with corner turrets. it has three pointed arch doorways (east, west, south), almost as tall as the building itself, and by the side of these are found high and broad windows in couples. this building appears to be of a much more recent date than the underlying castle filled up with earth on which it stands. it has rather the appearance of a fire temple. on going through the pass we find ourselves in the centre basin formed by the mountainous crescent, and here we have another deserted settlement smaller than farmidan, also to all appearance not more than a century old, and directly under the lee of the precipitous rocky mountains. a high building of a rich burnt-sienna colour, with a dome of stone and mortar--the latter said to have been mixed with camel's milk, which gives the mortar greater consistency--is to be seen here. this, too, is supposed to have been a fire temple. its base is quadrangular, with two tiers of three windows each. a small lateral wall is next to the entrance, but nothing is to be seen in the interior except the bare walls. east of this, on the face of the cliff and several hundred feet above the valley, one is shown a gigantic inscription, "ya ali," in white characters depicted on the rock. the letters are so big that they can be seen from kerman, about three miles off. this is a pilgrimage well worth making, for they say every wish of those who climb up to the inscription will come true. two qualities are required--a very steady head and the agility of a monkey. the angle of the rock is very steep,--almost vertical, as can be seen on the left side of the photograph, which i took from the site of the inscription looking down upon the ruined city and the whole kerman plain. the only way by which,--on all fours,--one can climb up is so worn, greasy and slippery, owing to the many pilgrims who have glided up and down, that it is most difficult to get a grip on the rock. yet the going-up is much easier than the coming down. the full-page illustration shows the man who accompanied me just about to reach the inscription,--i took the photograph as i clung to the rock just below him, as can be seen from the distortion of his lower limbs caused by my being unable to select a suitable position from which to take the photograph. we were then clinging to the rock with a drop below us in a straight line of several hundred feet. we reached the inscription safely enough, and sat on the edge of the precipice--the only place where we could sit--with our legs dangling over it. screened as we were in deep shadow, we obtained a magnificent bird's-eye view of the kerman plain, brilliantly lighted by the morning sun, and of the forts to our left (south-west) and the many ruins down below between ourselves and kerman city. a bed of a stream, now dry, wound its way from these mountains to almost the centre of the plain, where it lost itself in the sand beyond a cluster of ruined buildings. undoubtedly at some previous time this torrent carried a good volume of water to the village, and this accounts for the deserted settlement being found there. the letters of the inscription were ten feet high, painted white. [illustration: a steep rock climb, kerman. photograph of guide taken by the author on reaching the inscription several hundred feet above the plain.] the man who had climbed up with me related an amusing incident of the occasion when h. e. the governor of the city was persuaded to climb to inspect the inscription. hauled up with the assistance of ropes and servants, he became so nervous when he reached the inscription and looked down upon the precipice below that he offered a huge reward if they took him down again alive. although otherwise a brave man he was unaccustomed to mountaineering, and owing to the great height, had been seized with vertigo and was absolutely helpless and unable to move. with considerable difficulty he was hauled down and safely conveyed to his palace. the descent presented more difficulty than the ascent, and one's shoes had to be removed to effect it in more safety. eventually we reached the bottom again where, in a gully is a small ruined temple and a mud hut or two. a great many women, who from this point had been watching us come down along the face of the cliff, stampeded away, giggling, at our approach, and on my asking why so many representatives of the fair sex were to be found here--there were lots more dotting the landscape below in their white or black chudders, all converging towards this point--it was explained that, a few yards off, was a rock possessing marvellous properties. the rock in question forms part of the mountain-side, and in its natural formation coarsely suggests, much magnified, the effigy of a component of feminine anatomy. at the foot of it there was an inscription and certain offerings, while above it, in a recess, a large wax candle was burning. near this stone a stunted tree was to be seen, laden with bits of red and white rags and various kinds of hair--a most unedifying sight. this is a well-known pilgrimage for sterile women, who, after certain exorcisms in front of and on the divine stone, and a night or two spent in the neighbouring ruins, are said infallibly to become prolific. the neighbouring ruins, it should be added, are the favourite night resort of the kerman young men in search of romantic adventure, and a most convenient rendezvous for flirtations; but whether the extraordinary qualities of prolificness are really due to the occult power of the magic stone or to the less mystic charms of nights spent away from home, the reader is no doubt better able to discriminate than i. judging by the long strings of ladies of all ages to be seen going on the pilgrimage, one would almost come to the conclusion that half the women of kerman are in a bad plight, or else that the other half only is a good lot! much unsuspected amusement was provided to the natives by a russian political agent who had visited kerman a few weeks before i did, with the intention--it was stated--of starting a consulate there and a caravanserai to further russian trade. previous to his departure, attracted merely by the lovely view from the pilgrimage stone, and absolutely unaware of what misconstruction might be placed on his hospitality, the russian gave a picnic at this spot to the tiny european community of kerman. needless to say, the evil-minded persians of course put a wrong construction upon the whole thing, and a good deal of merriment was caused among the natives--who may lack many other qualities, but not wit--by the sahibs going _en masse_ to the pilgrimage. the russian picnic was the talk of the bazaar when i was there, and will probably remain so for some little time. we will now leave ruins and puzzling pilgrimages alone, and will accept an invitation to a substantial persian dinner with hussein-ali-khan, known by the title of nusrat-al-mamalik, and probably the richest man in the province of kerman. at great expense and trouble, this man bought an english carriage, for the pleasure of driving in which he actually made a road several miles long. he kindly sent the carriage for the consul and me to drive to his place, and had relays of horses half-way on the road so that we could gallop the whole way. he has planted trees all along the new road, and brought water down from the hills by a canal along the roadside in order to provide sufficient moisture to make them grow. when we reached fatabad--that was the name of the village close to which our host's country residence stood--we alighted at a most beautiful avenue of high trees on either side of a long tank of limpid water, in which gracefully floated dozens of swans and ducks. we were met at the gate by our host, a charming old fellow, and his son, mahommed ali khan, a most intelligent young man. surrounded by a crowd of servants we were shown round the beautiful garden, with its rare plants from all parts of the world, its well-cared-for flowers, and its fruit trees of every imaginable kind. there was a handsome house built in semi-european style and with european furniture in it. on a table in the dining-room were spread a great many trays of sweets. after the usual compliments dinner was brought in by a long row of attendants, who carried tray after tray full of delicacies, part of which they deposited on the table, the rest on the floor. our host, with much modesty, asked us to sit at the table, and he and his persian friends sat themselves on the floor. we--the consul, the two other englishmen, residents of kerman, and myself, however--declined to take advantage of his offer and declared that we should all sit on the floor in the best persian style, an attention which was greatly appreciated by our host and by his friends. it was with some dismay that i saw more trays of food being conveyed into the room, until the whole floor was absolutely covered with trays, large and small, and dishes, cups and saucers, all brim-full of something or other to eat. [illustration: a view of the kerman plain from the "ya ali" inscription. (how steep the ascent to the inscription is can be seen by the mountain side on left of observer.)] [illustration: wives returning from the pilgrimage for sterile women.] persian food of the better kind and in moderation is not at all bad nor unattractive. it is quite clean,--cleaner, if it comes to that, than the general run of the best european cooking. the meat is ever fresh and good, the chickens never too high--in fact, only killed and bled a few minutes before they are cooked; the eggs always newly laid in fact, and not merely in theory, and the vegetables ever so clean and tasty. as for the fruit of central and southern persia, it is eminently excellent and plentiful. the persians themselves eat with their fingers, which they duly wash before beginning their meals, but we were given silver forks and spoons and best english knives. really to enjoy a persian meal, however, one's fingers are quite unapproachable by any more civilised device. the most sensible part of a persian meal is its comparative lack of method and order, anybody picking wherever he likes from the many dishes displayed in the centre of the room and all round him; but any one endowed with digestive organs of moderate capacity feels some apprehension at the mountains of rice and food which are placed before one, and is expected to devour. a european who wants to be on his best behaviour finds the last stages of a persian dinner a positive trial, and is reminded very forcibly of the terrible fable of the frog that tried to emulate the cow. to show the reader to what test of expansion one's capacity is put, no better evidence can be given than a faithful enumeration of the viands spread before us at the dinner here described, all of which we were made to taste. qalam pal[=a]j[=o] = cabbage pilao. chil[=a]-[=o] = white rice with a soupçon of butter. khurish-i-murgh-i-b[=a]dinj[=a]n = stew of chicken with tomatoes. kab[=a]b-i-ch[=u]ja = broiled chicken. sh[=a]m[=i] = meat sausages. dulmayi qalam = meat wrapped in cabbage leaves with onions and beans. [=a]b-g[=u]sht = soup with a lump of meat. halwa = a dish of honey, pistache, and camel's milk. k[=u]-k[=u] = omelette of eggs and vegetables. mushta = rissoles. mast = curds. kharbuza = melon. pan[=i]r = cheese. turb = radishes. pista = pistachio nuts. [=a]n[=a]r = pomegranates. zab[=a]n-i-gaw = green bombes. tursh[=i] = pickles of all sorts. rishta = white and green vermicelli cakes. murabba bihi = preserved gum. to these must be added the numerous sweets of which one has to partake freely before dinner. through dinner only water is drunk, or nothing at all, but before and after, tea--three-quarters sugar and one quarter tea, with no milk,--is served, and also delicious coffee. the capacity of persians is enormous, and on trying to emulate it we all suffered considerably. so pressing were our hosts to make us eat some of this and some of that, and to taste some of the other, that by the time we had finished we were all in a semi-conscious state. an attendant passed round a brass bowl and poured upon our fingers, from a graceful amphora, tepid water with rose-leaf scent. then our host very considerately had us led to the upper floor of the building to a deliciously cool room, wherein were soft silk broad divans with velvet pillows. five minutes later, one in each corner of the room, we were all fast asleep. it is the custom in persia to have a siesta after one's meals--one needs it badly when one is asked out to dinner. so for a couple of hours we were left to ourselves, while our hosts retired to their rooms. then more tea was brought, more coffee, more sweets. we paid an interesting visit to the village of fatabad, the older portion of which, formerly called rustamabad, had from a distance the appearance of a strongly fortified place. it had a high broad wall with four circular towers at the corners, and quite an imposing gateway. the interior of the village was curious, the habitations being adjacent to the village wall all round, and each room having a perforated dome over it. there was spacious stabling on one side for horses, and several irregular courts in the centre of the village. a long wall stretched from this village to the fatabad gardens and palatial dwelling of hussein-ali-khan, and on one side of this wall were nicely kept wheat fields, while on the other lay a capital fruit garden. in the new village of fatabad, directly outside the wall of rustamabad, there were but few houses, with an interesting underground hammam, with water coming from natural mineral springs brought here from the village of ikhtiyarabad, some little distance off. behind this village, to the west, a barrier of high rugged hills closed the horizon before us, and made the view a most delightfully picturesque one. in the evening, in the same grand carriage, we were again conveyed back to kerman, as i intended to start at midnight on my journey across the great salt desert. [illustration: sketch map showing route followed by author and principal tracks between kum and kerman (persia). drawn by a. henry savage landor.] end of vol. i richard clay and sons, limited, london and bungay. * * * * * [illustration: mahommed hussein. sadek. (author's servants.)] across coveted lands or a journey from flushing (holland) to calcutta, overland by a. henry savage landor _with 175 illustrations, diagrams, plans and maps_ _by author_ in two volumes vol. ii london macmillan and co., limited 1902 _all rights reserved_ richard clay and sons, limited, london and bungay list of illustrations _to face page_ mahommed hussein and sadek (author's servants) _frontispiece_ kerman and zeris, the two kittens who accompanied author on his wanderings 6 author's caravan and others halting in the desert 20 author's caravan in the salt desert 26 ali murat making bread 26 wolves in camp 34 author's camel men in their white felt coats 38 camel men saying their prayers at sunset 38 author's camels being fed in the desert 48 the trail we left behind in the salt desert 54 author's caravan descending into river bed near darband 58 rock habitations, naiband 58 the village of naiband, and rock dwellings in the cliff 60 young men of an oasis in the desert 64 man and child of the desert 64 naiband barber stropping a razor on his leg 68 a woman of naiband 68 fever stricken man at fedeshk 86 the citadel, birjand 86 the city of birjand, showing main street and river bed combined 90 women visiting graves of relatives, birjand. (ruined fort can be observed on hill.) 110 in the desert. (tamarisks in the foreground.) 118 women at bandan 142 dr. golam jelami and his patients 142 the main street, sher-i-nasrya (showing centre of city) 144 the british bazar (husseinabad), sistan 150 the wall of sher-i-nasrya at sunset 156 the sar-tip 162 the customs caravanserai, sher-i-nasrya, sistan (belgian customs officer in foreground) 166 the sistan consulate on christmas day, 1901 174 major r. e. benn, british consul for sistan, and his escort of 7th bombay lancers 186 the citadel of zaidan, the great city 202 the zaidan west towers and modern village 204 towers of the citadel, zaidan 206 s.e. portion of zaidan city, showing how it disappears under distant sand accumulations 208 double wall and circular unroofed structures, zaidan. in the distance high sand accumulations above city 208 interior of zaidan fortress 212 graveyard of zaidan city 212 east view of the zaidan citadel 214 the figure we dug out at zaidan 218 arabic inscription and marble columns with earthenware lamps upon them. fragment of water-pipe. stone implements. brick wall of the "tombs of forty saints" showing in top corners of photograph 218 arabic inscription on marble dug by author at the city of zaidan 220 transfer of inscription dated 1282, found in the "tomb of forty saints," zaidan 222 transfer of ornament above four lines of koran on grave stone 222 transfer of ornamentations on marble grave 222 presumed summits of towers buried in sand, zaidan (notice top of castellated wall behind.) 222 sketch plan of zaidan citadel, by a. henry savage landor 228 sketch map of summit of kuh-i-kwajah, by a. henry savage landor 238 dead houses and ziarat on kuh-i-kwajah 240 a family tomb (eight compartments) on kuh-i-kwajah 240 kala-i-kakaha, the "city of roars of laughter" 242 the "gandun piran" ziarat on kuh-i-kwajah 242 a bird's eye view of kala-i-kakaha, the "city of roars of laughter" 246 sher-i-rustam. (rustam's city) 260 the stable of rustam's legendary horse 260 the gate of rustam's city, as seen from rustam's house 262 the remains of the two upper storeys of rustam's house 266 rustam's city, showing rustam's house in citadel, also domed roofs blown in from the north 268 plan of sher-i-rustam 270 view of sher-i-rustam from rustam's house. (west portion of city under the lee of wall) 272 view of sher-i-rustam from rustam's house (south-east section of city) 274 saïd khan, duffadar and levies at the perso-beluch frontier post of robat 294 beluch musicians (at sibi) 298 beluch dance (at sibi) 304 the beluch-afghan boundary cairn and malek-siah mountains in background 306 rest house at mahommed raza chah overlooking afghan desert 310 beluch black tents at mahommed raza chah 314 rock pillar between kirtaka and saindak 314 sand hills 318 a caravan of donkeys in afghanistan 320 in afghanistan. who are you? 322 in the afghan desert. afghan caravan men 322 the thana and new bungalow at saindak. (saindak mt. in background.) 324 beluch prisoners at saindak 326 interior of rest house, mukak 332 the rest house at sahib chah 332 windmill at mushki chah 350 three beluch who would not be photographed! 350 ziarat at chah sandan. (belind khan salaaming) 362 desert covered with gypsum, near sotag 362 circular mesjid, with tomb and outer kneeling place 364 mesjid on the site where a man had been killed between kishingi and morad khan kella 364 the type of thana and new bungalow between nushki and robat 368 the nushki-robat track 372 a beluch family 382 beluch huts thatched with palm leaves and tamarisk 394 circular ziarat with stone, marble and horn offerings 398 ziarat with tomb showing stone vessels 398 beluch mesjid and graveyard at dalbandin 402 kuchaki chah rest house 410 old beluch mud fort near nushki 410 beluch huts and weaving loom 416 cave dwellers, nushki 416 a badini sardar 422 the salaam of the beluch sardars at nushki 422 the new city of nushki (overlooking the tashil buildings.) 426 jemadar and levies, nushki 428 a giant beluch recruit. (chaman.) 428 the track between nushki and kishingi 432 taleri (kanak). the new type of rest house between nushki and quetta 438 the horse fair at sibi, beluchistan 440 beluch boys off to the races--horse fair at sibi 442 map at the end of volume. across coveted lands chapter i difficulties of crossing the great salt desert--the trials of arranging a caravan--the ways of camel-men--a quaint man of the desert--a legal agreement--preparations for the departure--"kerman" and "zeris," my two persian kittens and travelling companions--persian cats--the start--the charms of camel riding--marching among mountains. my intention was to cross the salt desert in an almost easterly direction by the route from khabis to neh, which seemed the most direct route from kerman to the afghan frontier, but on mentioning my project to the consul and his persian assistant, nasr-el khan, they dissuaded me from attempting it, declaring it impossible to get across in the autumn. why it was impossible i could not quite ascertain, each man from whom i inquired giving a different reason, but the fact remained that it was impossible. the governor of kerman, all the highest officials in the town, told me that it could not be done till three or four months later, when the afghan camels would come over, laden with butter, by that route. even faithful sadek, whom i had despatched to the bazaar to get camels at all costs, returned with a long face after a whole day's absence, and for the first time since he was in my employ had to change his invariable answer of "sahib, have got," to a bitterly disappointing "sahib, no can get." a delay was predicted on all hands of at least a month or two in kerman before i could possibly obtain camels to cross the desert in any direction towards the east. the tantalising trials of arranging a caravan were not small. i offered to purchase camels, but no camel driver could be induced to accompany me. offers of treble pay and bakshish had no effect, and i found myself in a serious dilemma when a camel man appeared on the scene. his high terms were then and there accepted, everything that he asked for was conceded, when suddenly, probably believing that all this was too good to come true, he backed out of the bargain and positively refused to go. had i chosen to go by the southern route, skirting the desert _via_ bam, the difficulty would not have been so great, but that route is very easy, and had been followed by several europeans at different times, and i declined to go that way. i was beginning to despair when sadek, who had spent another day hunting in the various caravanserais, entered my room, and with a broad grin on his generally stolid countenance, proclaimed that he had found some good camels. to corroborate his words a clumsy and heavy-footed camel man, with a face which by association had become like that of the beasts he led, was shoved forward into the room. he was a striking figure, with an ugly but singularly honest countenance, his eyes staring and abnormally opened, almost strained--the eyes of a man who evidently lived during the night and slept during the day. his mouth stretched, with no exaggeration, from ear to ear, and displayed a double row of powerful white teeth. what was lacking in quantity of nose was made up by a superabundance of malformed, shapeless ears, which projected at the sides of his head like two wings. when his legs were closed--_pour façon de parler_--they were still some six inches apart, and a similar space was noticeable between each of his arms and his body. unmistakably this fellow was the very picture of clumsiness. he seemed so much distracted by the various articles of furniture in the consul's room that one could get no coherent answer from him, and his apprehension gave way to positive terror when he was addressed in flowing language by the various high officials who were then calling on the consul. their ways of persuasion by threats and promises alarmed the camel man to such an extent that his eyes roamed about all over the place, palpably to find a way to effect an escape. he was, however, so clumsy at it, that the consul's servants and soldiers checked him in time, and sadek broke in with one of his usual flows of words at the top of his voice, which, however, could hardly be heard amid the vigorous eloquence of the persians present, who all spoke at the same time, and at an equally high pitch. with a sinking heart i closely watched the camel man, in whom rested my faint and last hope of crossing the salt desert. he looked so bewildered--and no wonder--almost terror-stricken, that when he was asked about his camels, the desert, the amount of pay required, he sulkily mumbled that he had no camels, knew nothing whatever about the desert, and did not wish to receive any pay. "why, then, did you come here?" "i did not come here!" "but you are here." "i want to go away." "yes, sahib," cried the chorus of persians, "he has the camels, he knows the desert; only he is frightened, as he has never spoken to a sahib before." here a young hindoo merchant, mul chan dilaram, entered the room, and with obsequious salaams to the company, assured me that he had brought this camel man to me, and that when he had got over his first fears i should find him an excellent man. while we were all listening to the hindoo's assurances the camel man made a bolt for the door, and escaped as fast as he could lay his legs to the ground towards the city. he was chased by the soldiers, and after some time was dragged back. "why did you run away?" he was asked. "sahib," he replied, almost crying, "i am only a man of the desert; my only friends are my camels; please have pity on me!" "then you have camels, and you do know the desert; you have said so in your own words." the camel man had to agree, and on being assured that he would be very well paid and treated, and have a new pair of shoes given him, and as much tea brewed for him on the road, with as much sugar in it as his capacity would endure, he at last said he would come. the hindoo, with great cunning, at once seized the hand of the camel man in his own and made him swear that death should descend upon himself, his camels and his family if he should break his word, or give me any trouble. the camel man swore. an agreement was hastily drawn up before he had time to change his mind, and a handsome advance in solid silver was pressed into his hands to make the agreement good and to allay his feelings. when requested to sign the document the camel man, who had sounded each coin on the doorstep, and to his evident surprise found them all good, gaily dipped his thumb into the inkstand and affixed his natural mark, a fine smudge, upon the valuable paper, and licked up the surplus ink with his tongue. the man undertook to provide the necessary camels and saddles, and to take me across the salt desert in a north-easterly direction, the only way by which, he said, it was possible to cross the _lut_, the year having been rainless, and nearly all the wells being dry. it would take from twenty-two to twenty-six days to get across, and most of the journey would be waterless or with brackish water. skins had to be provided to carry our own supply of water. a whole day was spent in preparing for the journey, and when november 4th came, shortly before midnight my provisions were packed upon my camels, with an extra load of fowls and one of fruit, while on the hump of the last camel of my caravan were perched, in a wooden box made comfortable with straw and cotton-wool, two pretty persian kittens, aged respectively three weeks and four weeks, which i had purchased in kerman, and which, as we shall see, lived through a great many adventures and sufferings, and actually reached london safe and sound, proving themselves to be the most wonderful and agreeable little travelling companions imaginable. one was christened "kerman," the other "zeris." [illustration: kerman and zeris, the two kittens who accompanied author on his wanderings.] the persian cat, as everybody knows, possesses a long, soft, silky coat, with a beautiful tail and ruff, similar to the cats known in europe as angora, which possess probably longer hair on the body. the persian cats, too, have a longer pencil of hair on the ears than domestic cats, and have somewhat the appearance and the motions of wild cats, but if properly treated are gentleness itself, and possess the most marvellous intelligence. unlike cats of most other nationalities, they seem to enjoy moving from place to place, and adapt themselves to fresh localities with the greatest ease. if fed entirely on plenty of raw meat and water they are extremely gentle and affectionate and never wish to leave you; the reason that many persian cats--who still possess some of the qualities of wild animals--grow savage and leave their homes, being principally because of the lack of raw meat which causes them to go ahunting to procure it for themselves. the cat, it should be remembered, is a carnivorous animal, and is not particularly happy when fed on a vegetable diet, no more than we beef-eating people are when invited to a vegetarian dinner. isfahan is the city from which long-haired persian cats, the _burak_, are brought down to the gulf, and from there to india, but the kerman cats are said by the persians themselves to be the best. the white ones are the most appreciated by the persians; then the blue (grey) ones with differently coloured eyes, and the tabby ones. mine were, one perfectly white, the other tabby. at midnight i said good-bye to major phillott, whose kind hospitality i had enjoyed for four days, and began my slow and dreary march on camel-back. swung too and fro till one feels that one's spine is breaking in two, we wound our way down from the consulate at zeris, skirted the town, now asleep and in a dead silence, and then turned north-east among the barren kupayeh mountains. we had a fine moonlight, and had i been on a horse instead of a camel i should probably have enjoyed looking at the scenery, but what with the abnormal persian dinner to which i had been treated in the afternoon (see vol. i.)--what with the unpleasant swing of the camel and the monotonous dingle of the camels' bells--i became so very sleepy that i could not keep my eyes open. there is very little style to be observed about riding a camel, and one's only aim must be to be comfortable, which is easier said than done, for camels have so many ways of their own, and these ways are so varied, that it is really difficult to strike a happy medium. sadek had made a kind of spacious platform on my saddle by piling on it carpets, blankets, and a mattress, and on the high butt of the saddle in front he had fastened a pillow folded in two. as we wended our way along the foot of one hill and then another, while nothing particularly striking appeared in the scenery, i thought i would utilise what comfort i had within reach, and resting my head on the pillow, through which one still felt the hard wooden frame of the saddle, and with one leg and arm dangling loose on each side of the saddle, i slept soundly all through the night. every now and then the camel stumbled or gave a sudden jerk, which nearly made one tumble off the high perch, but otherwise this was really a delightful way of passing the long dreary hours of the night. we marched some nine hours, and having gone over a low pass across the range, halted near a tiny spring of fairly good water. here we were at the entrance of an extensive valley with a small village in the centre. our way, however, lay to the south-east of the valley along the mountains. we were at an elevation of 6,300 feet, or 800 feet above kerman. the heat of the day was so great that we halted, giving the camels a chance of grazing on what tamarisks they could find during day-light, for indeed camels are troublesome animals. they must not eat after sundown or it makes them ill. they are let loose on arrival at a camp, and they drift away in search of lichens or other shrubs. at sunset they are driven back to camp, where they kneel down and ruminate to their hearts' content until it is time for the caravan to start. the heavy wooden saddles with heavy padding under them are not removed from the camel's hump while the journey lasts, and each camel has, among other neck-ornaments of tassels and shells, one or more brass bells, which are useful in finding the camels again when strayed too far in grazing. we left at midnight and crossed the wide valley with the village of sar-es-iap (no. 1) four miles from our last camp. again we came among mountains and entered a narrow gorge. the night was bitterly cold. we caught up a large caravan, and the din of the camels' bells and the hoarse groans of the camels, who were quite out of breath going up the incline, made the night a lively one, the sounds being magnified and echoed from mountain to mountain. every now and then a halt had to be called to give the camels a rest, and the camel men spread their felt overcoats upon the ground and lay down for five or ten minutes to have a sleep. then the long string of camels would proceed again up the hill, the camels urged by the strange cries and sing-songs of the men. this part of the journey being mountainous, one came across three little streams of water, and at each the camel man urged me to drink as much as i could, because, he said, the time will come when we shall see no water at all for days at a time. we were gradually rising, the camels panting dreadfully, and had got up to 7,100 feet when we camped near the village of kalaoteh--a few small domed hovels, a field or two, and a cluster of trees along a brook. we were still among the kupayeh mountains with the kurus peak towering directly above us. chapter ii fifty miles from kerman--camels not made for climbing hills--the godar khorassunih pass--volcanic formation--sar-es-iap--a variegated mountain--a castle--rock dwellings--personal safety--quaint natives--women and their ways--footgear. on november 6th we were some fifty miles from kerman. again when midnight came and i was slumbering hard with the two kittens, who had made themselves cosy on my blankets, the hoarse grunts of the camels being brought up to take the loads woke me up with a start, and the weird figure of the camel-man stooped over me to say it was time to depart. "hrrrr, hrrrr!" spoke the camel-man to each camel, by which the animals understood they must kneel down. the loads were quickly fastened on the saddles, the kittens lazily stretched themselves and yawned as they were removed from their warm nooks, and sadek in a moment packed up all my bedding on my saddle. we continued to ascend, much to the evident discomfort of the camels, who were quite unhappy when going up or down hill. it was really ridiculous to see these huge, clumsy brutes quite done up, even on the gentlest incline. the track went up and up in zigzag and curves, the cries of the camel-drivers were constantly urging on the perplexed animals, and the dingle of the smaller bells somewhat enlivened the slow, monotonous ding-dong of the huge cylindrical bell--some two and a half feet high and one foot in diameter--tied to the load of the last camel, and mournfully resounding in the valley down below. and we swung and swung on the camels' humps, in the beautiful starlight night--the moon had not yet risen--on several occasions going across narrow passages with a drop under us of considerable depth, where one earnestly hoped the quivering legs of the timid camels would not give way or perchance stumble. the higher we got the more the camels panted and roared, and the cries of the drivers were doubled. one farsakh and a half from our last camp, we reached at 2 a.m. the top of the godar khorassunih pass (8,400 ft.), and we had to halt for a while to let the camels rest. the cold was bitter. camels and men were trembling all over. then came the descent. camel riding is comfortable at no time. it is passable on the flat; just bearable going up hill, but dreadful going down a fairly steep incline. the wretched beasts assumed a kind of hopping, jerky motion on their front legs, with a good deal of spring in their knees, which bumped the rider to such an extent that it seemed almost as if all the bones in one's body began to get disjointed and rattle. when the camel happened to stumble among the rocks and loose stones the sudden jerk was so painful that it took some seconds to recover from the ache it caused in one's spine. the moon rose shortly after we had gone over the pass, as we were wending our way from one narrow gorge into another, between high rocks and cliffs and mountains of most fantastic forms. we passed the little village of huruh, and at dawn the picturesqueness of the scenery increased tenfold when the cold bluish tints of the moon gradually vanished in the landscape, and first the mountains became capped and then lighted all over with warm, brilliant, reddish tints, their edge appearing sharply cut against the clear, glowing, golden sky behind them. we were now proceeding along a dry, wide river bed, which had on one side a tiny stream, a few inches broad, of crystal-like water dripping along. evident signs could be noticed that during the torrential storms of the rainy season this bed must occasionally carry large volumes of water. a foot track can be perceived on either side some twelve feet above the bed, which is followed by caravans when the river is in flood. we now entered a volcanic region with high perpendicular rocks to our right, that seemed as if they had undergone the action of long periods of fire or excessive heat; then we emerged into a large basin in which the vegetation struck one as being quite luxuriant by contrast with the barren country we had come through. there were a few old and healthy trees on the edge of the thread of water, and high tamarisks in profusion. on our left, where the gorge narrowed again between the mountains, was a large flow of solid green lava. in this basin was a quaint little hamlet--sar-es-iap (no. 2)--actually boasting of a flour-mill, and curious rock dwellings which the natives inhabit. we continued, and entered a broader valley, also of volcanic formation, with reddish sediments burying a sub-formation of yellowish brown rock which appeared in the section of the mountains some 300 feet above the plain. to the w.n.w. stood a lofty variegated mountain, the higher part of which was of dark brown in a horizontal stratum, while the lower was a slanting layer of deep red. in the valley there was some cultivation of wheat, and i noticed some plum, apple, fig and pomegranate trees. one particularly ancient tree of enormous proportions stood near the village, and under its refreshing shade i spent the day. the village itself--a quaint castle-like structure with ruined tower--was curiously built in the interior. on the first storey of the large tower were to be found several humble huts, and other similar ones stood behind to the north. these huts were domed and so low as hardly to allow a person to stand erect inside. some had an opening in the dome, most had only a single aperture, the door. the majority of the inhabitants seemed quite derelict and lived in the most abject poverty. a few yards north-east of the castle were some rock habitations. there were three large chambers dug in the rock side by side, two of one single room and one of two rooms _en suite_. the largest room measured twenty feet by twelve, and was some six feet high. in the interior were receptacles apparently for storing grain. the doorway was quite low, and the heat inside suffocating. curiously enough, one or two of these chambers were not quite straight, but formed an elbow into the mountain side. at the sides of the row of cliff dwellings were two smaller doors giving access to storehouses also dug in the rock. i was told that the natives migrated to this village during the winter months from october till one month after the persian new year, while they spend the remainder of the year higher up on the mountains owing to the intense heat. firewood, which is scarce, is stored piled up on the top of roofs, whence a little at a time is taken down for fuel, and prominent in front of the village was a coarse and well-fortified pen for sheep. wolves were said to be plentiful in the neighbourhood, and as i was sitting down writing my notes a shepherd boy ran into the tower to say that a wolf had killed one of his sheep. both from men and beasts there seemed to be little safety near the village, according to the natives, who invariably took their old-fashioned matchlocks with them when they went to work in their fields, even a few yards away from the castle. one peculiarity of this village, which stood at an altitude of 6,180 feet, was that nobody seemed to know its name. the people themselves said that it had no name, but whether they were afraid of telling me, in their suspicions that some future evil might come upon them or for other reasons, i cannot say. the natives were certainly rather original in their appearance, their ways and speech, and as i comfortably sat under the big tree and watched them coming in and out of the castle-village, they interested me much. donkeys in pairs were taken in and out of the gate to convey manure to the fields, and old men and young came in and out carrying their long-poled spades and matchlocks. even little boys were armed. the men reminded one very forcibly, both in features and attire, of the figures in ancient egyptian sculptures, of which they were the very image. they wore felt skull caps, the side locks of jet black hair cut straight across. they had clean-shaven necks and lumpy black beards. their tall bodies were slender, with short waists, and their wiry feet showed beneath ample trousers--so ample as almost to approach a divided skirt. the children were pretty, and although miserably clothed looked the very picture of health and suppleness. the women, of whom a number sat the whole day perched on the domed roofs of their huts to watch the doings of the _ferenghi_, showed their faces fully, and although professing to be mussulman made no attempt whatever at concealment. they wore picturesque light blue and red kerchiefs on the head and shoulders, falling into a point behind, and held fast in position round the skull by a small black and blue turban. a pin held the two sides of the kerchief together under the chin. the women were garbed in short, pleated blue skirts reaching just below the knee, and a short loose coat of the same cotton material with side slits and ample sleeves. they had bare legs, well proportioned and straight, with handsome ankles and long, well-formed feet and toes. when working they went about bare-footed, but when their daily occupations were finished put on small slippers. they were particularly to be admired when they walked, which they did to perfection, looking most attractively picturesque when carrying jugs of water on the head. the head had to be then kept very erect, and gave a becoming curve to the well-modelled neck and a most graceful swing to the waist. a long black cloak, not unlike a _chudder_, was worn over the head after sunset when the air was turning cold. the women did all the hard work and seemed to put their whole soul into it. some gaily spun wool on their wheels, and others worked at small, neat, but primitive weaving looms which were erected on the top storey of the castle. affectionate mothers carefully searched the hair of the heads of their children--to remove therefrom all superfluous animal life,--but to my dismay i discovered that their good-nature went so far as not to destroy the captured brutes, which were merely picked up most gently, so as not to injure them, and flung down from the castle-village wall, on the top of which this operation took place. as there were other people sitting quite unconcerned down below, no doubt this provided a good deal of perpetual occupation to the women of the castle, and the parasites were provided with a constant change of abode. probably what astonished me most was to see a young damsel climb up a tall tree in the best monkey fashion, with successively superposed arms and legs stiff and straight, not round the tree, mind you, and using her toes for the purpose with almost equal ease as her fingers. the foot-gear of the men was interesting. they wore wooden-soled clogs, held fast to the foot by a string between the big toe and the next, and another band half way across the foot. some of the men, however, wore common shoes with wooden soles. chapter iii an abandoned caravanserai--fantastic hill tops--no water--a most impressive mountain--sediments of salt--a dry river bed--curious imprints in the rock--a row--intense heat--accident to our supply of eggs--the end of a meeting--misleading maps--haoz panch--the camel-man's bread--lawah. again we left camp shortly before midnight, and ascended continually between mountains until we reached a pass 7,250 ft. above the sea, after which we came upon the abandoned caravanserai of abid (pronounced obit). on descending, the way was between high vertical rocks, and then we found ourselves among hills of most peculiar formation. the sun was about to rise, and the fantastic hill-tops, in some places not unlike sharp teeth of a gigantic saw, in others recalled stonehenge and the pillar-like remains of temples of druids. in this case they were, of course, entirely of natural formation. although there was no water in the valley into which we had descended, we camped here owing to the camels being very tired, and i took the opportunity of climbing to a neighbouring hill (6,300 ft.) in order to obtain a panoramic view of the surrounding country. to the south-east, whence we had come, were low and comparatively well-rounded mountains with two narrow valleys separated by a flat-topped, tortuous hill range. to the north-east of my camp was a high and most impressive mountain, the upper portion of which appeared at first almost of a basaltic formation, with vertical quadrangular columns, while the lower portion of the mountain, evidently accumulated at a later period, and slanting at an angle of 45°, displayed distinct strata of light brown, a deep band of grey, then dark brown, light brown, a thin layer of grey, and then a gradation of beautiful warm burnt sienna colour, getting richer and richer in tone towards the base. here at the bottom, all round the mountain, and in appearance not unlike the waves of a choppy sea in shallow water, rose hundreds of broken-up, pointed hillocks, the point of each hillock being invariably turned in a direction away from the mountain, and these were formed not of sand, but by a much broken-up stratum of black, burnt slate, at an angle of 20° in relation to an imaginary horizontal plane. [illustration: author's caravan and others halting in the desert.] it was most curious to find these enormous layers of black slate here, for they were quite different in character from the whole country around. about two miles further off, north-east, we had, for instance, a range of mountains of quite a different type, not at all broken up nor with sharp cutting edges, but quite nicely rounded off. between this range and the high peculiar mountain which i have just described--in the flat stretch--were to be seen some curious hillocks, apparently formed by water. n.n.e. was the way towards birjand, first across a long flat plain bounded before us by low greyish hills, beyond which a high mountain-range--the leker kuh--towered sublime. two mountain masses of fair height stood in front of this range, one n.n.e. on the left of the track, the other n.n.w., with a white sediment of salt at its base; while beyond could be distinguished a long flat-topped mountain with a peculiar white horizontal band half way up it, like a huge chalk mark, all along its entire length of several miles. this mountain appeared to be some thirty miles off. the mountain mass to the n.w. showed no picturesque characteristics, but a more broken-up mountain, somewhat similar to the one to our n.e., stood between my camp and the range beyond. as i have already stated, we had come along a dry river bed, and from my high point of vantage i could see its entire course to the north-west. it ran in a tortuous manner until it absolutely lost itself in the flat desert. the long snake-like hill-range separating the parallel valleys from south-east to north-west appeared to owe its formation to the action of water, the surface pebbles, even at the summit of it, being well rounded and worn quite smooth, many with grooves in them. near my camp i came across some very curious imprints in the hard rock, like lava. there were some rocks hollowed out, in a fantastic way, as if the hollows had been formed by some softer matter having been enclosed in the rock and having gradually disappeared, and also a perfect cast of a large tibia bone. on other rocks were footprints of large animals, evidently made when the lava was soft. on returning to camp i found a general row going on between sadek and the camel men--my own and those of the other caravan who had asked permission to travel with me. there was no water at this camp, and only salt water could be procured in small quantities some distance away. the intense heat had played havoc with some of my fresh provisions, and we unfortunately had an accident to the load of eggs which were all destroyed. a great many of the chickens, too, had gone bad, and we were running rather short of fresh food. the caravan men said that it was impossible to go on, because, this being such a dry year, even the few brackish wells across the desert would be dry, and they refused to come on. the greater part of the evening was spent in arguing--everybody except myself shouting himself hoarse. at midnight, the usual hour of our departure, the camel men refused to pack the loads and continue across the desert. at 1 a.m. they were preparing to leave me to return to kerman. at 1.30, my patience being on the verge of being exhausted, they most of them received a good pounding with the butt of my rifle. at 1.45, they having come back to their senses, i duly entertained each of them to a cup of tea, brewed with what salt water we had got, on a fire of camel dung, and at 2 a.m. we proceeded on our course as quietly as possible as if nothing had happened. we still followed the dry river bed among hills getting lower and lower for about three miles on either side of us, and at last we entered a vast plain. we went n.n.w. for some twelve miles, when by the side of some low hillocks of sand and pebbles we came upon a caravanserai, and an older and smaller structure, a large covered tank of rain water (almost empty) which is conveyed here from the hills twelve miles off by means of a small canal. to the s.s.e. we could still see the flat-topped mountain under which we had camped the previous day, and all around us were distant mountains. the flat plain stretching for miles on every side had deep grooves cut into it by water flowing down from the mountain-side during the torrential rains and eventually losing themselves in the sand. on the english and some of the german maps these dry grooves are marked as large and important rivers, but this is a mistake. there is not a drop of water in any of them at any time of the year except during heavy storms, when the drainage of the mountains is immediately carried down by these channels and lost in the desert. it is no more right to mark these channels as rivers than it would be to see piccadilly marked on a map of london as a foaming torrent because during a heavy shower the surplus water not absorbed by the wood pavement had run down it half an inch deep until the rain stopped. to the n.e. we saw much more clearly than the day before the extensive salt deposits at the base of the mountains, and to the n.n.e. a grey mountain with a fluted top. a high mountain mass stretched from the south to the north-west and then there was a wide opening into another flat sandy plain. far, far beyond this a distant range of high mountains could hardly be distinguished, for a sand-storm was raging in that direction and veiled the view with a curtain of dirty yellowish grey. this caravanserai, called haoz panch (or "fifth water") altitude 5,050 feet--was built by some charitable person to protect caravans during sand-storms, and also to supply them with water, which was quite drinkable, if one were not too particular, and if one did not look at it. the caravanserai, very solidly built, was left to take care of itself, there being no one in charge of it. the _kilns_ erected to bake the bricks with which the caravanserai had been built, still stood near it. it is rather curious to notice what effect a drink of fair water has on the temper of one's men. my camel man, ali murat, for that was his name, was in high spirits and came to fetch me to show me how he made his bread, for he was keen to know whether camel men(!) in my country made it the same way! i reserved my answer until i had seen his process. the hands having been carefully washed first, flour and water, with great lumps of salt, were duly mixed together in a bowl until reduced into fairly solid paste. a clean cloth was then spread upon the ground and the paste punched hard upon it with the knuckles, care having been taken to sprinkle some dry flour first so that the paste should not stick to the cloth. when this had gone on for a considerable time the paste was balanced upon the knuckles and brought gaily bounding to where the hot cinders remained from a fire of camel dung which had previously been lighted. the flattened paste was carefully laid upon the hot ashes, with which it was then covered, and left to bake for an hour or so. when ready, ali murat brought me a piece of the bread to try--which i reluctantly did so as not to offend his feelings. "do camel men in your country, sahib, make as good bread as this when they cross the _lut_ (desert)?" inquired ali murat, with an expectant grin from ear to ear. "we have no camel men in my country, and no camels, and no _lut_! how could we then get as good bread as yours?" (really, when one tried to forget the process of making it, which did not quite appeal to one, the bread was not bad.) "you have no camels, sahib,--no _lut_--in your country?" exclaimed ali, with his eyes fast expanding with surprise; "why, then, did you come here?" "we have so much scenery in my country that i thought i would come here for a change." [illustration: author's caravan in the salt desert.] [illustration: ali murat making bread.] we left the caravanserai at 11.30 p.m. on november 9th and travelled across the plain all through the night. about 4 miles from haoz panch we found an ancient mud caravanserai abandoned and partly ruined. we had the hills quite close on our right and we came across a good many dry channels cut by water. we travelled on the flat all the time, but we passed on either side a great many low mounds of sand and gravel. there was absolutely nothing worth noticing in the night's journey until we came to the small villages of heirabad and shoshabad, eighteen miles from our last camp. two miles further we found ourselves at lawah (rawar)--altitude 4,430 feet--a very large oasis with a small town of some three thousand mud huts and ten thousand inhabitants, according to native accounts. chapter iv lawah or rawar--a way to yezd--the bazaar--trade--ruined forts--opium smoking and its effects--beggar's ingenious device--in a local gentleman's home--the tokrajie--buying fresh provisions--water skins--an unhealthy climate--a fight--when fever is contracted--wolves in camp--fever stricken--a third cat purchased. lawah or rawar is, in a way, quite an important centre. it is the last place one passes before entering the salt desert proper, on the border of which it is situated, and is, therefore, the last spot where provisions and good water can be obtained. it has a certain amount of local trade and is connected with yezd by a very tortuous track _via_ bafk-kuh-benan. it has no possible resting place, and we therefore camped just outside the town. the natives were not particularly friendly and seemed inclined to give trouble. there was considerable excitement when we crossed the town in the morning on our arrival, and even more when i went to inspect the city alone in the afternoon. there was nothing to see, the bazaar in the place being one of the most miserable looking in persia. it was not domed over like those of other persian cities, but the streets were merely covered with rafters supporting brush wood and rotten mats. there were no shops proper, but various merchants, and brass-smiths, fruit-sellers, or sellers of articles for caravans, had a certain amount of cheap goods within their habitation doors. more quaintly interesting were the commercial caravanserais, or small squares with receptacles all round for travelling merchants to display their goods upon. lawah's trade is principally a transit trade, the caravans which occasionally come through the desert taking an opportunity of selling off some of their goods here, as also, of course, do those that come from yezd or kerman. there is some cultivation of wheat and cotton in the immediate neighbourhood, and of fruit, which is quite excellent. the water is not very plentiful, as can be seen by the hundreds of borings for water and disused _kanats_ to the north of the city, where most fields are to be found, while the majority of fruit gardens and trees are to the east. here, as everywhere else in persia, a great portion of the town is uninhabited and in ruins, and to the south-west, outside the inhabited part, can be seen an interesting ruined quadrangular castle with a double wall and moat with an outer watch tower besides the corner turrets. inside this castle was formerly a village. another smaller fort, also in ruins, is situated to the s.s.w. there are a great many palm trees within the place, and they produce good dates. the climate is most unhealthy, fever of the desert being rampant. great use is made of opium, which is smoked to excess by the natives and has very disastrous effects in such an unhealthy climate. personally, i have ever believed, and believe still, that opium used in moderation has no worse effects upon the light-headed human beings who choose to make themselves slaves to it than whisky or tobacco, but under these particular circumstances and in this particular climate it had undoubtedly most evil effects in just the same way that whisky, which is certainly the best drink for damp scotland, is most injurious to those who make use of it in similar doses in india. although i have visited opium dens, merely for the purpose of observing, in almost every asiatic country where opium smoking is practised, i have never seen cases quite so depressing as here. a great proportion of the population suffered from fever, to allay the sufferings of which opium was used. there was, of course, the usual contingent of sick people visiting my camp to obtain medicine for their various troubles--one fever-stricken man, with cadaverous face and skeleton-like limbs, collapsing altogether when reaching me and remaining senseless for a considerable time. as i never carry medicine of any kind in my travels i was unable to satisfy them, but i gave them some little present each, which did them just as much good. beggars, too, visited the camp in appalling numbers, and their ways were quite interesting; but none was so ingenious as that of an old woman, who waited till there was a goodish crowd of visitors in my camp, and then rushed at me and made a violent scene, saying that i must pay her 50 tomans--about £10. "but i have never seen you before! what have you done to earn such a sum?" "oh, sahib, you have ruined me!" and she yelled as only an angry old woman can! she plumped herself on my best carpet and proceeded to explain. she said that she had buried the above stated sum in solid silver within a pile of straw, which she had sold the day before to a man to feed his camels upon. she was therefore--according to a reasoning of her own, since i had not yet arrived here the day before, nor could she identify the man with any of my party--certain that my camels had devoured the sum, and i, therefore, must pay the sum back! she was, nevertheless, sure that i was not to blame in the matter, and was willing to waive the claim on the immediate payment of two shais--about a half-penny! although it is well to be as kind as one can to the natives, it is never right to allow them to go unpunished for playing tricks. of all the people--and they were many--who applied for charity that day, she was the only one who received nothing. this punishment, i was glad to see, was approved of by the many natives who had collected round. a gentlemanly-looking fellow came forward and asked me to visit his house, where he was manufacturing a huge carpet--very handsome in design, but somewhat coarse in texture--ordered for turkestan. three women in his house had uncovered faces, and were very good-looking. they brought us tea in the garden, and sweets and water melon, but did not, of course, join in the conversation, and modestly kept apart in a corner. they wore white _chudders_ over the head and long petticoats--quite a becoming attire--while the men, too, were most artistic in appearance, with smart zouave yellow jackets trimmed with fur, with short sleeves not reaching quite to the elbow, leaving the arm quite free in its movements, and displaying the loose sleeve of the shirt underneath. a couple of newly-born babies were swung in hammocks in the garden, and were remarkably quiet when asleep! on going for a walk on the outskirts of the city one found a great many fairly high mud hillocks to the east, averaging 400 feet. east-south-east there stood hundreds more of these hillocks, with taller brown hills (the leker kuh) behind them, and to the west a high peak, rising to an estimated 11,000 feet, in the kuh-benan mountains. the tokrajie mountains, south-west of lawah, did not seem to rise to more than 9,000 or 10,000 feet, and extended in a south-south-east direction. south-east we could still see the kuh legav mountain, at the foot of which we had camped on november 8th. to the north was a long mountain, with a white stratum like a horizontal stripe half-way up it, and the summit was in regular teeth like those of a saw. another similar but more pointed mountain was to the east-south-east, the white stratum being less horizontal in this portion. this curious white stripe in the hills extended over an arc of a circle from 70° (east-north-east) to 320° (north-west). we made great purchases of provisions in lawah--sheep, chickens, eggs, vegetables and fruit, the slaughtered chickens being carefully prepared in layers of salt to make them last as long as possible. then we purchased a number of sheep skins to carry a further supply of drinking water, for from this place, we were told, we should be several days without finding any. sadek was busy all day smearing these skins with molten butter to make them absolutely water tight, and i, on my part, was glad to see all the butter go in this operation, for with the intense heat of the day it was impossible to touch it with one's food. sadek's idea of good cooking was intense richness--everything floating in grease and butter; so these skins, which absorbed all the butter we had, were really a godsend to me--as far as the _cuisine_ of the future was concerned. there was something in the climate of lawah that made one feverish and irritable. in the afternoon some of the camel men had a fight with a number of lawah people, and later the camel men in a body attacked sadek. he was very plucky and quick--they were heavy but clumsy--so that sadek succeeded with a heavy mallet in giving them several cracks on the head, but as they were eight to one and closed in upon him and were about to give him a good hammering, i had to rush to his assistance and with the butt of my rifle scattered the lot about. for a moment they seemed as if they were going to turn on me; they were very excited and seized whatever they could lay their hands upon in the shape of sticks and stones, but i casually put a few cartridges in the magazine of my rifle and sat down again on my carpets to continue writing my diary. they came to beg pardon for the trouble they had given, and embraced my feet, professing great humility. four camels of the combined caravans had been taken ill with fever and had to be left behind. their cries from pain were pitiful. owing to the abundant dinner we got here, with lavish supplies of meat, fruit--most delicious figs, pomegranates and water melons--of which we partook more copiously than wisely, all the men got attacks of indigestion, and so did my poor little kittens, who had stuffed themselves to their hearts' content with milk and the insides of chickens; so that when night came, everybody being ill, we were unable to make a start. at sunset, with the sudden change in the temperature, and the revulsion from intense dryness to the sudden moisture of the dew, a peculiar feeling took possession of me, and i could feel that i was fast inhaling the miasma of fever. the natives shut themselves up inside their houses--for sunset, they say, and sunrise are the times when fever is contracted,--but we were out in the open and had no protection against it. it seems to seize one violently from the very beginning and sends up one's temperature extremely high, which produces a fearful exhaustion, with pains in the ribs, arms and spinal column. [illustration: wolves in camp.] the altitude of lawah is 4,420 ft. and therefore the nights are terribly cold in contrast to the stifling heat of the day. i had wrapped myself up in my blankets, shivering with the fever that had seized me quite violently, and the kittens were playing about near my bed. my men were all sound asleep and only the occasional hoarse roar of the squatted camels all round our camp broke the silence of the night. i eventually fell asleep with my hat over my face screening it from the heavy fall of dew. suddenly i woke up, startled by the kittens dashing under my blankets and sticking their claws into me and making a fearful racket, and also by some other animals sniffing my face. i jumped up, rifle in hand, for indeed there were some wolves visiting our camp. one--a most impudent rascal--was standing on one of my boxes, and another had evidently made a dash for the white cat; hence the commotion. the wolves bolted when i got up--i could not fire owing to the camels and people being all round--but the kittens did not stir from their hiding place until the next morning, when in broad day-light they cautiously peeped out to see that the danger had passed. with the coming day the gruesome reality had to be faced, that one and all of my party had contracted fever of the desert in more or less violent form, even the kittens, who sneezed and trembled the whole day. some of the camels, too, were unwell and lay with their long necks resting upon the ground and refused to eat. the prospects of crossing the most difficult part of the desert with such a sorry party were not very bright, but we made everything ready, and at ten o'clock in the evening we were to make a start. i purchased here a third and most beautiful cat--a weird animal, and so wild that when let out of the bag in which it had been brought to me, he covered us all over with scratches. he was three months old, and had quite a will of his own. when introduced to master kerman and miss zeris, there were reciprocal growls and arched backs, and when asked to share their travelling home for the night there was evident objection and some exchange of spitting. but as there were four corners in the wooden box and only three cats, they eventually settled down, one in each, watching the new comer with wide expanded eyes and fully outstretched claws, merely for defensive emergencies, but otherwise quite peacefully inclined. chapter v salt sediments as white as snow--brilliant stars--plaintive songs of the camel men--an improvisatore--unpleasant odour of camels--a large salt deposit--no water and no fuel--a device to protect oneself against great heat--amazing intelligence of cats--nature's ways and men's ways--a hot climb--a brilliantly coloured range--sea shells and huge fossils. on november 11th at ten o'clock p.m. we gladly left poisonous lawah and spent the night (november 12th) traversing a mountain region by a flattish and low pass, and then travelling due north entered the actual _dasht-i-lut_--the sandy salt desert, the sediment of surface salt being in some places so thick and white as to resemble snow. here and there some hillocks of sand relieved the monotony of the dreary journey, otherwise flat sand and surface salt extended as far as the eye could see. the nights, even when there was no moonlight, were so clear, and the stars and planets so brilliant, that with a little practice one could, for general purposes, see almost as well as by day. the night was terribly cold, which i felt all the more owing to the fever, as i hung resting my head on the padded pommel of the saddle and my legs and arms dangling at the sides. a howling, cutting wind blew and made it impossible to cover one's self up with blankets, as they were constantly being blown away, no matter how well one tucked one's self in them. there was a certain picturesque weirdness in these night marches in the desert--when one could dissociate one's self from the discomforts. the camel men had some sad, plaintive songs of their own--quite melodious and in good tune with the accompaniment of dingling bells hanging from the camels' necks. there was a musician in our party--ali murat's young brother--who carried a flute in his girdle during the day, but played upon the instrument the whole night--some doleful tunes of his own composition, which were not bad. true, when one had listened to the same tune, not only scores but hundreds of times during one night, one rather felt the need of a change, but still even the sound of his flute was a great relief in the dreary night marches. occasionally, when the fancy took him, and he made some variations in the airs, the camel men, who slept while mechanically walking, would join in to sing in a chorus. overhead the stars gleamed with a brightness that we can never dream of seeing in europe, and in the distance we now began to perceive some phantom-like hills rising from the whitish-grey surface of the desert. a good deal of the poetry of the desert is, nevertheless, lost each time that the camel on which you ride breathes. behold! one is brought to earth very soon! the rancid smell which comes in regular whiffs is sickening. so is the powerful stench of his hump when it gets heated by the pads of the never-removed saddle. about every two miles a few minutes' rest is given to the camels, then on again they slowly swing forward, the nose of one being attached by a long string to the tail rope of the preceding animal. [illustration: author's camel men in their white felt coats.] [illustration: camel men saying their prayers at sunset.] twenty miles from lawah, mud-hills covering underlying rock were reached, and closed us in on either side. two miles further, when it got too hot to proceed--thermometer 148° in the sun and not a thread of shade--we halted on a white salt deposit of considerable extent. there was no water and no fuel, and the heat was well-nigh unbearable in the middle of the day. it was useless to pitch my tent, for in such stifling heat it is not possible to remain under it, nor could one breathe at all if one tried to get a little shade by screening one's self against a wall of loads which impeded the air moving. my camel men showed me a device which by the ignorant may be ridiculed, but to the sensible is a great blessing when exposed to abnormally high temperatures. the only way to protect one's self against the broiling air is to cover one's self, head and all, leaving space to breathe, with one or two thick blankets of wool or thick felt, of a white or light colour preferably, white being a non-absorbent of the hot sun's rays. the thickness of the cloth keeps the body at an enveloping temperature slightly above the temperature of the body itself (even when with high fever seldom more than 104°), and therefore a cooler temperature than outside the blankets, when it is frequently 148° sometimes 150° and even more. by contrast this seems quite cool. it is, in other words, a similar process to that used by us in summer to maintain ice from melting. in morocco, algeria, egypt, arabia, the people who are much exposed to the rays of the hot sun in deserts always wear extremely thick woollen clothing, or bernouses; and in persia the camel men of the desert, as we have seen, possess thick white felt coats in which they wrap themselves, head and all, during the hot hours of the day. the italians, too, seem to have been fully aware of this, for in naples and southern italy they have an ancient proverb in the neapolitan dialect:--_quel che para lo freddo para lo caldo_--"what is protection against cold is protection against heat." i know one englishman in southern persia who, when crossing the broiling plains of arabistan, wears a thick overcoat and plenty of woollen underwear--a method which he learnt from the nomad tribes of arabistan--but he is generally laughed at by his countrymen who do not know any better. this cooling device, naturally, only applies to tropical climates when the temperature of the air is greatly above the actual temperature of the blood. i had arranged with the caravan that accompanied mine to carry fodder for my camels, as there was no grazing for the animals here. large cloths were spread on which straw and cotton-seeds were mixed together, and then the camels were made to kneel round and have a meal. on this occasion i was much struck by the really marvellous intelligence of cats. we hear a lot about dogs finding their way home from long distances by using their sense of scent (how far this explanation is correct we have no time to discuss), but of cats the general belief is that if they are taken away from home they seldom find their way back. this may be the case with cats that have always been shut up in some particular house, but it is not that they do not possess the intellect to do so in their natural state. here is an instance. on letting the cats loose when we halted, the newly-purchased one attempted to make his escape. i was watching him carefully. he did not do this in a haphazard manner, running here and there as a dog would, but jumped out of the box, took his bearings with great calm and precision and in a most scientific manner, first by looking at the sun, and then at his own shadow, evidently to discover whether when shut up in the box he had travelled east or west, north or south, or to some intermediate point. he repeated this operation several times with a wonderful expression of intelligence and reflection on his little face, and then dashed away with astounding accuracy in the direction of lawah town. mind you, he did not at all follow the track that we had come by, which was somewhat circuitous, but went in a bee line for his native place and not a second to the left or right of the direct bearings which i took with my prismatic compass to check his direction. sadek and the camel men went in pursuit of him and he was brought back. this seemed so marvellous that i thought it might be a chance. we were then only twenty-two miles from lawah. i repeated the experiment for three or four days from subsequent camps, until the cat reconciled himself to his new position and declined to run away. i took the trouble to revolve him round himself several times to mislead him in his bearings, but each time he found his correct position by the sun and his own shadow, and never made a mistake in the absolutely correct bearings of his route. a remarkable fact in connection with this is that the most ignorant natives of persia, men who have never seen or heard of a compass, can tell you the exact direction of places by a very similar method, so that there is more in the process than we think. it is rather humiliating when we reflect that what we highly civilised people can only do with difficulty with the assistance of elaborate theodolites, sextants, artificial horizons, compasses and lengthy computations, an ignorant camel man, or a kitten, can do practically and simply and always correctly in a few seconds by drawing conclusions on facts of nature which speak for themselves better than all the scientific instruments we can manufacture. there was a high mountain north-east of camp, the darband, 8,200 feet, and as my fever seemed to be getting worse, and i had no quinine with which to put a sudden stop to it, i thought i would climb to the top of the mountain to sweat the fever out, and also to obtain a view of the surrounding country. after having slept some three hours and having partaken of a meal--we had the greatest difficulty in raising enough animal fuel for a fire--i started off about one in the afternoon under a broiling sun. the camp was at an altitude of 4,350 feet and the ascent not difficult but very steep and rocky, and involving therefore a good deal of violent exertion. the dark rocks were so hot with the sun that had been shining upon them that they nearly burned one's fingers when one touched them. still, the view from the top well repaid one for the trouble of getting there. a general survey showed that the highest mountain to be seen around was to the south-south-east (150° bearings magnetic), and a couple of almost conical hills, exactly alike in shape, but not in size, stood one in front of the other on a line with 160° b.m. between them both to east and west were a number of misshapen mountains. were it not for a low confused heap of grey mud and sand the desert would be an absolutely flat stretch from the distant mountains enclosing the plain on the south to the others on the north. a long high mud barrier runs diagonally at the northern end, in a direction from east to west, and another extending from south-east to north-west meets it, forming a slightly acute angle. the latter range is of a most peculiar formation, extremely brilliant in colour, the ground being a vivid red, regularly fluted and striped across so straight with friezes and bands formed by strata of different tones of colour, that from a distance it almost resembles the patient work of a skilful artisan instead of the results of the corrosive action of water. another parallel and similar range stands exactly opposite on the east. the mountain itself to which i had climbed was most interesting. imbedded in the rock were quantities of fossil white and black sea-shells, and about half way up the mountain a huge fossil, much damaged, resembling a gigantic turtle. near it on the rock were impressions of enormous paws. chapter vi a long detour--mount darband--a water-cut gorge--abandoned watch towers--passes into the desert--a wall-like mountain range--the tower and fortified caravanserai at camp darband--brackish water--terrific heat--compensating laws of nature better than absurd patents--weird rocks--cairns--chel-payeh salt well--loss of half our supply of fresh water--camels and men overcome by the heat. when we left camp soon after midnight on november 13th, we had to make quite a long detour to take the caravan around the darband mountain, which barred our way directly on the course we were to follow. on foot one could have taken a short cut in a more direct line by climbing up to a certain height on the western mountain slope, but it was out of the question to take camels up by it. we had to go some distance due north, through very broken country with numerous hillocks, after which we followed a narrow gorge cut deep by the action of water. the sides of this gorge were like high mud and gravel walls, occasionally rocks worn smooth, averaging from 60 to 100 feet apart. the river bed, now absolutely dry, evidently carried into the desert during the torrential rain all the drainage of the mountainous country we had traversed, practically that from abid, the leker mountains, and the combined flow of the lawah plain from the mountains to the west of it, to which, of course, may be added the western watershed of the darband mountain itself. a glance at the natural walls, between which we were travelling, and the way in which hard rocks had been partly eaten away and deeply grooved, or huge hollows bored into them, was sufficient to show the observer with what terrific force the water must dash its way through this deep-cut channel. the highest water-mark noticeable on the sides was twenty-five feet above the bed. the impetus with which the rain water must flow down the almost vertical fluted mountain sides must be very great, and immense also must be the body of water carried, for the mountain sides, being rocky, absorb very little of the rain falling upon them and let it flow down to increase the foaming stream--when it is a stream. some sixteen miles from our last camp we came across a circular tower, very solidly built, standing on the edge of a river cliff, and higher up on a ridge of hills in a commanding position stood the remains of two quadrangular towers in a tumbling-down condition. of one, in fact, there remained but a portion of the base; of the other three walls were still standing to a good height. the circular tower below, however, which seemed of later date, was in good preservation. according to the camel men, none of these towers were very ancient and had been put up to protect that passage from the robber bands which occasionally came over westward from sistan and afghanistan. it had, however, proved impossible to maintain a guard in such a desolate position, hence the abandonment of these outposts. this is one of the three principal passages by which the mountains can be crossed with animals from kerman towards the east (north of the latitude of kerman 30° 17' 30"). the other two passages are: one to khabis over a pass (north-east of kerman) in the husseinabad mountains; the second between the derun mountain and the leker kuh from abid, also to khabis. from the latter place it is also possible to cross the desert to birjiand, but the lack of water even at the best of times makes it a very dangerous track to follow both for men and animals. barring these passages there are high mountains protecting kerman and continuously extending, roughly, from n.n.w. to s.s.e. we travelled partly above the high cliffs, then, near the circular tower, we descended to the dry river-bed of well-rounded pebbles and sand. our course had gradually swerved to the south-east, then we left the river bed once more and went due east, over confused masses of mud hillocks from twenty to a hundred feet high. to the north we had a wall-like mountain range formed of superposed triangles of semi-solidified rock, the upper point of each triangle forming either an angle of 45° or a slightly acute angle; and to the south also another wall-like range, quite low, but of a similar character to the northern ones. beyond it, to the south-west, twenty miles back (by the way followed) lay the darband mountain, on the other side of which we had made our previous camp. the camp at which we halted bore the name of darband, and from this point the desert again opened into a wide flat expanse. the mountains to the north suddenly ended in a crowded succession of low mud-hills, descending for about a mile into the flat. the desert in all its dignified grandeur, spread before us almost uninterruptedly from due north to south-east, as far as the eye could see. north, a long way off, one could perceive a low range of hills extending in an easterly direction, and beyond at 30° bearings magnetic (about n.n.e.) rose a very high mountain and yet another very far north-east, with some isolated conical hills of fair height standing before it in the same direction; otherwise everything else in front of us was as flat and as barren as could be. at darband halting place there is an interesting old circular tower, much battered, as if it had seen some fighting. the attacks on it seem to have taken place mostly from the south-westerly side, which aspect bears evident marks of violent assaults. the tower is most cleverly loopholed, so as to protect the inmates while firing on the enemy, and has a look-out house on the top. for additional protection the entrance door is about twenty feet above the ground and can only be reached by a ladder, which was drawn up in cases of emergency. a large dilapidated and filthy caravanserai--a regular fortress with a watch tower of its own and loop-holes all round--is erected in the vicinity in another commanding position. in the gully below there is a small oasis of palm trees and a few square yards of vegetation alongside a small spring of brackish water--the only water there is--with a reservoir. next to this, west of the caravanserai, are the remains of a few mud huts in ruins. we were here only 3,780 feet above the sea. the heat was terrific. [illustration: author's camels being fed in the desert.] brackish water is not pleasant to drink, but it is not necessarily unhealthy. personally, i am a great believer in the compensating laws of nature in preference to the ill-balanced habits of civilised men, and am certain that the best thing one can drink in the desert, under the abnormal conditions of heat, dust and dryness, is salt water, which stimulates digestion and keeps the system clean. of filters, condensing apparatuses, soda-water cartridges, and other such appliances for difficult land travelling, the less said the better. they are very pretty toys, the glowing advertisements of which may add to the profits of geographical magazines, but they are really more useful in cities in europe than practical in the desert. possibly they may be a consolation to a certain class of half-reasoning people. but anything else, it might be argued would serve equally well. one sees them advertised as preventatives of malarial fever, but no sensible person who has ever had fever or seen it in others would ever believe that it comes from drinking water. fever is in the atmosphere--one breathes fever; one does not necessarily drink it. when the water is corrupted, the air is also corrupted, and to filter the one and not the other is an operation the sense of which i personally cannot see. it has ever been my experience, and that also of others, that the fewer precautions one takes, the more one relies on nature to take care of one instead of on impracticable devices--the better for one's health in the end. i do not mean by this that one should go and drink dirty water to avoid fever,--far from it,--but if the water is dirty the best plan is not to drink it at all, whether filtered--or, to be accurate, passed through a filter--or not, or made into soda-water! one fact is certain, that if one goes through a fever district one can take all the precautions in the world, but if one's system is so inclined one is sure to contract it; only the more the precautions, the more violent the fever. but to return to our specific case, brackish water is not necessarily dirty, and as i have said, is to my mind one of nature's protections against fever of the desert. in my own case, when i partook of it freely, it decidedly kept the fever down. we made a much earlier start, at 8 p.m., on november 13th, and i had to walk part of the way as it was too steep for the camels. we had great trouble in taking them down to the dry river-bed--which we were to follow, being quite flat and therefore easier for the animals. we went along between low hills, getting lower and lower, and some two miles from the darband tower we emerged into the open, the river-bed losing itself here in the desert. during the night of the 13th-14th we travelled 28 miles on the flat until we came to more low hills, which we entered by another river-bed, also dry. we had come in a north-north-east direction so far, but we now turned due east among high, flat-topped hills which resembled a mass of ruined persian houses of a quadrangular shape, so strangely had they been carved out by the corrosive action of water. they were of solid rock, and eaten into holes here and there, which from a distance gave the appearance of windows and doors, and of caves. the river-bed on which we travelled was of soft sand--very troublesome--and minute gravel strewn here and there with large boulders fallen from the cliffs at the sides. cairns had been erected in various prominent points by caravan men, to show future travellers the way to naiband for birjiand and meshed. following this in an easterly direction we came to a large basin, and then further on to another. we continued in zig-zag for a short distance, when we arrived at a place where the river-bed makes an elbow, turning to the north. at this spot a caravanserai was in course of construction, built at the expense of some charitable person. there was only one well of brackish water, and very little of that, too. the workmen would not let us partake of it. everything, of course, had to be brought, as nothing could be obtained there, and the few workmen complained bitterly of the hardships they had to endure in going on with their work. they feared they would soon run short even of water. they were all fever-stricken, and two quite in a pitiable condition. they had little food left; most of their animals had died, and they were unable to leave. chel-payeh was the name of this well (altitude 4,420 feet). we were thirty-two miles from our last camp, and reached here at 8 a.m. on taking the loads down we had a great disappointment. sadek, who was not accustomed to ride camels, was suffering considerably, and in order to make himself comfortable he had contrived a clever device to avoid coming in immediate contact with the wooden frame of his saddle. he had fastened the two largest skins we had with our supply of good water on the top of his saddle, and having covered them over with blankets and carpets, on them, he sat and slept through the whole night. alas! the weight of his body burst both skins during the night and squeezed all the water out! so here we were, with only two small skins of fresh water left, which would have to last the whole party several days. but we were to have a further misfortune on the following march. the heat was intense--146° in the sun--not an inch of shade in the middle of the day, and the river-bed being cut into the plain, and therefore lower than the surface of the remainder of the desert, the lack of a current of air made this spot quite suffocating; so much so that both camels and men were getting quite overcome by the heat, and we had to start off early in the afternoon at 4 o'clock. chapter vii fortress-like cliffs--a long troublesome march--sixteen hours on the saddle--all our fresh-water supply gone!--fever--electricity of the desert--troublesome camel men--a small oasis--an ancient battered tower--a giant--naiband mountain and village--rock habitations--a landmark in the desert. fortress-like, vertical rocky cliffs rose to our left and enormous boulders tumbled down to our right. our direction was due north. on our right, as we were again entering the flat desert, a quadrangular fort of natural formation stood on the mountain-side. we did not halt for dinner as we could find no fuel to do the cooking with, and we marched all night (november 15th)--a most painful march, for the camels were all more or less sick and tired, and they dragged themselves jerkily, grunting and making the most awful noises all night. my fever got very bad and i was seized with bad pains in my ribs and spine. sadek and the camel men complained of feeling very ill, and the cats remonstrated from their high perch at not being let out of their box at the customary hour. to add to our happiness, one of my camels, carrying some air-tight cases with sharp brass corners, collided with the camel conveying the precious load of the two remaining water-skins which hung on its sides, and, of course, as fate would have it, the brass corners wrenched the skin and out flowed every drop of water, which was avidly absorbed by the dry sand. [illustration: the trail we left behind in the salt desert.] the character of the country was the same as on the previous day, a long stretch of flat, then undulations, after which we entered another dry canal cut deep, with vertical rocky sides, very similar to the chel-payeh except that in the bed of the gorge itself there were now enormous flat slabs of stone instead of sand and gravel, as the day before. further on we were surrounded by low hills, which we crossed by a pass, and after having been on the saddle continuously for sixteen hours we halted at eight o'clock a.m. in the middle of a broiling, barren stretch of sand, gravel and shingle. after so long a march, and under such unpleasant conditions, our throats and tongues were parched with thirst. fortunately, we still had one skin of water left, i thought, so my first impulse was to hasten to have it taken off the saddle that we might all have a sip. but misfortune pursued us. on approaching the camel that carried it, the animal was all wet on one side, and i fully realised what to expect. sadek, with a long face of dismay, took down the flabby empty skin; the water had all dripped out of it, and here we were, in the middle of the desert, no well, whether salt or otherwise, and not a thimbleful of water! the very thought that we could get nothing to drink made us ten times more thirsty, and we seemed to be positively roasting under the fierce sun. the camel men threw themselves down upon their felt coats and moaned and groaned, and the camels, who had drunk or eaten nothing for three days, appeared most unhappy and grunted pitifully. for want of better remedy we sucked pebbles, which stimulated salivation and allayed the thirst to a certain extent, but with the high fever, which brought about fearful exhaustion and severe aches, and the unpleasant, abundant electricity in the air caused by the intense dryness--which has a most peculiar effect on one's skin--we none of us felt particularly happy. the three cats were the only philosophers of the party and were quite sympathetic. they amused themselves by climbing up the camel's long necks, just as they would up a tree, to the evident discomfort of the larger animals. they had a particular fancy for sitting on the camels' bushy heads. the electricity with which the air of the desert is absolutely saturated is gradually absorbed by the human body and stored as in an accumulator. on touching the barrel of a rifle or any other good conductor of electricity, one would discharge an electric spark of some length. by rubbing one's woollen blankets with one's hands one could always generate sufficient electricity to produce a spark; and as for the cats, if one touched them they always gave out a good many sparks. at night, if one caressed them, there was quite a luminous greenish glow under one's fingers as they came into contact with the hair. quite a brilliant flash ensued when the cats were rubbed with a woollen blanket. we had only risen about 100 feet to 4,520 feet from our last camp, and we steered n.n.e. for the high naiband mountain. the camel men, taking advantage of my being ill, were very troublesome and attempted some of their tricks; but although i was absolutely at their mercy i screwed up what little strength i had and brought them back to their senses. the camels, they said, were very ill, and we could not possibly go on. we certainly could not stop where we were, and i most decidedly would not go back, so, when night came, on we went leaving camp at 10 p.m. and travelling first over a great flat stretch, then among low hills and through several ravines cut by water. we travelled some ten hours at a good pace, and when nearing the naiband mountain the country became quite undulating. on november 16th we arrived in a small oasis of high palm trees, with a streamlet of salt water forming a pool or two, dirty to a degree owing to the bad habits of camels when drinking. our camels, who had drunk nothing for several days, on perceiving these pools made a dash for them and sucked to their hearts' content gallons of water of a ghastly reddish-green tint, almost as thick as syrup with mud and organic matter, but which they seemed to enjoy all the same. there was here a much battered tower, attributed, to beluch, who are said to have fought here most bravely in times gone by, but more probably of afghan origin--or at least erected during the time of the afghan invasion. it is said to be some centuries old, but here again it is well to have one's doubts upon the matter. as i was examining the tower, which has undoubtedly seen some terrific fighting, a giant man emerged from the palm trees and came towards us. he was some 6 feet 6 inches in height, and being slender, with a small head, appeared to be even taller than he really was. he strode disjointedly towards us and was somewhat peculiar in manner and speech. he examined us very closely and then ran away up to the village--a quaint old place perched high on the mountain side and with eight picturesque towers. most of these towers were round, but a large quadrangular one stood apart on a separate hill. there were innumerable holes in the rock, which were at one time habitations, but are used now as stables mostly for donkeys, of which there were a great number in the place. the rock on which the village stood is very rugged and difficult of access, as can be seen by the photograph which i took, and the architecture of the buildings had a character peculiar to itself and differed very considerably from any other houses we had met in persia. they were flat-roofed, with very high walls, and four circular apertures to answer the purpose of windows about half-way up the wall. the roof was plastered and made a kind of verandah, where the natives spread fruit and vegetables to dry and the women had their small weaving looms. on one side of the rock, where the greater number of habitations were to be found, they actually appeared one on the top of the other, the front door of one being on the level with the roof of the underlying one. [illustration: author's caravan descending into river bed near darband.] [illustration: rock habitations, naiband.] the path to the village was very steep, tortuous and narrow. the village extended from south-west to north-east on the top of the mountain, and the separate quadrangular tower occupied a prominent position to its eastern extremity. there were palm trees and fields both to the south and east at the foot of the rocky mountain on which the village stood, and to the w.n.w. (300° bearings magnetic) of it towered the majestic naiband mountain mass, very high, one of the great landmarks of the dasht-i-lut, the salt desert. directly above the village of naiband was a peak from which, although of no great altitude--4,500 ft.--one got a beautiful bird's-eye view both of the village and the surrounding country. an immense stretch of desert spread below us, uninterrupted from north-east to south except by a small cluster of hillocks directly under us, and by the continuation towards the south-west of the naiband mountainous mass; a high mountain lay to (170° bearings magnetic) s.s.e. the highest peak of the naiband was to the north of the village, and the mountainous region extended also in a direction further north beyond the mountain that gives its name to the whole mass. s.s.e. (150° b.m.) of the village down in the plain rose an island of hills and also a few more to the east. the desert was rather more undulating in the eastern portion, but absolutely flat towards the south-west and to the south, while north-east of the village stood a weird collection of picturesquely confused brown-red and whitish mountains. most of the cultivation--only a few patches--was visible to the s.w. and e.n.e. of the village. palm trees were numerous. a spring of fresh water ran down the mountain side, through the main street of the village, and down into the fields, in the irrigation of which it lost itself. chapter viii a visit to the eight-towered village--a hostile demonstration--quaint houses--stoned--brigand villagers--a device--peculiar characteristics of natives--picturesque features--constant intermarriage and its effects--nature's freaks--children--elongating influence of the desert--violent women--beasts of burden--photography under difficulty--admirable teeth of the natives--men's weak chests--clothing--a farewell demonstration--fired at. i climbed up to the village, accompanied by one of my camel men, but our friend the giant had preceded us and given the warning that a _ferenghi_ had arrived, and we were met on the road by a number of boys and men who were running down the hill to see the new arrival. the people were not particularly respectful, and freely passed remarks, not always complimentary--in fact, most offensive; but as i was bent on seeing all that there was to be seen, i paid no heed and continued to go up. [illustration: the village of naiband, and rock dwellings in the cliff.] the camel man, who was getting quite alarmed--especially when a stone or two were flung at us--begged me to return to camp, but i would not, and as i had my rifle with me i thought i could hold my own, and certainly did not wish the natives to think that an englishman feared them. it appears that a european had visited this spot some time previously, and they had some grievance against him, but although it seemed rather hard that i should come in for the punishment which should have been meted to my predecessor, i well knew that the only way out of the scrape was to face the music. to run away would have been fatal. so we entered the village by a narrow path, while men, women and children collected on the house-tops and in the doorways and gesticulated and spouted away as fine a collection of insults as one may expect to listen to in one's life. the naiband people may certainly be congratulated on the possession of a most extensive and complete vocabulary of swear words. pretending unconcern, but keeping a watchful eye on what was taking place all round, i stopped here and there to examine the small water-skins hanging in couples or more outside each doorway, and halted in the small square of the village to admire the wretched buildings all round. the lower portion of the houses was of mud, the upper of stone. down the side of the main street gurgled the limpid little stream. each house had a sort of walled recess outside the front door, reached by a step or two, where tilling tools rested against the wall, and where the women's spinning wheels were worked during the day. the wheels, however, were now idle, for the women had joined the men in the demonstration. it was most evident that _ferenghis_ were not popular at naiband, but, come what might, here i was, and here i would stay as long as it suited me. a stone flung with considerable force hit me in the knee--stones always have a way of striking you in the most sensitive spots--and it took me some minutes before i could recover from the pain and move on; but i never let the natives suspect what agony i was enduring, or they would have done worse. the slow march through the village up to the highest point was decidedly not pleasant, missiles flying pretty plentifully all round. fortunately, no more hit me quite as badly again. the camel man had warned me that the population of naiband was a mixture of robbers and cut-throats, and the facts fully proved his words, so i was rather glad that i had taken not only my rifle with me but a pocketful of cartridges as well. things were getting rather hot, and it was only when, having reached a high point of vantage, i stopped and, in full view of the crowd, inserted a five cartridge clip in the magazine of my mannlicher, that most anxious inquiries were made from the camel man as to what i was about to do. the camel man, amid a sudden silence and eager attention, explained the terrific powers of a _ferenghi's_ rifle which, he said, never misses and ever kills, even ten miles off; and to add more humour to his words he explained that shots could be fired so quick that one had not time to count them. at this point of the lecture i casually produced a handful of cartridges from my coat pocket, and having counted them aloud, proceeded to count the people, who watched, somewhat flabbergasted. the device answered perfectly. they dropped the stones which, during the short armistice, they had carefully nursed in their hands, and some thought they had better return to their homes, the bolder ones only remaining, who put a grin of friendship on their faces, and made signs that they would try to do no further harm. peace being proclaimed, and after making them pay their salaams, which seemed the most unusual thing they ever had to do in their lifetime, i spoke to them in a friendly way and patted them on the back. they were much impressed with the rifle and wanted me to let them see it in their own hands, which, of course, i did not do. they showed me some of their houses, which were very dirty--people, fowls, and in some cases a donkey or a goat, occupying the same room. these brigand villagers were most interesting as a type. they were quite unlike the persians of the west, and they certainly had nothing in common with the afghan; nor did they resemble the people of the northern part of persia. the beluch type came nearer. it would be curious to trace exactly where they came from--although undoubtedly their features must have been greatly modified, even altogether altered, by the climatic conditions of the spot they live in. one was struck by the abnormal length, thinness and disjointedness of their limbs, and by the long, well-chiselled faces, with handsome aquiline noses, broad and high foreheads, well-defined eyebrows in a straight line across the brow, piercing eyes well protected by the brow and drooping at the outer corners, with quite a hollow under the lower eyelid; very firm mouths full of expression and power, also drooping slightly at the corners, and high cheek bones. [illustration: young men of an oasis in the desert.] [illustration: man and child of the desert.] their appearance was certainly most picturesque, and they possessed the cat-like manner and general ways of feline animals which made them appear rather unreliable but in a way quite attractive. they were evidently people accustomed to high-handed ways, and they needed very careful handling. they were frank and resolute enough in their speech--ever talking at the top of their voices, which, however, sounded quite musical and not grating. they possessed dirty but very beautifully-formed hands and feet, the thumb only being somewhat short and stumpy, but the fingers supple, long and tapering. the few lines which they possessed in the palms of their hands were very strongly marked. there was a good deal of refinement about their facial features and hands which made me think that these people came from a good stock, and even the ears--which were generally malformed with all the natives of persia which had so far come under my observation--were in this case much more delicately modelled and infinitely better shaped. the chins were beautifully chiselled, even when somewhat slanting backwards. i give here a photograph which i took of two typical young men, and which i think bears out my remarks. there was an extraordinary family resemblance in nearly all the heads one saw, which made one suspect constant intermarriage among relations in the small community. in fact, on asking, they professed to be all related to one another. another very curious point about the faces of the male members of naiband village, which contrasted with other natives of persia, was that, whereas the latter can grow heavy beards from a comparatively very tender age, the naiband young men were quite hairless on the face, almost like mongolians--even at twenty or twenty-two years of age. when they had reached a fairly advanced age, however, some forty years, they seemed to grow quite a good black beard and heavy moustache, somewhat curly, never very long, and of a finer texture than with modern persians. the hair of the skull was perfectly straight, and was worn long, parted in the middle, with an occasional fringe on the forehead. nature's freaks are many and varied. while the men had invariably long aquiline noses, elongated faces, and eyes well protected by the brow, the children, until the age of ten or twelve, had rather stumpy faces with noses actually turned up, and most beautiful large eyes softened by abnormally long eyelashes, the eyes themselves, strangely enough, being quite _à fleur de tête_. i noticed this curious phenomenon in members of the same family, and the older ones told me that when they were young their faces were also stubby and their noses turned up. the inference i drew was that it must be the climatic conditions of the desert that have the elongating effect, not only upon the facial features, but on all the limbs of the people. the people were not naturally born elongated. the climate certainly has an elongating effect on plants, or leaves, which all tend to come to a point, such as the leaves of the elongated palm trees, for instance, or any of the other spiky plants one finds in parts of the desert. there was a good deal of the demon about the women of the place, a superabundance of fire in their movements and in the expression of their flashing eyes, which was a great contrast to the slow, dignified manner of the men, when seen under normal circumstances. their frame was much more powerfully built than that of the men. the ladies seemed to be in a perpetual state of anger. that they were industrious there could be no mistake, and one could but be amazed at their muscular strength in lifting heavy loads; but, taking things all round, one was rather glad to have no friends among the naiband fair sex when one saw how their men, relations or otherwise, were pulled about by them. the men positively feared them, and the women seemed to have it all their own way. they were so violent that it was most difficult to approach them, but with some careful coaxing i succeeded in persuading the wildest and most typical of the lot to sit for her photograph, which i look upon as quite an achievement, considering that it might have cost her life or mine or both. as it was it went pretty well, and when i gave her a few silver pieces, she screamed with delight and sounded them on a stone to make sure they were good. women blackened their eyes underneath artificially, which gave them a languid but ardent appearance. their long, wild, curly hair hung loose at the side of the head, over which they wore a kerchief fastened into a knot under the chin. their costume was simple, a mere short blue cotton skirt reaching below the knee, and a little red loose shirt with ample sleeves. various silver ornaments and charms, mainly old coins, hung round their necks from leather cords. the arms and legs, quite bare, were well-shaped in most cases, and showed abnormal muscular development, due, no doubt, to the hard work the women were made to endure. they were positively used as beasts of burden--which occupation they seemed to like--while the men, i presume, lazily sat about smoking their tobacco or opium. but the body--very likely owing to the same reason--is, from a european point of view, quite shapeless, even in comparatively young women hardly above twenty. their little blouses, generally torn or carelessly left open, display repulsively pendent breasts and overlapping waists, while the abdominal region, draped by a thin skirt, appeared much deformed by undue development. these facts are given as they were typical of the majority of women in the place. the diet and the strain of lifting and carrying huge weights on the head may, to a certain extent, account for these evils. i also saw one or two cases of varicose veins. the children seemed very pale and anaemic, a condition which has been mainly brought about, i think, by the constant intermarriage among relations. [illustration: naiband barber stropping a razor on his leg.] [illustration: a woman of naiband.] men, women and children possessed admirable teeth, of a slightly yellowish tint, very thick, powerful and regular enough, although the front teeth were rather too long, especially in adults. they were, however, generally well protected and covered by the lips, almost invariably tightly closed. the people, i noticed, had a tendency to breathe mostly through the nose. their nostrils were wide, well-cut and healthy looking. they all possessed very keen eyesight, but not good hearing. the want of expansion of the men's chests was a striking feature of masculine anatomy at naiband, and, in fact, the profile silhouette of members of the naiband strong sex was not unlike that of a phonograph trumpet resting on the ground, for they wore trousers of enormous size, divided skirts of the largest pattern, pure and simple, and little jackets over them with broad sleeves and buttoned over on the right shoulder. it seemed almost that the further we got into the desert the larger the trousers of the men in the oases. some of the men had several yards of material draped round their legs, in hindoo fashion, instead of trousers. the colours of their clothes were white and dark blue, while their headgear consisted of a double skull cap, a thin, coloured one underneath and a light brown, thick felt one over it. the men were either barefooted or wore sandals. things went fairly well while we remained talking in the village, but in the meantime the entire population had turned out, and for some reason of their own again became rather boisterous. having seen all there was to be seen i made my way down to camp as slowly as possible, followed by a howling mob. the moment one had one's back turned stones flew in abundance. the camel man and i went down the steep incline, and when we reached the last houses of the village a great number of people were congregated on the roofs, who gesticulated frantically and yelled something or other at me as i passed. one or two of them had long matchlocks. we had gone but a few yards when a shot was fired at us, and a minute or so later another, but no damage was inflicted. we went on with assumed calm and stopped, apparently to look at the scenery all round, but really to watch what the howling mob behind were doing, and eventually, when we reached the foot of the mountain and were out in the open instead of among rocks, the mob, taken by panic, bolted, and we saw them scrambling with great speed up the rocky path to the village like so many rabbits. chapter ix misfortunes--suffocating heat--an expected attack--electricity--strayed camels--a barber and his ways--a track to meshed--pilgrim husband and wife across the desert--another long march--a salt stream--brackish well. many misfortunes befel us at this place. we had made our camp in the oasis of palm trees at the foot of the mountain, and as the camels were much worn out we were unable to proceed on our journey the same evening. the heat during the night under the palm trees was quite suffocating, and i had to remove my bedding into the open where one could breathe a little better. the camel men feared that during the night we might be attacked by the villagers and we made ready for any emergency, but nobody came. there was so much electricity in the air that it gave quite an unpleasant feeling, and had a curious effect upon one's skin. the cats on coming in contact with the woollen blankets discharged sparks all over, and sparks also snapped from one's fingers on touching anything that was a good conductor of electricity. a wild animal came into our camp during the night and carried away some newly-purchased hens. we had been told that there were many wolves and foxes in the neighbourhood. in the morning we were confronted with what seemed a disaster. eleven camels of our combined caravans had disappeared. had they been stolen or had they run away? the camel men were in tears, and, instead of going to look for them, sat on the loads sobbing bitterly and wiping the tears from their eyes with the skirts of their long coats. a ray of hope arose when we discovered their tracks. they had made for some hot water springs, some miles to the east, and judging from their footprints were evidently travelling at a great pace. two men on other camels were despatched after them, and we had to resign ourselves to a delay of another day. curiously enough, there was a sudden change in the temperature, and the thermometer in the sun only registered 105°, which made us feel quite chilly after the 140° and 150° of previous days. our camp was at an altitude of 3,810 ft. (at the foot of the naiband mountain). sadek took the opportunity of the delay to set everything tidy, and we had a great washing day. he sent for a barber in the village to trim his hair and beard. the naiband figaro was an extraordinary creature, a most bare-faced rascal, who had plenty to say for himself, and whose peculiar ways and roaming eyes made us conceal away out of his sight all small articles, for fear that he should walk away with them. he carried all the tools of his trade around his waist in a belt, and ground his razor first on a stone which he licked with his tongue, then using his bare arms and legs for stropping purposes, as snapshotted in the accompanying photograph. the camel men--on whom he was first requested to experiment--he shaved, splashing their faces with salt water during the process, but sadek, the next victim, produced a cake of soap with which he luxuriously lathered his own face, and which the barber scraped gradually from the chin and cheeks and every now and then deposited the razor's wipings on his patient's head. we were able to buy some fresh water skins, and this time they were really water tight. the natives, naturally, took every advantage of us in the bargains, but we were able to purchase a lot of fresh provisions, which we needed badly, and men and beasts felt none the worse for our compulsory halt. in the middle of the second night we were waked up by some distant grunts, and the camel men jumped up in great glee as they had recognised the beloved voices of some of their strayed camels. a few minutes later, in fact, the whole eleven were brought back by the two men who had gone in search of them. they had found them some twenty miles off. from lawah to naiband we had come practically due north, but from this camp to birjand the way lay due east for the first portion of the journey. at 160° b.m. (s.s.e.) in the desert rose a high mountain. we had everything ready for our departure, but the camel men were in a dreadful state as some villager had told them that the news had spread that the strong boxes which the _ferenghi_ had were full of silver and gold--as a matter of fact there was hardly any left of either--and that a raid was being arranged for that night to kill us and rob our baggage when we were starting. the camel men spent the whole day polishing up the old rifles they possessed and, much to my concern for their safety, loaded them. to allay their fears we made a sudden start at 5 p.m. instead of at the hour of 10 p.m. which had been previously arranged. one mile beyond naiband a track branches to the north-east for meshed, and here we bade good-bye to a persian husband and wife--he aged twenty-eight, she aged twelve--who in the company of a donkey, were on a pilgrimage from yezd to the sacred shrine. we had picked them up in a sorry plight in the desert, the husband riding the lame donkey, the girl on foot and shoving both from behind. i could not help admiring their enterprise. all the provisions they had carried were a few cucumbers, figs, and a load of bread, nearly all of which were exhausted when we found them. on remonstrating with the strapping youth for riding the donkey while he made his poor wife walk, he replied that they had been newly married and it would not do for a man to show consideration for a wife so soon! she, being a city girl, was a bundle of clothing and we could not see her face, but she seemed a nice meek little thing, with pretty hands and feet. on being asked whether she was tired, a thread of voice from under her _chudder_ said she was, and on being invited to ride one of my camels on the top of a load, there was a giggle which meant "yes." the selected camel was brought down on his knees, and sadek and ali murat hauled her up in the most approved style; she having an evident joke at her selfish husband for having a better mount than he after all. unfortunately, the poor child was so exhausted that after she had gone some distance, with the swaying of the camel she became fast asleep, lost her balance and fell on her head. nobody delighted in the misfortune more than her lord and master, who did not fail to impress upon her that this was evidently allah's punishment for her vanity in trying to be superior to her better half! rubbing her aching skull, and much concerned at the _chudder_ having got torn, the bride thought she had better resign herself to walk after all. here, too, as in other parts of the desert, near mountainous regions we found the usual deep, cut channels carrying into the desert the overflow of rain water from the naiband mountain, and the many little hills at its foot; otherwise in the thirty-six miles which we covered during the night there was absolutely nothing of interest. when we had gone some ten miles from naiband the camel men, tired of carrying their matchlocks, slung them to the saddles and professed the danger of an attack over. we were in the open again. i was much troubled by my fever, which had seized me violently and brought on aches all over my body. we camped at 3,480 feet, having descended 330 feet in thirty-six miles, an almost perfectly flat stretch except a hillock or undulation here and there. my fever continued so fierce the whole day that i had not the strength to stand up nor the inclination to eat, the exhaustion caused by the very high temperature being indescribable. we left at 7 p.m., meaning to make another long march. the night was intensely cold, with a terrific wind sweeping from the north-east. several times during the night, when we came across a tamarisk shrub or two, we halted for a few minutes to make a bonfire and warm our frozen hands and toes. we actually came across a stream of brackish water--four feet broad, and about two to three inches deep--the largest stream we had seen since entering the desert, and having been twelve hours on the saddle to cover only twenty-four miles, camels and men shivering pitifully from the cold, and the latter also from fever, we made camp in a spot where there was an abundance of tamarisks and a deep well, the water of which was fully twenty feet below the earth's surface. a small basin had been excavated next to the well. we filled it with water by means of a bucket, and it was a real pleasure to see the camels crowding round it and satisfying their thirst of two days. we did not allow them to drink the water of the brackish stream. the elevation of this camp was 3,890 feet. chapter x intense cold--dulled sense of taste--characteristics of the country--beautiful stones--clouds of the desert--a salt stream--icicles on the moustache and eyelashes--longing for sunrise--prayers of the camel men--fedeshk--ali murat meets his wife--opium dens and opium smokers--effects of smoking opium in excess--fever-stricken people--dwellings--an official visitor--science reduced to practice--sadek's idea of sunset and sunrise--"keshk" cheese--arrival in birjand. we left camp at 8 p.m. on the night of november 20th-21st, and by midnight the cold grew intense. the camel men lighted big bonfires all through the night wherever they found a few shrubs, but i was so ill with fever that i had not the strength and energy to dismount from my camel, on which i was shivering with cold although well wrapped up in blankets. after marching eight miles from our last camp we came to a brackish well where the camel men replenished their water-skins. i was rather interested to see what dulled sense of taste these men of the desert possessed. when i saw them making a rush for this well i thought that probably we had come to fresh water, and on asking them they said this was a well of excellent "sweet water." when i tasted it, it was so salt that it quite made one's inflamed gums and palate smart with pain. i noticed some days later that when we did actually get fairly sweet water they could detect no difference between it and the most brackish water. we had come through hilly and broken country, over low passes and narrow gorges flanking dry river-beds. then we had entered another immense flat stretch of _lut_, quite level except an occasional solitary hillock breaking the monotonous line of the horizon here and there. from one of these hillocks (4,300 feet) near our camp of november 21st one got quite an interesting panorama all round. the highest mountain in sight was still the naiband peak to the south-west of us. a range which seemed about 50 miles off spread to the north-west, and before it--about 20 miles distant from us--a very long low hill range. in an arc from our west to our north were distinguishable several high pointed peaks. a blackish brown, handsomely cut hill stood prominent a mile or so from us in the middle of the plain. to the north the country was much broken up and low. there was a stream of salt water running from east to west with thick salt deposits on each side of the water edge. to the north-east the hills showed no peculiar characteristics but to the east and south-east could be observed two short hill-ranges, much indented, of broken up and corroded rock, similar to the many we had already found across the desert. to the north and to the south of the hill range which stood to the east of us there were low passes, and behind them again the flat _lut_. the only thing of real interest in the absolutely bare parts of the desert is the geological formation of the soil and the only amusement is to examine the different beautifully coloured stones that can be picked up, such as handsome agates, bits of malachite, crystals, beautiful marbles, and flints. these are all the more interesting when one thinks that most of them may have travelled hundreds, some, thousands of miles to get there, either brought by the water when the country was submerged or shifted on and on by the wind. they all bear marks of travel, and even the hardest are polished smooth, the original natural angles of crystals being in many cases actually worn down and quite rounded. sand-polished pebbles of red jasper, jasper-conglomerates, chalcedony, quartz and agatescent quartz, pink and brown corroded limestone, and calcite were the most frequently met with. a desert is, in england, always associated with glorious sunsets. why this should be so is rather difficult to be understood by anybody reasoning in the right way, because the magnificent tints of a sunset are caused by moisture in the air and not by abnormal dryness. all the time that i was in the desert itself i never saw a sunset that really had half the picturesqueness of one of our most modest sunsets in europe. the sun disappeared very fast, leaving a slightly yellow glow above the horizon, which soon became greenish by blending with the blue sky and then black with night. the twilight was extremely short. we seldom saw clouds at all in the desert and when we did they were scrubby, little, patchy, angular lumps at enormous heights above the earth's surface. they were generally white or light grey. occasionally they were of the fish-bone pattern, in long successive ridges, resembling the waves formed on the sand surface when shifted by wind. soon after the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, these clouds generally changed their colour from white into black and made long lines stretching for great distances across the sky, but adding no beauty to it. naturally, the play of shifting lights and shadows upon the desert when the sun shone above the clouds was quite weird, especially when the last formation of clouds referred to cast long bluish shadows slowly moving upon the brilliantly-lighted, whitish tint of the ground. lower upon the horizon line a curtain of a dirty brownish tint was generally to be seen, due to particles of sand in the air, otherwise in almost all cases that came under my observation the clouds formed well-defined, thin, clean, horizontal lines, or else when very high up patchy small skiffs. one missed greatly the fat, rolling, globular clouds which are so common to europe, and which fill the sky with fantastic forms. there is such a thing as getting tired of an everlasting spread of blue sky and the glow of a roasting sun. a strong westerly gale swept low over the surface of the desert. it was very cold after sunset, but fortunately we had plenty of tamarisk shrubs at hand and camel dung with which to make big fires. the river bed below our camp was very wide, but the salt stream itself not more than three to four feet across. it eventually lost itself to the north-west in the desert. the camels had been let loose to graze and had a good feed of tamarisk, which they seemed to enjoy much after their long diet on reduced rations of straw and cotton seeds. we left this camp (4,120 feet) soon after dinner at 7 p.m., and during the night passed several ranges of hills, we travelling all the time on the flat. in the middle of the night the cold was bitter, so cold that i had icicles hanging on my moustache and eyelashes. it was impossible to remain on the camels, and ill as we all felt we had to walk--drag ourselves would be a more suitable expression--to keep ourselves from freezing. on these cold nights we simply longed for the sun to come out. the dark hours seemed interminable. one began slightly to revive when the first glimmering of yellowish light began to tinge the dark blue sky, and the dazzling stars gradually lost their brilliancy and eventually disappeared altogether from the heaven above us. on the first ray of sun appearing the devout camel men stopped the caravan, spread a small cloth upon the ground, and, having picked up a small stone, placed it in front of them. they duly turned towards sacred mecca and lifted their arms, then, muttering their prayers, knelt and placed their heads upon the ground, as we have already seen others do, in the usual mussulman manner. they were most diligent in this respect, and one could not help admiring the intent fervour of their appeals to allah. at sunset, too, their prayers never failed to be recited--no matter what they were busy doing at the time, all being interrupted for the purpose. at 5.30 a.m. we arrived at a village called fedeshk--quite a large place, situated in a flat oblong plain ten miles long and a mile and a half wide, surrounded by low hills on all sides. on being asked why he had made the camels go so fast on this march, ali murat, my camel man, blushingly confessed that in this village was his home and his wife, whom he had not seen for eight months. the anxiety to see his better half, who lived only a stone-throw from where we made camp, did not, however, prevent him looking carefully after his camels, whom he placed first of all in his affection, and smoking sadek's cigarettes, and a pipe with the other camel men, and waiting till my tea had been brewed to receive his customary six cups. after all this had been gone through, which took the best part of two hours, he disappeared and we did not see him again for the remainder of the morning. the people of fedeshk were striking for two reasons, first for being sadly fever-stricken, secondly because they were addicted to opium smoking to a disastrous degree. there were a number of opium dens in the place, and i went to see them. they were dreadful places, in which one would suspect opium smoking was not the only vice indulged in by the natives. as i entered one of these houses, after a considerable knocking at the door and a great rustling of people running about the small courtyard inside, we were admitted into a room so dark that i at first could discern nothing at all. the pungent, sickening odour of the opium pipes gave one quite a turn, and i lighted up a match to see where i was. there were men lying about on mats in a semi-stupefied state, and men attendants refilling the pipes--similar to those used in china, a cane holder with earthenware pipe in which tiny pills of opium were inserted and consumed over the flame of a small lamp. several of the men were in such a torpid state that they mechanically inhaled the opium smoke when the pipes were pressed to their lips, but were hardly cognizant of what went about around them. the opium-den keeper in the meantime did a roaring business, and had a little scale on which he weighed the opium that he served out. it seemed evident, as i lighted match after match, by certain articles of ladies' attire which in the hurried departure had been left behind in the room, that the usual attendants of the smokers were women, but they had stampeded away on our arrival. one heard them chuckle in the adjoining rooms, and in their haste, they had left behind a great many pairs of slippers at the entrance of the room. i had two men conveyed out into the sun where i wanted to examine them. the pupils of their eyes had contracted to a most abnormal extent, even before they were exposed to the sunlight, and seemed to have almost lost the power of expanding and contracting in various lights, and although the eyes were wide opened and staring they did not seem to discern what was placed before them. the eye-ball had a yellowish tinge and the iris was not well-defined but seemed to have undergone discoloration and faded away into the white of the eye. they seemed affected by a kind of temporary atrophy. the pulse beat extremely slow and faintly; the lips were drawn tight; the hearing so dulled that even loud noises seemed to have no effect upon them. the body was flabby and almost lifeless. it was not possible to obtain an answer to anything one asked them. they had quite a cadaverous appearance, with yellowish, pallid skins, sunken eyes, and teeth showing fully under the drawn lips. only now and then, as one watched them, a sigh, followed by a shiver or a grunt, came forth to show us that they were still alive. the fingers and toes displayed some muscular contraction, but not the other joints, which were quite loose. the heart beat so feebly that one could hardly feel it. they remained spread out in the yard in the positions we had placed them, and were indeed most pitiful objects. the den-keeper told me that these two men were most inveterate smokers, and were at it the whole time until they became quite unconscious. there were other men in a slightly better condition, but all more or less showing the same symptoms of stupefaction. those that could mutter words said that it was an irresistible passion that they could never stop. the opium gave them no dreams, they told me, but a delicious feeling of absolute contentment and happiness, which they could never experience when not indulging in this disastrous vice. on looking upon things impartially, however, one came to the conclusion that, bad as it was, opium-smoking had certainly more peaceful and less disgusting effects upon those unfortunates addicted to it than whiskey or absinthe, or votka drunkenness, for instance. the entire population of this village was, unfortunately, given to this bad habit, and it was quite pitiable to look upon their haggard, staring faces, and idiotic expression. malarial fever is very prevalent at fedeshk, and some of the corpse-like people affected by it came to my camp for medicine. they were not unlike walking skeletons, with stringy hands and feet and a skin of ghastly yellow colour. they had parched, bloodless ears, curled forward, and sunken cheeks, with deep sunk-in eyes. in the more virulent cases fever was accompanied by rheumatic pains so strong as practically to paralyse the legs and arms, which were reduced to a positive minimum of flesh. the dwellings of fedeshk were not impressive. mud hovels as usual, with domes over the rooms, as everywhere in persia, only the familiar aperture, instead of being directly in the centre of the dome itself, had a kind of hood over it to screen it from the terrific winds of the west. [illustration: fever stricken man at fedeshk.] [illustration: the citadel, birjand.] it is to be noticed in connection with these winds that to the west of fedeshk there are rather high mountains, and even winds originally not coming from the west may be turned back or switched in that direction by this chain of mountains. a large ice store-house is met with at the end of the village, which testifies to the intense cold that can be experienced here in the winter months. an official residing in the place sent word that he would call upon me, and we made a grand display of all the carpets we possessed to receive him. he arrived with a number of servants, and we had a very pleasant interview, with great consumption of tea. he was extremely civil; inquired whether he could be of any assistance, which was politely declined, and showed intense interest in my firearms and scientific instruments. he and his people were amazed when i told them that their village stood at an elevation of 4,620 ft. above sea level, and explained to them how i had measured the height by means of aneroids and the hypsometrical apparatus. "these are wonderful!" he said, with a salaam, as he handed me back the instruments which had been eagerly examined by all present. "and," he added, "can you also measure the length of cloth with them?" a compass, too, he had never set eyes upon; and he at first thought that it was constructed to point towards mecca! had not one long ago got accustomed to similar questions often asked one by london people, the innocence of the persian official might have taken one's breath away, but this was nothing to what happened later. the persians showed great curiosity to learn everything in connection with whatever foreign articles i possessed and the respective prices i had paid for them. then sadek was closely examined as to the amount of food i ate every day, the salary i paid him, and why i had come across the desert. was i a russian or an englishman? the officer had never seen either, but heard both well spoken of. he had understood that all englishmen had yellow hair; why had i dark hair? london, he, like most persians, believed to be a suburb of bombay, connected with russia by means of a "machine road,"--a railway! why on earth did the _ferenghi_ want to know how high mountains were? did the _ferenghi_ know how to find gold in the earth? and so on, were the queries which sadek had to answer. with repeated salaams, preceded by a thousand other questions, the official departed; but sadek, who was much excited, was still bent on a highly scientific conversation to the following effect:-"sahib," he said, "you have travelled in many countries, have you not?" "yes." "sahib, have you been to the country where the sun 'goes to sleep' in a hole in the earth every evening?" that was sadek's idea of a sunset! his idea of a sunrise was that a brand-new sun was sent up every day, and this explained how it was that it rose from the opposite side to that on which it had "gone to sleep." ali murat, looking somewhat washed out and absent minded, came back to camp at noon, garbed in a very handsome new coat which his wife had woven and embroidered for him during his absence. he was very proud of it. we left fedeshk an hour later, as i was very anxious to reach the city of birjand the same day if possible. we were now again in fairly inhabited country, and on our hurried march passed a great many villages, large and small, such as shahzileh, mazumabad, tagot, siaguih, shamzabad. further, at ossenabad, is to be seen a ruined country-house of the governor of birjand, then the last two villages of khelatekhan and khelatehajih. ali murat seemed rather dazzled on this last march, and was so worn out that he threw himself down upon the ground several times, regardless of spoiling his smart new coat. in a moment he became fast asleep, and it took some rousing to make him get up again. his wife had given him a bag of _keshk_--a kind of cheese, which looked like hardened curdled milk--and of this he partook freely to try and regain his former strength. keshk cheese was very hard stuff to eat and took a lot of chewing. to prevent it getting too hard it had to be soaked in water every few days. we had a nasty wind against us, but the way was flat and good; our direction, due east across the long narrow valley of sand, nowhere broader than a couple of miles. to the north were a number of low hills shaped like so many tents, white, grey, and light-red in colour, and also to the south, where there was an additional irregular and somewhat higher rocky mountain. in the evening of november 24th we had crossed the entire salt desert and arrived at the large city of birjand, after meshed the most important city of khorassan, the journey having occupied twenty days, which was considered a very fast crossing. there was a beautiful new caravanserai here, with clean spacious rooms, and with a most attentive and obliging keeper in charge of it. chapter xi my caravan disbanded--birjand--ruined fortress--the city--number of houses--population--the citadel--artillery--trade routes--birjand as a strategical position--a trading centre--no fresh water--the amir--indian pilgrims--birjand carpets--industries--a pioneer british trader--imports and exports--how business is transacted--russian and british goods--long credit--a picturesque caravanserai--afghan soldiers--beluch camel men. at birjand, my camels being utterly exhausted, i disbanded my caravan, paid up ali murat, and attempted to make up a fresh caravan to proceed to sistan. this would take two or three days at least, so i employed my time at first by seeing all that there was to be seen in the place, then by receiving various official callers, and last in trying to shake off the fever, which i partially did by very violent but effective methods. [illustration: the city of birjand, showing main street and river bed combined.] we entered birjand from the west by a wide, dry river bed which formed the main street of the city. a ruined fortress which seemed at one time to have been of great strength, was to be seen on the western extremity of the town on a low hillock. the interior was quite interesting, with several tiers showing how the walls had been manned for defensive purposes. the general view of birjand reproduced in the illustration was taken from the fort and gives a better idea of the place than any description. it can be seen that the city is unequally divided by the combined river-bed and main street, the northern portion (to the left of observer in the photograph) having merely an extensive graveyard, a few houses, the large caravanserai at which i had halted, and a row of shops; whereas, on the southern side was the bulk of the houses, two, three and some even four storied, all of a monotonous greyish colour, the buildings being mostly of sun-dried mud bricks. the little windows in sets of threes and fives, with brown wooden shutters, relieved to a certain extent the dulness of the architecture, while a certain relief to the eye was afforded by a dome and another building, both painted white, in marked contrast to the mud walls. many houses had long verandahs and balconies, on which the women spread their washing. as the city was built in terraces upon undulating ground and two higher hills, it covered a greater area than it at first appeared to do. the streets were very tortuous and narrow, arched over in some places, forming long dark tunnels, many of the dwellings having rooms over them directly above the roadway. making a rough guess, there were, i daresay, some 3,500 to 4,000 houses in birjand and its suburbs, with a population of not over 30,000 souls. these figures, the natives said, were about correct, but no exact statistics existed. the higher point of birjand was at its south-east portion, and at the most extreme south-east point of the town at the bottom of the hill was the high, square, fortress-like enclosure with bastions and a high tower, as represented in the illustration. it was in a dilapidated condition, but was, nevertheless, the only structure in birjand which had a claim to some picturesqueness. it was the old citadel, inhabited at one time by the amir. the wall of the citadel facing south had a large window with _musharabeah_ woodwork, and a lower building to the side. the adjacent building also had quaint balconies. a good view of the whole city was obtained from a high, isolated building to the south of the town, in the centre of a large but somewhat untidy fruit garden, an official residence, but now very little used except in cases of emergency to accommodate passing officials or distinguished people. there were some persian military officers staying there and they most kindly showed me all that there was to be seen, after having entertained me to some refreshments. they conveyed me inside the citadel where they proudly showed me a battery of six nine-pounder guns of obsolete austrian manufacture; an eighteen pounder bronze gun and another gun of a somewhat smaller calibre, both of persian make. they were very carelessly kept, there being apparently only a ragged boy or two to look after them. the officer told me that the garrison of birjand consisted of one thousand men, about one hundred of whom were stationed in birjand itself, the rest being scattered in the villages around and at one or two posts along the afghan frontier. for the accuracy of this statement, however, i leave the entire responsibility to the officer. he was much distressed when i inquired whether the soldiers were ever drilled in artillery practice, and he said it could not be done because they had not sufficient ammunition, but they possessed some gunpowder. he agreed with me that artillery would be of little use if there was no one who knew how to use it, and no ammunition at hand! birjand being so near the afghan frontier and having direct roads to meshed, herat, sabzawar, anardar, farah, lash, sistan, beluchistan, bandar abbas, kerman, yezd, isfahan, and teheran, is a place of interest from a strategic point of view. in its present condition it could not possibly offer any resistance. the city and citadel can be commanded from many points on the hills to the north-east and east, and the citadel--even allowing that it were strong enough to make a resistance--could be shelled with the greatest ease at close range from the hill on which now stands the ruined fortress west of the city. this point could be reached in perfect safety and would afford absolute cover under fire from the citadel, but with modern artillery even of moderate calibre would prove fatal to the citadel itself. birjand is probably the greatest commercial centre in eastern persia, its transit trade at various seasons of the year being very extensive from all the routes above-mentioned. agriculturally, birjand could not even support its own population, for the water supply is scanty and bad. there is no fresh water obtainable in the city, but brackish water is a little more plentiful. a small spring of good water is, however, to be found some two miles from the city, and there i daily sent a man to bring us a supply. in war time, therefore, the city could not support nor aid an army, which would fare badly if locked up here. possibly in some seasons it might supply some camels, horses and mules, but no food. that the persians themselves believe this an untenable place in time of war is evident, as this is one of the few large cities in persia which is not surrounded by a wall. the amir, or governor, does not live in birjand itself but half a farsakh, or two miles, across the plains to the s.s.e., where he has a handsome residence in a pretty garden. much to my regret i was too unwell to go and pay my respects to him, although i carried an introduction to him from h.r.h. zil-es-sultan, the shah's brother. he very kindly sent to inquire after my health several times during my stay, and the karghazar was deputed to come and convey these messages to me. one cannot speak too highly of the extreme civility of persian officials if one travels in their country properly accredited and in the right way. if one does not, naturally one only has to blame one's self for the consequences. one hears a good deal about the advantages of being a britisher in any country, and one could not help being amused at the natives of birjand who could not distinguish a european from the blackest bengalese. they were all _inglis_ to them. some natives came to announce that a caravan of twenty of my own countrymen had just arrived--which gave me quite a pleasant surprise, although i could hardly credit its truth. on rushing out of my room to greet them, i found myself confronted with a crowd of black-faced, impudent, untidy indian pilgrims from bengal, on their way to the sacred shrine of meshed. most of them were fever-stricken; others, they told me, had died on the way. these caravans have caused a good deal of friction both with the persian and russian authorities, for fear that they should bring plague into persia and transcaspia. when one saw these fanatics--religious people can be so dirty--one could not with any fairness blame the authorities for making a fuss and taking stringent measures to protect their own countries and people from probable infection. true, it should be remembered that the journey of 600 miles across the hot baluchistan desert to sistan, and the 500 more miles to meshed, ought to have been a sufficient disinfectant as far as the plague went, but their wretched appearance was decidedly against them. these pilgrims were a great nuisance; they traded on the fact that they were under british protection; they lived in the most abject fashion, continually haggling and quarrelling with the natives, and decidedly did not add to our popularity in eastern persia, to say nothing of the endless trouble and worry they gave to our officials at the consulates and on the route. as i have said, the natives do not know the difference between these men and englishmen, and believe that all british subjects are of the same stamp--by which one cannot quite feel flattered. if these pilgrimages could be gradually restricted and eventually stopped, i think everybody all round would benefit,--even the pilgrims themselves, who might possibly not feel so holy, but whose health would not be impaired by the fearful sufferings they have to endure to gain--and often obtain very prematurely--a claim to a seat in heaven. the opening up of the nushki route from quetta to sistan and meshed is responsible for the great influx of pilgrims, who have been attracted by the glowing reports of how easy it is to travel by this route. and so it is very easy, for men accustomed to that particular kind of travelling, like myself or like traders or government officials, who can travel with all they want, and just as they please, but not for people who have to live from hand to mouth and who are destitute of everything. those fellows have no idea whatever, when they start, of what they will have to endure on the road. there is not much local trade in birjand, but quite a brisk transit trade. the industries are practically confined to carpet-weaving, the carpets being renowned all over persia for their softness, smooth texture, and colours, which are said never to fade, but the designs upon them are not always very graceful nor the colours always artistically matched. the most curious and durable are the camel-hair ones, but the design, usually with a very large medallion in the centre, does not seem to appeal to european eyes. even the smallest rugs fetch very large sums. although called birjand carpets they are mostly manufactured in some of the villages north of birjand, especially at darakush. among the shops there are a few silversmiths', some blacksmiths', and some sword and gunsmiths'. the latter manufacture fairly good blades and picturesque matchlocks. the trade caravanserais in the town are quaint, but to me most interesting of all was the one approached by a sharp incline--a very old one--where an indian british trader had started business, attempting to further british trade in these regions. this man, by name umar-al-din khan, of the firm of mahommed ali of quetta, was really a remarkable fellow. if russian trade has not yet succeeded in getting a fair hold in birjand, if british trade has it so far almost altogether its own way, we have only to thank the tact, energy, patience, and talent of this man. the patriotism, enterprise, and hard labour of umar-al-din and his firm deserve indeed the greatest credit and gratitude. birjand is a most interesting point commercially because it will be here that russian and british competition in eastern persia will eventually come into collision. the main imports of the province of kain, of which birjand is the capital, are now english and russian made merchandise. english goods are so far preferred and realize higher prices, because of their better quality. the articles principally required, and for which in retail the natives are ready to pay well, are ordinary cotton, woollen and silk cloths, household iron, copper, brass vessels, loaf-sugar, glass-ware and crockery, especially of shapes suitable for persian uses. indian tea sold very well at first, but the market is greatly overstocked at present and great caution should be exercised by indian exporters. russian sugar, being of a much cheaper quality, is rapidly driving out of the place french and indian sugars, but the quality of russian sugar is so bad that of late there has been rather a reaction in favour of shahjahanpur rosa (indian) sugar. there are in birjand several native merchants having fair amounts of capital at their disposal, but it appears that the prices which they are willing to pay are so low and the credit required so long, that it is most difficult to do business with them. the retail business is, therefore, more profitable than the wholesale. the competition in russian-made cotton cloths and tea is getting very keen and the russians can sell these things so cheaply that it is not possible for indian traders to sell at their prices. also the russians have learnt to manufacture the stuff exactly as required by the natives. the glass ware and fancy goods are chiefly sold to the better class people, but no very great profits, especially to passing trading caravans, can be assured on such articles. the exports consist of wool and skins to russia, and to bandar abbas for india; carpets to russia, europe and india; _barak_, a kind of woollen cloth, to various parts of persia; opium to china _via_ bandar abbas; saffron, caraway seeds, _onaabs_, etc., to india, also _via_ bandar abbas, and some english and russian merchandize to herat. birjand is the commercial pivot, not only of the trade of north-eastern persia, but also of western afghanistan. the commercial supremacy of this town will decide whether we are able in the future to hold our own in the south or not; but once driven back from this centre we may as well--commercially--say good-bye altogether to the northern and central persian markets; while even the southern markets will be very seriously attacked, as far as goods coming overland are concerned. umar-al-din has made a most careful and serious study of the trade of eastern persia, and i am certain that if we were to encourage a number of other indian traders of the same type to establish themselves in birjand, with possible branches in meshed, england could make rapid headway against any foreign competition. being an asiatic himself, although umar-al-din has travelled, i believe, in australia, england, etc., and speaks hindustani, persian and english perfectly, he is able to deal with the persians in a way in which a european would not be so successful. he is on most friendly terms with h. e. shan-kal-el-mulk, the governor, and all the local officials, by whom he is held in much respect and who have at various times made most extensive purchases in his shop to the amount of several thousand tomans' (dollars) worth of british goods. on one occasion he imported for the amir and his son a first-class double barrel english gun of the latest type, some revolvers, a bicycle, with a lot of european furniture for which he received immediate payment in cash of 4,000 rupees. umar-al-din was the first indian trader to open a shop in birjand. by this means he has exercised great influence over the persian merchants of the place, and has induced the leading ones to trade with india, in preference to russia, by the nushki-quetta route. his good work has been reported to government by major chevenix trench, then h. b. m. consul in sistan, now consul in meshed, by lieutenant-colonel temple, major benn, and others. on his arrival in birjand he acted as agent for the british government, and was for ten months in charge of the consular postal arrangements from sistan to meshed, while advising the government on the best ways of promoting trade in those regions, a work which he did mostly for love and out of loyalty. he has experimented a great deal, and his experience is that indigo is the article which commands the greatest sale at present, then plain white and indigo dyed cottons of two qualities, a superior kind with shiny surface for the better classes, and one rather inferior with no gloss for the lower people. fancy articles find no sale. one of the greatest difficulties that a trader has to contend with is the impossibility of selling anything for ready money, and thus making small but quick profits. credit has to be given generally for one year, eighteen months, and even as long as two years. even in the few cases where credit has been allowed for one or two months the greatest difficulty is experienced in obtaining payment for the goods supplied, threats and applications to the amir being often necessary. delays are constant, although the money is always paid in the end. this necessitates keeping the prices very high to compensate for the loss, but by careful handling good profits can be made, if sufficient capital is at hand to keep the concern going. the caravanserai in which umar-al-din had hired several rooms which he had turned into a shop was now known by the name of the english caravanserai, and nearly all the caravans with indian and afghan goods halted there. when i went to visit the place there were a number of afghan soldiers who had conveyed some prisoners, who had escaped into afghan territory, back from herat to birjand. their rifles, with bayonets fixed, were stacked on the platform outside, and they loitered about, no two soldiers dressed alike. some had old english military uniforms which they wore over their ample white or blue cotton trousers. these fellows looked very fierce and treacherous, with cruel mouths and unsteady eyes. they wore pointed embroidered peaks inside their turbans, and curly hair flowed upon their shoulders. at a distance they were most picturesque but extremely dirty. a number of beluch _mari_, or running camels, were being fed with huge balls of paste which were stuffed down their mouths by their owners. these camel men were the first beluch i had come across, and although they wore huge white flowing robes, long hair, and pointed turbans not unlike the afghans, the difference in the features and expression of the faces was quite marked. one could see that they were fighting people, but they had nice, honest faces; they looked straight in one's eyes, and had not the sneakish countenance of their northern neighbours. chapter xii a loud explosion--persian military officers--dr. abbas ali khan, british agent in birjand--his excellent work--gratefulness of the natives--a quaint letter--the russian agent--a russian temporary score--more british consulates needed--visits returned--altitude and temperature of birjand--cossacks and their houses--a bright scene in a graveyard--departure of indian pilgrims for meshed--british consular postal service--russian post--making up a second caravan. early in the morning of the 26th i was awakened by a fearful explosion that shook the caravanserai and made everything in the room rattle. a few minutes later there was a second report and then a third and fourth, twelve altogether, but these fortunately not quite so loud. evidently my military friends of the previous day were firing off their artillery. shortly after this, in their gaudy uniforms and with a guard of soldiers, the officers came to call upon me at the caravanserai. "have you heard the guns being fired?" was their first anxious question. indeed i had. it appears that to make sure that i should hear them a double charge of powder was placed in the first gun. when it was let off in the very small court of the citadel the concussion had most disastrous effects upon the mud walls all round, as well as upon some of the spectators who were close at hand and who were nearly stunned by the fearful report. the officers were extremely civil, intelligent and full of humour. intense astonishment and interest was shown in my repeating rifles. they had never set their eyes upon, nor ever heard that there was such a thing as, a repeating rifle! i was, nevertheless, much struck by their quickness compared with that of the average european, in grasping the mechanism and the way to use the weapons. they seemed fully to realize that it would be of little practical use to defend birjand city in case of an attack, because it could be commanded from several excellent positions close at hand to the north-east, north and north-west. furthermore, the water supply could easily be cut off. they told me, if i remember right, that it was the intention of the persian government to strengthen this place and that some more pieces of artillery were expected. we have in birjand an indian doctor, by name abbas ali khan, who acts as british agent. he is a young fellow of uncommon ability and education, a capital doctor, and a most gentlemanly man, who has had great experience of the world, having travelled with several political missions in various parts of asia, including the pekin syndicate survey expedition under command of j. w. purvis, captain r. e., where not only did he look after the medical necessities of a large party of europeans, indians and chinese, but helped to manage a large transport of mule carts. captain purvis testifies to abbas ali having performed his professional duties with zeal, and extraneous duties cheerfully, during a journey of some 2,000 miles through china. it was in april, 1897, that abbas ali khan, at twenty-four hours' notice, accompanied major brazier creagh's mission to sistan, when british influence in that part of persia was non-existent. the mission returned to india in october of the same year, but abbas ali was sent on a second journey to sistan in charge of a small party from december, 1897, to july, 1898, when he was entrusted with political business which required great discretion and tact. it is greatly to his credit that he managed--in spite of many difficulties and obstacles--to win the confidence and friendship of officials of a district where all british subjects were regarded with undisguised suspicion and distrust. no better proof of this could be furnished than by reproducing here a literal translation of a quaint document, dated may, 1898, given him, unsolicited, by mir masum sar-tip, deputy governor of sistan, whose official seal it bears:- "god is acquainted with what is in the minds of men. beyond doubt and without hesitation it is rightly and justly stated that military doctor mirza abbas ali khan has during the period of his stay in sistan displayed his personal tact and natural ability. he has treated with great civility and politeness any person who has applied to him for medical attendance and treatment of diseases, and has in no case whatever demanded payment or anything from anybody. he has never hesitated to give gratuitous medical aid with medicines or personal attendance, and all the natives from the highest to the lowest are well satisfied and under great obligation to him. it is hoped that the trouble taken and the pecuniary loss suffered by him will be appreciated by his government. i have personally greatly benefited by his treatment of my personal diseases and ailments and i trust that he will receive great favour from his government." naturally the medicines are supplied to him by the government, but it would be becoming if the government saw its way to reward men of this type for the "soul" which they put into their work, for this it is after all that wins the esteem of the natives more than the actual cost of the medicines. a few grains of quinine, or a few ounces of castor oil have often been the means of obtaining information and advantages for the british government, which, if properly used, may be worth millions of pounds sterling. it is to these pioneers that the nation should be grateful, to these people who build sound foundations on which the empire can spread without fear of collapsing we are indebted far more than to the folks who stop at home and reap with little trouble the credit of the work which has been done by others. abbas ali has gained a most intimate knowledge of the country and people, which gives him enormous influence, and he has been the means of smoothing the way to a considerable extent for the new trade route to quetta. major chevenix trench, consul at meshed, fully testifies to this, and speaks very highly of abbas ali's political work, and so does captain webb-ware, in charge of the nushki-sistan road, who writes that in his belief the growth of british influence in sistan and birjand is due in no small degree to the tact, discretion, and conscientious discharge of duties of abbas ali. abbas ali was ordered again to persia in august, 1899, and has remained there since, stationed at birjand. the russians have established a rival agent to look after their own interests, in the person of veziroff gazumbek, a perso-russian subject and a mussulman. this man very politely called upon me in great state, wearing a decoration of the third class which had just been bestowed upon him by the shah, and accompanied by four cossacks who were on their way to the russian consulate at sistan to relieve the escort there. he and abbas ali were socially and outwardly on excellent terms, but great rivalry necessarily existed in their work. the russian had gained a temporary advantage in the eyes of the natives by the honour conferred upon him by the shah, and it was a pity that an exception to the general rule could not be made and a similar or higher honour obtained for abbas ali, whose work certainly deserves--one would think--some consideration. matters of that sort, although of absolutely no significance in themselves, are of great importance in a country like persia, where appearances cannot altogether be neglected. the british government, one feels, makes a primary and most palpable mistake in not being represented by more english consular officials, not necessarily sent by the london foreign office, but rather of that most excellent type, the military political servants, such as those who are now found in some few persian cities. the establishment of a vice-consulate here at birjand instead of a medical political agency would, i think, also, be of very great help at the present moment and would increase british prestige there. the afternoon of that day was spent in returning the visits of abbas ali khan, the russian agent, and the karghazar. everywhere i met with extreme civility. both the british and the russian agent lived in nice houses, handsomely carpeted and furnished, only abbas ali's place had a more business-like appearance than that of the russian because of the many books, the red cross trunks of medicine and surgical instruments and folding camp furniture. the house of the russian was practically in persian style, with handsome carpets and cushions, but with hardly any european chairs or furniture. birjand is very high up, 5,310 ft. above sea level, and we did not feel any too warm. the thermometer was seldom more than 60° in the shade during the day, and from 40° to 50° at night. in the evenings the four cossacks of the sistan consular escort, who had been detained here, and occupied one of the rooms of the caravanserai, sat out in the open singing with melodious voices in a chorus the weird songs of their country. these men were really wonderful. they had come down from turkestan, a journey of close upon five hundred miles, riding their own horses, with only a few roubles in their pockets, and little more than the clothing they wore, their rifles, and bandoliers of cartridges. the affection for their horses was quite touching, and it was fully reciprocated by the animals. one or two of the men slept by the horses so that no one should steal them, and the animals were constantly and tenderly looked after. there was a bright scene in the graveyard behind the caravanserai, the day that all the women went to visit the graves and to lay offerings of food, rice and dried fruit upon the tombs of their dead. little conical white tents were pitched by hawkers, and dozens of women in their white chudders prowled about like so many ghosts, or else squatted down in rows beside or upon the graves. the doleful voices of blind beggars sang mournful tunes, and cripples of all kinds howled for charity. a persian crowd is always almost colourless, and hardly relieved by an occasional touch of green in the men's kamarbands or a bright spot of vermilion in the children's clothes. the illustration representing the scene, shows on the left-hand side of the observer, the ruined fortress at the western end of the city of birjand, and the near range of hills to the north-west which, as i mentioned, would afford most excellent positions for artillery for commanding birjand. the domed building in the centre of the photograph is one of the dead-houses adjoining every cemetery in persia, to which the bodies are conveyed and prepared previous to interment. the persian government have a belgian customs official in birjand, but he generally spends much of his time travelling along the afghan frontier. he had left birjand when i arrived. [illustration: women visiting graves of relatives, birjand. (ruined fort can be observed on hill.)] with more pity than regret i watched at the caravanserai the departure of the indian pilgrims for the shrine at meshed. they had obtained a number of donkeys and mules, and were having endless rows with the natives about payment. eventually, however, the caravanserai court having been a pandemonium for several hours, all was settled, their rags were packed in bundles upon the saddles, and the skeleton-like pilgrims, shivering with fever, were shoved upon the top of the loads. there was more fanaticism than life left in them. the four cossacks, also, who were at the caravanserai received orders to leave at once for their post at sistan, and gaily departed in charge of the british consular courier who was to show them the way. this courier travels from meshed to sistan with relays of two horses each, in connection with the quetta-sistan postal service. the service is worked entirely by the consuls and by the agent at birjand, and is remarkably good and punctual considering the difficulties encountered. there is also a persian postal service of some sort, but unfortunate is the person who rashly entrusts letters to it. even the persian officials themselves prefer to use the english post. the russians have established a similar service from their frontier to sistan, but it does not run so frequently. the making up a second caravan in a hurry was no easy matter, but eventually i was able to persuade one of the men who had accompanied me across the salt desert to procure fresh camels and convey me there. this he did, and after a halt of three days we were on the road again to cross our third desert between birjand and sistan, a distance of some 210 miles. chapter xiii departure from birjand--a cloud like a skeleton hand--a downpour--the village of muht--a ruined fortress--a beautiful sunset--a pass--besieged by native callers--two towers at golandeh--strayed--curious pits--sahlabad--the impression of a foreign bed--fujiama's twin. a large and most respectful crowd collected in and out of the caravanserai to watch the departure of my caravan at five o'clock in the evening on november 27th. we were soon out of birjand and, steering a south-easterly course, passed one or two large mud enclosures with a few fruit-trees, but otherwise there was hardly any vegetation visible anywhere--even in the immediate neighbourhood of birjand. everything was as barren as barren could be. overhead the sky after sunset was most peculiarly marked by a weird, black, skeleton-like hand of perfect but gigantic proportions, spreading its long bony fingers over us. as night came on, it grew very cold and the skeleton hand of mist compressed itself into a nasty black cloud. a few minutes later a regular downpour drenched us to the skin and the camels experienced great difficulty in walking on the slippery mud. this was the first rain we had seen, or rather felt, since leaving teheran. our long-unused macintoshes had been applied to such usages as wrapping up cases of photographic plates and enveloping notebooks, so that we could not very well get at them, now that we needed them, without taking all the loads down. so we went on until our clothes were perfectly saturated, when at least we had the satisfaction of knowing that we could not get wetter than we were. the rain came down in bucketfuls for over an hour, then luckily stopped, and in a few moments, with a howling wind rising, the sky was clear again and the myriads of stars shone bright like so many diamonds. the cutting wind and our wet clothes made this march rather a chilly one, although one felt some relief at the sensation of moisture after so many months of intense dryness. there was nothing whatever to see on any side, and i have never thanked my stars so much as when, after marching thirteen hours, we reached the village of muht, a place of fair size in a picturesque little valley with nice hills on all sides. to the north-east of the village was an interesting demolished fortress standing on a low hill. it had a very deep well in the centre within its walls, which were of stone, with twelve turrets round it. at the foot of the hill was a _haoz_, or water tank, now dry, which the natives said was very ancient and which they attributed to the hindoos. to the west a lake was said to exist called kiemarakalah, by the side of a mountain not unlike a swiss roof in shape; while to the north-east of the fortress were rugged rocks and low sand-hills. the elevation of this village was 6,520 feet. we left muht at noon of the same day and passed a small village on our way, then we gradually ascended to a pass 7,050 feet high, on the other side of which was a plain--green not from vegetation, but because the clayish soil was of that colour--with hills to the east and west. it was hardly possible to imagine more dreary, desolate scenery than that through which we were going. there was not a living soul beyond ourselves anywhere in sight. the camels, which had caught cold in the shower of the previous night, had to be given a rest, and we halted again after a five hours' march. the cold was intense. whether owing to the moisture in the atmosphere, or to some other cause, we had on the evening of the 28th a really beautiful sunset. the sky was dazzling with brilliant gold and vermilion tints. at midnight we were again under way, first across flat, then over undulating country, after which we got among the mountains and between precipitous gorges. this was quite a welcome change, but not for the camels, the way being somewhat rough and stony. we had some little difficulty in going up the steep pass, 7,200 feet, the camels panting terribly. we suffered from the cold and the heavy dew which positively drenched men, camels, and baggage. it was quite as bad as having been out in the rain, we were so soaked. i, unfortunately, became ill again, fever attacking me afresh more fiercely than ever; sadek, too, and abbas ali, the camel man, were also taken very sick. on the other side of the pass we went through a steep, narrow, and most fantastically picturesque defile of rocks, and eventually passed the little hamlet of golandeh which boasts of no less than half-a-dozen mud huts and as many fruit trees. we had descended to precisely the altitude of muht, or 6,520 feet. from this village the sistan track descends for a few hundred yards and then proceeds in a south by south-east direction over a flat stretch with some hills. a very high mountain could be seen to the south by south-west and another quite pointed to the south by south-east (at 170° b.m.). to the east-south-east some twenty miles from muht, was another tiny hamlet built against the foot of the mountain along which we had come. a large plain opened before us to the south-west. at golandeh we were besieged by natives applying for medicine, as there seemed to be hardly a soul in the place who was not affected by some complaint or other. affections of the eyes were most common. those who wanted no medicine begged for money or lumps of sugar,--which latter there is apparently some difficulty in obtaining here and for which they seemed to have a perfect craving. men, women, and children implored to be given some. there were two towers at golandeh, the lower one quadrangular in shape and two-storied. the upper floor had recesses in all the rooms for storing grain and provisions. we left camp at 5.45 p.m. and all went well until about ten o'clock, when sadek took it into his head that we were travelling in the wrong direction and proceeded to put us right, i being fast asleep on my camel. the camel man, having never been on this route, did not know the way and depended a great deal on the bearings i gave him daily by my compass. when i awoke we had got sadly mixed up among big boulders and sharp broken-up rocks, from which the camels had the greatest difficulty in extricating themselves, and we wasted a good deal of time in helping the animals to get on to better ground as they continually stumbled and fell among the loose stones. the loads got undone several times and we were all three so ill that we had not the strength to tie them up again properly on the saddles. in the course of time i put the party on the right track again, and for more than one hour we went up and down steep but not high passes, through defiles, and across a small stream. we were following the dry river-bed among rocks in a gorge, and we arrived at a spot where there was a rock barrier several feet high beneath us, which made it impossible for camels to get down; so abbas ali was despatched to try and find an easier way while sadek and i were left to freeze in a cutting south-west wind. the camel man returned and led the camels back a long distance until we came to a faint track along a streamlet, which we tried to follow, but it went along such precipitous places that we had to abandon it for fear the camels, who could not get a proper foot-hold, might come to grief. in birjand i had only succeeded in obtaining just sufficient animals to carry my loads, sadek, and myself, and so was not very anxious to run the risk of losing any and becoming stranded in such an inhospitable place. we eventually contrived to take the camels down to the flat without any serious mishaps, and wandered and wandered about and went over another pass--my compass being all we had to go by. sadek, whose high fever had affected his vision, now swore that we were going back towards birjand instead of going on, and said he was certain my compass was wrong; but i paid no heed to his remarks, and by carefully steering our course with the compass--which involved a reckless waste of matches owing to the high wind--i eventually got the party into the open, upon a wide plain of sand and gravel. here, having shown abbas ali the right bearings to follow, i got upon my camel, again wrapped myself well in my blankets and went fast asleep. so unfortunately did abbas ali, who was tired out after his exertions among the rocks, and at 3 a.m. i woke up to find the camels going as and where they pleased, and the camel man, buried under his thick felt coat, snoring so soundly upon his camel that it took a good deal of shouting to wake him up. i had no idea where we had drifted while i had been asleep, and the night being an unusually dark one we could not well see what was ahead of us, so we decided to halt until sunrise. [illustration: in the desert. (tamarisks in the foreground.)] when it grew light in the morning i was much interested in some curious circular and quadrangular pits only a few yards from where we had stopped, which were used as shelters for men and sheep but were now deserted. these pits were from four to six feet deep below the level of the ground, and from ten to thirty feet in diameter (when circular), a section being partitioned for sheep by a fence of thick but soft cane that grows in the neighbourhood of water. in the part reserved for human beings there was a circular fireplace of stones, and some holes in the earth at the sides for storing foodstuff. the lower portion of the inside wall all round the pit was of beaten earth up to a height of two feet, above which a wall of stones carefully fitted one upon the other was constructed from two to four feet high, up to the level of the earth. here a projecting screen of cane was erected all round at an angle converging towards the centre of the pit, for the double purpose of preventing the sheep escaping, and of sheltering the inmates during the fearful sand and windstorms that sweep with great force along the earth's surface. the entrance was cut on one side with an incline to afford easy access to the pit. at this particular place there were altogether some fifteen of these pits, and in one of them we lighted a big fire with some shrubs we collected, and rested for some three hours to give sadek time to cook my breakfast. the difference in the temperature between the interior of these pits and the open ground was extraordinary. they were comfortably warm, even when it was unpleasantly cold as one peeped out of them. while sadek was busy with his culinary work, and the camel man chewed dried pieces of bread and _keshk_ cheese, i proceeded to find our right way. it lay about one mile to the east of the pits. on resuming our march, five farsakhs (twenty miles) from golandeh, we reached sahlabad, an unimportant village. south there was to be seen an extensive white salt deposit, which at first had all the appearance of a large lake, and a stream of salt water flowed across the large valley and through the village from north-east to south-west. to the east there was a long range of multi-coloured mountains, all with high sand accumulations at their base; greys in several beautiful tones, were prevalent, and there were stretches of black, brown, burnt sienna, and a pale cadmium yellow. to the north-west, whence we had come, low hills were visible, and to the south-west fairly high ones. sahlabad was a depressing place. the natives were in abject poverty and their habitations dismal, to say the least. the huts were partly underground, and the top aperture of the domed roof was screened by a hood with an opening to the north-east. no firewood was obtainable at this place, and the only water the natives had to drink was the salt water from the stream. at sahlabad we had descended to an elevation of 5,050 ft., which made a considerable change in the temperature. we encountered here a large caravan in charge of beluch drivers, and among other curious articles one of the camels carried a beautiful new enamelled iron bedstead. the reader may suppose that, after several months of sleeping on the ground, i wished it had been mine,--but i did not. on the contrary, i was particularly struck on that occasion by what an elaborate, clumsy, useless thing it seemed, although, as bedsteads go, it was one of the best! to the south stood a high mountain, very closely resembling in shape the world-renowned fujiama of japan, only this one had a somewhat wider angle. beyond the white expanse of salt to the south-east there was low, flattish country, but to the west, north-west and south-west, rose fairly high hills. the valley itself in which we were was some two and a half miles broad, and covered with grey sand. in the centre of the village in the neighbourhood of which we camped was a tumbled-down circular tower, and an octangular tower in two tiers, also partly ruined. the latter stood at the corner of an enclosure which at one time must have been the beginning of the village wall. chapter xiv suspicious characters--a trap--held up--no water--the haunt of robbers--fierce daily winds--volcanic formation--a crater--wall-like barriers--a salt stream--a caravan from quetta. we remained at sahlabad the whole afternoon, and we were visited in camp by a number of suspicious-looking people, who were most inquisitive to know what i possessed and how much money i carried, and other such pertinent questions which they put to sadek and my camel man. also a peculiar lot of fellows, with very ugly countenances and armed to their teeth, passed by. they were mounted on fine horses with gaudy saddles, and on coming suddenly and unexpectedly upon us seemed quite upset. instead of salaaming us, as had been usual with the few well-to-do people we had so far met, they whipped their horses and galloped away. sadek said they must be sawars--mounted soldiers. abbas ali said they were robbers from afghanistan. we shall see later what they were. at 6.30 p.m. we left--it was quite dark--and we had gone but two miles when a distant voice called upon us to stop. by his speech the stranger seemed very excited when he reached us, and said we must keep the track, to the left and not follow the one to the right where two trails branched off. we could not see his face, for he kept some twenty or thirty yards off, and besides, his face was wrapped all round in the tail of his turban. we professed to be thankful for the information, but continued on the track to the right, which seemed greatly to disturb him--at least, judging by the number of times he entreated us to follow his advice. both sadek and abbas ali corroborated my conviction that this was a trap laid for us. the man, on seeing us go a different way from the one he advised us, ran away, and presently we heard some shrill whistles which were no doubt signals to his companions. we had gone but another mile when suddenly a figure with a gun in hand sprang before us and seized the camel man by the chest. "whose caravan is this?" he shouted. "it is the _ferenghi's_," hastily replied the camel man. there was a short pause in the conversation when our interlocutor, looking up at my camel which had got close upon him, perceived himself covered by my rifle. sadek had leapt off his camel as quick as lightning and shoved the muzzle of his winchester in the man's face. as the stranger's demeanour was most peculiar and his answers incoherent as well as flippant, sadek first disarmed his adversary, then turned his own rifle the round way about and gave the man a good pounding for his impertinence in holding up my camel man. we heard a number of voices of people hidden all around. when the fellow managed to effect an escape he gave an alarm signal, and we saw a lot of black figures jump up and stampede for their lives. this furnished a little variation in our dreary night marches, and we proceeded briskly, sadek, abbas ali and i being most grateful to our unknown friends for the amusement they had provided us. some three miles further we came upon several caravans that had halted and were hiding, for they were aware of robbers being about--they had seen fresh tracks of their horses during the day and were in fear of being attacked. at first when we appeared on the scene they mistook us for brigands, and as we discovered them hidden we also mistook them for robbers, so that the beginning of our interview did not lack in humour. we had a hearty laugh over it all when their identity and ours were established, and after a few minutes' halt we continued our journey on soft sand, rather undulating, with frequent depressions in places. we travelled the whole night of december 1st, passing to the right of the salt deposits--which looked like a big stretch of country covered with snow and threw out a certain luminosity, possibly because the salt crystals reflected and condensed what light there was from the stars. as the hours of the night went by we gradually left the salt stretch behind us to the north, and proceeded on the flat for some distance. in the morning we passed a small village right up on the mountain side, one mile and a half to the west of our course. we then entered a dry river-bed between high sand hills, and having marched nineteen hours continuously camels and men were rather in need of a rest. at one p.m. on december 1st we pitched our camp in the middle of the river-bed--80 feet broad here--the only place where we could get a draught of air,--but the heat was suffocating, the thermometer registering 112°--the altitude being 5,010 feet. as we expected to find water of some kind we had omitted to fill up the skins and load the camels unnecessarily, but, unluckily, there was no water anywhere at hand. abbas ali was sent to the village we had passed--now some four miles back--to get some, but being too tired to carry the heavy skin down to us again he entrusted it to a boy, giving him full directions where our camp was. the boy did not find where we were, and in the meantime sadek and i had our throats parched with thirst. abbas ali returned at seven o'clock and had to be despatched back to the village in search of the lost boy and the water skin. it was ten o'clock when he returned, and after twenty-eight hours of dryness we had our first drink of water. it was brackish but it tasted delicious. we were compelled to remain here for the night. several caravans passed through going north, and also a lot of suspicious people, whose manner was so peculiar that we were compelled to sit up the greater part of the night and keep watch on my property. some of the caravan men who had gone through had warned us that we had encamped in a regular nest of robbers, and that three men had been robbed and murdered at this spot only a few days before. the high sand hills afford excellent hiding places for these gentry. it appears that the men on horseback whom we had seen at sahlabad, and who had bolted on coming suddenly upon us, were the high chief of the robber band and some of his confederates,--very likely on their way to birjand to dispose of booty. being so near the afghan border these fellows enjoy practical safety by merely going from one country into the other to suit their plans and to evade search parties occasionally sent out for their capture. we had come forty miles from sahlabad, and abbas ali brought us the news from the village that we should find no water on our course for fifteen miles more and no habitations for forty-eight more miles. unluckily, we had hardly enough provisions to last one day, and we perceived a fair prospect before us of having to go one day without food, when abbas ali was despatched for a third time for another eight miles' walk to the village and back to see what he could get in the way of edibles. he returned, riding a cow, in company with another man, and a third fellow on a mule carrying a fat sheep. the latter was there and then purchased and killed, and we had a copious breakfast before starting along the winding dry bed of the river at 11.30 a.m. on december 2nd. before us to the south by south-west (190° b.m.) was a lofty flat-topped mountain which appeared about fifteen miles off, and directly in front of our course was also another and more extensive long, flat-topped mountain stretching from north-east to south-west, three miles off, with precipitous sides towards the north-west and north. the sides were padded with sand accumulations which reached almost to the summit of the lower portions of the mountain barrier. to the south-west, approximately twenty miles off, stood a high range. west and north-westerly winds blew every day in a fierce manner, usually from sunset till about ten or eleven o'clock the following morning, at which hour they somewhat abated. they are, no doubt, due to the great jumps in the temperature at sunset and sunrise. on december 1st, for instance, from 112° in the sun during the day the thermometer dropped to 20° at night, or 12° of frost. on december 2nd at noon it was up again as high as 114°. we traversed a plain twelve miles long and at its south-east course, where the mountain ranges met, there occurred a curious spectacle--evidently of volcanic formation. on the top of the black hills of gravel and sand lying in a confused mass, as if left so by an upheaval, rose a pinnacle of bright yellow and red stone, with patches of reddish earth and of a dissimilar texture to the underlying surface of the hill. there seemed little doubt that both the rocky pinnacle and the red earth had been thrown there by some force--and under the projecting rocks and masses of soft earth one could, in fact, find a different formation altogether, bearing the same characteristics as the remainder of the hill surface. this was on the northern slope of that hill. as the track turned here due east, and rounded, as it were, this curious mount, we found in reality on the other side a large, crater-like basin with lips of confused masses of earth both vermilion and of vivid burnt sienna colour, as well as most peculiar mud-heaps in a spiral formation all round the crater, looking as if worn into that shape by some boiling liquid substance. to the south-east, on the very top of a hill of older formation, was perched at a dangerous angle another great yellow boulder like the one we had seen on the north side of the crater. for a diameter of several hundred yards the earth was much disturbed. one mile further south-east, in traversing a basin a mile broad, it was impossible not to notice a curious range of hills with some strange enormous baked boulders--(they had evidently been exposed to terrific heat)--standing upright or at different angles to the east side of the hills, stuck partly in the sand and salt with which the ground was here covered. irregular and unsystematic heaps of rock, on which sand had accumulated up to a certain height, were to be seen to the south, and huge boulders of rich colour lay scattered here and there; whereas near the mountains which enclosed the basin both to south and east there were thousands of little hillocks of rock and sand in the most disconnected order. as we went on, two perpendicular flat-topped barriers were before us to the east--like gigantic walls--one somewhat higher than the other, and of a picturesque dark burnt sienna colour in horizontal strata. the whole country about here seemed to have been much deranged at different periods. we passed hillocks in vertical strata of slate-like brittle stone, in long quadrangular prisms, but evidently these strata had solidified in a horizontal position and had been turned over by a sudden commotion of the earth. this conclusion was strengthened by the fact that the same formation in a horizontal position was noticeable all along, the strata in one or two places showing strange distortions, with actual bends, continuing in curves not unlike the letter s. in the dry river bed there were large rocks cut into the shape of tables on a single pillar stand, but these were, of course, made by the erosion of water, and at a subsequent date. further on we found a tiny stream of salt water in the picturesque gorge--as weird and puzzling a bit of scenery as can be found in persia, if one carefully examined each hill, each rock, and tried to speculate on their formation. from the rocks--a hundred feet or so above the salt stream,--we came to a spring--if one could call it by that name--of delicious sweet water. the water dripped at the rate of about a tumbler-full an hour, but a gallon or two had collected in a pool directly under the rock, with a refreshing border of green grass round it. we gladly and carefully transferred the liquid into one of the skins by means of a cup judiciously handled so as not to take up the deep sediment of mud in the shallow pool. we came across a very large caravan from quetta in charge of some beluch drivers, and--after one's experience of how things are packed by persian caravans--one was greatly struck by the neat wooden packing boxes, duly marked and numbered. i inquired whose caravan it was, and the beluch said it belonged to two english sahibs who were ten miles behind, and were expected to catch it up during the night. the names of the two sahibs were so mispronounced by the beluch that i could not, to save my life, understand what they were. we halted in the gorge at four o'clock, having come only sixteen miles from my last camp. altitude, 4,440 feet. chapter xv sadek's wastefulness--meeting two enterprising english traders--another circular crater--wind and electricity in the air--their effects--a fortress--soldiers and brigandage--zemahlabad--windmills--bandan--ancient tombs--picturesque women--lost our way--a welcome messenger--nasirabad--"ruski" or "inglis"--several miles of villages and houses--english maps and foreign names--greeted by major benn. we intended continuing our journey after dinner. this camp being well screened on all sides, sadek gave way to his ambition to have the camp lighted up by a number of candles, with which he was always most wasteful. he had two candles alight where he was doing his cooking, i had two more to do my writing by, abbas ali had also two to do nothing by. luckily, there was not a breath of wind to disturb the illumination. towards nine o'clock we heard noises of camels' and horses' hoofs stumbling against the rocks down the gorge, and my ears caught the welcome sound of english voices. "what can all those lights be?" said one. "they look like candles," replied the other. "they _are_ candles!" i intervened. "will you not get off your horses and have some dinner with me by the light of them?" "who in the world is that?" queried one of the riders of the other, evidently taken aback at being addressed in english in such a queer place and at such a time of the night. "my name is henry savage landor." "what? not tibet landor? our names are clemenson and marsh--but what in the world are you doing here? have you not some companions?" "yes, i have. here they are: three persian kittens!" as mr. clemenson had some big dogs with him, the moment the cats were let out of the box to be introduced there was a chase, but the kittens climbed in due haste up the side of the cliff and left the disappointed dogs below to bark. on this high point of vantage they squatted down and watched our proceedings below with the greatest interest. it was a real delight to meet countrymen of one's own after so many weeks of loneliness. these two enterprising english traders had brought over a very large caravan from quetta, and were on their way to meshed, having done good business in sistan. they had with them every possible article they could think of, from tea to phonographs, lamps, razors, music boxes, magic lanterns, bedsteads, cottons, silks, cloths, chairs, glass-ware, clocks, watches, and i do not know what else. i believe that it was the largest caravan of that kind that had ever come over to persia from beluchistan. after a pleasant interview of an hour or so, and what humble refreshments i could offer, they were compelled to continue their journey to the north. the kittens, having anxiously watched the departure of mr. clemenson's dogs, leapt back from rock to rock and down on to my carpet, all three sitting as usual in a row in front of my plate while i was having my dinner, with their greedy eyes on the meat, and occasionally also one of their paws. we did not make a start till 2.30 a.m., when there was moonlight, as the way was very bad among stones and boulders. for a short distance we travelled between high cliffs and boulders, then between low hills much further apart. on our left we came to a most peculiar formation of rock which seemed almost like a castle, and from this point we got into a long and wide plain, most uninteresting and swarming with a troublesome kind of small fly. a rugged mountain to the north, being higher and more vividly coloured than the rest, attracted the eye, as one tried hard to find something to admire in the scenery; and to the south-west we saw the back view of the flat-topped plateau we had skirted the day before. to the s.s.w. lay another flat-topped high mountain like the section of a cone which we had noticed on our previous march. we were now marching due east, and after some sixteen miles' journey from our last camp we again entered a hilly portion of country. we made a halt of three hours, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., to have our breakfast. then we entered the hills by one of the usual dry channels formed by the water washing down with great force in rainy weather from the hillsides. after half a mile we emerged again into another plain, three miles long and about equally wide, with very broken, low rocky mountains to the east, and low sand hills to the south. to the south-east, in the direction we were following, stood a massive-looking mountain, which, however, possessed no very beautiful lines. more interesting and quaint was the circular crater in a conical mountain to the north-east of the long dreary plain we were now traversing. the mouth of this large crater was much lower on the south-west side than on the north-east, thus exposing to the full view of the traveller the entire opening in the centre of the mountain, reddish-brown in colour. having gone some twelve miles more, we stopped, at four in the afternoon, in a bitterly penetrating cold wind, which seemed to have a most uncomfortable effect upon one's nervous system. whether it was that the intense dryness caused an excess of electricity, or what, i do not know, but one ached all over in a frightful manner, and experienced the same tendon-contracting feeling as when exposed to an electric current. one farsakh before reaching camp we had passed the camping ground of angiloh, where a tiny drip of fresh water exists. we happily found here a quantity of wood, abandoned by the clemenson caravan, which we put on our camels and carried further down into the plain, where, having found a depression in the ground affording some shelter from the fearful wind, we halted to wait until the moon rose. my fever seized me violently on that night, and i experienced intense pain in my spine, my legs and arms, more especially in places where i had received wounds on previous journeys. we left again in the middle of the night at 3 a.m., and a great effort it was, too, to get out of one's warm blankets and scramble on the camel, aching as i was all over, and with the indescribable exhaustion that fever of the desert brings on. luckily, with the rising of the moon, the wind had somewhat abated, but the electricity in the air was as unpleasant as it was extraordinary. one was absolutely saturated with it, and discharged sparks from one's finger-tips when one touched anything that was a good conductor. in the morning at the foot of the mountains we passed a large fortress where, they told me, twenty soldiers had been stationed the previous year in order to suppress brigandage that had been rampant here. both afghan and sistan robbers seemed to be most partial to this spot, probably because it is that at which all the caravans from birjand and meshed converge on their way to sistan. we actually perceived some trees in the distance, and at last we arrived at zemahlabad, a quadrangular fort, with two such peculiar structures at the sides that i really could not at first guess what they were. sadek, called upon to explain, was no wiser, and we had to find a solution to our speculation from one of the local authorities. they were windmills, and most ingenious and simple they were, too, when once one had grasped the mechanism of them. only in their case the large opening to the east and west, to let in and out the wind, had been screened with elaborate wood-work, and it was not easy to understand the principle of the device until one visited the interior. we shall come later in our journey to some quite superior ones, which i will endeavour to describe. there were many palm trees at this place and some few patches of vegetation. a great many mat-sheds had been erected, and hundreds of cows were to be seen; the land, being marshy, provided fair pasturages. (altitude 2,700 ft.) to the extreme east of the long valley we had traversed the bandan mountains, converged into an acute angle with those on the opposite side of the valley, and on the north-east side we had again the same formation of rock in horizontal strata with some contortions at its western end. a salt stream flowed here through a narrow gorge, between the picturesque, wall-like barrier to the north and the handsome hills to the south-west. a great number of palm trees gave quite a tropical appearance to this gorge, although the whitish sand mixed with salt impressed one like dirty snow, and the sky was also whitish and promising real snow. it was none too hot--thermometer 34°. just before reaching bandan--also called darban by some natives (2,870 ft.)--we noticed on the precipitous slopes of the mountain to the south-west several buildings in ruins, said to be ancient tombs. they were domed. at the foot of the mountain were the remains of a village. bandan consisted of a quadrangular walled village with five high towers and two more partly collapsed. the lower part of the village wall--a regular fortress--was of stone and mud, the upper portion of sun-dried mud bricks. it appeared to have been built at different epochs, the south-west half especially seeming more modern than the north-east portion. holes about three feet above the ground in the wall served the purpose of windows to the houses adjoining the wall inside the castle, and a stone of suitable size shoved into the aperture was the shutter. the village wall had two entrances on the south-east side, where outside the wall could be seen fifteen small domed ovens, of the usual persian type, for baking bread, the paste of which is plastered on the inside of the dome when sufficiently heated. the highest tower was on the south-west side, and all of these structures had a foundation of stone, but the remainder was of mud. we saw here a string of picturesque women. they were carrying loads of wood and heavy bags of wheat on their heads. on perceiving me unexpectedly they tried to run away, and did so, but not before i had got the good snapshot of them here reproduced. it can be seen by this photograph what long steps these women took, and how those that carried heavier loads swung their arms about to diminish the effort and balance themselves. they walked with a good deal of spring in their knees. these women had much stronger features than the persian generally have, and resembled--in fact, were practically--afghan women. one or two only had the hindoo type, with large, soft, drooping eyes, large hook noses, and over-developed lips, with small receding chins. the younger ones were strikingly handsome. on our last march we had come from north to south, but now, after a short halt, we went on towards the south-east on what we thought would be our last two marches before reaching sher-i-nasrya, the capital city of sistan, only some sixty miles off. soon after leaving bandan we found ourselves in an open plain with gradually vanishing mountains to the south-west. to the north-east the wall-like barrier, about one mile from bandan, suddenly ceased in a gentle slope. east and e.s.e., now that the plain became of immense breadth, one could see two isolated low hill ranges, barring which, in the arc of a circle between north-east and south, we had nothing before us except a flat, dreary stretch of sand and stones meeting the sky on the horizon line. on getting nearer the hamun-i-halmund (swamp), formed by the halmund river and others losing themselves into the sand and flooding part of that region, the whole country was covered with high reeds and small water channels, which constantly made us deviate from our course. in the middle of the night we got so mixed up that we were unable to go on. it is most dangerous to make camels get into water channels, especially if muddy, without being certain of their depth. the brutes, if sinking, are seized with panic and collapse, or, in trying to get out quickly, often slip sideways and get split in two, which necessitates their being killed. in the morning we passed two cossacks from the sistan consulate escort, who, having been relieved, were now on their way back to russia. they gave us a hearty greeting, and shortly after a messenger from the british consul in sistan handed me a letter, a most kind invitation from major benn to go and stay with him at the consulate. towards noon we reached nasirabad (altitude 2,050 ft.), a very old village founded by one malik nasir khan kayani--the _kayani_, as is well known, being the former rulers of sistan, and every big _kayani_ being called "malik." we stopped for a couple of hours for lunch, the principal house in the village being vacated by the courteous inmates for my use. the arrival of a _ferenghi_ excited considerable attention, and numerous and anxious inquiries were made whether i was a "ruski" or "inglis." on learning that i was "inglis," they expressed their unsolicited conviction that all inglis were good people and ruski all bad, and no doubt if i had been a ruski the reverse conviction would have been expressed with similar eagerness. the natives were polite, but extremely noisy, shouting and yelling at the top of their voices when they spoke. the men wore large white turbans over their white skull caps, long blue shirts, opened and buttoned on the left side, reaching to below their knees, and the enormous afghan trousers. from nasirabad we came across a long uninterrupted row of ruined villages and towns, stretching in a line for some eight miles from north to south. the most northern one had the appearance of a fortress with a very high wall, still in fair preservation, and several more of these fortresses were to be seen along the line of houses, the majority of dwellings being outside these forts. the domed houses--some of which were in perfect preservation--showed the identical architecture and characteristics of persian houses of to-day. we were benighted again. curiously enough, even within a mile or so from sher-i-nasrya, on asking some natives where the city of _nasirabad_ or _nasratabad_, as it is marked in capital letters on english maps (even those of the indian trigonometrical survey), nobody could tell me, and everybody protested that no such city existed. (the real name of it, sher-i-nasrya, of course, i only learnt later.) this was puzzling, but not astonishing, for there is a deal of fancy nomenclature on english maps. eventually, when i had almost despaired of reaching the place that night, although i could not have been more than a stone-throw from it, i appealed to another passer-by, riding briskly on a donkey. "how far are we from nasratabad?" "never heard the name." "is there a town here called nasirabad?" "no, there is no such town--but you must have come through a small village by that name, two farsakhs off." "yes, i have. do you happen to know where the english consulate is?" "oh, yes, everybody knows the english consulate. i will take you there. it is only a short distance from here, near the city of sher-i-nasrya!" thanks to this fellow, a few minutes later i found myself greeted most effusively by major and mrs. benn in their charming mud consulate. this was on the evening of december 6th. chapter xvi english fancy geographical names--sher-i-nasrya--the main street--the centre of the city--reverence of the natives for major benn--a splendid type of british official--indian and russian goods--the shikin maghut cloth--steadily increasing trade of the nushki route--khorassan horses for remounts--husseinabad--russian vice-consulate--mr. miller--characteristic windmills--"the wind of 120 days"--benn bazaar. disappointing as it may seem that the natives themselves should be barefaced enough not to call their city by the fancy name given it by certain british geographers, we might as well explain why the natives call the capital of sistan by its real name, sher-i-nasrya. the three words mean the "city of nasr," nasr being an abbreviation of nasr-ed-din shah, in honour of whom the city was named. in sistan itself the city goes by the shortened name of mere "sher" or "city," but letters sent by persians from other parts of the shah's dominions are generally addressed sher-i-nasrya, or simply sher-i-sistan. [illustration: women at bandan.] [illustration: dr. golam jelami and his patients.] when the place was first conquered by the father of the present amir, mir-alam-khan, it was spoken of as nusratabad, or the "city or victory," just the same as we speak of the "city of the commune," or the "eternal city," or the "city of fogs." the name "nusratabad" only applied to the victory and not to the city. we should certainly not wish to see the names of the three above illustrations given on maps for paris, rome, or london. as for calling the city nasirabad, as the trigonometrical survey maps do, there is no excuse whatever for this, which is a mere blunder--not the only one, unfortunately--and attributes to the city the name of a small village some eight miles off. the present sher-i-nasrya is not more than twenty years old. it has a double wall all round, a higher one with semicircular castellated towers, and a lower on a mud bank with outwardly projecting semicircular protected platforms, the walls of which, eight feet high, are loopholed in a primitive fashion. on the inner side of the lower wall there is a platform all along the wall for soldiers to stand upon. the city wall, forty feet high, is separated from this outer defence by a road all round the city, and outside of all there is a moat, but with very little water in it. the wall on the south side (really s.s.w.) has ten towers, the two central ones being close together and larger than the others, between which is the principal city gate, reached by an earthen bridge and a tortuous way, as the entrance of the outer wall is not in a line with the inner. the east and west side have only eight towers, including the corner ones, the double towers being the fourth and fifth. every tower is semicircular, with loopholes pointing towards the sky--very useful in case of defence--and a large opening for pieces of artillery. the corner towers have two of these apertures, one under the other. a kind of bastion or battlement has been formed by piling up the earth removed from the moat round the lower wall. the moat is forty feet broad and thirty feet deep. a large road was made not long ago round three sides of the city by colonel trench, then our consul there, so that the amir could drive to his garden, a quarter of a mile outside the north city gate, the residence of the amir's son, the sar-tip. on the west side of sher-i-nasrya there is merely a sheep track. [illustration: the main street, sher-i-nasrya. (showing centre of city.)] in the north-west corner of the city is a higher wall enclosing a large space and forming the citadel and anderun, in which the amir and part of his family reside. there are three large towers to each side of the quadrangle, the centre tower to the south being of much larger proportions than the others. a lower outer wall surrounds the higher one, and in the large tower is the entrance gate to the governor's citadel. the inside of the city of sher-i-nasrya is neither beautiful nor interesting from a pictorial point of view. there is a main street with some mud buildings standing up, others tumbled down. the full-page illustration shows the most attractive and interesting point of the city, the centre of the quadrangle where the two streets, one from south to north, the other from east to west, intersect at right angles. a dome of mud bricks has been erected over the street, and under its shade a number of the amir's soldiers were generally to be seen with their rifles resting idle against the wall. the type of sistan residence can be seen in the two hovels to the right of the observer in this photograph. the two hoods on the highest point of the dome are two typical ventilators. to the left the large doorways are mere shops, with a kind of narrow verandah on which the purchasers squat when buying goods. the main street is very narrow and has a small platform almost all along its sides, on which the natives sit smoking their kalians or conversing. i was really very much impressed, each time that i visited the city in the consul's company, by the intense respect shown by these people to our representative. there was not a single man who did not rise and salaam when we rode through the bazaar, while many also came forward to seize the consul's hand and pay him the customary compliments. major benn modestly put down this civility of the natives to the popularity of his predecessor, major trench, and the good manners which he had taught these men; but major benn himself, with his most affable manner, his unsophisticated ways, absolutely devoid of nonsensical red-tape or false pride, is to my mind also to be held responsible for the reverence which he inspires among the masses. to me personally, i must confess, it was a very great pleasure indeed to see an english gentleman held in such respect, and that solely on account of his tact and _savoir faire_. it is not a common sight. of course, a certain amount of show has also to be made to impress the natives, but "show" alone, as some believe, will be of little good unless there is something more attractive behind it. major benn seemed to be everybody's welcomed friend; everybody, whether rich or poor, whether in smart clothes or rags, gleamed with delight as they saw him come; and major benn stopped his horse, now to say a kind word to a merchant, then to shake hands with a native friend, further on to talk to a little child who had run to the door of his parents' mud hut to say "salameleko" to the consul. it is men with sound common sense, civil manners, and human sympathy, of benn's type, that we want to represent england everywhere, and these men, as i have ever maintained, can do great britain more good in foreign countries in a day than all the official red-tape in a year. it is a mistake to believe that persians or other asiatics are only impressed by gold braiding and by a large retinue of servants. the natives have a wonderful intuitive way of correctly gauging people, as we civilised folk do not seem able to do, and it is the man himself, and his doings, that they judge and criticise, and not so much the amount of gold braiding on a man's coat or trousers, or the cut of a resplendent uniform. in the northern portion of the main street are the few shops with english and russian goods. most of the articles i saw in the couple of indian shops were of indian or english importation--many of the articles appeared to me of german manufacture, like the usual cheap goods one sees in the indian bazaars. on the opposite side of the road was the rival merchant who dealt in russian goods, and he seemed to be doing quite a brisk business. he appeared to deal mostly in clothes. there is a kind of moleskin russian cloth called the _shikin maghut_, of various shades, colours and qualities, which commands a ready sale both in khorassan and sistan, although its price is high and its quality and dye not particularly good. with a little enterprise indian manufacturers could certainly make a similar and better cloth and easily undersell the russian material. it is most satisfactory to find from captain webb-ware's statement that indian trade by the nushki-sistan route, which was absolutely nil in the year 1895-96, and only amounted to some 64,000 rupees in 1896-97, made a sudden jump to 589,929 rupees in the following twelve months, 1897-98. it has since been steadily on the increase, as can be seen by the following figures:-1898-99 rupees 728,082 1899-1900 " 1,235,411 1900-01 " 1,534,452 these figures are the total amount of imports and exports by the nushki route, beginning from 1st of april each year. in 1900-01 the imports were rs. 748,021; the exports rs. 786,431. when the route comes to be better known the returns will inevitably be greatly increased, but of course only a railway--or a well-conducted service of motor vans--can make this route a really practical one for trade on a large scale. the cost of transport at present is too great. a point which should be noted in connection with the railway is that every year a great number of horses are brought from meshed to india _via_ quetta for remount purposes. in 1900-01 the number of horses brought by dealers to quetta amounted to 408, and as the khorassan horses are most excellent, they were promptly sold at very remunerative prices. the average price for a capital horse in persia is from 80 to 100 rupees (15 rupees to £1). i understand that these horses when in quetta are sold by dealers to government at an average of 300 rupees each, leaving a very large profit indeed. as horses are very plentiful in khorassan, if a railway existed the government could remount its cavalry at one-third of the present cost. adjoining sher-i-nasrya to the south is the partly ruined village of husseinabad. it has a wall, now collapsed, and a moat which forms an obtuse angle with the east wall of sher-i-nasrya. there are in this village some miserable little mud houses still standing up and inhabited, and the high-walled, gloomy mud building of the russian vice-consulate which has lately been erected, opposite to an extensive graveyard. the site and the outward appearance of the russian vice-consulate, which one can only reach by jumping over various drain channels or treading over graves, was decidedly not one's ideal spot for a residence, but once inside the dwelling, both house and host were really charming. mr. miller, the consul, was a very intelligent and able man indeed, a most wonderful linguist, and undoubtedly a very efficient officer for his country. there is also in husseinabad a round tower where the beluch sirdar fought the amir some nine years ago, and one or two windmills characteristic of sistan and beluchistan. these windmills are not worked by sails in a vertical position like ours, but are indeed the simplest and most ingenious contrivance of its kind i have ever seen. the motive wheel, which revolves in a horizontal position, is encased in high walls on three sides, leaving a slit on the north side, from whence the prevalent winds of sistan blow. the wind entering with great force by this vertical slit--the walls being so cut as to catch as much wind as possible--sets the wheel in motion--a wheel which, although made coarsely of reeds tied in six bundles fastened together by means of cross-arms of wood, revolves easily on a long iron pivot, and once set in motion attains a high speed. the flour mill has two stories, the motive wheel occupying the entire second floor, while attached to its pivot on the ground floor is the actual grinding stone. the wheat to be ground flows into a central aperture in this stone from a suspended vessel, a simple system of strings and ropes acting as an efficient brake on the axle of the upper wheel to control its speed, and others allowing the grain to fall uniformly and, when necessary, preventing its flow. [illustration: the british bazar (husseinabad) sistan.] there sweeps over sistan in the hot weather what is called the _bad-i-sud-o-bist-roz_, or wind of the 120 days, which blows from the north-north-west, and, although this may seem unpleasant to the inhabitants, it has a most undoubtedly salubrious effect upon the climate of the province, which, owing to the great quantity of channels and stagnant water, would otherwise be most unhealthy. as it is the climate is now extremely healthy. the water of the halmund is delicious to drink. the suburb of husseinabad stretches for about one mile towards the south, and contains among other places of importance the buildings of the customs, with a caravanserai--very modest and unsafe--a picture of which is here given. what is called "benn bazaar," or the british bazaar, is also found at the south-east portion of husseinabad and facing the consulate hospital. chapter xvii the british bazaar--the pioneer traders of sistan--sistan a half-way house and not the terminus of the route--comfortable route--protection and redress--indian tea in persia--persian market overstocked--enterprise of indian tea traders--which are the markets worth cultivating--articles mostly wanted in sistan and meshed--exports--a problem to be faced--ways of communication needed to cities of central persia. the entire british bazaar--a modest one so far--can be taken in at a glance. the snapshot reproduced in the illustration gives a very good idea of it. besides this, one or two indian british merchants are established in the main street of sher-i-nasrya, where, as we have seen, they have opened nice shops. the pioneer merchants of sistan were the firm of mahommed ali brothers, of quetta, established in 1900, and represented by a very intelligent man called seth suliman. the firm has branches in birjand and meshed. they have done good business both in sistan, birjand and meshed, and have been followed in sistan by tek-chand, of the wealthy firm of chaman singh from shikarpur--at one time the trade-centre of asia. this firm holds to-day the opium contract of the whole of the sind district, and is a most enterprising concern. mahommed azim khan brothers, of lahore, have also opened a shop in sistan, and so has mahommed hayab, agent for shek fars mahommed, the biggest british firm in meshed. it is probable that in the near future a number of other indian firms may be induced to open branches in sistan and khorassan; but, if they are to avoid disappointment, they should remember that the sistan market is merely a retail one, and there is very little wholesale trade to be transacted so far. in time to come no doubt a wholesale trade will eventually be developed. a point which is seldom grasped, or at any rate is frequently overlooked, is that sistan (sher-i-nasrya) is a mere half-way house between quetta and meshed, and not, as is supposed by many people, the terminus of the route. considerable loss and disappointment have been sustained by some rash british traders, who, notwithstanding the exceptional opportunities given them to obtain accurate official information, set out with large caravans, apparently without the most rudimentary geographical knowledge, as well as without sound commercial foresight. another mistake is frequent. somehow or other the idea seems to prevail among some indian traders that persia, or eastern persia, forms part of the indian empire, and they forget that the protection and unusual facilities which they enjoy from quetta to robat (the beluch frontier) and, to a certain extent, as far as sistan, cannot possibly be given on persian territory beyond sistan as far as meshed. although practically across a desert, the journey from quetta-nushki to sistan is--for travelling of that kind--extremely comfortable and easy; the real difficulty begins for traders when they are perforce left to look after themselves on persian soil, where there are no more clean rest-houses and where a britisher--if travelling as a trader--is no more thought of than if he were an asiatic trader. he is no longer the salaamed "sahib" of the indian cities, but becomes a mere _ferenghi_, a stranger, and is at the mercy of everybody. moreover, it should be well understood that the protection and redress obtainable under english law, cease on crossing the persian frontier. very little, if any, redress is to be obtained from persian officials except at great cost and infinite worry, waste of time and patience. indian tea traders have probably been the greatest sufferers in consequence of their rash ventures, and they will probably suffer even more in the future if they do not exercise greater caution in ascertaining beforehand the suitable markets for their teas and the actual cost of transport to the markets selected. several traders have brought very large caravans of indian tea to sistan on various occasions, believing that they had arrived at the end of their journey, and, after having paid the heavy duty imposed upon goods introduced into the country, have found before them the option of going the 600 miles back to quetta or continuing at great expense, _via_ bam to kerman, a long journey with doubtful results at the end; or of going to birjand, meshed, teheran, where they have eventually been compelled to sell at a loss or to pay the additional russian duty and send the tea on to moscow. the persian market is at present very much blocked up with indian teas, and great caution should be exercised by intending exporters from india. in time to come, when good roads have been made in every direction, or railways constructed, and cost of transport greatly minimised, persia will be, i think, a considerable buyer of indian teas; but as matters are to-day the expense of conveying the tea to the various persian markets, especially by the land route, is too great to make any profit possible at the very low prices paid by the persians for tea. tea exported overland to the meshed market (not to sistan) realised, before the market became overstocked, better prices than the sea-borne tea _via_ bandar abbas. it is certain that the delicate aroma of tea is not improved by being exposed to the warm sea air, no matter how carefully it has been packed. and as major webb-ware, the political agent at chagai, points out, tea despatched by the land route direct from the gardens or from calcutta is not liable to the numerous incidental charges, commissions and transhipments which are a matter of course upon teas sent _via_ bandar abbas or other persian gulf ports. the demand for unspoiled teas brought overland is considerable in russia and all over europe, even more than in persia, and when a sensible understanding has been arrived at with russia to let indian teas proceed in transit through that country, there is no reason why the better indian teas should not favourably compete all over europe with the china caravan teas. the persian market, to my mind, speaking generally, will only be able to purchase the inferior teas, the persians as individuals being comparatively poor. superior teas in small quantities, however, may find a sale at good prices among the official classes and the few richer folks, but not in sufficient quantities to guarantee a large import. the same remarks, i think, would apply to teas finding their way into western afghanistan from various points on the sistan-meshed route. the indian tea-traders have shown very commendable enterprise in attempting to push their teas by the overland route, and trying to exploit the new markets which the nushki-meshed route has thrown open to them, but their beginning has been made too suddenly and on too large a scale, which i fear will cause a temporary loss to some of them. a gradual, steady development of the tea trade is wanted in persia, not a rush and violent competition flooding the market with tea that has to be sold at a loss. when the natives all over persia have by degrees got accustomed to indian tea, and when it is brought in at a cheap price, indian teas are likely to be popular in persia. [illustration: the wall of sher-i-nasrya at sunset.] i may be wrong, but, to my mind, the greater profits on indian teas brought by this route will in the future be made not in persia itself, but in transcaspia, turkestan, russia and central europe, where people can pay well for a good article. great credit should be given to the indian and dehra dun tea associations for despatching representatives to study the requirements of the persian market on the spot; but, as captain webb-ware suggests in the _gazette of india_, the tea associations would do well to turn their attention to the sale of indian teas in russia, and to send some experimental consignments of their teas to moscow by the overland route. the same remarks might also apply to a great many other english or indian manufactured goods. we complain a great deal that the russian protective tariff is high, but it is mild when compared with the murderous protectionism of the united states or of our beloved friend germany. and, after all, does this protection keep out our goods from those countries? by no means. russia's industries are indeed fast developing, but they are far from sufficient to supply her own wants. english, german, and american goods find their way even to the most remote spots of siberia. it is, then, a problem worth considering whether "free trade persia," with her english and indian imports amounting to one million four hundred thousand pounds sterling (£1,400,000), is a customer so well worth cultivating as protectionist russia, which buys from us nearly twenty-two millions' (£21,974,952) worth yearly. in regard to the quetta-meshed route, it would strike a casual observer that from our geographical situation we might, without much difficulty, kill two birds with one stone by a happy combination--persia being dealt with _en passant_, as it were, while aiming for quicker, sounder, and more extensive markets further north. persia is a good market for indian indigo, which has, so far, commanded a ready sale. in sistan itself--which, it cannot be too emphatically repeated, is to-day only a comparatively poor and sparsely-populated district--the articles which have, so far, found a quick retail sale, have been indian assorted spices, second-hand apparel, sugar, tea, boots, cheap cotton cloths, matches, kerosene oil, thread, needles, cheap cutlery, scissors, small looking glasses. the amir and the sardars have at different times made purchases of boots, shoes, saddlery, silk, woollen and cotton cloths, rugs, shawls, crockery, and enamel ware, watches, chains, and knives, and have also bought a considerable number of english-made fancy goods, furniture, stationery, cigarettes, cigars and tobacco, &c. the humbler sistanis purchase very freely from the indian british shops, but cannot afford to pay very high prices; but the high officials pay cash and give a good price for all they buy. speaking generally, the articles which are mostly wanted at present are those mentioned in the official report. for these commodities there is a steady demand in the markets of sistan and khorassan, but the supply, it should be remembered, should be in proportion to the size of the population. sistan, birjand, meshed, are not london nor paris nor berlin. the articles wanted are:- woollen stuffs, flannels, muslins, mulls, sheetings, chintzes, cottons, &c. velvets, satins, silks, brocades. indigo of medium and good quality. (oudh indigo is principally in demand in bushire.) iron, brass and copper sheets. sulphur matches. spices, including cinnamon, cardamums, cloves, pepper, turmeric, &c. rice (for sistan). tea, black for persia, and green for afghanistan and transcaspia. coffee (in berry). refined sugar, loaf. ginger preserve (in jars). sal-ammoniac. baizes (specially of high class), khinkhabs and gold cloth. cotton turbans (lungis) of all qualities, including those with pure gold fringes. leather goods. boots (cawnpore and english). saddlery (cawnpore, as the english is too expensive). glass-ware. enamel-ware. cutlery. ironmongery of every description. cheap padlocks find a ready sale. watches (cheap). jewellery. kalai (for tinning copper vessels). fire-arms would command a very ready sale, but their importation is strictly forbidden. the articles of export from khorassan and sistan are wool, ghi, saffron, dried fruit of various kinds, hides, jujubes, assafoetida, pistachio-nuts, barak, kurak, gum, valuable carpets, and some turquoises. in sistan itself wheat and oats are plentiful, but their export to foreign countries is not permitted. opium finds its way out of the country _via_ bandar abbas, and wool, ghi, feathers, carpets, and assafoetida are conveyed principally to kerman, birjand, meshed, yezd, the gulf, and quetta. one of the principal problems of the new land route to india is not only how to induce british traders to go to persia, but how to solve the more difficult point of persuading the big persian traders to cross the bridge and venture into india. they seem at present too indolent and suspicious to undertake such a long journey, and would rather pay for luxuries to be brought to their doors than go and get them themselves. with the assistance, both moral and financial, of the enterprising major sykes, a large caravan was sent from kerman to quetta with persian goods, and paid satisfactorily, but others that followed seem to have had a good many disasters on the road (on persian territory) and fared less well. major sykes's effort was most praiseworthy, for indeed, as regards purely persian trade, i think kerman or yezd must in future be the aiming points of british caravans rather than meshed. these places have comparatively large populations and the field of operations is practically unoccupied, whereas in meshed russian competition is very strong. with the present ways of communication across the salt desert, it is most difficult and costly to attempt remunerative commercial communication with these towns. small caravans could not possibly pay expenses, and large caravans might fare badly owing to lack of water, while the circuitous road _via_ bam is too expensive. when more direct tracks, with wells at each stage, after the style of the nushki-sistan route, have been constructed between robat and kerman, and also between sher-i-nasrya and kerman, and sher-i-nasrya and yezd, matters will be immensely facilitated. chapter xviii sistan's state of transition--british consul's tact--advancing russian influence--safety--a fight between sistanis and afghans--the sar-tip--major benn's pluck and personal influence--five afghans seriously wounded--the city gates closed--the customs caravanserai--a british caravanserai needed--misstatements--customs officials--fair and just treatment to all--versatile major benn--a much needed assistant--more consulates wanted--excellent british officials--telegraph line necessary--a much-talked-of railway--the salutary effect of a garrison at robat frontier post. sistan is in a state of rapid transition, and it is doubtful whether the position of the three or four europeans on duty there is one of perfect safety. the natives are so far undoubtedly and absolutely favourable to british influence in preference to russian, a state of affairs mainly due to the personal tact of majors trench and benn rather than to instructions from home, but great caution should be exercised in the future if this prestige, now at its highest point, is to be maintained. the russians are advancing very fast, and their influence is already beginning to be felt in no slight degree. the sistanis may or may not be relied upon. they are not perfectly europeanised like peoples of certain parts of western persia, nor are they quite so amenable to reason as could be wished. they can easily be led, or misled, and bribed, and are by no means easy folks to deal with. for a few tomans one can have people assassinated, the afghan frontier so close at hand being a guarantee of impunity for murderers, and fights between the townspeople and the afghans or beluch, in which many people are injured and killed, are not uncommon. [illustration: the sar-tip.] one of these fights, between sistanis and afghans (under british protection), took place when i was in sistan, and i think it is only right that it should be related, as it proves very forcibly that, as i have continually urged in this book, calm and tact, gentleness and fairness, have a greater and more lasting control over persians than outward pomp and red-tape. the consul and i, after calling on the amir, proceeded to visit the sar-tip, the amir's first son by his legal wife. the sar-tip is the head of a force of cavalry, and inhabits a country house, the chahar bagh, in a garden to the north outside the city. he is a bright and intelligent youth, who had travelled with dr. golam jelami to india--from which country he had recently returned, and where he had gone to consult specialists about his sadly-failing eyesight. the sar-tip, of whom a portrait is here given, received us most kindly and detained us till dark. being ramzam-time we then bade him good-bye, and were riding home when, as we neared the consulate gate, a man who seemed much excited rushed to the consul and handed him a note from the belgian customs officer. as i was still convalescent--this was my first outing--and not allowed out after dusk, major benn asked me to go back to the consulate as he was called to the customs caravanserai on business. i suspected nothing until a messenger came to the consulate with news. a crowd of some 300 sistanis had attacked some fifteen afghan camel men, who had come over with a caravan of tea from quetta. these camel drivers had been paid several thousand rupees for their services on being dismissed, and some money quarrel had arisen. on the arrival of the consul the fight was in full swing, and he found a crowd of howling sistanis throwing stones and bricks at the afghans. at major benn's appearance, notwithstanding that their blood was up and their temper, one would think, beyond control, the sistanis immediately opened a way for him, some even temporarily stopping fighting to make a courteous salaam. this will show in what respect our consul is held. the afghans, having by this time realised that they had been insulted, and having, furthermore, discovered the loss of some money--which they only detected when they went for their rifles and swords, which they kept together in a safe place with their treasure--formed up in line and, with drawn swords, made a rush on the sistanis. major benn with considerable pluck dashed between the fighting men, seizing with his left hand the rifle of the leader--who had knelt down and was on the point of firing--and with his right hand got hold of the blade--fortunately blunt--of another afghan's sword, who was slashing away at the sistanis near him. the force of the blow caused quite a wound in the gallant major's hand, but suddenly, as by magic owing to the respect he commanded on both sides, his action put a stop to the fight. seizing this opportunity he talked to them calmly in his usual quiet, jocular manner, and told the afghans how, by behaving in this fashion, while under his protection, they were doing him harm in the eyes of the persians in whose country they were guests, and that if they had any claim they must apply to him and not take the law into their own hands. with his keen sense of humour he even succeeded with some joke or other in raising a laugh from both belligerent parties, and requested them to sit down and give up their arms into his custody, which they willingly did. the afghans seated themselves at the further end of the caravanserai, while the sistanis, whom he next addressed in the kindest way, were persuaded to desist from using further violence. he managed to turn the whole thing into a joke, and eventually the sistanis dispersed laughing and retired within the wall of their city; but, indeed, there were five afghans left on the ground severely wounded,--one with a fractured skull being carried to the consulate hospital in a dying condition. the afghans possessed some excellent russian rifles, a great many of which find their way into afghanistan from the north. the consul, when the row was over, proceeded to the amir, who had the gates of the city instantly closed and promised the consul that they should not be opened again until the consul could go the next day to identify the ringleaders of the attacking sistanis. the amir received the consul with more than usually marked respect, and showed himself greatly disturbed at the occurrence. he took personal charge of the keys of the city and undertook to mete out severe punishment upon the offenders. the city gates, which are daily opened at sunrise, remained closed the greater portion of the day at the consul's request, but for a consideration the doorkeepers let out occasional citizens,--in all probability those very ones that should have been kept in. unfortunately, being ramzam-time, when mussulmans sit up feasting the greater part of the night, as they are compelled to fast when the sun is above the horizon, his excellency the amir was unable to attend to even this important matter, which was left to slide from day to day. the consul, however, although extremely patient, was the last man to let things go to the wall, and no doubt in the end the leaders were duly punished and compensation paid. the illustration shows the customs caravanserai, in front of which the fight took place. two of the domed rooms shown in the picture are occupied by mr. miletor, the belgian customs officer, in persian employ. the others are occupied by camel-men or native travellers, there being no other caravanserai of the kind in sher-i-nasrya. [illustration: the customs caravanserai, sher-i-nasrya, sistan. (belgian customs officer in foreground.)] it would be a very great addition to the british consulate, now that so many beluch and afghans, all under british protection, travel through sistan, if a british caravanserai could be built in which they, their goods and their camels, might enjoy comparative safety. the expense of putting it up would be very small, and it would avoid the constant friction which is bound to exist at present in a country where honesty is not the chief forte of the lower people, and where quarrels are ever rampant. even during the short stay of messrs. clemenson and marsh's caravan, several articles were stolen under their very eyes in the consulate shelter, and at the time of my visit caravans, british or otherwise, were absolutely at the mercy of the natives. the goods were left out in the open in front of the caravanserai, and the customs people had not sufficient men to protect them from interference at the hands of the lower people. i have seen it stated by correspondents in leading london papers that "russian" customs officials were stationed in sistan, and interfered greatly with british caravans. that is mere fiction from beginning to end. as i have already stated, there is not a single russian in the customs anywhere in persia. in sistan the only official--a belgian--far from interfering with the caravans, is of great help to them and does all in his power within the limits of his duty to be of assistance to them. the consul himself was full of praise of the extreme fairness and justice to all alike of the belgian official. there never was the slightest trouble or hitch so long as traders were prepared to comply with persian laws, and so long as people paid the duty on the goods entering the country no bother of any kind was given to anybody, either british or others. on april 3rd, 1901, the persian government introduced a law abolishing all inland customs houses and transit dues, and substituting instead a _rahdari_ tax of 6 annas per 240 pounds. this tax is payable on crossing the frontier, and is levied in addition to the 5 per cent. _ad valorem_ duty to which the persian government is entitled under the existing international customs convention. the rate of duty levied (5 per cent.), is calculated on the actual value of goods, plus the cost of transport. the sistan consul, as well as the officials of the nushki sistan route in beluchistan, go to an immense deal of trouble to be of use to british traders and travellers, and everything is made as easy for them as is compatible with the nature of the country and existing laws. a great deal of extra heavy work was thrown upon the shoulders of major benn, who acted in no less than three official capacities--consul, postmaster, and banker--as well as, unofficially, as architect, house-builder, and general reference officer. it is very satisfactory to learn that this autumn (1902) an assistant is to be sent out to him from india, for the work seemed indeed too heavy for one man. day and night's incessant work would in time have certainly told on even the cheerful disposition and abnormally wiry constitution of major benn, who, besides being a most loyal and careful official, takes a great deal of personal pride in fighting hard to win the severe race which will result in our eventually acquiring or losing sistan and eastern persia commercially. major benn is most decidedly very far ahead in the race at present, and owing to him british prestige happens to be at its zenith, but greater support will be needed in the future if this advantageous race is to be continued up to the winning post. were a vice-consulate established at birjand, as i have said before, the sistan consular work would be relieved of much unnecessary strain, the distance from birjand to sistan being too great under present conditions to allow the consul to visit the place even yearly. the medical british agent whom we have there at present is excellent, but the powers at his disposal are small, and a consulate with an english officer in charge would most decidedly enhance british prestige in that important city, as well as being a useful connecting link between sistan and meshed, a distance of close upon 500 miles. it was a most excellent step to select for the consular work in eastern and southern persia men from the military political service, instead of the usual foreign office men, who are probably better adapted for countries already developed. the political service is a most perfect body of gentlemanly, sensible, active-minded, well-educated men of versatile talents, the pick of the healthiest and cleverest englishmen in our indian service. they cannot help doing good wherever they are sent. captain trench, major benn, major phillott, captain white, have all answered perfectly, and have all done and are doing excellent work. what is most needed at present in sistan is a telegraph line to nushki. should everybody in the sistan consulate be murdered, it would be the best part of a fortnight or three weeks before the news could reach india at the present rate of post going. if assistance were needed it could not reach sistan from quetta in less than a couple of months, by which time, i think, it would be of little use to those in danger. and the danger, mind you, does exist. it seems rather hard that we should leave men who work, and work hard and well, for their country absolutely at the mercy of destiny. the next most important point would be to join sistan, or at least robat, on the perso-beluch frontier, with the long-talked-of railway to quetta, but of this we shall have occasion to speak later. so far the line has been sanctioned to nushki, but that point, it must be remembered, is still 500 miles distant from sistan, a considerable distance across, what is for practical purposes, desert country. the third point--the easiest of all, which would involve little expense, but would have a most salutary effect--would be to maintain a small garrison at the perso-beluch-afghan frontier post of robat. this, to my mind, would at the present moment strengthen the hands of our officials in persia to a most extraordinary extent. something tangible, which the natives themselves could see and talk about, together with the knowledge that a smart body of soldiers could soon be on the spot if required, would not only assure the so far doubtful safety of the few but precious english lives in those parts, but would add enormously to our prestige and make us not only revered but feared. chapter xix the history of the sistan vice-consulate--major chevenix trench--laying the foundation of the consulate--hoisting the british flag--major benn--a terrible journey--a plucky englishwoman--the mud consulate--its evolution--the new buildings--ka-khanas--gardening under difficulties--how horses are kept--the enclosing wall--the legend of trenchabad city--the consulate mosque--dr. golam jelami--the hospital--successful operations--prevalent complaints of sistan--the sistan sore. the history of the sistan vice-consulate does not go back very far, but is, nevertheless, very interesting. we will recapitulate it in a few words. major brazier-creagh was sent to sistan on a special mission; as has already been said, and captain f. c. webb-ware, c. i. e., political assistant at chagai, visited the place every year at the end of his annual trip along the new route in north beluchistan from quetta to robat, the most eastern station of the route prior to entering persian territory. major sykes visited sistan in 1896 in connection with the perso-beluch boundary commission and again in 1899, when he travelled here from kerman by the easier southern route _via_ bam. it was on february 15th, 1900, that a russian vice-consul for that important province was appointed to sistan to take the place of a persian who was a news-writer in russian employ. major g. chevenix trench was then specially selected by the viceroy of india as a suitable person to look after british interests in that region--and indeed no better man could have been chosen. having given up his appointment in india this officer left quetta on march 7th, 1900, and arrived at sher-i-nasrya on the 18th of april, accompanied by major r. e. benn, who was on a year's furlough, and can be said, i believe, to be the first european who has travelled all the way from india to england by this overland route, _via_ meshed-transcaspia. major trench, prior to leaving for meshed to take up his appointment of consul-general for khorassan, being unable to stand the fierce heat of the sun, laid the foundation stone--it was a "sun-dried mud brick," to be accurate--of the present temporary buildings of the consulate. a domed mud hut _à la persane_ was built, with an additional spacious window, but no framework and no glass. the great difficulty of hoisting the british flag, which seems to have been strongly objected to during the perso-afghan commission when sir frederic goldsmid passed through sistan in 1872, was overcome mainly owing to the great tact shown by major trench. the union jack flew daily, gaily and undisturbed, over the mud hovel which will probably be during the next few years one of the most important consular posts we possess in asia. major benn, who had hastily proceeded to london on a long expected holiday, was immediately recalled to replace major trench. major benn, accompanied by his plucky and devoted wife and child, journeyed a second time across the beluchistan desert to reach his post. the journey was terrible, owing to torrential rains and snowstorms. when already several marches out they were compelled to return to quetta as their child had become very ill. but they were despatched again on their duty. they encountered severe storms; the country was practically flooded; some of their camels died, and for days at a time they were in the desert unable to move, the country being in many places inundated. in a blizzard two of their men lost themselves and died from exposure, but the party advanced slowly but surely, the plucky little english lady standing all the hardships without a murmur. major benn having been ordered to make a detour, they went down into the sarhad, south of the kuh-i-malek-siah, and it was not till february 15th, 1901, that they eventually reached sher-i-nasrya, and were received by trench in his mud-hut consulate, he having moved into a tent. major trench, on the arrival of major benn, proceeded to meshed. during major benn's time the consulate buildings went through a marvellous evolution. it may be recollected that i reached sistan in december, 1901, or only ten months after his arrival, but there were already several additional mud-rooms built and connected so as to form a suite of a spacious office, sitting-room, dining-room, two bedrooms and a storeroom. there were doors, made locally by imported indian carpenters, but no glass to the windows,--muslin nailed to the wall answering the purpose of blinds. famished dogs, attracted by the odour of dinner, would occasionally jump through this flimsy protection, much to the despair of mrs. benn--but those were only small troubles. thieves found their way into the rooms, and even succeeded in stealing mrs. benn's jewellery. there was no protection whatever against an attack in force, and the natives were at first most impudent in their curiosity. [illustration: the sistan consulate on christmas day, 1901.] being a mussulman country, things were at first very uncomfortable for mrs. benn until the natives got accustomed to the sight of an english lady, she being the first they had ever seen, or who had ever travelled so far. the temporary mud-rooms were gradually furnished and decorated with so much taste that they became simply charming, but a new consulate is now being built, which, by comparison in size and style, seems quite palatial. it is being constructed of real baked bricks, major benn having put up a serviceable kiln for the purpose, and the handsome structure is so sensibly built after a design by the versatile consul, that when finished it will fully combine english comfort with the exigencies of the climate, the incessant northerly winds of the summer months--from june to the end of august--rendering life unbearable unless suitable arrangements to mitigate their effects are provided. into the northern wall _ka khanas_ or "camel thorn compartments" are being built some four feet deep, filled with camel thorn. to make them effective two coolies are employed all day long to swish buckets of water on to them. the wind forcing its way through causes rapid evaporation and consequent cooling of the air in the rooms. when the wind stops the heat is, however, unbearable. the rooms are also provided with _badjirs_, or wind-catchers, on the domed roof, but these can only be used before the heat becomes too great. an attempt had been made to start a garden, both for vegetables and flowers, but the hot winds burnt up everything. only four cabbages out of hundreds that were planted had survived, and these were carefully nursed by mrs. benn for our christmas dinner. unluckily, on christmas eve a cow entered the enclosure and made a meal of the lot! another garden is being started, but great difficulty is experienced in making anything grow owing to the quantity of salt in the ground and the terrific winds. poplars have come up fairly well under shelter of a wall, but no tree can hope to stand upright when it attains a height where the wind can reach it. in fact, what few trees one sees about near sher-i-nasrya are stooping southward in a pitiful manner. the consul's horses and those of the escort are kept out in the open. they are tethered and left well wrapped up, wearing nearly double the amount of covering to protect them from the heat during the hot summer months that they do in winter, on the principle explained in previous chapters. it is not possible to keep them in stables, owing to the terrible white fly, which has a poisonous sting. when out in the open the flies and mosquitoes are blown away by the wind. it was satisfactory to find that, although the government did not see its way to furnish the consulate with a wall for the protection of the consul and his wife, whose personal property was constantly being stolen, an allowance was at once granted with instructions to build at once a high wall all round the consulate when one of the government horses was stolen! this wall, a wonderful bit of work, was put up in a fortnight, while i was in bed with fever, and on my getting up from bed i had the surprise of finding the consulate, which, when i had arrived, stood--a few lonely buildings--in the middle of a sandy plain, now surrounded by a handsome mud wall with a most elaborate castellated, fortress-like gate of major benn's own design. the wall encloses a good many acres of land; it would be rash to say how many! this has given rise among the natives to the report that a new city is rising near sher-i-nasrya, called trenchabad, or trench's city. major benn is to be complimented on the wonderful work he succeeds in getting done with comparatively little expenditure for the government, and there is no doubt that he manages to impress the natives and to keep england's prestige high. he imported from quetta a flagstaff, in pieces, which when erected measured no less than 45 feet, and on this, the highest flagstaff in persia, flies from sunrise to sunset the union jack. except on grand occasions only a small flag can be used in summer, owing to the fierce winds which tear the larger flags to pieces the moment they are put up. major benn scored heavily in the esteem of sistanis when he had the bright idea of erecting a handsome little mosque within the consulate boundary, wherein any traveller, whether persian or beluch or afghan or any other mussulman, can find shelter and a meal at the private expense of the consul. people devoid of a house, too, or beggars when in real need are always helped. the erection of this mosque has greatly impressed the persians with the respect of england for the mahommedan religion. on the religious festival day of the "sheep eat" the place is crowded with beluch and persians alike, the mahommedan members of the british consulate having raised a fund to feed all worshippers at the mosque during the day. major benn, who has really the energy of half-a-dozen men taken together, has organised some weekly gymkhanas, with the double object of giving his indian escort of fourteen men of the 7th bombay lancers and a duffadar (non-commissioned native officer) a little recreation, and of providing some amusement to the town folks; exhibitions of horsemanship, tent-pegging and sword exercises are given, in which some of the persian gentlemen occasionally also take part. the sistanis of all classes turn out in great force to witness these displays, and--for a persian crowd--i was really amazed at their extraordinarily quiet and respectful demeanour. each man who entered the grounds courteously salaamed the consul before sitting down, and there was unstinted clapping of hands--a way of applauding which they have learnt from benn--and great enthusiasm as the lancers displayed their skill at the various feats. the phonograph was also invariably brought out on these occasions, and set working near the flagstaff, much to the delight and astonishment of the sistanis, who, i believe, are still at a loss to discover where the voices they hear come from. to study the puzzled expressions on the awe-stricken faces of the natives, as they intently listened to the music, was intensely amusing, especially when the machine called out such words as "mamma," which they understood, or when it reproduced the whistling of a nightingale, which sent them raving with delight. perhaps the most touching part of these performances was when loyal major benn wound up with "god save the king," scraped on the record by a tired and blunted needle--phonograph needles are scarce in sistan and could not be renewed for the sake of only one and last tune--and we britishers removed our hats. now, to the natives of persia removing one's hat seems as ludicrous a thing as can be done, just as their equivalent discarding of shoes seems very ridiculous to us; but the natives, to whom the meaning we attach to our national anthem had been explained, behaved with the utmost reverence notwithstanding the trying circumstances, and many actually placed their right hands to their foreheads in sign of salaam until the anthem was over. another department in the consulate of great interest is the spacious hospital containing a well-supplied dispensary, where an average of forty daily patients are treated gratis by dr. golam jelami and a compounder. patients came on in their turn with various complaints, and they were disposed of with due speed, undergoing the necessary treatment with various degrees of grace. the hospital contains besides the dispensary, an in-patients' and an accident ward, office, operating room and doctor's quarters, the whole place being kept beautifully clean by indian attendants--dr. golam jelami taking great pride in his work and in the success and efficacy of the establishment. being himself a mussulman dr. golam jelami has a great advantage over a christian doctor in attending the natives, and, in fact, he has become the medical adviser to the amir and his entire family, and a favourite with all the _darbaris_ or people at the amir's court owing to his extreme tact, skill and charm of manner. he has performed some quite extraordinary operations. one day when the consul and mrs. benn were about to sit down to lunch, a huge tumour, which had just been excised from the back of a man's neck, was sent round on a tray for the consul's inspection; and lenses of the eye from successful cataract operations are frequently sent in for the consul's approval. the climate of sistan is very healthy generally, and the halmund water delicious--by some it is said to be an actual tonic--but the hot winds of the summer and the salt sand cause severe injury to the eyes. cataract is a most common complaint, even in comparatively young persons. also ophthalmia in its two forms. confusion of vision is frequent even among children, and myopia, but not so common as the opacity of the cornea. the most common complaint is the "sistan sore," which affects people on the face or any other part of the body. it is known by the local name of _dana-i-daghi_. it begins with irregularly-shaped pustules--very seldom circular--that come to suppuration and burst, and if not checked in time last for several months, extending on the skin surface, above which they hardly rise. the digestion of sistanis, although naturally good, is interfered with by the abuse of bad food, such as _krut_, or dried curd--most rancid, indigestible stuff. venereal complaints are also most common, the most terrible form of all, curiously enough, being treated even by persian doctors with mercury--a treatment called the _kalyan shingrif_--but administered in such quantities that its effects are often worse than the ailment itself. partly owing to this complaint and stomach troubles and the chewing of tobacco, the teeth are usually bad, black and decayed even in young people, nor have the sistanis themselves any way of saving the teeth. siphylitic tonsilitis is almost the only throat complaint noticeable in sistan, but inflammation of the palate is not rare. heart disease is practically unknown in sistan, and there are but very few lung affections. the bones of the skeleton are extremely hard and possess abnormal elasticity of texture, and are, therefore, not easily fractured. there are several kinds of hair diseases caused by climatic conditions and dirt, as well as cutaneous affections of the scalp. the nails both of fingers and toes are healthy, not brittle, with well-marked fibre showing through their smooth surface, and of good shape. the tape worm, so common in many other parts of persia, is absolutely unknown in sistan, and this is probably due to the excellent water obtainable. lunacy is also scarcely ever met with in sistan in any violent form, but cases of hypochondria are not unusual, produced principally by indigestion--at least, judging by the symptoms shown. the women are much healthier than the men, as they lead a more rational life, but neither possess the power of producing large families. one or two is the average number of children in healthy families. twins and triplets are unknown in sistan, or so i was assured. the mode of life of sistan men of the better classes is not conducive to large families, the men not returning to their wives till midnight or later, having spent the greater part of the day in orgies with their friends, when, what with opium smoking and what with being stuffed with food and saturated with gallons of tea, they are dead tired. abortion seldom occurs naturally, and is never artificially procured, owing to the local laws. women do not experience any difficulty during labour and operations are unheard of. the umbilicus of children, here, too, as in western persia, is tied at birth in two or three places with a common string, and the remainder cut with a pair of scissors or a knife. a mid-wife, called _daya_, is requested to perform this operation. abnormalities of any kind are extremely uncommon. chapter xx laid up with fever--christmas day--a visit to the amir--hashmat-ul-mulk--an ancient city over eighty miles long--extreme civility of persian officials--an unusual compliment--prisoners--personal revenge--"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"--punishments and crime--fines--bastinado--disfigurement--imprisonment--blowing criminals from a gun--strangling and decapitation. it was my intention to remain in sistan only four or five days, but unluckily my fever got so bad--temperature above 104°--that, notwithstanding my desire to continue the journey, major benn most kindly would not allow me. i was placed in bed where, covered up with every available blanket, i remained close upon three weeks. the tender care of major and mrs. benn, to whom my gratitude cannot be expressed in words, the skilful treatment of dr. golam jelami, the consulate doctor,--not to speak of the unstinted doses of quinine, phenacetin, castor-oil, and other such delightful fare, to which may also be added some gallons of the really delicious water of the halmund river,--at last told upon me and eventually, after twenty-one days of sweating i began to pull up again and was able to get up. the fever was shaken off altogether, but strange to say, whether it was that i was unaccustomed to medicine, or whether it was due to the counter-effects of the violent fever, my temperature suddenly went down and remained for several months varying from two to three degrees below normal. medical men tell me that this should mean physical collapse, but on this point i can only say that i have never in my life felt stronger nor better. i was just out of bed on christmas day, when the consulate was decorated with flags, and major benn in his uniform had his escort of bombay lancers on parade. there was an official christmas dinner in good old english style, with a fine plum pudding and real sixpences in it, followed by fire-crackers; while illuminations were burning bright on the consulate wall and roofs. official visitors were received, the doctor of the russian vice-consulate and the belgian customs officer forming the whole european community of sher-i-nasrya. sadek, who was great on charity, especially when it went to my account, in order to thank providence for my recovery sacrificed two sheep, and their meat was distributed to the clamouring poor. such an expedient was necessary, sadek said, or i should certainly get fever again! owing to the russian calendar being in disagreement with ours, the consul, mrs. benn and i were most cordially entertained to a second christmas dinner by the russian consul, who had just returned from meshed, and we had a most delightful evening. for a convalescent, i could not help thinking so many christmas dinners coming together might have been fatal, but fortunately, owing entirely to the charming and thoughtful kindness of my hosts, both english and russian, i managed to pull through with no very ill effects. the consular escort of cossacks looked very business-like and smart as they paraded in the yard which had been duly illuminated for the occasion. the amir expressed a wish to see me, and as i was just able to get on a horse the consul and i paid an official visit to the governor in the citadel. we rode in full state with the escort of lancers, and traversed the town along the main street, entering from the south gate. i was again much struck by the intense respect shown by the natives towards major benn, all rising as we passed and making a profound salaam. we traversed the greater portion of the city by the main street, and then arrived at the gate of the citadel in the north-west part of sher-i-nasrya. the door was so low that we had some difficulty in entering without dismounting, and just as we were squeezing in, as it were, through this low passage, one of the disreputable-looking soldiers on guard fired his gun--in sign of salute--which somewhat startled our horses and set them a-kicking. in the small court where we dismounted was a crowd of soldiers and servants, and here another salute was fired by the sentry. through winding, dilapidated passages and broken-down courts we were conveyed to the amir's room--a very modest chamber, whitewashed, and with humble carpets on the floor. a huge wood fire was burning in the chimney, and the furniture consisted of a table and six chairs, three folding ones and three vienna cane ones, arranged symmetrically on either side of the table. [illustration: major r. e. benn, british consul for sistan, and his escort of 7th bombay lancers.] the amir sat on a folding chair on one side of the table, and the consul, ghul khan and myself in a row on the opposite side. we were most cordially received by hashmat-ul-mulk, the amir, who--this being ramzam or fasting time--showed ample evidence of mis-spent nights. he had all the semblance of a person addicted to opium smoking. his excellency was unshaven and unwashed, and seemed somewhat dazed, as if still under the effects of opium. his discoloured eyes stared vaguely, now at the consul, now at ghul khan, now at me, and he occasionally muttered some compliment or other at which we all bowed. presently, however, his conversation became most interesting, when, having gone through all these tedious preliminary formalities, he began to describe to me the many ruined cities of sistan. he told me how at one time, centuries and centuries gone by, sistan was the centre of the world, and that a city existed some twenty miles off, named zaidan, the length of which was uninterrupted for some eighty or ninety miles. "the remains of this city," he said, "are still to be seen, and if you do not believe my words you can go and see for yourself. in fact," added the amir, "you should not leave sistan without going to inspect the ruins. the city had flat roofs in a continuous line, the houses being built on both sides of a main road. a goat or a sheep could practically have gone along the whole length of the city," went on the amir, to enforce proof of the continuity of buildings of zaidan. "but the city had no great breadth. it was long and narrow, the dwellings being along the course of an arm of the halmund river, which in those days, before its course was shifted by moving sands, flowed there. the ruined city lies partly in afghan, partly in sistan territory. in many parts it is covered altogether by sand, but, by digging, houses, and in them jewellery and implements, are to be found all along." i promised the amir that i would go and visit zaidan city the very next day. when we had once begun talking, the amir spoke most interestingly, and i was glad to obtain from him very valuable and instructive information. one hears accounts in some quarters of the persian officials being absolutely pro-russian and showing incivility to british subjects, but on the contrary the amir positively went out of his way to show extreme civility. he repeatedly inquired after my health and expressed his fervent wishes that fever should no more attack me. "what do you think of my beloved city, sher-i-nasrya?" he exclaimed. i prudently answered that in my travels all over the world i had never seen a city like it, which was quite true. "but you look very young to have travelled so much?" queried the amir. "it is merely the great pleasure of coming to pay your excellency a visit that makes me look young!" i replied with my very best, temporarily adopted, persian manner, at which the amir made a deep bow and placed his hand upon his heart to show the full appreciation of the compliment. he, too, like all persian officials, displayed the keenest interest in the chinese war of 1900 and the eventual end of china. he spoke bitterly of the recluse buddhists of tibet, and i fully endorsed his views. then again, he told me more of historical interest about his province, and of the medical qualities of the halmund water--which cures all evils. more elaborate compliments flowed on all sides, and numberless cups of steaming tea were gradually sipped. then we took our leave. as a most unusual courtesy, the consul told me, and one meant as a great honour, the amir came to escort us and bid us good-bye right up to the door,--the usual custom being that he rises, but does not go beyond the table at which he sits. out we went again through the same narrow passages, stooping so as not to knock our heads against the low door-way, and came to our horses. the soldier on guard fired another salute with his gun, and ghul-khan, who happened to be near at the time, nearly had his eye put out by it. as we rode through the gate a number of prisoners--seven or eight--laden with chains round the neck and wrists and all bound together, were being led in. they salaamed us and implored for our protection, but we could do nothing. i could not help feeling very sorry for the poor devils, for the way justice is administered in sistan, as in most parts of persia, is not particularly attractive. the tendons of the hands or feet are cut even for small offences, hot irons are thrust into the criminal's limbs, and other such trifling punishments are inflicted if sufficient money is not forthcoming from the accused or their relations to buy them out. here is an example of persian justice. while i was in bed with fever, one day major and mrs. benn went for a ride along the wall of the city, with their usual escort. on reaching the city gate they saw several people come out, and they were startled by a shot being fired close by them, and a dead body was laid flat across the road. the dead man, it appeared, had been himself a murderer and had been kept in chains in the amir's custody, pending trial. the verdict might have possibly turned in his favour had he been willing to grease the palms of the jailors, in accordance with old persian custom; but although the man was very well off, he refused to disburse a single shai. he was therefore there and then handed over to the relations of the murdered man so that they should mete out to him what punishment they thought fit. the man was instantly dragged through the streets of the city, and on arriving outside the city gate they shot him in the back. the body was then left in the road, the persian crowd which had assembled round looking upon the occurrence as a great joke, and informing major benn that the corpse would remain there until some of his relations came to fetch it away. on referring the matter to the governor the following day, he smilingly exclaimed: "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"--a quotation from the koran that quite cleared his conscience. this is a very common way of disposing of criminals in persia by allowing personal revenge to take its course. although such ways of administering justice may not commend themselves to one, the moral of it as looked upon by persian eyes is not as bad as it might at first appear. the honest, the well-to-do man, they reason, has nothing whatever to fear from anybody, and if a man chooses to be a criminal, he must take the consequences of it. the more severe the punishment the less crime there will be in the country. persian law prevents crime. in a province like sistan, where the people are not quite up-to-date as in other parts of persia, naturally, ways which to us may seem very cruel have to be applied by the amir to impress the people. if fines to the maximum of the prisoner's purse are excepted, the usual way of satisfying the law for almost any offence, the next most common punishment is the bastinado applied on the bare soles of the feet. when an option is left to the prisoner of undergoing the bastinado or paying a fine, he generally selects the sticks, which he feels much less than the anguish of disbursing the smallest sum in cash. minor crimes only are so punished--it is considered the lightest punishment. occasionally it is used to obtain confessions. people are seldom known to die under it. disfigurement, or deprivation of essential limbs, such as one or more phalanges of fingers, or the ears or nose, is also much in vogue for thieves, house-breakers and highwaymen. for second offences of criminals so branded the whole hand or foot is cut off. blinding, or rather, atrophizing the eyes by the application of a hot iron in front, but not touching them, such as is common all over central asia, is occasionally resorted to in the less civilised parts of persia, but is not frequent now. i only saw one case of a man who had been so punished, but many are those who have the tendons of arms and legs cut--a favourite punishment which gives the most dreadfully painful appearance to those who have undergone it. imprisonment is considered too expensive for the government, and is generally avoided except in the bigger cities. the prisoners have a very poor time of it, a number of them being chained close together. to burn people or to bury them alive are severe punishments which are very seldom heard of now-a-days, but which occasionally take place in some remote districts and unknown to his majesty the shah, who has ever shown a tender heart and has done all in his power to suppress barbarous ways in his country; but cases or crucifixion and stoning to death have been known to have occurred not many years ago--if not as a direct punishment from officials, yet with their indirect sanction. strangling and decapitation are still in use, and i am told--but cannot guarantee its accuracy--that blowing criminals from guns is rarely practised now, although at one time this was a favourite persian way of disposing of violent criminals. a persian official was telling me that, since these terrible punishments have been to a great extent abolished, crimes are more frequent in persia than they were before. the same man--a very enlightened person, who had travelled in europe--also remarked to me that had we to-day similar punishments in europe instead of keeping criminals on the fat of the land--(i am only repeating his words)--we should not have so much crime in the country. "your laws," he added, "protect criminals; our ways deter men and women from crime. to prevent crime, no matter in how cruel a way it is done, is surely less cruel than to show leniency and kindness to the persons who do commit crimes!" that was one way of looking at it. taking things all round, if blood feuds and cases of personal revenge are excepted, there is certainly less crime in persia than in many european countries. chapter xxi the london of the east--a city eighty-six miles long--the village of bunjar--an ancient tower--iskil--the _kalantar_ of sistan--collection of ancient jewellery from the buried city--interesting objects--a romantic life and tragic death--a treacherous afghan--strained relations between the sistan and afghan governors--sand-barchans--flat roofs and gable roofs--the pillar of mil-i-zaidan--a conical ice-house--the imposing fort of zaidan--a neighbouring modern village. the consul, mrs. benn and i, started off early one morning on horseback to inspect the ruins of the ancient london of the east, the great city of zaidan, which in the days of its glory measured no less than eighty-six miles--from lash yuwain on the north to kala-i-fath on the south--ruins of the city being traceable the whole distance to this day, except in the portion which has been covered by the waters of the hamun halmund. on the way there was little to be seen for the first four miles until we reached the village of bunjar, the biggest trading village in sistan and the residence of the iman jumeh, the next holiest man to the head priest of sher-i-nasrya. this village and neighbourhood supply sher-i-nasrya entirely with wood and very largely with food. there are many stunted trees about, all curved southwards by the wind, and much cultivated land, the ground being intersected by numerous natural and artificial water channels. a very curious ancient tower, split in two, and the portion of another very much corroded at its base, and looking like a big mushroom, are to be seen on the south near this village. we cut across, almost due east, to iskil, wading through several canals and channels into which our horses dived up to their saddles. on approaching iskil from the west one was impressed by the unusual height of some of its buildings, most of which were two-storied and had domed roofs, the domes being of much larger proportions than usual. a quadrangular tower of considerable loftiness stood prominent above the height of all the other buildings. for a persian village iskil had quite a clean, fresh appearance, even from a short distance. on getting near we entered the main road--one might more accurately call it a canal--walled in on both sides and filled with water some eight or ten inches deep. our horses waded through, and having rounded another large pond of dirty green water--such as is always found in the more prosperous villages of persia--we came to a high wall enclosing a garden and an andarun near the residence of the kalantar of sistan (kalantar means the "bigger one"), the title taken by the head of the tribe who in by-gone days were the masters of the whole of sistan. the kalantar is a large landowner, and has the contract for all the grazing tax of east sistan. among the villages owned by him are iskil, bunjar, and kas-im-abad, the three richest in sistan. the name of kalantar is taken by each of the family as he succeeds to the possession of these villages, lands, and rights. the kalantar, previous to the one now in possession, was a man of most commanding presence, very tall and very stout--the biggest man in sistan--and much respected by everybody. he was extremely friendly towards the english. he had planted an entire garden of english flowers and fruit at iskil, and took the keenest interest in horticulture and agriculture. above all, however, he was renowned for a magnificent collection of ancient seals, coins, jewellery, implements, beads, and other curiosities, of which he had amassed chests and chests full that had been dug up from the great city of zaidan and neighbourhood. some of the cameos were very delicately cut in hard stone, and reminded one of ancient greek work. symbolic representations in a circle, probably to suggest eternity, were favourite subjects of these ornamentations, such designs as a serpent biting its own tail, or three fishes biting one another's tails and forming a circle, being of frequent occurrence. so also were series of triangles and simple circles. the gold rings were most beautifully delicate and simple in design, and so were all the other ornaments, showing that the people of zaidan had a most refined civilisation which is not to be found in persian art of to-day. personally, i have certainly never seen modern persian work which in any way approached in beauty of line and execution to the articles excavated from the great city of zaidan. a great profusion of beads of amber, jasper, crystal, turquoise, malachite, agate, had been found in zaidan and some that we saw were handsomely polished and cut, some were ornamented, others were made of some composition like very hard enamel. all--even the hardest crystal ones--had clean holes drilled through them. the kalantar had built himself a fine residence at iskil, with huge rooms and lofty domes, and here he kept these collections. his generous nature had caused him to build a handsome guest house in front of his dwelling in order to put up and entertain his friends, native or foreign. it was on the steps of his guest house that the last act of a terrible tragedy took place only a short time before we visited iskil. about ten years ago, in 1891, a man called mahommed hussein khan, an afghan refugee, came to live in bunjar, bringing with him a _sigah_ wife (concubine), her mother and a child. shortly after his arrival he left his family in bunjar and went on a pilgrimage to meshed. no news was received of him for a very long time, and the wife wrote to him--when her money and patience were exhausted--that if he did not return on a certain date or answer her letter she should consider herself divorced from him. he replied that she might consider herself free from the date of receipt of his letter, and requested her to send her mother in charge of his child to meshed. during mahommed hussein's absence rumour says that kalantar mir-abbas had an intrigue with the lady, and on receipt of her husband's letter from meshed he forcibly removed her from bunjar and compelled her to marry him, mir-abbas, at iskil. unluckily, the lady was a suni and kalantar mir-abbas was a shia, which made it difficult to overcome certain religious obstacles. such a union would anyhow be greatly resented by relations on both sides. in fact, about a year ago, 1900, the lady's brother, a native of girisk, near kandahar, enraged at his sister marrying a man who was not an afghan, and of a different persuasion, came to iskil with characteristically treacherous afghan ways and sought service with the kalantar, assuring him of the great affection and devotion he entertained towards him. the good-hearted kalantar immediately gave him employment and treated him most generously. on the night of september 19th, 1901, the kalantar had been entertaining some friends in the durbar building opposite his residence, among whom was the afghan, who left the room before mir-abbas and went to conceal himself in the darkness at the entrance. when the kalantar was joyfully descending the steps after the pleasant night assembly, the treacherous afghan attacked him and, placing his rifle to mir-abbas' head, shot him dead. the assassin then endeavoured to enter the andarun to kill his sister, but the lady, having her suspicions, had barricaded herself in, and an alarm being given he had to make his escape across the afghan frontier only a few miles distant from iskil. it was rumoured that the murderer had been sheltered by the afghan governor of the chikansur district, who goes by the grand name of _akhunzada_, or "the great man of a high family." the governor of sistan, angered at the infamous deed, demanded the extradition of the assassin, but it was refused, with the result that the afghan official was next accused of screening the murderer. there was much interchange of furious correspondence and threats between the persian and afghan governors, and their relations became so strained that a fight seemed imminent. the shrewd afghan then offered to allow five persian soldiers, accompanied by twenty afghans, to search his district--an offer which was very prudently declined. persian and afghan soldiers were posted in some force on both sides of the river--forming the frontier--and devoted their time to insulting one another; but when i left sistan in january, 1902, although the relations were still much strained, the affair of the kalantar, which seemed at one time likely to turn into a national quarrel, was gradually being settled on somewhat less martial lines. the death of such a good, honest man has been much regretted in sistan, and great hopes are now built on his son and successor, a young fellow much resembling his father both in personal appearance and kindliness towards his neighbours. we next came to a second and smaller village four miles further on--after having waded through numberless water-channels, ponds and pools and our horses having performed some feats of balancing on bridges two feet wide or even less. some of these structures were so shaky that the horses were not inclined to go over them except after considerable urging. the country between was flat and uninteresting, except that here and there some low mounds had formed where the sand blown by the n.n.w. wind had been arrested by some obstacle, such as a shrub of camel-thorn or tamarisk. most of these sand-barchans had a striking peculiarity. they were semi-spherical except to the s.s.e., where a section of the sphere was missing, which left a vacuum in the shape of a perfect crescent. by the numberless waves on the sand surface it seemed evident that the sand had accumulated from the n.n.w. side. the village was small and miserable, with a few scraggy trees bowing low, like all trees of sistan, towards the s.s.e., owing to the severe, n.n.w. winds. here instead of the everlasting domes, flat roofs were again visible--wood being, no doubt, available close at hand. more curious, however, were actual gable roofs, the first i had noticed in persia in purely native houses. the ventilating apertures were not in the roof itself, as in the domed houses, but in the walls, which were of a much greater height than in the domed habitations. the doors and windows were invariably on the south wall, but to the north at the lower portion of the roof in each house one could observe a triangular, projecting structure, usually in the centre of the upper wall. this was a different type of wind-catcher, but in winter blocked up with sun-dried bricks and mud. between this village and zaidan there was again a good deal of water to be crossed, and in some spots it was so deep that our horses sank into it up to their chests and we had to lie flat, with our legs resting on the animals' backs, to escape a ducking. to our left--to the north--could be seen in the distance a high tower, which is said to have a spiral staircase inside, and must be of very great height, as even from where we were--eight miles away--it rose very high above the horizon, some 70 feet, as we guessed, and looked very big. this tower stood alone several miles to the north of the principal zaidan ruins for which we were steering, and i had not therefore time to visit it. the pillar is locally called mil-i-zaidan, and is circular in shape, made of kiln-baked bricks cemented together by clay. on the summit, above a broad band with ornamentations and a much worn inscription can be seen the fragments of two smaller structures, also cylindrical, which may have been the supports of the dome of the minaret. there is said to be another illegible inscription about thirty feet from the ground. according to goldsmid, who visited this place in 1872, the tower then stood on a square foundation, and its circumference was 55 feet at the base and only 28 feet at the summit. the lower portion of the tower, as seen through powerful glasses, seemed very much corroded, and it will not be long before it collapses. there are various theories regarding this tower, which now rises directly above the flat desert. it is said by some to be one of a number of isolated watch towers, but this, i think, is incorrect. [illustration: the citadel of zaidan, the great city.] according to major sykes, who quotes from the seljuk history: "every three hundred paces a pillar twice the height of a man was built and two _minars_ between gurz and fahraj, one forty _gaz_ high, the other twenty-five, and _under_ each _minar_ a caravanserai and a tank." by the word "under" the historian evidently meant directly underneath the tower--which was the customary way of constructing such buildings. the _minars_ seldom rose from the ground, but were and are generally constructed on the roofs of buildings. a proof that this was the case in this particular instance was that when goldsmid visited it in 1872, he stated that it "was built on a square foundation." the caravanserai underneath this tower and the tank are evidently buried by the sand, as is the case with a great portion of the city of zaidan. that there is underneath the sand a city connecting the southern portion of zaidan--still partly above ground--with the northern portion of zaidan, and that this _minar_ rises above buried habitations, there can be little doubt, for all along the several miles of intervening sandy stretch the earth is covered with debris, ruins and fragments of tiles, bricks, &c., &c., showing the remains of a great city. as we went along, leaving the pillar to the north and steering south-east for the main ruins of zaidan, we saw close by on the north a very large structure forming the section of a cone--the lower portion buried in sand and the upper portion having collapsed,--which a sistani who accompanied us said was an ancient ice-house. this theory may be correct, for it is probable that the climate of sistan may have greatly changed; but it is also possible that the structure may have been a large flour-mill, for to this day mills are built in persia on similar exterior lines to the ice-houses. structures of the same kind are also to be observed as far south as kala-i-fath, the southern terminus of the great city. no ice to speak of can be collected nowadays, either in sistan or within a very large radius of country, and snow is seldom, almost never seen. near this mill or ice-house, whichever it was, another high building in ruins was to be observed, but i could not afford the time to deviate from my route and inspect it. it appeared like a watch-tower, and was not dissimilar to two other round towers we had seen before on the south,--very likely they were all outer fire-signalling stations, so common all over asia. [illustration: the zaidan west towers and modern village.] after a brisk ride of some four hours we arrived at the main portion of the ruins of zaidan--an imposing fort on a clay hill, which must have formed the citadel. at the foot of the hill was the modern village of zaidan--about fifty houses, some with flat, others with gabled, roofs, such as we had seen at the previous villages, and a few with domed roofs. there were a few cultivated fields in which wheat was raised. chapter xxii an ancient city as big as london--the citadel--towers--small rooms--the walls--immensity of the city--sand drifts--why some parts are buried and some are not--an extensive wall--great length of the city--evidence that the habitations were continuous--the so-called rud-i-nasru--its position--a double outer wall--a protected road--interesting structures--an immense graveyard--tombs--sand drifts explained--a former gate of the city--the _chil-pir_ or tomb of forty saints--interesting objects found--beautiful inscriptions on marble and slate--marble columns--graceful lamps--exciting digging--a tablet--heptagonal tower--a ghastly figure. as we approached the ruins we could not help being impressed by their grandeur. they were certainly the most imposing i had so far come across in persia. the high walls and towers of the fort could be seen from a great distance, and for the benefit of my readers a photograph is reproduced in this book to show how the citadel of this great city appeared as one drew near it from the west. the photograph was taken half a mile away from the fortress. we entered the citadel by a short incline on the northern side of the main fort and found ourselves in a huge court, the sides of which were much blocked towards the wall by sand drifts. contrary to what has been stated by others, the citadel is not inhabited to-day, nor are there any signs of its having been inhabited probably for a great many years. there is nothing whatever to be seen in the centre of this yard, which is covered with accumulated sand far above its original level, and at the sides, too, of the court, where buildings would have very likely been, everything is smothered in sand up to a great height of the wall. in other places the wall has collapsed altogether. [illustration: towers of the citadel, zaidan.] remains of small rooms high up near the top of the wall can be seen. the inside of the inner fort enclosed by the highest wall is quadrangular, and has ten towers round it, eight of which are still in wonderful preservation considering their age. those at the angles of the quadrangle had large, somewhat elongated, windows ending in a point cut into them in two tiers, as may be seen in the illustration. curiously enough, while the windows were six feet in height, the doors were never more than five feet. there were rooms in all the towers, but all were extremely small. the largest averaged eight feet square. the walls of the towers were of mud bricks with layers of kiln-baked bricks, and were three to four feet deep and of very great strength. as can be seen by the illustration, a fragment of an archway was to be found on the summit of the wall and there were often signs that a covered passage, such as may be found in other northern forts of this great city, must have been in existence when the place was in all its glory. as one stood on the highest point of the wall and looked around one got a fair idea of the former immensity of the city. it evidently stretched from south-east to north, forming an obtuse angle at the citadel on which i stood. to the south-east of the fortress, where sheltered from the terrific north winds and from the sand drifts, the ruins were in better preservation and less covered with sand, which here indeed made quite a depression, while the northern aspect now displays a continuous mass of fine sand interrupted only by some of the higher buildings projecting above it. one could distinguish quite plainly where the wall of the city continued for a long distance to the south-east with occasional towers, but this portion of the wall, as seen in the illustration facing page 208, is now in a sad state of decay and fast being covered with sand. the first three hundred yards of it, which are the best preserved, however, will show what a place of great strength zaidan must have been. the towers appear to have been enormous, as shown by the base of the nearer one in the foreground of the photograph, and also by the second one, a portion of which still remained standing. the city boundary made a detour to the south-east at the third tower, all the buildings visible being on the east of the wall and none to the west. the modern village of zaidan should, of course, be excepted. there seems to have been a great space intervening between this wall and the nearest habitations, but why that was would now be difficult to ascertain except by digging to a considerable depth. it seems hardly likely that a moat with water should have been constructed on the inside of the fortress, although at first sight one might be led to conclude that this was the case. [illustration: s.e. portion of zaidan city, showing how it disappears under distant sand accumulations.] [illustration: double wall and circular unroofed structures, zaidan. in the distance high sand accumulations above city.] the city does not seem to have had a great general breadth, and is mostly remarkable for its enormous length, although at several of the most important points it has indeed considerable width. it extended mostly like a long line, and one could still perceive, as far as the eye could see, partially destroyed domed roofs, fragments of walls, and in some cases entire structures still standing and bearing roofs. the ice-house, which we had passed on the way, stood prominent to the north by north-west and also the pillar, the _minar_ of mil-i-zaidan. major sykes makes a very quaint statement in the _geographical journal_ for february, 1902. he says: "i have seen it stated by previous travellers" (presumably sir f. goldsmid and bellew) "that the ruins of zaidan extend for fourteen miles, but the fact is that _there were villages lining the rud-i-nasru throughout its length_ (a length of 30 miles according to major sykes's maps), and these have been mistaken for suburbs of the capital of sistan." it seems to me that major sykes has only strengthened the contention of previous travellers and that, whether one calls them suburbs or a continuity of habitations, villages, or by any other name, the fact is that continuous miles of buildings can be traced. the rud-i-nasru canal, according to major sykes's own maps as given in the _geographical society's journal_, is over 30 miles in length, and if the 30 miles are lined _throughout_ by villages surely that fact further establishes the continuity of the city. personally, however, i have my doubts whether major sykes is correct in placing the rud-i-nasru to the west of the city in zaidan's days of glory. there are signs of a canal, but to the east of the city. the hamun, too, i think, no more stretched across from east to west in the northern portion than it does to-day, but rather formed two separate lakes--the eastern one fed by the surplus water of the halmund; the western filled by the farah rud. the space between is liable to be occasionally flooded by the excess of water in these two lakes, but that is all. all the evidence goes to show that the great city, under different local names, extended continuously northwards as far as lash yuwain, passing between the two marshy lakes. in the next chapter i have brought undoubted evidence pointing to that conclusion, and if any one is still sceptical about it, all he has to do is to go there and see for himself. in such a dry climate the ruins, although gradually being covered over with sand, will remain long enough for any one wishing to spend some time there and to make a thorough study of them. to the east of the zaidan fort, about 100 yards and 200 yards respectively, are the remains, still fairly well preserved, of a high double wall, castellated and with loop-holes half-way up the wall. these two walls, where free from sand, stand some 40 feet high, but in most portions the sand has accumulated to a height of 15 to 20 feet. these parallel walls were somewhat puzzling. they were only a few feet apart and protected a road between them which went from north-west to south-east. each wall was constructed very strongly of two brick walls filled between with beaten earth. the lower portion of the wall was much corroded by the wind and sand, but the upper part where it had not collapsed, was in good preservation. there were rows of holes at the bottom on the east side, where there appeared to have been extensive stables with mangers for horses. the lower portion of the wall was of kiln-baked bricks, and the upper part in horizontal layers of baked bricks every four feet and mud bricks between. of the two parallel walls the eastern one was not castellated, but the western or inner had a castellated summit. there was an outer moat or canal. only a comparatively small portion of this double wall stood up to its former height--merely a few hundred feet of it--but traces could be seen that it must have extended for a very long distance. it appeared to be tortuous and not in a straight line, its direction being plainly traceable even in the photograph reproduced in the illustration facing page 208. only one tower of a quadrangular shape could be seen along this wall, and the apertures in the wall were at regular intervals of four feet. the doorway in these walls appeared to have been next to the quadrangular tower, which was very likely constructed in order to guard the gate. there were small circular unroofed structures between the fort itself and this double wall, but they appeared more like the upper sections of towers than actual habitations. though much smaller and lower they bore all the architectural characteristics of the towers of the greater fort, and possessed windows, one above the other, similar to those we had found in the larger towers of the main fort. in the illustration the reader can see for himself. that a considerable portion of this structure is buried is shown by the fact that the upper portion of a window is just visible above the sand in the circular building to the left of the observer. these structures had in the interior some elaborately moulded recesses, and ornamented windows in pointed arches. the circular building had three rooms on the floor still above ground and six small recesses. one window was in most excellent preservation. further on, beyond the double wall to the south-east, was a most extensive graveyard, a portion of which had been freed from sand by the natives of the modern village of zaidan. there were hundreds and hundreds of tombs, some in quite good preservation, as can be seen by the two photographs facing pages 212 and 214. the photograph facing page 212 shows the eastern portion of the graveyard where some of the tombs were altogether free from sand, and in a splendid state of preservation. they were made of kiln-burnt bricks plastered over with mud, the body, it may be remarked, being enclosed in these rectangular brick cases and entirely above ground. they were mostly single tombs, not compound graves, like some which we shall inspect later on (mount) kuh-i-kwajah. their measurements were about 7 feet by 4 feet by 3½ feet, and they were extremely simple, except that the upper face was ornamented by a series of superposed rectangles diminishing in size upwards and each of the thickness of one brick, and the last surmounted generally by a prism. [illustration: interior of zaidan fortress.] [illustration: graveyard of zaidan city.] the photograph facing page 214 shows the north-western portion of the graveyard, with the entire eastern aspect of the zaidan fortress. i took this photograph for the special purpose of proving how high the sand has accumulated over many portions of the graveyard, as well as over a great portion of the city. the particular spot where i took the photograph was somewhat protected from the north, hence the low depression, slightly more free from sand than further back where the sand, as can be seen, was able to settle down to a great height. the upper portions of several graves can be noticed mostly buried in sand, and by the ripples on the sand and the casting of the shadows (the photograph was taken in the afternoon when the sun was west) it can be seen plainly that the sand has accumulated from the north. under the immediate lee of the fortress and of the outer walls, similar depressions in the sand were found, and it is owing to these that some portion of the city was still uncovered by sand. in the photograph facing page 214 it may be noticed that where the lee of the high fortress no longer protects the buildings from the drifting sand, the city gradually disappears, as it were, under fairly high accumulations. we shall find later, on our journey to the beluchistan frontier, how these sand accumulations, in their turn, forming themselves into barriers against the sands which came from the north, allowed further southerly portions of the city to escape unburied, which portions can be seen extending in and out of these transverse sand ridges as far south as kala-i-fath. north of the zaidan fortress the sand, finding no high obstacles, has accumulated to a much greater height, only very lofty buildings remaining visible above the surface. in the photograph facing page 206 this high cushion, as it were, of sand can plainly be seen over the north of the city beyond the tower of the castle; also a portion of the small canal at the foot of the tower, which some will have it was the rud-i-nasru. in the distance towards the south-east, two quadrangular towers could be seen, which the katkhuda of zaidan village told us formed part of one of the former gates of the city. these two towers can be seen in the background of the photograph facing page 212. some distance beyond the graveyard we came to a section of a tower, heptagonal in form, which had just been dug out to a depth of 4 feet by the natives of the village of zaidan. the katkhuda--who could have given points to an irishman--told us that this was the tomb of the renowned legendary "forty saints of zaidan," and added, that they numbered forty-four! on being asked why it was called the tomb of the forty saints if their number was forty-four, he did not lose his presence of mind, but explained that four had been added afterwards when this sacred spot had already received its legendary name. [illustration: east view of the zaidan citadel.] for a very long time the zaidan people had searched for this sacred spot, and they seemed very proud to have discovered it. it is called by them _chil-pir_, or the "forty saints." as the tower is not large enough to contain them all, a number of them are said to be buried in the immediate neighbourhood to the south and west of the structure, and the katkhuda, to prove his words, showed us some three graves, more elaborate than the rest. there were also others that were anxiously searched for, but had not been located yet. the graves which i was shown were entirely of kiln-burnt bricks, and so was the wall of the tower itself, as can be seen by a portion of it showing in the illustration facing page 218, behind the marble inscription and columns. since its discovery the natives had made this into a _ziarat_ or shrine, and on its western side (towards mecca) had adorned it with a bundle of sticks, horns, and a number of rags, or pieces of ribbon, white, red or blue. every mussulman visiting it leaves an offering of a piece of cloth generally from his coat or turban, if a man, or from the chudder or other feminine wearing apparel if a woman. the katkhuda told us that a great many things had been found in digging near here, but the more valuable ones had disappeared, sold to officials or rich people of sistan. a great many seals, coins, stone weapons, lamps and pottery had been found, the latter often glazed. innumerable fragments of earthenware were strewn everywhere round about these ruins, some with interesting ornamentations, generally blue on white ground. the "parallel lines" and "heart pattern" were common, while on some fragments of tiles could be seen quotations from the koran in ancient arabic. some pieces of tiles exhibited a very handsome blue glaze, and on some plates the three leaf pattern, almost like a fleur-de-lis, was attempted, in company with the two-leaf and some unidentified flower. most interesting of all were the beautiful inscriptions on stone and marble, recently been found in the tomb of the forty saints. some had already been covered again by the sand, but we dug them out afresh and i photographed them. they were in fair preservation. they bore arabic characters, and were apparently dedicated in most laudatory terms, one to "the pomp of the country, sun of righteousness and religion, and the founder of a mosque"; the other commemorated the death of a great amir. as, however, there appears to be some difficulty in deciphering some of the very ancient characters i will refrain from giving any translation of them for fear of being inaccurate. the photographs given of them facing pages 218, 220, 222, are, however, quite clear enough for any one interested in the matter to decipher them for himself. these tablets were most artistic and beautifully carved, and one had a most charming ornamentation of two sprays of flowers in each of the two upper corners. the second inscription had much more minute writing on it, and was of a finer design and cut, but was, unfortunately, rather worn. it had evidently been subjected to a long period of friction--apparently by sand. the natives had made a sort of altar with this last inscription and some cylindrical sections of columns carved out of beautiful marble, white or most delicately variegated. there were also various other large pieces of marble and stone, which had evidently formed part of a very fine and rich building, as well as a very ancient fragment of a red baked earthenware water-pipe. many of the pieces of marble in the heap contained ornamentations such as successions of the heart pattern, graceful curve scrolls suggesting leaves, and also regular leaf patterns. one stone was absolutely spherical, like a cannon ball, and quite smooth; and some stone implements, such as a conical brown hammer and a pestle, were very interesting. on the white marble columns stood two charming little oil lamps, of a most graceful shape, in green earthenware, and in digging we were fortunate enough to find a third, which is now in my possession. they can be seen in the illustration (facing page 218), although i fear not at their best, being so small. they were not unlike the old pompeian lamps in shape, and certainly quite as graceful. the wick used to be lighted at the spout. among other fragments was the capital of a pillar, and portions of koran inscriptions. as we dug excitedly with our hands in the sand we found other inscriptions on slate and on grey-stone, of one of which i took an impression on paper. it seemed much more ancient than the others and had a most beautiful design on it of curves and flowers. a tablet at the entrance of the tomb of the forty saints was not of marble but of slate carved. it bore the following date: [arabic: 1282] which i believe corresponds to 1282. the heptagonal tower had two entrances, one to the north, the other to the south, but was, unfortunately, getting smothered in sand again. we became greatly excited on discovering the inscriptions, and pulled up our sleeves and proceeded in due haste to dig again in the sand--a process which, although much dryer, reminded one very forcibly of one's younger days at the seaside. our efforts were somewhat cooled by a ghastly white marble figure which we dug up, and which had such a sneering expression on its countenance that it set the natives all round shrieking with laughter. [illustration: the figure we dug out at zaidan.] [illustration: arabic inscription and marble columns with earthenware lamps upon them. fragment of water-pipe. stone implements. brick wall of the "tombs of forty saints" showing in top corners of photograph.] we thought we had better leave off. moreover, the natives who had accompanied us seemed rather upset at my photographing and digging, and now that i had got what i wanted i did not care to make them feel more uneasy than was necessary. i had exhausted all the photographic plates i had brought out with me, night was coming on fast, and we had twenty miles to ride back. on my last plate i photographed our last find, which is reproduced for the benefit of my readers facing page 218. this ugly head, with a very elongated and much expanded nose and a vicious mouth full of teeth, had been carved at the end of a piece of marble one and a half feet high. the head, with its oblique eyes, was well polished, but the remainder of the marble beyond the ears, which were just indicated by the artist, was roughly cut and appeared to have been made with the intention of being inserted into a wall, leaving the head to project outside. its flat forehead, too, would lead to the conclusion that it had been so shaped to act as a support, very likely to some tablet, or moulding of the mosque. the katkhuda said that it was a very ancient god, but its age was not easy to ascertain on so short an acquaintance. it certainly seemed very much more ancient than anything else we had found and inspected at zaidan. chapter xxiii a short historical sketch of zaidan city--how it was pillaged and destroyed--fortresses and citadels--taimur lang--shah rukh--revolutions--the safavi dynasty--peshawaran, pulki, deshtak--sir f. goldsmid's and bellew's impressions--the extent of the peshawaran ruins--arabic inscriptions--a curious ornamentation--mosques and _mihrab_--tomb of saiyid ikbal--the farah rud and harut rud--the "band" of the halmund--canals and channels old and new of the halmund delta--the rud-i-nasru and the rud-i-perian--strange temporary graves--ancient prosperity of eastern persia. it is not for me to go fully into the history of this great city of zaidan, for so much of it rests on speculation and confused traditions that i would rather leave this work to some scientist of a more gambling disposition than my own; but now that i have described what i myself saw i will add a few historical details which seem correct, and the opinions of one or two other travellers in that region which add interest to the place as well as strengthen my statements. with the many photographs which i took and which are reproduced in this book, i hope that a fair idea of the place will be conveyed to the reader. the following short historical notes were furnished to me by the katkhuda (or head village man) of the present village near the zaidan ruins. i reproduce them verbatim, without assuming any responsibility for the accuracy of the historical dates, but the information about the great city itself i found to be correct. [illustration: arabic inscription on marble dug by author at the city of zaidan.] when shah rukh shah was ruler of turkistan, and one malek kutuh-ud-din was ruler of sistan and kain, shah rukh shah was engaged in settling disturbances in the northern part of his dominions, and malek kutuh-ud-din, taking advantage of it, attacked herat and plundered it. shah rukh shah, hearing of this, collected an army and marched on sistan. during this march he devastated the country, which was then very fertile and wealthy, and captured and dispersed the inhabitants of the endless city of zaidan--which extended from kala-i-fath, to the south (now in afghan territory on the present bank of the halmund), to lash yuwain on the north (also in afghan territory on the bank of the farah rud), a distance, according to the trigonometrical survey maps, of 86 miles as the crow flies. this would agree with the account given me by the amir of the extent of the city. the city of zaidan was protected by a large fortress at every six farsakhs (24 miles). each fortress was said to be strongly garrisoned with troops, and had a high watch tower in the centre similar to that which i saw at a distance on the north-east of iskil, and which has been described in previous pages. another historical version attributes the destruction of zaidan and adjoining cities to taimur lang (tamerlane) or taimur the lame (a.h. 736-785), father of shah rukh whose barbarous soldiery, as some traditions will have it, were alone responsible for the pillage of zaidan city and the devastation of all sistan. the name of taimur lang is to this day held in terror by the natives of sistan. but whether zaidan was devastated twice, or whether the two accounts apply to the same disaster, it is not easy to ascertain at so distant a date. there are obvious signs all over eastern sistan that the country must have undergone great trouble and changes--probably under the rule of shah rukh and his successors (a.h. 853-873), after which revolutions seem to have been rampant for some sixty years, until shah ismail safavi conquered khorassan and the neighbouring countries, founding a powerful dynasty which reigned up to the year a.h. 1135. under the safavi dynasty sistan seems to have been vested in the kayani maliks, who are believed to be descendants of the royal house of kai. (i came across a village chief claiming to be the descendant of these kayani rulers.) to return to the zaidan ruins, as seen to-day from the highest point of the citadel wall, the ruined city stretches in a curve from north to south-east. it is to the south-east that the ruins are less covered with sand and in better preservation, the citadel standing about half way between its former north and southern termini. there is every evidence to show that the present extensive ruins of peshawaran to the north, pulki, deshtak (doshak described by bellew) and nad-i-ali were at one epoch merely a continuation of zaidan the great city, just as westminster, south kensington, hammersmith, &c., are the continuation of london, and make it to-day the largest conglomeration of houses in the world. it was evidently necessary to subdivide such an enormous place into districts. [illustration: transfer of inscription dated 1282, found in the "tomb of forty saints," zaidan.] [illustration: transfer of ornament above four lines of koran on grave stone.] [illustration: transfer of ornamentations on marble grave.] [illustration: presumed summits of towers buried in sand, zaidan. notice top of castellated wall behind.] bellew, who visited the ruins in 1872, speaks of zaidan as "extending as far as the eye can reach to the north-east, and said to be continuous with the ruins of doshak (deshtak), about nine miles from the helmund. these ruins, with those of pulki, nadali and peshawaran, are the most extensive in sistan, and mark the sites of populous cities, the like of which are not to be found at this present day in all this region between the indus and the tigris." doshak or deshtak is situated about fourteen miles south by south-east of sher-i-nasrya, on the right bank of the main canal which extended from the halmund towards the west. it was a large walled town, with towers and a square fort in the centre. deshtak is said to have been the residence and capital of the first member of the safavi dynasty in sistan, which, like all other cities of sistan, was pillaged and razed to the ground by the terrible taimur lang. on its ruins rose the smaller city of some 500 houses which we have mentioned--also called jalalabad--and which eventually became the seat of bahram khan, the last of the kayani chiefs. the city was built by him for his son jalaludin, after whom it was named. jalaludin, however, was expelled from the throne, and from that date the kayani family ceased to reign in sistan. pulki was also located on this main canal, east of deshtak, and peshawaran was situated due north of zaidan. they consist of an immense extent of ruins. both sir f. goldsmid and bellew, who travelled in that part testify to the whole country between jalalabad, buri-i-afghan and peshawaran being covered with ruins. the ruins at peshawaran i was not able to visit, they being in afghan territory--now forbidden to englishmen--and, being the guest of the british consul, i did not wish to cause trouble. sir f. goldsmid, who visited them during the perso-afghan frontier mission, describes them as covering a great area and being strongly built of alternate layers of sun-burnt and baked brick. the ruins of a madrassah, with a mosque and a _mihrab_, were most extensive, and had traces of ornamentations, and an inscription, said to be kufic. the walls of the citadel were (in 1872) in fairly good repair. "the citadel," sir f. goldsmid relates, "was of a circular form, somewhat irregular in shape, with a diameter of from two to three hundred yards. the walls are about fifty feet high, built strongly of baked brick, with a species of arched covered gallery, five feet high and five feet wide, running round the summit of the ramparts." a very similar arrangement was to be seen on the zaidan fort, as can be noticed in the photograph which i took and which is reproduced in the full page illustration (facing page 206). "two massive round towers guard the gateway approached by a narrow steep ascent. in the centre of the fort on a mound stood a superior house, probably the residence of the governor. to the south,[6] dense drifts of sand run to the summits of the ramparts." if these drifts can rise so high on the high wall of the citadel, it is certain that a great many of the smaller buildings must be rather deep under the sand level by now, but that they are there, there can be little doubt, for fragments of tiles, bricks, vases, &c., strew the ground. no doubt the usual critic will wonder how it is that, if the houses are buried, these fragments are not buried also. the wind principally is responsible for their keeping on the surface of the sand. they are constantly shifted and are blown from place to place, until arrested by some obstacle such as a wall, where a great number of these fragments can generally be found collected by the wind. "the great characteristic of these ruins"--continues sir f. goldsmid--"is the number of accurately constructed arches which still remain, and which are seen in almost every house, and the remains of strongly built windmills, with a vertical axis, as is usually the case in sistan." this again, as we have seen, is also one of the characteristics of the zaidan buildings. the ruins of peshawaran are subdivided into several groups, such as the kol marut, saliyan, three miles east of the fort, khushabad, kalah-i-mallahun, nikara-khanah, &c. bellew, who camped at saliyan, describes this section of the ruins "which cover many square miles of country, with readily distinguishable mosques and colleges (madrassahs), and the arabic inscriptions traceable on the façades of some of the principal buildings clearly refer their date to the period of the arab conquest, and further, as is evidenced by the domes and arches forming the roofs of the houses, that then, as now, the country was devoid of timber fit for building purposes. the most remarkable characteristic of these ruins is their vast extent and excellent preservation." i, too, am of bellew's opinion about these points. the several inscriptions i found at zaidan, photographs of which i have given in this book, were, as we have seen, in arabic; the ornamentations of which i took tracings were arabic in character. bellew reckons the great extent of the peshawaran section of the ruins as covering an area of about six miles by eight. he states that they were the outgrowths of successive cities rising on the ruins of their predecessors upon the same spot, and, like the other few travellers who have intelligently examined the ruins, came to the conclusion that in point of architecture and age the whole length from lash yuwain to the north to kala-i-fath to the south, and including peshawaran, zaidan and kali-i-fath were absolutely identical. goldsmid supplies information similar to bellew's regarding the peshawaran ruins, and he writes that on his march north to lash yuwain he had to go three or four miles to the west on account of the ruins. he speaks of seeing a place of worship with a _mihrab_, and, curiously enough, on the wall above it he found "the masonic star of five points surrounded by a circle and with a round cup between each of the points and another in the centre." he also saw the tomb of saiyid ikbal, also mentioned by another traveller, christie. eight miles west by north-west from the ruins rises a flat-topped plateau-like hill, called the kuh-i-kuchah, not dissimilar in shape to the kuh-i-kwajah to the south-west of sher-i-nasrya. four villages are found near it. to the east of it is found the farah rud, and to its west the harut rud,--two rivers losing themselves (when they have any water in them) into the lagoon. the harut is not always flowing. to the south is the naizar lagoon forming part of the hamun-halmund. (this lagoon was mostly dry when i went through.) it has formed a huge lake at various epochs, but now only the northern portion, skirting the southern edge of the peshawaran ruins, has any permanent water in it, and is principally fed by the delta of canals and by the overflow of the halmund, over the band, a kind of barrage. some explanation is necessary to make things clear. on the present afghan-perso boundary, at a place called the "band-i-sistan," is the great dam across the halmund, completely turning the waters of the stream, by means of semi-artificial canals, for the irrigation of sistan. hence the fertility of that district. the dam, "the band," as it is called by the natives, is a barrier slightly over 700 feet long, constructed of upright wooden stakes holding in position horizontal fascines of tamarisk interwoven, strengthened by stones and plastered with mud to form a semi-solid wall. in olden days the band was so feebly constructed that it was generally carried away every year at the spring floods, but now greater attention is given to its construction and it is kept in fairly good repair, although portions of it usually collapse or are carried away by the force of the current during the floods. the height of the band is not more than eighteen or twenty feet. practically the actual river course comes to an end at this band, and from this point its waters are spread into a delta of canals, large and small, subdivided into hundreds other tortuous channels. the hussein ki canal is one of the most important, and feeds zaidan, iskil, bunjar and sher-i-nasrya, husseinabad, and other places, and is subdivided into minor channels during its course. it flows roughly in a north-west direction. in 1896, according to major sykes (_royal geographical society's journal_), a new canal, known as the rud-i-perian, was formed, and destroyed jahanabad, ibrahimabad and jalalabad. this canal, he says, is not far from the rud-i-nasru, which he seems to think was at one time the main stream and flowed in a natural bed past zaidan to the west of it, but personally i have my doubts about the accuracy of this statement. i believe that the rud-i-nasru was merely a shallow canal that passed to the west of zaidan, but that the river course of the halmund itself was always to the east of zaidan as well as of the other adjoining cities north of zaidan. the canal to the east of nad-i-ali is no doubt a naturally cut channel, the obvious continuation under natural circumstances of the river course. the same remark might apply to the small channel self-cut to the west of that place. there are other important channels, such as the madar-ab, which supplies water to chiling, pulki and sekhuka; the kimak canal and the kasimabad. before the present dam was constructed some eighty years ago, a previous "band" existed, as we shall see, further up the course of the halmund to the south, and secured the irrigation of the southern portion of sistan, which is now absolutely dry and barren. dried up canal beds of great length are still to be found in southern sistan. [illustration: sketch plan of "zaidan citadel" by a. henry savage landor.] it would be a great undertaking to describe accurately all these canals and the various positions they have occupied at different epochs, and the task would at best be most thankless and useless, for, with the exception of the larger ones, the minor ones keep constantly changing their course by cutting themselves new beds in the soft soil. anybody who has visited eastern sistan, even in a very dry season, as i did, knows too well how the ground is intersected in all directions by myriads of natural water channels, all fed by the halmund, so that, unless one had months of time at one's disposal, it would hardly be possible to map them all out exactly. during flood time the water flows over the band and into its natural channel due north up into the hamun, where it loses itself. there is a good deal of verdure, trees, and high reeds near the banks of the river at the band, with many snakes, while fish is plentiful in the water and myriads of wild fowl are to be seen. curious conical temporary graves of mud can occasionally be seen, some six feet high, the body being, it is said, buried standing within these cones previous to proper interment with due ceremony. on the outside, clear imprints made while the mud was still soft of several sized hands--presumably of the deceased's relations or friends--were left on the surface of the cone, the imprints being one above the other in a line. among the ruins of peshawaran, bellew found traces of several canals, now dry, one of which, however, had been restored by the chief of hokat and brought a stream of good water up to the silyan ruins for irrigation purposes. as for the southern end of the great city at kala-i-fath, we have very good accounts from ferrier, goldsmid, and bellew, all testifying to its great extent. here, too, there is a strong citadel standing on an artificial mound, and seeming to have been repaired some twenty-five or thirty years ago. bellew says that the ruins extend over several miles of country, and goldsmid speaks of a circumference of ruins of some two and a half miles at kala-i-fath, with a large citadel and fine arched buildings within. he mentions spacious courtyards and the remains of reservoirs, caravanserais, and large buildings in abundance, but no vestige of anything approaching magnificence. this, however, is the case with everything persian, whether ancient or modern, especially in regard to architecture, and a great deal of the humbleness of the buildings is, i think, due to the facts that the inhabitants of persia are nomads by nature; that the shifting sands drive people from their homes; that rivers constantly alter their courses, and that the water supply is a constant source of difficulty in most parts of iran; moreover the terrible wars and invasions made the natives disinclined to construct themselves very elaborate houses which they might at any moment have to abandon. these reasons account for the extraordinary number of abandoned villages, towns, fortresses, and whole ruined suburbs of towns all over persia, a sight which i think cannot be seen on such a large scale in any other country in the world. at kala-i-fath the question of the water may not have been the principal one, but the fear of constant attacks must have deterred the natives from erecting magnificent buildings. or else how could we account for these enormous fortresses which are found all along to protect the great city? goldsmid describes a fine caravanserai at kala-i-fath, built of large baked bricks, each brick eleven inches square, and displaying a nicety of design foreign to sistan. the caravanserai seems to have been domed over a large central courtyard, with wings for rooms and stabling; and an adjoining ice-house of mud bricks. in the graveyard fragments of alabaster and tiles were found. the wall round the city which goldsmid describes--six feet at the base tapering to one foot at the summit--is somewhat different in character from that of zaidan, and is, to my mind, of much later construction, as are many of the buildings. "some of the streets," he says, "which all run from east to west, are in excellent preservation and as if they were of recent construction." it is quite possible, in fact, very probable, that this portion of the great city--which, by the bye, is said to have been the last capital of the kayani kings, and was deserted by them when attacked by nadir shah--has, owing to its favourable geographical position on the east bank of the halmund, been inhabited to a certain extent until a much later date. the local accounts, at least, would point to that conclusion. a dry canal exists, which we shall cross on our way to the beluchistan frontier; it is fed by the halmund, north of kala-i-fath, and strikes across the plain in a westerly direction. if all the accounts given by people who have been there are taken into consideration, together with the photographs here given, which seem to me to show that the place was one of unusual grandeur; if the fact is grasped that, whether considered as a single city or a conglomeration of adjoining successive cities, zaidan was undoubtedly a continuous and uninterrupted row of houses of no less than eighty-six miles; i think that whatever theories may be expounded by the usual scientific speculator at home, the fact must remain that this ancient london of asia marks a period of astounding prosperity in the history of eastern persia. footnotes: [6] i think this must be a mistake; it should be to the north.--a.h.s.l. chapter xxiv departure from sistan--dadi--not one's idea of a pasture--the kuh-i-kwajah--its altitude--the "city of roars of laughter"--interesting ascent to the summit--a water reservoir--family graves--dead-houses--a grave with thirty-eight compartments--the gandun piran ziarat--scrolls and inscriptions--priest's house--modern graves--skulls and their characteristics--a smaller ziarat--the kuk fort--a bird's-eye view of kala-i-kakaha city--strange legends about the city--why kala-i-kakaha is famous. owing to the tender care of major and mrs. benn i was, at the beginning of 1902, in a fair condition of strength to undertake the journey of 600 miles on camels across northern beluchistan to quetta. with the help of major benn i made up a fresh caravan entirely of running camels, and expected therefore to be able to travel very fast. the camels selected were excellent, and the two beluch drivers who came with me most faithful, considerate and excellent servants. sadek also accompanied me. everything was made ready to start by january 2nd, but some hitch or other occurred daily, and it was not till january 10th that i was able to take my departure--sorry indeed to say good-bye to my new good friends, major and mrs. benn, to whose charmingly thoughtful care i altogether owed it that i was now able to proceed in good health. the hour of our departure was fixed for 5 o'clock a.m., but my three cats, suspecting that we were going to move from our comfortable quarters, disappeared during the night, and some hours were wasted by sadek and all the servants of the consulate in trying to find them again. i was determined not to start without them. sadek was furious, the camel men impatient, the guard of lancers sent by the consul to accompany me for some distance had been ready on their horses for a long time, and everybody at hand was calling out "puss, puss, puss!" in the most endearing tones of voice, and searching every possible nook. after four hours of expressive language in persian, hindustani, beluchi and english, at nine o'clock the cats were eventually discovered. one had hidden under a huge pile of wood, all of which we had to remove to get him out; the second had found a most comfortable sanctum in mrs. benn's room, and the third, having ascertained that his companions had been discovered, walked out unconcerned and entered the travelling box of his own accord. i was sorry to leave sistan too, with its ancient ruins, its peculiar inhabitants, a mixture of all kinds, its quaint city, so strikingly picturesque especially at sunset, when, owing to the moisture in the air, beautiful warm colours appeared in the sky, and the thousands of camels, and sheep, moving like so many phantoms in clouds of dust, returned to their homes. the sad dingling of their bells sounded musical enough in the distance, and one saw horsemen dashing full gallop towards the city before the gates were closed, every man carrying a gun. far to the west in the background stood the kuh-i-kwajah mountain, so famous in the history of sistan. all this after the dreary, long salt desert journey had seemed heavenly to me, and i was more than sorry to leave the place. had i been a russian instead of an englishman i would not have continued my journey on the morning of my departure, for on coming out of the consulate gate the first thing i saw was a dead body being washed and prepared for interment by relatives in the dead-house adjoining the consulate wall. the russians believe the sight of a dead body an ill-omen at the beginning of a journey. gul khan, the consul's assistant, accompanied me as far as the kuh-i-kwajah mountain, to inspect which i had to make a detour. we passed south of sher-i-nasrya, and, after wading through numberless water channels and skirting large pools of water, crossed a tiny anonymous village of six domed huts, and then came to a very large one rejoicing in the name of dadi. my fast camels carrying loads had gone ahead, and we, who had started later on horses, caught them up some sixteen miles onward, where there was a third little village, the inhabitants of which were wild-looking and unkempt. the women and children stampeded at our approach. the houses were flat-topped and were no taller than seven feet, except the house of the head village man which was two-storeyed and had a domed roof. when the hamun halmund extended as far south as kandak the kuh-i-kwajah mountain was an island, but now the whole country around it is dry except some small swamps and pools, on the edges of which thousands of sheep could be seen grazing. it took a very powerful sight indeed to see what the animals were grazing on. one's idea of a pasture--we always picture a pasture for sheep as green--was certainly not fulfilled, and after a minute inspection one saw the poor brutes feeding on tiny stumps of dried grass, yellowish in colour and hardly distinguishable from the sand on which it grew in clusters not more than half an inch high. where the hamun had been its bed was now of a whitish colour from salt deposits. the kuh-i-kwajah (mountain), occasionally also called kuh-i-rustam, rising as it does directly from the flat, is most attractive and interesting, more particularly because of its elongated shape and its flat top, which gives it quite a unique appearance. seen from the east, it stretches for about three miles and a half or even four at its base, is 900 feet high, and about three miles on top of the plateau. the summit, even when the beholder is only half a mile away from it, appears like a flat straight line against the sky-line, a great boulder that stands up higher on the south-west being the only interruption to this uniformity. the black rocky sides of the mountain are very precipitous--in fact, almost perpendicular at the upper portion, but the lower part has accumulations of clay, mud and sand extending in a gentle slope. in fact, roughly speaking, the silhouette of the mountain has the appearance of the section of an inverted soup-plate. [illustration: silhouette of kuh-i-kwajah.] major sykes, in the _royal geographical society's journal_, describes this mountain as resembling in shape "an apple," but surely if there ever was anything in the world that had no resemblance whatever to "an apple" it was this mountain. it would be curious to know what major sykes calls "an apple." the diagram here appended of the outline of the mountain, and indeed the photograph given by major sykes in the _royal geographical society's journal_, february, 1902, page 143, will, i think, be sufficient to convince the least observant on this point. major sykes is also no less than 500 feet out in his estimate of the height of the hill. the summit is 900 feet above the plain--not 400 feet as stated by him. the altitude at the base is 2,050 feet, and at the summit 2,950 feet. as we rounded the mountain to the southward to find a place at which we could climb to the top, we saw a very ancient fort perched on the summit of the mountain commanding the ruins of kala-i-kakaha, or the "city of roars of laughter,"--a quaint and picturesque city built on the steep slope of the south escarpment of the mountain. [illustration: sketch map of summit of kuh-i-kwajah by a. henry savage landor.] in the centre of this city was a large and high quadrangular wall like a citadel, and it had houses all round it, as can be seen by the bird's-eye view photograph i took of it from the fort above, a view from which high point of vantage will be described at the end of this chapter. we went along the outer wall of the city on a level with the plain at the hill's base, but we abandoned it as this wall went up the mountain side to the north. some high columns could be seen, which appeared to have formed part of a high tower. the sides of the hill on which the city was built were very precipitous, but a steep tortuous track existed, leading to the city on the east side, the two gates of the city being situated--one north-east, the other north-west--in the rear of the city, and, as it were, facing the mountain side behind. on the south-west side high accumulations of sand formed an extensive tongue projecting very far out into the plain. the rocky upper portion of the kuh-i-kwajah mountain was black towards the east, but getting yellowish in the southern part, where there were high sand accumulations up to about three-quarters of the height of the mountain, with deep channels cut into them by water. we came to a narrow gorge which divides the mountain in two, and by which along a very stony path between high vertical rocks the summit of the table mountain could be reached. we left our horses in charge of a lancer and mahommed azin, the head village man of deh-i-husena--a man who said he was a descendant of the kayani family, and who professed to know everything about everything,--gul khan and i gradually climbed to the higher part of the mountain. i say "gradually" because there was a great deal to interest and puzzle one on the way up. this path to the summit had been formerly strongly fortified. shortly after entering the gorge, where we had dismounted, was a strange wall cut in the hard, flint-like rock by a very sharp, pointed instrument. one could still distinctly see the narrow grooves made by it. then there were curious heads of the same rock with side hollows that looked as if caused by the constant friction or some horizontal wooden or stone implement. i was much puzzled by these and could not come to a definite conclusion of what could have been their use. even our guide's universal knowledge ran short; he offered no explanation beyond telling me that they had been made by man, which i had long before discovered for myself. a small reservoir for rain-water was found near this spot, and nearly at the top of the hillock a ditch had been excavated near the easiest point of access, and another ditch could be seen all round. the low land round the mountain has most certainly been inundated at various epochs, forming a shallow, temporary swamp, but not a permanent lake as has been asserted by some, and from what one saw one was tempted to believe that the plain around kuh-i-kwajah must have been dryer in the days of its glory than it has been in this century. [illustration: dead houses and ziarat on kuh-i-kwajah.] [illustration: a family tomb (eight compartments) on kuh-i-kwajah.] on reaching the summit we found ourselves on an undulating plateau covered with graves, but these graves, unlike all others which i had seen in persia, had not only the characteristic points of the zaidan ones in which the body was encased in the tomb above the level of the ground, but were in compartments and contained whole families. the first grave we examined was made of huge boulders and was six yards long, four yards wide and had four sections, each occupied by a skeleton and covered over with flat slabs of stone. each compartment was about 1½ feet high, 2½ feet broad, and 6 feet long. near this family grave was a quarry of good stone from which stones for grinding wheat, hand-mortars, &c., had been cut. at the foot was a reservoir for rain-water. one was rather surprised on reaching the summit of kuh-i-kwajah to find it so undulating, for on approaching the mountain from the plain one was specially impressed by its straight upper outlines against the sky. the summit is actually concave, like a basin, with numerous hillocks all round, and one portion, judging by sediments left, would appear to have contained a lake. in the centre of the plateau are two extensive artificial camps dug into the earth and rock, and having stone sides. on a hillock to the west of one of these ponds stands a tomb with no less than ten graves side by side. from this point eastwards, however, is the most interesting portion of this curious plateau. numerous groups of graves are to be seen at every few yards, and two dead-houses, one with a large dome partly collapsed on the north side, the other still in the most perfect state of preservation. the photograph facing page 240 gives a good idea of them. the larger and more important dead-house had a central hall 4½ yards square, and each side of the square had an outer wing, each with one door and one window above it. each wing projected three yards from the central hall. to the east in the central hall there was a very greasy stone, that looked as if some oily substance had been deposited on it, possibly something used in preparing the dead. next to it was a vessel for water. outside, all round the walls of this dead-house, and radiating in all directions, were graves, all above ground and as close together as was possible to construct them, while on the hillocks to the south of the dead-houses were hundreds of compartments for the dead, some in perfect condition, others fallen through; some showing evident signs of having been broken through by sacrilegious hands--very likely in search of treasure. [illustration: kala-i-kakaha, the "city of roars of laughter."] [illustration: the "gandun piran" ziarat on kuh-i-kwajah.] on the top of a hillock higher than the others was a tomb of thirty-eight sections, all occupied. a lot of large stones were heaped on the top of this important spot, and surmounting all and planted firmly in them was a slender upright stone pillar 6½ feet high. it had no inscription upon it nor any sign of any kind, and had been roughly chipped off into an elongated shape. near this grave, which was the most extensive of its kind that i had observed on the plateau, was a very peculiar ruined house with four rooms, each four yards square, and each room with two doors, and all the rooms communicating. it was badly damaged. its shape was most unusual. we then proceeded to the ziarat, a pilgrimage place famous all over persia and south-western afghanistan. i was fortunate enough to take a good photograph of its exterior (see opposite), which will represent its appearance to the reader better than a description. a high rectangular building plastered all over with mud, a front arch or alcove giving access to a small door, and two domed low stone buildings, one on either side, and another ruined building with a wall around it behind the ziarat. a few yards to the left of the entrance as one looked at it was a coarse upright stone pillar. the inside of the ziarat was more interesting than the outside. it was a very large whitewashed single room, with high vaulted ceiling, and in the centre rose from the floor to a height of three feet a gigantic tomb, six yards in length, with a gabled top. it measured one yard and a half across at the head, and one yard at its foot, and had two stone pillars some five feet high standing one at each extremity. to these two end pillars was tied a rope, from which hung numberless rags, strips of cloth and hair. behind the head of the tomb along the wall stretched a platform four and a half feet wide, on which rested two brass candlesticks of primitive shape, a much-used kalyan, and a great number of rags of all sizes, ages, and degrees of dirt. the scrolls and inscriptions on the wall were very quaint, primitive representations of animals in couples, male and female, being the most indulged in by the pilgrims. goats and dogs seemed favourite subjects for portrayal. [illustration: male and female goats. dog.] a lock of human hair and another of goat's hair hung on the wall to the right of the entrance, and on two sticks laid across, another mass of rags, white, blue, yellow and red. hundreds more were strewn upon the ground, and the cross bars of the four windows of the ziarat were also choke-full of these cloth offerings. among other curious things noticeable on the altar platform were a number of stones scooped into water-vessels. this ziarat goes by the name of gandun piran, and is said to be some centuries old. in the spring equinox pilgrimages are made to this ziarat from the neighbouring city and villages, when offerings of wheat are contributed that the donor may be at peace with the gods and expect plentiful crops. these pilgrimages take very much the form of our "day's outing on a bank holiday," and sports of various kinds are indulged in by the horsemen. it is the custom of devout people when visiting these ziarats to place a stone on the tomb, a white one, if obtainable, and we shall find this curious custom extending all over beluchistan and, i believe, into a great portion of afghanistan. directly in front of the ziarat was the priests' house, with massive, broad stone walls and nine rooms. the ceilings, fallen through in most rooms, were not semi-spherical as usual but semi-cylindrical, as could still be seen very plainly in the better-preserved one of the central room. this house had a separate building behind for stables and an outer oven for baking bread. the dwelling was secluded by a wall. the top of kuh-i-kwajah is even now a favourite spot for people to be laid to their eternal rest, and near this ziarat were to be found a great many graves which were quite modern. these modern tombs, more elaborate than the old ones, rose to about five feet above the ground, had a mud and stone perforated balustrade above them all round, and three steps by which the upper part could be reached. they seldom, however, had more than three bodies in each tomb. we found on the ground a very curious large hollowed stone like a big mortar, which seemed very ancient. then further were more old graves in rows of five, six, eight, and more. when one peeped into the broken ones, the temptation to take home some of the bleached skulls to add to the collection of one's national museum, and to let scientists speculate on their exact age, was great. but i have a horror of desecrating graves. i took one out--a most beautifully preserved specimen--meaning to overcome my scruples, but after going some distance with it wrapped up in my handkerchief i was seized with remorse, and i had to go and lay it back again in the same spot where it had for centuries lain undisturbed. i examined several skulls that were in good condition, and the following were their principal characteristics. they possessed abnormally broad cheek-bones, and the forehead was very slanting backwards and was extremely narrow across the temples and broad at its highest portion. the back portion of the skull, in which the animal qualities of the brain are said by phrenologists to reside, was also abnormally developed, when compared to european skulls. the top section (above an imaginary plane intersecting it horizontally above the ear) was well formed, except that in the back part there was a strange deep depression on the right side of the skull, and an abnormal development on the left side. this peculiarity was common to a great many skulls, and was their most marked characteristic. evidently the brains of the people who owned them must have constantly been working on a particular line which caused this development more than that of other portions of the skull. [illustration: a bird's eye view of kala-i-kakaha, the "city of roars of laughter."] the upper jaw was rather contracted and mean as compared to the remaining characteristics of the skull, slanting very far forwards where it ended into quite a small curve in which the front teeth were set. the teeth themselves were extremely powerful and healthy. the bumps behind the ear channels were well marked. the whole skull, however, as seen from above, was more fully developed on its right side than on the left; also the same abnormal development on the right side could be noticed under the skull at the sides, where it joins the spinal column. in a general way these skulls reminded one of the formation of the skulls of the present beluch. another smaller ziarat partly ruined was to be found south of the one we had inspected, the tomb itself being of less gigantic proportions, and now almost entirely buried in sand. the two end pillars, however, remained standing upright, the northern one being, nevertheless, broken in half. the door of this ziarat was to the south of the building, and had a window above it. the walls had a stone foundation, some 2 feet high, above which the remainder of the wall was entirely of mud, with a perforated window to the west. the tomb itself was 8 feet long by 4 feet wide. a small square receptacle was cut in the northern wall. we had now come to the kuk fort above the city of kala-i-kakaha on the south of the mountain. with the exception of a large round tower, 40 feet in diameter at the base, there remained very little to be seen of this strong-hold. sections of other minor towers and a wall existed, but all was a confused mass of debris, sand and mud. from this point a splendid view was obtained of the city of kala-i-kakaha just below, of which a photograph from this bird's eye aspect will be found facing p. 246 of this volume. there was an extensive courtyard in the centre enclosed by a high wall, and having a tower in the centre of each of the two sides of the quadrangle. a belt of buildings was enclosed between this high wall and a second wall, which had two towers, one at each angle looking north towards the cliff of the mountain from which we observed. outside this wall two rows of what, from our high point of vantage, appeared to be graves could be seen, while to the east were other buildings and cliff dwellings extending almost to the bottom of the hill, where a tower marked the limit of the city. from this point a tortuous track could be seen along the gorge winding its way to the city gate, the only opening in the high third wall, most irregularly built along the precipice of the ravine. at the foot of the mountain this wall turned a sharp corner, and describing roughly a semicircle protected the city also to the west. at the most north-westerly point there seemed to be the principal gate of the city, with a massive high tower and with a road encased between two high walls leading to it. the semicircle formed by the mountain behind, which was of a most precipitous nature, was enclosed at its mouth by a fourth outer wall, with an inner ditch, making the fortress of kala-i-kakaha practically impregnable. the legend about kala-i-kakaha city furnished me by the sar-tip, through gul khan, was very interesting. in ancient days there was in that city a deep well, the abode of certain godly virgins, to whom people went from far and near for blessings. visitors used to stand listening near the well, and if their prayers were accepted the virgins laughed heartily, whereby the city gained the name of kaka-ha (roar of laughter). silence on the part of the sanctimonious maidens was a sign that the prayers were not granted. the sistan historical authorities seem to think this origin of the name plausible. there were, however, other amusing, if less reliable legends, such as the one our friend mahommed azin gave me, which is too quaint to be omitted. "in the time of alexander the great," he told us, "aristotles the famous had produced an animal which he had placed in _a_ fort" (_which_ fort mahommed azin seemed rather vague about). "whoever gazed upon the animal was seized with such convulsions of laughter that he could not stop until he died. "when alexander was 'in the west' (_i.e._ _maghreb zemin_)" continued mahommed azin, "he had seen this wonderful 'animal of laughter' produced by aristotles, and some seventy or eighty thousand soldiers had actually died of laughter which they could not repress on seeing it. plato only, who was a wise man, devised a ruse to overcome the terrible effects of looking at the animal. he brought with him a looking-glass which he placed in front of the brute, and, sure enough, the demon, which had caused the hilarious death of many others, in its turn was seized by hysterical laughing at itself, and of course could not stop and died too." mahommed azin was somewhat uncertain whether the animal itself had resided in the fortress of the kuh-i-kwajah mountain, or whether the owner of the animal had visited the place, or whether the place had been named merely in honour of the legend of the "animal of laughter." all i can say is that when mahommed, with a grave face, had finished his inimitable story, gul khan and i were also seized with such uncontrollable fits of hilarity that, notwithstanding our mournful surroundings of graves and dead-houses, we, too, very nearly went to swell the number of victims of mahommed azin's "animal of laughter," although without the pleasure of having made its personal acquaintance. mahommed azin positively finished us up when he gravely added that it was most dangerous to recount the legend he had told us for he had known people die of laughter by merely listening to it. there was some truth in that. we nearly did, not only at the story but at the story-teller himself! kala-i-kakaha is a famous spot in persian history, for it is said that the great persian hero rustam's first exploit was to capture this city and slay its king _kuk_, after whom the fort standing above kakaha is named. in more modern days kakaha, which, from ancient times, had been a place of shelter for retreating princes hard driven by the enemy, has become noteworthy for its seven years' resistance to the attacks of nadir's troops, when the kayani king malik-fath, having abandoned his capital, kala-i-fath had taken refuge in the impregnable city of kala-i-kakaha. chapter xxv villages between sher-i-nasrya and kuh-i-kwajah--the last of the kayani--husena baba--thousands of sheep--the patang kuh--protecting black walls--a marsh--sand dunes--warmal--quaint terraces--how roofs are built--a spacious residence built for nine shillings--facial characteristics of natives--bread making--semi-spherical sand mounts--natural protections against the northerly winds. we were benighted on the mountain and did not reach the village of deh-i-husena till nearly nine o'clock, our friend and guide having lost his way in the dark and having taken us round the country for a good many more miles than was necessary. it is true the night was rather black and it was not easy to see where the low mud-houses of his village were. the distance in a direct line from deh-i-husena to the foot of the kuh-i-kwajah mountain was 4 miles, and the village of deh-i-husena was about 15 miles from sher-i-nasrya, the village of dadi we had passed being 9 miles off, and sanchuli 14¾ miles from the city and only a quarter of a mile from deh-i-husena. to the south of the latter village was deh-i-ali-akabar. we spent the night at deh-i-husena, mahommed azin, the head village man and guide, being so entertaining in his conversation that he kept us up till all hours of the morning. he professed to be one of the only two surviving members of the kayani family which formerly reigned over sistan, his cousin being the other. according to his words--which, however, could not always claim to be models of accuracy--his family had a good deal of power in sistan up to about forty years ago (1860). they were now very poor. mahommed azin had well-cut features and bore himself like a man of superior birth, but he was very bitter in his speech against fate and things in general. it was, nevertheless, wonderful how a man, living in a small village secluded from everybody and everywhere, had heard of flying machines, of submarine boats, of balloons that _ferenghis_ made. his ideas of them were rather amusing, but he was very intelligent and quick at grasping how they worked when i explained to him. surgery interested him intensely, and after that politics. the ruski and inglis he was sure would have a great deal of trouble over sistan. he could not quite make up his mind as to which was the bigger nation. when he heard ruski's accounts of themselves he certainly thought the ruski were the greater people, but when he listened to the inglis and what they could do he really believed they must be stronger. "who do you think is the most powerful?" he inquired of me. "of course, the inglis, without doubt." "then do you think that your king will grant me a pension, so that i can live in luxury and without working to the end of my days?" "the king does not usually grant pensions to lazy people. pensions are granted to people who have done work for the country." "well then, you see," exclaimed mahommed azin, in thorough unreasonable persian fashion, "you say your king is greater than the ruski king, and he would not grant me a pension, i the last of the kayanis!" he was sure the ruski potentate would at once if he knew! i left husena at 9.30 a.m. on january 11th, striking south for warmal. there were a good many wretched villages in succession half a mile or so apart from one another, such as dubna, hasan-jafa, luftulla and husena baba. the ground was covered with white salt which resembled snow. husena baba was quite a large and important village. the inhabitants came out in great force to greet us. although wood was extremely scarce at this village, nearly all the houses had flat roofs supported on rough rafters. matting on a layer of reeds prevented the upper coating of mud from falling through. i came across several horses laden with bundles of long reeds which they dragged behind them, and which they had carried, probably from the naizar, where they were plentiful. we had altered our course from south to east, and here i parted with useful gul khan and the escort, who had to return to the consulate. i mounted my riding camel and started off, this time south-east, on my way to warmal. again we saw thousands of sheep grazing on the flat desert of dried mud and salt cracked in innumerable places by the sun. here and there a close examination showed tiny tufts of dried grass, some two inches in circumference, and not more than half an inch tall, and at an average distance of about ten feet from one another. it was astounding to me that so many animals could find sufficient nourishment for subsistence on so scanty a diet, but although not very fat the sheep seemed to be in pretty good condition. to the west we had a high ridge of mountains--the patang kuh--and between these mountains and our track in the distance an extensive marsh could be distinguished, with high reeds in profusion near its humid banks. to the east some miles off were dolehtabad (village), then tuti and sakawa, near lutok. south-east before us, and stretching for several miles, a flat-topped plateau rose to no very great height above the horizon, otherwise everything was flat and uninteresting all around us. some very curious walls of black mud mixed with organic matter, built to shelter sheep from the fierce north winds while proceeding from one village to another, can be seen in the _lut_. these black dashes on the white expanse of salt and sand have about the same effect on the picturesqueness of the scenery as coarse scrawls with a blunt pen on a fine page of calligraphy. you see them here and there, scattered about, all facing north, like so many black dashes in the otherwise delicate tones of grey and white of the soil. when we had gone some miles on this flat, hard stretch of ground, where the heat was terrible, we had to make a detour round a large marsh. then beyond it stood five parallel banks of sand, 25 feet high, with horizontal layers of half-formed stone up to half the height of the dunes. the dunes were about 200 yards apart. in the afternoon we arrived at warmal, where water seemed plentiful and good. here too, as in the centre of most villages and towns of persia, a pond of stagnant filthy water could be seen. the pond at warmal was of unusually ample proportions and extended through the whole length of the village, which was built on both sides of this dirty pond. numerous canals branched off from this main reservoir, and in fact, had one had a little imagination, one might have named this place the venice of sistan. at sunset swarms of mosquitoes rose buzzing from the putrid water, but from a picturesque point of view the effect of the buildings reflected in the yellow-greenish water was quite pretty. to facilitate transit from one side of the village to the other, a primitive bridge of earth had been constructed across the pond, but as the central portion of it was under water it was necessary to remove one's foot-gear in order to make use of the convenience. characteristic of warmal were the quaint balconies or terraces, in shape either quadrangular or rectangular, that were attached to or in close proximity of each house. they were raised platforms of mud from 2 to 4 feet above the ground, with a balustrade of sun-burnt bricks. on these terraces the natives seek refuge during the summer nights to avoid being suffocated by the stifling heat inside their houses. a difference in the construction and architecture of some of the roofs of the houses could be noted here. the roofs were oblong instead of perfectly circular, and when one examined how the bricks were laid it seemed extraordinary that the vaults stood up at all. these were the only roofs in persia i had seen constructed on this particular principle. the bricks were laid round the vaults for two-thirds of the roof at an angle of 45° and the other third in a vertical position. there was the usual upper central aperture and occasionally one or two side ones. the natives were very civil and obliging, and as usual they all crowded round to converse. "sahib," said one old man, "you must come to settle here." "why should i settle here?" "it is very cheap to build houses at warmal." "how much does it cost to build a house?" "come and see and you will tell me whether you can build a house cheaper in your country." he took me to a spacious new residence, 14 feet by 14 feet inside, and 18 feet high. "it is a fine house, is it not, sahib?" "yes, very fine." "it cost me exactly two tomans, four krans (about nine shillings) to build it, as it stands." enumerating the various items of expenditure on the tips of his fingers:--"sun-baked bricks 1 kran (5_d._) per thousand," he continued; "carpenter 1 kran a day for 5 days, and mason 1 kran a day. the people who helped were not paid as they were relations!" the dome of this house was very scientifically constructed, as can be seen by the diagram, and formed a very strong vault. to make these vaults, four workmen begin at the four corners of the quadrangular base to lay bricks in successively enlarging concentric arcs of a circle, each higher than the previous one, till each section meets the two side ones. the small portion that remains above is filled in with bricks, laid transversely, and these vaults are really of remarkable strength. [illustration: vault, shewing how bricks are laid.] [illustration: semi-spherical roof, shewing how bricks are laid.] i have seen some built on this principle, and several centuries old, standing in good preservation and as good as new. the type of natives was quite different again from that in other places already visited, and was most interesting. the men, like most men of the desert, had elongated faces, with long, regular noses, slightly convex and somewhat drooping. the nostrils were rather swollen and lacking character, and not sharply cut. at the bridge the nose was very narrow, but broad in its lower portion and quite rounded, which looked better in profile than full face. the nostrils drooped considerably towards the point of the nose and were high up where joining the cheek. the faces of these fellows formed a long smooth oval with no marked cheek-bones and vivid, dark, intelligent eyes, small but well-open, showing the entire iris. the lips were the most defective part of their faces, being unduly prominent, thick and coarsely-shaped. the hair grew in a very normal way on their faces, and they possessed very good arched eyebrows, slightly coarse but well-defined, and in most cases meeting at the root of the nose. in fully-formed men the beard was thick and curly, but did not grow to any great length. on the skull the hair was jet-black and was soaked in oil, so that it had the appearance or being perfectly straight. ample trousers, the usual long shirt and afghan boots (which are not unlike european military boots), made up the attire of the masculine members of the community. the women had, on a smaller scale, very similar features to those of the men, and at a distance their oval faces appeared quite handsome, but on a closer inspection the lineaments were much too elongated to be attractive. they had a somewhat pulled appearance. both men and women were tall, slender and of very wiry build. after sunset the women, with their heads wrapped up in a sort of white chudder, thrown gracefully behind the shoulders and reaching down to the feet, began to prowl about in a great state of excitement, carrying big balls of flour paste and small wicker work plates, like shields, covered over by a cloth. they lighted a big fire in one of the small domed ovens, and after beating the paste on the wicker shields till it had spread into a thin layer, they quickly took it up with their hands and, kneeling over the blazing furnace, stuck the paste against the roof of the oven. they used long leather gloves for the purpose. while being baked the bread was constantly sprinkled with water from a bowl close at hand. nearly each house has its own outer oven, but the one i was near seemed to be used by several families, judging by a string of clamouring women who impatiently--and did they not let the others know how impatiently!--waited with all necessaries in hand to bake bread for their men. the respective husbands and sons squatted around on their heels, languidly smoking their pipes and urging their women to be quick. a deal of good-natured chaff seemed to take place during this daily operation, but the women were quite in earnest and took themselves and the process very seriously. they seemed much concerned if one piece got too much burnt or another not enough. to the east by south-east of warmal, about a mile and a half off, were four semi-spherical sand mounts standing prominent against the sky-line, and a great number of sand hills of confused formation. the several sand-banks which i had observed in the morning on our march to this place extended to a great length towards the east, and were a great protection to warmal against the periodic northerly winds of the summer. hence the lack here of the familiar wind-catchers and wind-protectors, found further north, the sight of which one missed on the roof tops after having become accustomed to sher-i-nasrya and adjoining villages where no roof was without one. here there were only one or two wind-catchers visible on the roofs of the few two-storeyed houses of the richer folks. [illustration: sher-i-rustam. (rustam's city.)] [illustration: the stable of rustam's legendary horse.] another characteristic of dwellings in warmal was that over each front door there was a neat little fowl-house, subdivided into a number of square compartments. the place was simply swarming with chickens. chapter xxvi sand accumulations--a round tower--mahommed raza chah--a burial ground--rustam's city--an ancient canal--rustam's house--the persian hero's favourite room--a store room--reception hall--the city wall--where rustam's son was impaled--the stable of rustam's gigantic horse--more dry canals--an immense graveyard--sand and its ways--a probable buried city--a land-mark--sadek's ways--a glorious sunset--girdi--beluch greeting. warmal (altitude 2,100 feet) was left at 8 a.m. on the 12th. we skirted extensive sand accumulations, high to the north, lower towards the south. the under portion of these deposits had become semi-petrified up to a height varying from 20 feet to 50 feet in proportion to the loftiness of the hills themselves. we were travelling in a south-east direction along these sand banks cut abruptly vertically, and when we left them and turned due south across a flat bay in the desert there were sand-hills to the east and west about one mile apart. at the most northern end of the western range a round tower could be seen on the summit of a hillock. having crossed over the low hill range before us we descended into a long, flat, sandy stretch with tamarisk shrubs in abundance. in an arc of a circle from north to south there extended sand accumulations in various guises, the highest being some lofty conical hills due east of our course. to the west in the distance we were encircled by the patang kuh and the mukh surk ranges, which also extended from north to south. [illustration: the gate of rustam's city, as seen from rustam's house.] two farsakhs (eight miles) brought us to the british consular postal station of mahommed raza chah, a mud structure of two rooms and an ante-room between. one room was full of provisions, the other accommodated the three postal _sawars_ (riders). twelve holes had been dug in search of water, but only two had been successful. one of the sawars, a beluch, on a _jumbaz_ camel, was just coming in with the post, and he was a very picturesque figure in his white flowing robes and turban over the curly long hair hanging upon his shoulders. one mile off, six or seven more deep holes had been bored for water, but with no success. tamarisk was plentiful. we were now getting near the ruins of sher-i-rustam or sher-i-sukhta, the city of rustam, the persian hero. north-east of it one came first to a ruined tower, then to a burial ground with single graves and graves in sets of two and three, very similar in shape to those we had seen on the kuh-i-kwajah. these, too, were above ground, but were made of mud instead of stone. most of the graves had been broken through. the graveyard was situated on a sand hillock. in the distance, to the east and south-east of rustam's city, there spread from the north a long stretch of ruins, which probably were part of the continuation of the great zaidan. a number of towers--as many as six being counted in a line--and a high wall could be perceived still standing. this must evidently have been a fort, and had what appeared to be the wall of a tower at its north-west end. other extensive ruins could just be observed further south-east, and also to the south-west, where a high tower stood prominent against the sky. when close to rustam's city we went through a walled oblique-angled parallelogram enclosing a tower. a great portion of the wall had collapsed, but it appeared to have been an outpost north of the city. the next thing was an ancient dry canal which came from the east by south-east, and we then found ourselves before rustam's abode. the photograph given in the illustration was taken as we approached the city and gives a good idea of the place as it appeared beyond the foreground of sand and salt. the place was in most wonderful preservation considering its age. there were four high towers to the north, the two central towers which protected the city gate being close together and more massive than the corner ones, which were circular and tapering towards the summit. the wall of the city was castellated and stood some 30 feet high. the city gate, protected by an outer screen, was to the east, and was two-storeyed. it led directly into the main street of the city. i cannot do better than enumerate the characteristics of the city in the order in which i noticed them on my visit to it. a path, like a narrow platform, was visible all round half-way up inside the wall, as well as another on the top which gave access from one tower to another. there were no steps to reach the summit of the towers, but merely inclined planes. on entering the city gate--the only one--one came at once upon rustam's palace--a three-tiered domed structure with a great many lower annexes on its western and southern sides. a wall adjoining the city gate enclosed rustam's quarters, and had a large entrance cut into it leading to the dwelling. the various floors were reached by a series of tunnelled passages on inclined planes. rustam's favourite room was said to have been the top one, represented in the photograph facing page 266, where the outside of the two top storeys of the building can be seen. the domed room was well preserved, and had a sort of raised portion to sit upon. the ceiling was nicely ornamented with a frieze and a design of inverted angles. the room had four windows, and a number of slits in the north wall for ventilating purposes. it was a regular look-out house, commanding a fine view all round above the city wall of the great expanse of desert with its ancient cities to the east, and distant blue mountains to the west. there were a number of receptacles, some of which had been used for burning lights, and five doors leading into other rooms. these rooms, however, were not so well preserved--in fact, they had mostly collapsed, their side walls alone remaining. no wood had been used in the construction of the building and all the ceilings were vaulted. rustam's "compound," to use the handy word of the east, occupied about one-quarter of the area of the town and filled the entire south-east corner. besides the higher building it contained a great many side structures, with domes, unfortunately, only half-standing, and showing the same peculiarity as all the other domes in the city, _i.e._, they had all collapsed on the north side while the southern part was preserved. in the photograph facing page 268 this is shown very clearly. this was, of course, due to the potent northerly winds. rustam's tall house and high walled enclosures can be seen in this photograph, some semi-collapsed domes of great proportions showing just above the high enclosing wall. a spacious court commanded by a raised passage from north to south--evidently for soldiers to patrol upon--was within the enclosure, and, in fact, rustam's premises formed a regular strong citadel within the city. on the ground floor, now considerably below the level of the street outside, was a long room, like a store-room. in the north wall it had a most wonderful arrangement of ventilating chambers, which made the room deliciously cool. these contrivances were like slits in the wall, with boxed-in channels, where a great draught was set up by the natural inflow and outflow of cooler and hotter air from above and under ground, and from in and out of the sun. a great many receptacles could be noticed in the lower portion of the wall, and also some low mangers, as if sheep had been kept here to supply meat for the inmates of the citadel in time of siege. next to this, with an entrance on the main street, was rustam's reception hall--a great big room with domes no less than 18 feet high inside, but now fallen through in two places. there were doors on the south and north, and eleven receptacles specially constructed for lamps. these receptacles were rather quaint in their simple design. [illustration: receptacle for light.] all round rustam's palace the city wall was double, and strengthened with outside battlements. the same thing was noticeable in two portions of the city wall to the west and south sides. the city wall was irregular in shape, and impressed one as having been built at various epochs, and the city had the appearance of having been enlarged in comparatively recent times. there was a moat outside the wall, but in many places it had got filled up with sand. a glance at the plan which i drew of the city will give an idea of its shape. [illustration: the remains of the two upper storeys of rustam's house.] on the north side of the main street, opposite rustam's house, was a large stable, unroofed, and showing in the wall a number of mangers, which appeared as if a large number of horses had been kept. besides these there were in the western portion of the city quantities of domed roofs, very small, a few still perfect, but mostly fallen in on the northern side. the houses directly under the shelter of the northern wall were in the best preservation, and many of them were still almost entirely above ground. they were quadrangular or rectangular in shape, made of mud, and with a low door on the south side. the larger ones had ventilating channels with perforated slits in the north wall, like those in rustam's store-room, but all the houses were extremely small--an average of 12 feet by 12 feet. in the southern portion of the city, where exposed to the wind, the dwellings were deep-buried in sand, and hardly more than the domes remained above ground. there were, however, one or two higher buildings, presumably some of the better dwellings inhabited by rustam's officers. a portion of the south walls, which, curiously enough, had quadrangular towers instead of tapering circular ones, had collapsed, and so had the corresponding portion of the north wall. the city wall was of great interest, and even on the west side, where it was of less strength, was constructed in successive tiers, each of less than a man's height, and each with a path extending all along so that it could be remanned continuously in time of attack. when one man of the higher platform fell another could replace him immediately from the platform directly below. the towers were much higher than the wall. the city gate was of great strength, the two front towers being strengthened inwardly by a third quadrangular tower. a raised block under the gateway was said to be the execution place. this city, historians declare, was destroyed by bahram, who caused it to be burnt, but there is no evidence whatever in the buildings to show that a conflagration ever occurred in this place at all. in fact, it is rather difficult to understand how buildings entirely of mud could be burned. the city, it is said, was abandoned only about a century ago, when the sarbandi entered it by treachery and drove out the rais tribe. [illustration: rustam's city, showing rustam's house in citadel, also domed roofs blown in from the north.] a few hundred feet to the south outside the city wall are the remains of the stable of rustam's legendary gigantic horse. part of the high wall still stands up on the top of the section of a vault, but the greater portion of the building, which was evidently of great proportions, is now buried in sand. the exact spot is pointed out where the manger stood, and so is the point where the heel ropes of this famous horse were tied. this circumstance misled one traveller into stating in 1872 that "two hills, one mile apart to the south-west, denoted the places where the manger and the spot where the head of this famous horse were tied." this error has been copied faithfully by subsequent travellers, including very recent ones (see _journal of the royal geographical society_, february, 1902, page 142). there seemed little doubt that the huge building, of which the wall reproduced in the illustration made part, was a stable, and that it must have been of special importance could be seen by the elaborate cross pattern decorations on its outer face. the fragment of the wall stands over 50 feet high, and to all appearance some twenty more feet of it are underground, buried by the sand. it had strong supports at its base. [illustration] the stable was most peculiarly shaped, ending in a sharp point at one end. another dry canal was noticeable to the west of the ruins which went from south to north, with a branch canal going due west. north-west and west were to be seen other ruined cities, one of which, with two high quadrangular towers, was approximately three miles distant. to the west on two hills were fortresses, but between these and rustam's city lay an immense graveyard (about one mile from sher-i-rustam), with graves above ground--mainly single ones, but also a few family ones in adjoining compartments. as we went along due west another ruined city was pointed out, zorap, a very ancient place, where bahram is said to have impaled the body of firamurz, rustam's son. we crossed two more dry canals of some magnitude, running parallel, which showed that in former days this now barren part of sistan must have been under flourishing cultivation. in fact, further on we came upon traces of houses and of extensive irrigation, the soil having quite a different appearance to the usual _lut_ where left untouched by human tools. [illustration: plan of sher-i-rustam.] we then came across what at first seemed a confused commotion of sand and mud, but its formation was very curious, and looked as if it covered an underlying city of great size. the surface sand seemed to reproduce to a certain extent the form of the structures that were down below, such as quadrangular buildings, walls, domes, etc. it was not the natural formation of sand on a natural ground. in one particular place a whole city wall with towers could be traced, just showing above ground, so perfectly rectangular that although covered by sand it would seem certain that a fortress must be buried under this spot. all around these particular suspected buried cities the sand is absolutely flat, and there would be no other plausible reason for this most extraordinary irregular accumulation of sand reproducing forms of walls, domes and towers against all the general rules of local sand accumulations, unless such obstacles existed below to compel the sand to accumulate in resemblance to them. this theory is strengthened too by the fact that, here and there, some of the higher buildings actually may be seen to project above ground. the sand mixed with salt had, on getting wet, become solid mud, baked hard by the sun. anybody interested in sand and its movements, its ways and process of accumulation, could not do better than take a trip to this part of sistan. little as one may care about sand, one is bound to get interested in its ways, and one point in its favour is that with a certain amount of logic and observation one can always understand why it has assumed a certain formation rather than another--a pleasing feature not always existing in all geological formations of the scenery one goes through. the great expanse of irregular surface soil, with its innumerable obstacles and undulations, was, of course, bound to give curious results in the sand accumulations south of it, where the sand could deposit itself in a more undisturbed fashion and was affected by purely natural causes. of course, sand hills do not accumulate in the flat desert unless some obstacle--a mere pebble, a tamarisk shrub, a ridge, or a stone, is the primary cause of the accumulation. in the present case, i think the greater number of sand hills had been caused by tamarisk shrubs arresting the sand along its flight southwards. to enumerate and analyse each sand hill--there were thousands and thousands--would take volumes. i will limit myself to the various most characteristic types of which i give diagrams. the absolutely conical type was here less noticeable, being too much exposed to the wind, which gradually corroded one side of each hill more than the other. whatever their shape, the highest point of the sand hills was in any case always to the north-east, the lower to the south-west. as can be seen by the diagram there were single hills and composite ones; there were well-rounded hills, semi-spherical hills, and then came the sand dunes, such as those on the right of our track, like long parallel walls of sand extending for great distances from east to west. [illustration: view of sher-i-rustam from rustam's house. (west portion of city under the lee of wall.)] one sand hill, 80 feet high, quite semi-spherical, and with a solitary tamarisk tree on its top, rising some 40 feet above all the others, was quite a landmark along this route. it marked a point from which to the east of our track we found more uniformity in the shape of the sand mounds, which were lower and all semi-spherical. to the west of the track, curiously enough, there were hardly any sand hills at all,--but this was due, i think, to the fact that tamarisk shrubs did not seem to flourish on the latter side, and therefore did not cause the sand to accumulate. several miles further, however, at a spot protected by high sand dunes, tamarisk trees were found growing, some being 4 to 6 feet high, and seeming quite luxuriant after the usual desert shrubs which hardly ever rise above two to three feet. sadek had purchased at warmal two big bottles of milk for my use, but as we had found no good water on the way and the heat of the sun was great, he could not resist the temptation, and had drunk it all. when i claimed it he professed that my cats had stolen it. a long jolting ride on the jumbaz camel produced the marvellous result that, although the cats had drunk the milk, sadek himself was attacked by indigestion caused by it. he seemed to suffer internal agony, and lay on his camel's hump doubled up with pain. he felt so very ill that he requested me to take him on my camel, and to let him exchange places with my driver. to my sorrow i consented. in a moment of temporary relief from the aching of his digestive organs he entered into one of his favourite geographical discussions. having for the twentieth time eradicated from his brain the notion that london and russia were not suburbs of bombay, he now wanted to know whether _yanki-dunia_ (by which glorified name the persians call the united states of america) were inside the "walls" of london city or outside! he had an idea that the earth was flat, and that london, bombay and russia were together on the extreme edge of it. the stars he believed to be lighted up nightly, as one would candles or paraffin lamps. fortunately, while explaining to me his extraordinary theory of how it was that the moon never appeared alike on two successive nights, he was again seized with another fearful attack, and tumbled off the camel. sadek was most unfortunate with animals. he was hated by them all. when he went near horses they would kick, buck and neigh as if a wolf had been at hand; mules stampeded at his sight; cats bolted as if he were about to beat them; and camels were restless and made most fearful noises of disapproval and distress at his approach. when he tried to get on and off, the kneeling camel would suddenly spring up again, causing him to fall, and when he did get on the saddle the vicious brutes would assume a most unusual and uncomfortable jerky motion, which bumped him to such an extent that he could not stand it long, and had to get off. the animals evidently did it purposely to get rid of him, for when i got on any of them they went beautifully. hence, whenever sadek wished to ride comfortably he always requested to change seats with my driver, who occupied the front seat on the hump of my camel. [illustration: view of sher-i-rustam from rustam's house. (south-east section of city.)] we had a glorious sunset on that evening, not unlike an aurora borealis, in brilliant rays of light radiating from a central point. the sun had already disappeared behind the blue mountain chain, and each bright vermilion ray had like a fish bone or like a peacock's feather, myriads of cross off-shoots in the shape of lighter sprays of light. there was a brilliant yellow glow which tinted the blue sky and made it appear of various gradations, from bright yellow at the lower portion to various delicate shades of green in the centre, blending again into a pure deep cobalt blue high up in the sky, and on this glorious background the feathery vermilion sprays shot up to half way across the celestial vault. other smaller sprays of vivid yellow light flared up in a crescent nearer the mountain edge. it was quite a glorious sight, unimpeded by the grand spread of sand in the foreground and a patch or two of humble tamarisks. the rapidity with which night descends upon the desert, is, as we noticed several times, quite amazing. there was hardly any twilight at all. in a few seconds this beautiful spectacle vanished as by enchantment, and was converted into a most mournful sight. the vermilion feathery sprays, now deprived of the sun's light upon them, were converted into so many gigantic black feathers--of rather funereal appearance--and the emerald green sky became of a dead leaden white. the deep blue, fringed with red and yellow, of the radiant mountains had now turned into a sombre, blackish-grey. about four miles before reaching girdi a track branches off, which avoids that place altogether, and rejoins the track again one mile south of girdi, thus saving a considerable detour. our march that day had been from warmal to mahommed raza-chah (altitude 2,100 feet), eight miles, and from that place to girdi-chah, twenty-eight miles. the track between the two latter stations was perfectly level, and on _jumbaz_ camels going at a good pace the journey had occupied eight hours and a half. on arriving at girdi (altitude 2,200 feet), the beluch _sawar_ whom i had taken as guide from mahommed raza chah, and my beluch driver had a most touching scene on meeting some beluch of a caravan travelling in the opposite direction to mine and camping at girdi for the night. the men hastily dismounted from their camels, put their heads together and pressed each the other's right hand, holding it on the heart. "it is my brother!" cried my camel man, and then followed another outburst of effusion on the brother's part, who seized my hand in both his and shook it heartily for a considerable time. the others followed suit. there is nothing that an afghan or a beluch likes better than a good hearty hand-shake. chapter xxvii girdi-chah, a desolate spot--its renowned water--post-houses and persian customs soldiers--nawar-chah and its well--the salt river shela--its course--beautiful colours in salt crystals--tamarisks--the kuh-i-malek-siah--the loftiest mountain--afghans--hormak, a picturesquely situated post station--a natural pyramid of rock--natural fortresses--the malek-siah ziarat--where three coveted countries meet--the hermit--the evolution of a sand hill--parallel sand dunes--in beluchistan--robat, the most north-easterly british post. girdi-chah (altitude 2,200 feet), a desolate spot in a desolate region, remains impressed in the minds of visitors merely and only for the vileness of its water. sadek brought me a glass of it for inspection, and it was so thick with salt and dirt that it resembled in colour and density a mixture of milk and coffee. in flavour i do not know what it was like because i would not drink it, but i induced sadek to try it and let me know, and he said that it tasted like salt, sand, and bad eggs mixed together. unluckily, sadek had omitted to fill the skins with good water at warmal, and after our long march of 36 miles we should have been in a bad plight, had not the beluch men in charge of the other caravan offered us some good water from their supply to drink and cook with. the post station at girdi has a high wall round it, with two rooms for _sawars_, and one adjoining for their families, and grain shop. there are four watch towers at the corners of the wall of sun-dried bricks, and a path on the top to go from one tower to the other. a canal has been cut to drain as much rain water (the only water obtainable here) as possible into a small pond, but the pond was nearly dry and only had in it some filthy salt water densely mixed with camel refuse. it was of a ghastly green with patches of brown, and some spots of putrefaction in circular crowns of a whitish colour. the surface was coated with a deposit of sand, dirt and salt. a few yards from the british consular post-house stood a small hut in which two persian customs soldiers were stationed. they were picturesquely attired in peaked white turbans, long yellow coats, leather belts with powder and bullet pouches, and various other adjuncts. they were armed with long, old-fashioned matchlocks. these men and the postal _sawars_ complained of the terrible water--and no wonder!--but although they seemed painfully worn and thin it had not actually caused them any special illness so far. they generally laid in a small supply of better water from the well six miles off. on our way in that direction when we left the next morning we again saw in the distance to the east and south-east four or five ruined cities. tamarisk was plentiful and grew to quite a good height. we passed the post-house of nawar-chah with its well of fairly good water. the well was some three feet in diameter and water had been struck fifteen feet below the surface. the shelter, with a low mud enclosure round it, was very similar to the one at mahommed raza-chah. at each post-house one was generally greeted by a beluch cat with pointed ears, who came out in the hopes of getting a meal, then by picturesque, bronzed-faced beluch _sawars_, with luxuriant black hair and beard, and white turbans and cloaks. this being a minor station, there were only two _sawars_ and no animals, whereas at stations like girdi there were a _duffadar_ in charge, four _sawars_, two attendants, two camels and two horses. some three miles south-east of nawar more ruins could be seen, a small tower and three large square towers with north and south walls in great part blown down, but with eastern and western walls standing up to a great height. a separate domed building could also be observed a little way off. perhaps one of the most interesting natural sights on the journey to the beluchistan frontier was the great salt river--the shela--which we struck on that march, six miles from nawar. it was by far the largest river i had seen in persia, its channel being some 100 yards wide in places. it came from the mountains to the south-west, where thick salt deposits are said to exist, and at the point where we crossed it its course was tortuous and the river made a sharp detour to the south-east. all along the watercourse extensive sediments of salt lined the edge of the water, and higher up, near the mountains, the water is said to be actually bridged over by salt deposits several inches thick. most interesting incrustations of salt were visible under the water, especially at the side of the stream, where, with the reverberation of the sun's rays, most beautiful effects of colour were obtained in the salt crystals. the following were the colours as they appeared from the edges of the stream downwards:--light brown, light green, emerald green, dark green, yellow, warm yellow, deep yellow, then the deep green of the limpid water. the river banks on which we travelled were about 60 feet high above the actual stream, and owing to a huge diagonal crack across our track we had to deviate nearly half a mile in order to find a way where my camels could get across. the shela proceeds along a tortuous channel in a south-easterly direction, enters afghan territory, and loses itself, as we shall see, in the south-west afghan desert. it is said that when, which is now but rarely, the hamun-halmund is inundated, the overflow of water from the lake so formed finds its way by a natural channel into the shela, which it swells, and the joint waters flow as far as and fill the shela hamun or zirreh in afghanistan, which is at a lower level than the hamun-halmund. when i saw the lake in afghanistan, however, it was absolutely dry. the shela river had very large pools of deep water almost all along that part of it which is in sistan territory, but there was hardly any water flowing at all, so that nowadays in dry weather it loses itself in the sand long before reaching the depression in afghan territory, where, by the great salt deposits, it is evident that a lake may have formerly existed, but not now. after leaving the shela we were travelling again on the sandy _lut_, and not a blade of vegetation of any kind could be seen. we came to two tracks, one going south-west, the other due south. we followed the latter. as we got some miles further south a region of tamarisks began, and they got bigger and bigger as we went along. where some shelter existed from the north winds, the shrubs had developed into quite big trees, some measuring as much as 20 feet in height. for a desert, this seemed to us quite a forest. near the well of salt water, half way (12 miles) between the two postal stations, the tamarisks were quite thick. sixteen miles from nawar, however, some great sand dunes, like waves of a sea, extending from east to west, were again found, together with undulations of sand and gravel, and here tamarisks again became scarce. the track had been marked with cairns of stones at the sides. where the wind had full sway, the long sand banks, parallel to one another and very regular in their formation, appeared exactly like the waves of a stormy ocean. the track went towards the south-west, where one has to get round the point of afghanistan, which, projects west as far as the kuh-i-malek-siah (mountains). we were steering into what appeared at first a double row of mountains in a mountain mass generally called the malek-siah. to the west, however, on getting nearer we could count as many as four different ranges and two more to the east of us. the last range, beyond all of the four western ones, had in its s.s.w. some very high peaks which i should roughly estimate at about eight to ten thousand feet above the plain. due west there were also some high points rising approximately from six to seven thousand feet, and in front of these and nearest to the observer, a low hill range. a high even-topped range, like a whale's back, and not above 3,000 feet above the plain, had a conical hill on the highest part of its summit. the loftiest mountains were observed from south to south-west, and they, too, had a low hill barrier before them. many of the peaks were very sharply pointed, and highest of all stood a strange looking three-humped mountain (280° w.) with a deep cut on its westerly side, and a pointed peak standing by it. the sand under foot had given place here to gravel and large pebbles, yellow, red, grey, white and green, all well rounded as if they had been rolled by water for many a mile. the underlying sand was cut into many channels by the action of water. we were some four miles off the mountainous mass. tamarisk was scarce and undersized. we were gradually rising on a slightly inclined plain, and on examining the ground one could not help thinking with what terrific force the torrents must come down--when they do come down--from the mountain sides which they drain before losing themselves in the sand. during abnormally rainy weather, no doubt, a good deal of this drainage forms an actual stream which goes to swell the river shela. its channel comes from hormak and flows first in a north-easterly then in an almost due easterly direction. we had intended stopping at hormak, thirty-two miles from girdi, our previous halting place, and we had been on the saddle from 9 in the morning till 8.30 p.m., when we came across a lot of afghans with their camels, and they told us that we were on the wrong track for the post-house and well. it was very dark and we could not see where we were going, as the sand had covered up the track. we were among a lot of confused sand hills, and the high mountains stood directly in front like a formidable black barrier, their contour line just distinguishable against the sky. the camel driver, who had made me discharge the postal _sawar_ guide, because he was certain he knew the road well himself, was now at a loss. the afghans collected round us and yelled at the top of their voices that hormak was to the west of us, and the camel man insisted that the post house must surely be on the high track, on which we certainly seemed to have got again. i had ridden ahead, and after an anxious hour sadek, with all the luggage, and the second camel man arrived, and we decided to leave the track and try our luck among the mountains to the west. now, to find a little mud house, hidden in some sheltered spot among rocks and hills, on a dark night is not the easiest of matters. the camels stumbled among the big boulders when once we had got off the track, and we had to dismount and walk. as luck would have it, after going about half an hour we came to a nice spring of water, of which in the stillness of the night we could plainly hear the gurgling. guided by it, and a few feet above it in a sheltered position, we struck the post-house. the post-house has, of course, been built here (one mile away from the high track) because of this spring. there is a direct track to it which branches off the main track, about 3 miles north, but we had missed this. the night was a very cold one--we were at 3,380 feet above sea level--and we lighted a big fire in the middle of the small mud room. as there was no outlet for the smoke except the door, in a few minutes the place got unbearably hot, and i had to clear out, but sadek and my camel men, who were regular salamanders, seemed to enjoy it and found it quite comfortable. there were two rooms, one occupied by the four postal _sawars_, the other by five persian customs employees. the two camels and two horses for the postal service were kept in the mud walled enclosure. hormak, when the sun rose, proved to be one of the most picturesquely situated stations on the entire route between sher-i-nasrya and nushki. it stood on a hill of sand and gravel in the centre of a basin of high reddish-brown mountains which screened it all round. there was an opening to the east which gave a glimpse of the desert extending into afghanistan, this station being not far from the border. our track was to the south-west, and wound round between handsome mountains. a strange high pyramid of rock stood on our way, and the sides of the mountains, where cut by the water, showed the interesting process of petrification in its various stages in the strata of the mountains. in hills of conical formation the centre was the first to become solidified, and where subsequent rain storms had washed away the coating around that had not yet become petrified curious rocky pillars were left standing bare on the landscape. we altered our course to due south along a river bed, and had high sand hills to our right. now that we were approaching beluchistan the track was well defined, and about 16 feet broad, with sides marked by a row of stones. to the west of the track were a series of high sand walls (facing west) 300 feet high, and some most peculiar red, pointed, conical hills rose above them on the east side of these walls. it was after reaching these peculiarly coloured hills that the track began a gradual descent. the highest point on the track was 3,670 feet. we passed a strange mount shaped like a mushroom, and the same formation could be noticed on a smaller scale in many other smaller hills, the lower portion of which had been corroded by wind or water or both, until the petrified centre of the hill remained like a stem supporting a rounded cap of semi-petrified earth above it. from the west there descended another water channel, quite dry. we next found ourselves in a large basin one mile across and with an outlet to the north-east, at which spot a square castle-shaped mountain stared us in the face. a similar fortress, also of natural formation, was to the south-south-west, and between these two the robat track was traced. another outlet existed to the south-east. to the west, north, east and south-east there were a great many sand-hills, and to the south-south-west high rugged mountains. a strong south-westerly gale was blowing and the sky was black and leaden with heavy clouds. we were caught in several heavy showers as we proceeded along a broad flat valley amid high and much broken-up black mountains (north-west) the innumerable sharp pointed peaks of which resembled the teeth of a saw. at their foot between them and our track stretched a long screen of sand accumulations--in this case facing north-west instead of west, the alteration in the direction being undoubtedly due to the effect of the mountains on the direction of the wind. to the east there were rocks of a bright cadmium yellow colour, some 45 feet high, with deposits of sand and gravel on them as thick again (45 feet). the mountains behind these rocks showed a similar formation, the yellow rock, however, rising to 120 feet with rock above it of a blackish-violet colour, getting greenish towards the top where more exposed to the wind. the valley along which we were travelling averaged about 200 yards wide, from the sand hills on one side to those on the other, and was at an incline, the eastern portion being much lower than the western. the yellow rocks at the side bore marks of having been subjected to the corrosive action of water, which must occasionally fill this gully to a great height during torrential rains. we came to a most interesting point--the malek siah ziarat, which in theory marks the point where the three coveted countries, _i.e._, persia, afghanistan and beluchistan, meet. the actual frontier, however, is on the summit of the watershed, a short distance to the east of the ziarat. this ziarat was a fine one, of the beluch pattern, not covered over by a building such as those, for instance, that we had found on kuh-i-kwajah. there seemed to be a fate against photographing these ziarats. it was only under the greatest disadvantages that i was ever able to photograph them. on this particular occasion i had hardly time to produce my camera before a downpour, such as i had seldom experienced, made it impossible to take a decent picture of it. there was a central tomb 15 feet long, of big round white stones, supported on upright pillars of brown and green stone, and a white marble pillar at each end. circular white marble slabs were resting on the tomb itself, and a few feet from this tomb all round was a wall, 3 feet high, of upright pillars, of brown and green stone, forming an oblong that measured 20 feet by 8 feet, with a walled entrance at its south-eastern extremity. an additional wall like a crescent protected the south-eastern end of the oblong, and due east in a line were three stone cairns with bundles of upright sticks fixed into them, on which hung rags of all colours. [illustration: plan of kuh-i-malek siah ziarat.] to the west of the tomb, between it and the enclosing wall, was a great collection of long sticks and tree branches--which must have been brought here from a great distance--and at their foot offerings of all sorts, such as goat-horns, ropes, leather bags, hair, stones, marble vessels, and numberless pieces of cloth. in the spring of each year, i am told, the beluch make a pilgrimage to this ziarat, and deposit some very quaint little dolls made with much symbolic anatomical detail. extending west, in the direction of mecca, from the main ziarat, were nine more stone cairns, most of them having a _panache_ of sticks and being divided into sets of three each, with a higher wall in the shape of crescents between. a second wall of round stones protected the north-west side of the ziarat. where it met the entrance way into the inner wall there was a much used sacrificial slab where sheep were beheaded. to the north-east of the ziarat were a number of cairns, and a small stone shelter in which lived a hermit. this old fanatic came out to greet us with unintelligible howls, carrying his vessel for alms, and a long stick to which a rag was attached. he touched us all on the head with it, which was meant as a blessing, and we gave him some silver pieces, which he said he did not want for himself, but for the ziarat. he wore chains like a prisoner. he appeared to be in an advanced stage of idiocy and _abrutissement_, caused by his lonely life in his 5 feet cubic stone cabin among the desolate malek-siah mountains. having at this place rounded the most westerly point of the afghan frontier we turned due east on a tortuous but well defined track. at this point began the actual british road, and being from this point under british supervision it was well kept, and made extremely easy for camel and horse traffic. three miles from the ziarat the sand hills began to get smaller and smaller to the west, but still remained high to the east. one was particularly struck by the peculiar formation of the mountains. to the west they formed a continuous rugged, irregularly topped chain, with sharp pointed peaks, whereas to the east we had isolated, single domed hills all well rounded and smooth. where the track turns sharply south-east we entered a vast basin with picturesque high mountains to the south and north, and a series of single well-rounded mounds in front of them, rising from one to two thousand feet above the plain. on nearing robat one finds the scenery plainly illustrating the entire evolution of a small sand hill into a high mountain. we have the tiny mounds of sand, only a few inches high, clogged round tamarisk shrubs, then further higher and higher mounds, until they spread out so far that two, three, or more blend together, forming a low bank, and then banks increase to high dunes 40 feet, 50 feet, 100 feet high. these grow higher and higher still; the sand below is compressed by the weight above; water exercises its petrifying influence from the base upward, and from the centre outward, and more sand accumulates on the upper surface until they become actual hill ranges of a compact shale-like formation in horizontal strata, each stratum being slightly less hardened than the underlying, and each showing plainly defined the actions of water and sun to which they were exposed when uppermost. then, above these hills, further accumulations have formed, which solidifying in turn have in the course of centuries become high mountains. they have, however, never lost the characteristics of the little primary accumulation against the humble tamarisk, to which they still bear, on a large scale, the closest resemblance. we passed a great many parallel sand dunes, 100 feet high, east and west of our track, and went through a cut in one of these sand banks, beyond which the sand hills had accumulated in a somewhat confused fashion upon a crescent-shaped area. they seemed of a more ancient formation than those to the west of the track, and had a great quantity of shingle upon them, which gave them a black and greenish appearance, while those to the west were of a light brown colour. the shingle in this case, i think, had not formed on the hillocks themselves, but had been washed and blown down from the high mountains to the east. we were now in the territory of beluchistan, and with a bounding heart--after the experience of persian rest-houses--we saw a nice clean square whitewashed bungalow standing on a high prominence under the shelter of a rugged mountain. this was robat, the furthermost british post in west beluchistan. although still some 463 miles from the nearest railway i looked upon this spot as the end of my difficult travelling, and, taking into consideration the fact that most of that distance had to be performed across barren and practically uninhabited country, i found that i was not far wrong in my opinion. chapter xxviii the lahr kuh--robat _thana_ and bungalow--saïd khan--persian and beluch music, songs and dancing--beluch musical instruments--beluch melodies, love and war songs--comic songs--beluch voices--persian melodies--solo songs--ululations--persian instruments--castanets--persian and beluch dancing--the _chap_. south-west of robat (at 210° bearings magnetic) stands a fine mountain, the lahr kuh, and from it descends a little stream flowing towards the north-east. there is a large _thana_ (fortified post-house) at robat of eight rooms and a spacious court for horses. a shop with grain and provisions is found here, and a post office with the familiar black board outside on which one was rather amused to read the usual postal notices in the english language stuck upon it--announcing queen victoria's death, notifying that the office would be closed on such and such bank holidays, and other public news. the quarters of the _jemadar_ and his seven levies, of the _duffadar_ and the postmaster, were enclosed in the high-walled _thana_ with its imposing entrance gate and four towers at the corners. beyond the _thana_ was the old resting place built of stone, with six rooms, but now rather in a tumbling-down condition. then last, but not least, of the buildings was the new bungalow, with a nice portico all round. it contained four spacious, lofty rooms with well-drawing chimneys. there were windows, but not yet with glass in them, and this was rather an advantage, because the air of the mountains was pure and better than would have been the shut-in atmosphere of a room. each room had a bathroom attached to it--but of course the bath had to be brought by the traveller himself. [illustration: saïd khan, duffadar and levies at the perso-beluch frontier port of robat.] this was one of two types of rest-houses which are being built by the british government for travellers on the nushki-robat route. the other kind was of similar architecture but with only two rooms instead of four. these bungalows were solidly built, well ventilated and excellent in every way--of course in relation to the country they were in. it was not proposed when they were put up to compete in comfort and _cuisine_ with the carlton hotel in london, that of ritz in paris, or the waldorf-astoria of new york. they were mere rest-houses for traders and travellers accustomed to that particular kind of travelling, and the british government ought to be greatly thanked for building these shelters at the principal halting-places on the route. only a few are completed yet between robat and nushki, but their construction is going ahead fast, and within the next year or so, if i understood right, they would all be ready to accommodate travellers. they were a great improvement on the old _thanas_, which, although comfortable enough, were not always quite so clean on account of natives using them. after travelling in persia, where one climbs down a good deal in one's ideas of luxury and comfort and is glad to put up even in the most modest hovels, it seemed to me quite the zenith of luxury and comfort to set foot inside a real whitewashed rest-house, with mats on the floor and a fire blazing in a real chimney. news had come that i should arrive that afternoon, and the levies with the _jemadar_ in their best clothes all turned out to receive me, which involved considerable hand-shaking and elaborate compliments, after which i was led into the room that had been prepared for me. saïd khan, who has been employed by the government to look after the postal arrangements and other political work on the persian side of the frontier, was also here parading with the others, as can be seen in the illustration. saïd khan was a tall, intelligent, black-bearded, fearless person, wearing a handsome black frock-coat, a mass of gold embroidery on the chest, and a beautiful silver-mounted sword--which, by the way, he wore in a sensible fashion slung across his shoulder; with his well-cut features, strong, almost fierce mouth, finely chiselled nostrils and eagle eyes he was quite a striking figure. the _duffadar_, who stood on his right hand, had a most honest and good-natured face, and he, too, looked very smart in his uniform, cartridge bandolier, silver-handled sword and enfield rifle. his men were also armed with this rifle which, although of old pattern, is very serviceable. with the exception of saïd khan, the people represented in the illustration formed the entire stationary male population of robat, but some small black tents could be seen in a gully a little way off inhabited by nomad beluch. on hearing that i was much interested in music, the _duffadar_, who was a bit of a musician himself, arranged a concert in which all the local talent took part. on this and many other later occasions i heard beluch music and singing and saw their dancing, and as i also heard a good deal of persian music while in persia i daresay a few words upon the music and dancing of the two countries will not be out of place. in many ways they are akin. a large instrument called the _dumbirah_ or _dambura_--something like an italian mandola--was produced which was handsomely carved and inlaid in silver. it had three strings, two of which were played as bass; on the third the air was twanged in double notes, as the thumb and first finger are held together, the first finger slightly forward, and an oscillation is given from the wrist to the hand in order to sound the note twice as it catches first in the thumb then in the first finger. the effect obtained is similar to that of the _occalilli_ of honolulu, or not unlike a mandoline, only with the beluch instrument the oscillations are slower. the movement of the favourite beluch melodies resembles that of a neapolitan tarantella, and these airs are generally more lively than melodies of most other asiatic people. endless variations are made on the same air according to the ability and temperament of the musician. the notes of the two bass strings of the instrument are never altered, but always give the same accompaniment on being twanged together with the violin string on which only the actual melody is picked out. there is then the _soroz_, a kind of violin made of a half pumpkin, which forms the sounding board, and a handle to it with four keys and four strings. it is played with a bow of horsehair. the other instruments in use are the _seranghi_, a kind of superior violin such as the two central ones represented in the full page illustration. it has no less than fourteen keys, is hollow and uncovered in its upper portion, but has a skin stretched in the lower half of its sounding case. it is also perforated underneath and is played with a bow called _gazer_. the _rabab_ is a larger wooden instrument of a somewhat elongated shape, and its lower portion is also covered by a tight sheepskin--the remainder of the uncovered wood being prettily inlaid with silver and bone. this instrument is twanged with the fingers and has eighteen _killi_ or keys, twelve with metal strings and six with gut strings. the _surna_, or flute, is made of bamboo with a brass funnel. the mouthpiece is very ingenious, made of crushed cane fastened into a cup which is firmly applied to the lips, thus preventing any wind escaping at the sides. it certainly gives a very piercing sound when played loud. the _dohl_, or drum, was also of wood with sheepskins drawn tight at the two ends while wet, rolled up all round the rims of the apertures, and kept in position by leather strips. [illustration: beluch musicians (at sibi.)] besides these the beluch shows much ingenuity in improvising musical instruments to accompany his songs, out of any article which will give some sound, such as his rifle rod, which he balances on a bit of string and taps upon with the blade of his knife, or two pieces of wood which he uses as castanets, and, failing all these, snapping his fingers and keeping time with the melody. there is a certain weird, barbaric charm in beluch melodies, and, unlike the persian, the beluch possesses a very keen ear, in fact, a thorough musical ear, even according to our rules of harmony. to an unthoughtful european there may indeed be a certain monotony in beluch melodies, but never a grating discord which will set one's teeth on edge. monotony in music, or rather, a repetition of the same melody until it becomes monotonous, is, rather than otherwise--if one comes to think of it--a fault on the right side, for if a melody is repeated time after time it means that the people themselves like it and appreciate it. there is no doubt that anybody with an unspoilt musical ear rather fancies listening over and over again to a melody which appeals to him--and we need not go as far as beluchistan to be convinced of this--for we ourselves have been known to take fancies to songs of so high a standard as _ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay_, _the honeysuckle and the bee_, &c., and we hum them while soaking in our morning tub, we whistle them as we go down to breakfast, we strum them on the piano after breakfast, we hear them rattled outside by a barrel organ, as many times as there are forthcoming pennies from windows, while we are having lunch, we hear them pathetically sung at afternoon parties by hired entertainers, bands play them in the restaurants during dinner, and we hear them in the theatres, in music halls, and everywhere,--so that we cannot very well blame others for the monotony of their melodies since we largely follow the same course as theirs. the beluch plays and sings because it gives him real pleasure, and he is quite carried away by his music. certain notes and combinations of notes, especially such as are very high and shrill, but in good tune, seem to go straight to his heart, and he revels in them. when singing, therefore, he prefers to sing in falsetto--as high as the furthest strain of his voice permits--and having worked himself into a semi-dazed state gradually descends to low deep notes, which by contrast appeal to him and not only give balance and character to his melody but produce quite a good harmonious effect. the low notes, however, are never ejaculated, but hummed, almost buzzed, with a vibration in the voice which is most melodious. the sound is like an indefinite letter u. the beginning of a song is somewhat sudden and startling, and usually too loud, as if the singer had not properly gauged the extent of his voice in relation to the instrumental accompaniment, but he soon manages to get in most perfect unison with the melody of the dambura and the violin or other instruments, except in cases of singers endowed with extra musical genius, when they will go on improvising by the hour, using the theme as a guide. they generally sing in a minor key, with pretty refrains at the end of each bar. [illustration] the most common and favourite air is the above on which elaborate variations are added. the beluch singer seldom changes from minor into major or from one key into another, but he is very fond of repeating the same melody in all the octaves within the utmost limits of the compass of his voice. it is considered a feat in singing to hold a note for an interminable time, as also to go through the greater portion of the melody without taking breath, and it really seemed extraordinary that some of the singers did not break a blood vessel in the process. the eyes of the performers got so swollen and almost shooting out of the head with holding the notes so long, and the veins of the temples and arteries in the neck swelled to such an extent as to cause serious apprehension. on one occasion i heard an improvised song with the accompaniment of the _soroz_ (violin) only. this time--an exception in my experience--the song was given in a deep, low, nasal voice, each note being tremulous and held on for several minutes in a most plaintive manner. some of the love songs were quite pathetic and touching, and in the war songs, the grievances were poured forth very plaintively with an accompaniment of strings and drums and burst out suddenly into fire and anger. at this point, when the musicians were carried away by the martial words of the song, the instrumental accompaniment became next to diabolical. it was very inspiriting, no doubt, and made them feel very war-like. the din was certainly such as might have turned any man into a fighter. love songs, in which the singer imitated women's voices to perfection, were really most graceful and sad, and quite interesting were the musical recitatives with violin accompaniments which the beluch render in quite a masterly way. then there was the comic song--quick-timed and full of life--much too full and too comic to appeal to a european, and so fully illustrated that personally, i infinitely preferred the more melancholic ones which had more music in them. duets and trios were occasionally attempted with quite good results, except that there always seemed to be a competition as to who should start highest, and this had occasionally a grating effect. the beluch possess most soft musical voices, well-rounded and graceful, quite a contrast even in mere conversation to those of their neighbours the persians or the afghans; but the character of the beluch songs and music is not dissimilar from the persian, and both betray a markedly arab origin. in persian songs, too, an _andante_ movement with chorus joining in every few bars frequently occurs, but in the persian chorus we generally find a liking for chromatic diminuendos and crescendos, which are not so frequent in beluch music. persian music is inspiriting. there are certain musical notes the vibrations of which seem to go to the heart more than others, and on these notes the persian musician will work his melody. sad love songs in a falsetto voice are prevalent, and are sung so high that, as with the beluch, it makes one really quite anxious for the safety of the singer. the notes are kept on so long and the melody repeated so often, that the artery and veins in the singer's neck and temples bulge out in a most abnormal manner. there is no actual end to a persian melody, which terminates with the exhaustion of the singer, or abruptly by the sign of the hearers who get tired of it. the musicians every now and then join in the chorus and repeat the refrain. tenor solo songs by boys are much appreciated, and these, too, are very plaintive with frequent scales in them and certain notes held long at the end of each bar where the chorus join in. these sustained notes have modulations in them with infinitesimal fractions of tones. ululations with long, nasal, interminable notes and capricious variations at the fancy of the singer, but based on some popular theme are also much liked by persians. more than in anything else, however, the persian, like the beluch, delights in tremulous notes, of which he makes ample use in his melodies. the rhythm of persian and beluch music is much alike, although as far as instrumental execution goes the persian surpasses the beluch, having a greater variety in his orchestra and the instruments being more perfectly constructed. the _santurie_, for instance, a kind of zither, with eighteen sets of three strings each, is a most harmonious instrument from which beautiful effects can be obtained by the player. the _thar_> a sort of guitar, has four keys and is played with a plectrum, and the _kermanche_, _cynthour_, _tchogor_, _the tchaminioho_--the latter, a circular instrument covered by a skin, with one metal and two gut strings, on a long metal stand, is played with a bow;--the _dumbuk_ (drum), with only one skin pasted round its single aperture, the lower part being solid; the flute pure and proper, with five apertures on one side and one on the other, on which very low clear notes are obtained, and a pretty tremolo,--and other instruments of minor importance, are all employed in persia. the persians are masters at playing the drum. most marvellous effects are obtained by them. they hold the drum on the left leg with the left arm resting on it, and tap it with the tips of their fingers round its edge. for broader notes it is struck with the palm of the hand. soft, gentle notes as well as the rumbling sound in good time with the air they accompany, are extracted from the instrument, so fast in its vibrations as to produce a continuous sound that one would never believe came from a drum. [illustration: beluch dance (at sibi.)] metallic castanets are used both by the persian and beluch in the dancing, and it is usually the dancers--one or more boys--who play them. many of the songs and melodies i heard in persia reminded me very forcibly of spanish melodies, which, like these, are undoubtedly of arab origin. whatever fault one may find with persian or beluch music, one cannot say that the performers do not play with an immense deal of feeling and _entrain_--a quality (the primary one, to my mind,) in music often lacking in musicians nearer home, but never in orientals. the dancing, both persian and beluch, is not so interesting. it is usually executed by effeminate long-haired boys generally dressed in a long pleated coat with a tight belt, and wearing a number of metal bells attached to the ankles. the persian is probably the more lascivious of the two in his movements, and, having begun by throwing his long shock of hair backwards twirls round gracefully enough, keeping good time with the music. this is merely a feat of endurance, resembling the dancing or spinning dervishes of egypt, and generally ends by the dancer suddenly squatting down upon the floor with his flowing gown fully expanded in a circle around him. the skill of the dancer is shown most in successive dances, such as the slow progression by merely twisting the feet to right and left, occasionally varied by raising one foot directly above the other, then throwing the head far back and the body in a strained curve, with arms raised fluttering like a flying bird, while the song to which he dances imitates a nightingale. contortions and suggestive waist movements are much indulged in persian dancing, as well as throwing the body backwards with the hands almost touching the ground behind and walking while in this position--not unlike an exaggerated form of the "cake-walk" of our american cousins. each dance is closed by the dancer throwing himself down upon his knees in front of the musicians, or in turn before each of the spectators. beluch dancing was very similar, although much simpler. the two photographs, reproduced in the illustrations, which i took at sibi, show one a row of beluch musicians, the other a beluch boy in the act of dancing a sort of toe-and-heel dance, in which with extended arms he gradually fluttered round, keeping time with the music. in some of the quicker movements he either snapped his fingers or used wooden castanets, or held the pleated skirt of his coat fully extended like butterfly wings. there was very little variation to his dancing which, like the persian was more a feat of endurance and speed than a graceful performance. the ankle did most of the work. [illustration: the beluch-afghan boundary cairn and malek-siah mountains in background.] somewhat more wild and primitive was the _chap_ which i witnessed at a camp in north-west beluchistan. it consisted in swinging the body from right to left, lifting up now one leg and then the other, and waving the head to and fro in a most violent manner. the beluch get much excited over this dance, which requires some degree of stubborn tenacity, and the spectators urge the dancer to continue when he shows signs of getting tired. all superfluous clothing is discarded in a most alarming manner at various stages of this performance, and the arms are flapped vigorously against the naked body which is made to sound like a drum. the performance is not allowed to stop until the dancer is quite exhausted, when he simply collapses in the arms of one of his friends. the musical accompaniment to this dance verges on the diabolical, the rhythm of what melody there is being interspersed with abundant howls, yells and snapping of fingers from the enthusiastic crowd all round. chapter xxix an excellent track--a quaint rock--a salt rivulet--laskerisha--mahommed raza-chah--beluch encampment--the horrors of photography--maternal love--a track to mirjawa--kirtaka--direct track to sher-i-nasrya--track to cabul--sand-hills--a wide river bed--a high yellow pillar--undulating track--ten sharp-pointed peaks. from robat (altitude 3,480 feet) we took the capital road which followed a dry river bed until we got quite away from the hills. when the track turned south-east a beautiful view of the afghan desert south of the halmund, was obtained to the north-east, while south-south-east (180°, bearings magnetic) stood a high peak, the saindak mount. we first skirted very rugged mountains to the south-west which were brilliant in colour and had many peaks fluted by water erosion. sand-hills gradually dwindled away, leaving long, flat-topped sand-banks invariably facing north. to the south was quite a high sand mountain. a quaint rock resembling a huge camel's head could be seen to our left above a hill. then, six miles from robat, sand-hills began again. the track here lay only a few yards from the afghan boundary which was marked by stone cairns, six feet high, painted white. to the south was a rugged chain of mountains with low sand-hills before it, and to the north across the afghan border could now be plainly seen the interesting salt deposit of god-i-zirreh, and another whose name i do not know. i crossed into afghan territory with the object of visiting them, and a description will be found in the next chapter. i returned into beluchistan to the spot, 14 miles from robat, where a small salt rivulet swelled by tributaries, descends from the mountains to the south and west. when in flood this stream, which must be enormously enlarged, carries down a great quantity of tamarisk wood, much of which could be seen deposited a long distance from the water's normal banks. the road stretched in front of us in a perfectly straight line, with neat stone borders on either side, and one got so tired of seeing that line in front of one's nose that one welcomed the smallest change--even a slight ascent or a curve--in its endless, monotonous straightness. we came by and by to a little ascent--quite steep enough for camels. we could have easily avoided it by leaving the road and making a detour at the foot of the hill close to the afghan boundary. some caravans do. from the highest point of the road as we looked back to the north-north-west we saw behind us sand hills, that showed traces of being still much at the mercy of the wind. further behind, still north-north-west, was a high pointed peak, and then a long blue chain extending from south-west to north-east just rising out of the sand mist. the highest peaks were at the most extreme north-east point. then the mountains became lower and lower, and the horizon met the flat long line of the desert. a fine view of the afghan desert, with its two extensive salt deposits, can be obtained from laskerisha, a name given to a brackish well on the hill side (3,590 feet) with a ditch and hollow next to it for the convenience of camels. a triangular unroofed shelter has been erected some 80 feet below the well on the hill slope, and other wells have been bored close by, the water of which is undrinkable. this was the highest point of the road 3,590 feet, on that march. before reaching it we saw a castle-like structure surmounting a peak of the mountain that we had been following to the south; there appeared to be actual windows in it, showing the light through, and a track leading up to it. unfortunately, the sun--quite blinding--was just behind it when i passed it, and i could not well ascertain with my telescope whether it was a natural formation of rock or a real ancient fortress, nor could i get any information on the subject from the natives, and it was too far out of my track for me to go and visit it. on our descent on the south-east side of the hill we came across semi-spherical sand mounds in great numbers; the mountains on our right were apparently of volcanic formation. they were very highly coloured, generally bright red with green summits; then there were mountains deep red all over, and further on stood one green from top to bottom, although there was not a thread of vegetation upon it. at the foot of the mountains on the edge of the desert were a few dried up tamarisks. we stopped at mahommed raza-chah, where there are five wells, three of good water and two brackish ones. there was a mere mud _thana_ at this place, but wood and bricks were being brought up to construct a bungalow. [illustration: rest house at mahommed raza chah overlooking afghan desert.] a number of beluch were encamped here in their little black tents, hardly five feet high, and with one side of the tent raised up on two sticks. the interior of the tents seemed to be a mass of rags and dirt, among which some primitive implements, such as a wooden pestle and mortar, for pounding wheat, and a bowl or two, could be detected. otherwise they were most miserable. the tents seemed mostly in the possession of women, children and decrepit old men, the younger folks seeking a livelier life further afield. it is often in the most humble places, however, that one finds unexpected charms. on the alarm being given that an intruding stranger was at hand the women hastily shut up all the tents, and a picturesque old fellow stalked me about, seeming to become extremely anxious when i was photographing, a proceeding which he did not quite understand. a young man on a camel was coming towards us singing, and inside one of the tents i heard a great commotion evidently caused by the approaching voice. an old woman, in fact, peeped out from a fissure and gave a powerful squeak. she leapt out excitedly, nearly tearing down the whole tent in the process, and, crying bitter tears, rushed with extended arms towards the camel man. the young fellow having hastily dismounted, a most touching scene of motherly affection ensued, for, as the old man explained to me, he was her son. the poor shrivelled creature threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fondly, first on one cheek and then upon the other, after which, having affectionately taken his face between her hands, she impressed another long, long kiss in the middle of his forehead. she caressed him to her heart's content, the boy looking quite pathetically graceful and reverent under the circumstances. a similar treatment was meted out to him by his sisters, and they all shed tears of delight at seeing one another. family affection, as well as affection among tribesmen, is indeed extraordinarily effusive and genuine among beluch of all classes. the women i saw at this camp wore a sort of long shirt with a sash, and had broad bead and shell bracelets round their wrists. mahommed raza-chah was 3,820 feet above sea level, and the track from this point went south east (to 110° bearings magnetic). there was a _duffadar_ in charge of two stations with four _sawars_ and four camels. it was all one could do upon this road to find anything of some interest, barring the geological formation of the country and the movement of the sand, which rather began to pall upon one after months of nothing else, and when one came across a patch of tamarisk trees a little taller than usual one could not take one's eyes off them, they seemed such interesting objects in the monotonous marches. twelve miles from mahommed raza, tamarisks seemed to flourish, for water was to be found some twenty feet below the surface. a well had been bored for the use of caravans, and the water was quite good. the track was somewhat undulating in this portion of the journey, rising, however, to no greater elevation than 100 feet, but quite steep enough for camels. about eleven miles from mahommed raza-chah, a track diverged to mirjawa. one noticed on the mountains to our right (south-west) a superabundance of tamarisk, the cause of this abnormal vegetation being undoubtedly long streaks of moisture filtering through the sand. no actual water, however, was visible flowing, not even along a deep channel which bore the marks of having been cut by it, and in which salt deposits were to be seen on the surface soil. kirtaka, the next rest-house, was by no means an attractive place, but was interesting, inasmuch as, besides the track over the mountains leading to mirjawa, a direct route went from this point to sher-i-nasrya in sistan, which city could be reached in three days, by crossing afghan territory, and cutting off the long westerly detour via robat--the malek-siah; and yet another track to cabul, the capital of afghanistan, which could be reached in twenty days. the latter track was said to be absolutely waterless for the first three days' march, no wells and therefore no villages being found, but after three days, on striking the halmund, plenty of water, fuel, and food could be obtained, and plenty of people were to be met with. south-east of the old towered enclosure, which had five rooms, a new bungalow of two rooms and bathrooms, with kitchen buildings apart behind, was being built. it was sheltered by a rugged background of mountains of no great height, but picturesque enough and highly coloured when the sun shone upon them. being, however, well rounded and looking like petrified accumulations of sand, they did not quite compare in interest with the fantastic cutting edges of the malek-siah and neighbouring ranges. they formed the southern barrier to the beluchistan extension of the afghan desert. the altitude of kirtaka was 3,710 feet. there was a curious beluch grave here made of white stones with an edge of grey pebbles, and a circle round it, with a smaller outer kneeling place, such as may be seen in the numerous mesjids so common all over the country, the various styles of which will be duly described in a subsequent chapter. innumerable sand hills and, in fact, a long hill range some 350 feet high stood to the west in front of the rocky mountains behind. these caused a great many ups and downs on the track, the principal heights i measured being: 3,800 feet, 3,700 feet, 3,420 feet (8 miles from kirtaka), this latter altitude where the road lay close to the mountains. beyond this point the track was south-east (125° bearings magnetic) with picturesque mountains on the east-south-east and high red sand hills in the east, one isolated high black hill lying in the desert beyond. a very pointed conical hill was noticeable, and another like a small replica of fujisan of japan fame. this latter hill was in afghan territory. a number of great rocky pillars stood upright above the hill tops. twelve miles from kirtaka we crossed a river bed 150 feet wide, which lost itself in the afghan desert. then a mile further we came to another river bed. [illustration: beluch black tents at mahommed raza chah.] [illustration: rock pillar between kirtaka and saindak.] the track here (about 13 miles from kirtaka) turned south-west following the river bed, then due south, where among the mountains we saw a huge pillar of a brilliant yellow colour and over 50 feet high, standing up by the roadside. the illustration gives a fair idea of it. to the south-east in the direction of our track, which for a change was quite tortuous, were mounds of sand and debris. the red rock of the mountains seemed crumbling towards the east, whereas the hills to the west were well rounded and padded with sand and gravel. we went over a low pass 3,810 feet, and then along a flat basin with hills to the south-east, and outlets both to the south-east and east. we had descended to 3,680 feet, but had to go up another pass 4,060 feet, the highest we had so far encountered. innumerable yellow sand hills were before us to the north-north-east, and here we were on a sort of flat sandy plateau, three-quarters of a mile wide and a mile and a half long. ten sharp-pointed peaks could be counted to the south-south-east, high mountains were before us to the south-east, and a long range beyond them east-south-east. sand dunes, shaped like the back of a whale were to the east, and a remarkable spherical mount south-south-east directly in front of the ten peaks. we arrived at saindak. chapter xxx an excursion into afghanistan--the salt deposits of god-i-zirreh--sand hills--curious formation of hill range--barchans and how they are formed--alexander's march through the country--the water of godar-i-chah--afghans and their looks. the excursion which i made into afghan territory to the salt deposit of gaudor god-i-zirreh, and a lower depression to the east of it, was of great interest to me. there are a great many theories regarding these former salt lakes, and it is not easy to say which is right and which is wrong. the general belief is that these lakes were formed by the overflow of the halmund swamp into the shela (river) which carried sufficient water not only to fill up the god-i-zirreh, but to overflow when this was full into the next depression east of the zirreh. there is no doubt that to a great extent this was the case, but these lakes were, i think, also fed more directly by several small streams descending from the mountains to the south and west of the zirreh, which form the watershed--and very probably also from the north by the halmund river itself. both lakes were dry and seemed to have been so for some time. the god-i-zirreh, forming now a great expanse of solid salt some 26 miles long by 5 or 6 wide, extends in a long oval from west to east. the other lake was somewhat smaller. to the south of these salt deposits in the zones between them and the present afghan boundary, and forming the southern fringe of the afghan desert, the soil is covered with gravel and stones washed down from the mountain sides. very stony indeed is the desert towards the malek-siah end, then further north-east appear brown earth, shale, and sand. to the north of the lakes was a long line of bright yellow sand extending from west to east and broad enough towards the north to reach the bank of the river halmund. another shiny patch, which at first, from a distance, i had mistaken for another smaller lake, turned out on examination to be a stretch of polished shale which shone in the sun, and appeared like bluish water. stunted tamarisk grows in some parts but not in the immediate neighbourhood of the salt deposits. we have here instead a belt of myriads of small conical sand-hills, also spreading from west to east, quite low to the west and getting higher for several miles towards the east. in the south-west part of the desert, curiously enough, between the zone of conical hills and the salt deposits, and parallel to both, lies a row of semi-spherical sand and salt mounds of a whitish colour. to the east-south-east of the lakes the sand-hills rise to a great height and eventually form a high ridge, which for some reason or other is cut perpendicularly on its western side, possibly as the result of a volcanic commotion. of similar origin probably was the gigantic crack caused by an earthquake which we shall examine later on near nushki. in fact, both the crack at nushki and the collapse of the west side of this hill range, as well as a great portion of that deep crack in the earth's crest in which the shela flows, have very likely been formed by the same cause. they are within the same zone of volcanic formation. in the particular case of this hill range in afghanistan the collapse did not appear to me to be due to the action of water, but to a sudden crumbling which had caused a very sharp vertical cut. [illustration: sand hills.] to the north of the salt wastes was another long belt of yellow sand extending for some 40 miles, upon which there was absolutely no vegetation, while intervening between the salt and this sand flat were numerous sand barchans, like horseshoes, with a gradual slope on the windward side (north) and a crescent hollow with a steep but not quite vertical bank on the lee side. i noticed all over persia, and in beluchistan as well as here, that these sand barchans, or barchanes, will only form on level ground--generally on extensive plains. all single sand hills, however, whether barchans, conical, semi-spherical, or of more irregular shapes, are invariably caused by a primary obstacle, however small, arresting the sand. various are the theories with regard to the formation of these barchans, and especially with regard to the formation of the hollow on the lee side. [illustration] the explanation from my own observation has--if no other--at least the merit of simplicity. the wind, on meeting the semi-circular back of the barchan, is diverted on the two sides of it; these two currents come into violent collision again on the lee-side, where, the air being more or less still, a considerable portion of the wind is forcibly driven back towards the barchan, corroding its side in a double rotatory way, each such circle having for a diameter the radius of the barchan crescent containing them. in fact in many barchans the sand ripples on the windward slopes cross the direction of the wind at right angles. a line of sand formed in the centre of the barchan crescent in the opposite direction to the wind is often to be seen during wind storms or soon after. i have also seen barchans, the inner crescent of which showed beyond doubt that when there is a prevalent wind from one side only, the above explanation, although less scientifically obscure and elaborate than most, applies, and, i think, it may eventually be found quite the most probable. the diagram here given will illustrate and, i hope, make quite clear the meaning of my words. in the centre of the crescent can be noticed the action of the parting wind currents. [illustration: a caravan of donkeys in afghanistan.] north of kirtaka was a very pointed high conical hill, and not far from it a small replica of fujisan in japan, so much were the lines like those of the japanese mountain. a great many of the drain channels from the mountains to the south extended very far into the desert and some as far as the god-i-zirreh. it is also very probable that in the days when sistan was a most populous region, with uninterrupted towns and villages along and near the halmund, numerous canals may have intersected the zirreh region and rendered it a very fertile plain. history would indeed point forcibly towards such a hypothesis. ample proof that the plain was inhabited still remains in the ruins of godar-i-chah, situated at the western limit of the zirreh salt deposits, chah-i-mardan, where a ruined fort and a ziarat are said to exist, gumbaz-i-chah, and others. all these places are now deserted and are being fast buried by the sand. they are mostly along the shela (river) banks, and the natives of sistan say that they have heard from their ancestors that when the shela did flow freely its water was quite drinkable. there was a well at godar-i-chah--hence its name, "the well of godar"--almost entirely dried up and of water so foul that it was not possible to drink it, and another just as bad was said to exist at gumbaz. it would be most interesting if one could get at the actual history of this part of the world and gain an insight into its former prosperity and civilisation. it is quite probable that alexander, in his progress through beluchistan and sistan, must have come through this country. no army--not even with a new craterus at its head--could, of course, march elephants, camels and horses through that country to-day, and this has led some critics to doubt that alexander could have done so, or to believe that, if he did so, he must have been deceived by his guides who tried to bring him as far as possible from water. but those critics forget that in alexander's days this portion of country was extremely civilised, fertile, and supplied with plenty of water--or else how can we account for the innumerable ruins we find there, and for the many canals for irrigation? sir charles mcgregor, goldsmid, bellew, major macmahon, napier, and one or two others who have visited the country north of the zirreh, can fully testify to the amazing remains of former prosperity in sistan and south-west afghanistan. sir charles mcgregor gives an amusing receipt for those who wish to know what the water at godar-i-chah is like without having the trouble of going there. "take the first nasty-looking water you can find. mix salt with it until it tastes as nasty as it looks, then impregnate it with gas from a london street lamp, and add a little bilge-water, shake vigorously and it is ready for use." major mcmahon also testifies to the accuracy of the above receipt, but, he adds, "it was not nearly so bad as much we found elsewhere." [illustration: in afghanistan. who are you?] [illustration: in the afghan desert. afghan caravan men.] the zirreh seemed just like a great stretch of country under snow, the thick salt sediment was so beautifully white. it formed a deep depression in the centre. the second deposits to the east of the zirreh were of a similar shape, with salt extremely thick, but not quite so extensive as in the zirreh. near the edge of both dry lakes there was absolutely no vegetation, but most beautifully coloured stones could be found, such as red and brown jasper and agatescent quartz, chalcedony, white and brown limestone. as i was returning towards the beluchistan boundary among the sand hills i came upon about a dozen afghans, who looked as suspiciously at me as i did at them. at first i thought they were soldiers, and as i did not much care to be caught by them and have my goods confiscated--no englishmen being allowed in their territory--i requested them to stop some way off and explain what they wanted, while i was snapshotting them. they had a great big white fluffy dog with them who seemed very anxious to have a go at the sahib. one man was asked to come forward alone, which he did with his turban right over his eyes, while the others formed a line behind and appeared most puzzled as to what was going to happen. he said they were glad to see me in their country and that they were "good people," and would not injure nor trouble me in any way; so i gave them a small present, which seemed to please them much, and they became quite friendly. they seemed to have some coarse humour about them and were rather boisterous. their faces, however, did not quite appeal to me. the afghan invariably has a slippery, treacherous look about his countenance which he cannot disguise, and which, personally, i do not much admire. he seldom looks at one straight in the face, can be very sullen when he is not boisterous, and i should think would easily seek cause of offence and pick a quarrel with any one weaker than himself in order to have a fight. these fellows were, for instance, most unlike the gentlemanly beluch. they shouted at the top of their voices when they spoke, and were uncouth in speech and manner. i was rather glad when they departed. further on i came upon more people and animals, but they, too, were quite peaceful. having accomplished my object i again crossed over into beluchistan. chapter xxxi saindak--beluch prisoners--thana and bungalow--beluch bread--the saindak mountain and its mineral resources--the daftan volcano--_surmah_ and lead--mukak and its strong man--a sick camel--gypsum--_regheth_--where the track will deviate in future--difficulty in obtaining drinkable water--wells made attractive--sahib chah--a well ventilated rest-house. saindak had an imposing _thana_, the elaborate gateway of which was decorated with heads of wild sheep and _dumbahs_. there were nine rooms--some boasting of wooden doors--at the end of the large court, but all were occupied by the seven _sawars_, the postal _moonshee_, the three _kassildars_ and the _havildar_, one _duffadar_, and one _jemadar_. [illustration: the thana and new bungalow at saindak. (saindak mt. in background.)] on my arrival they proceeded to clear one of the chambers for me, and to my astonishment out of it came four wretched men chained together by the hands and feet and in a pitiable condition. not that their countenances, when one examined their faces, called for much pity. more palpably criminal types could be found nowhere, but somehow or other to see these poor devils stumbling along, with the iron rings round their bruised and sore ankles showing through the torn rags which covered their skeleton legs, and the agonized expressions on their worn, repulsively cruel faces, was not an edifying sight. they had been brought down here to work and, for prisoners, were treated considerately enough, i suppose. but they seemed very ill and suffering. two were robbers, the other two--father and son--had murdered a man and stolen 400 sheep. they were condemned to captivity for life. i declined to put up in that room, especially when i happened to peep in and was nearly choked by the foul odour that emanated from inside, and preferred--although it was very cold--to inhabit the unroofed new two-roomed bungalow in course of construction, which i found really very comfortable. as can be seen by the photograph the thana and bungalow of saindak are built on rather an attractive site under the shelter of the saindak mountain. whenever i see a mountain i cannot resist the temptation to go up it, and now, after all the thousands of miles of flat country i had traversed, i felt this desire more strongly than ever. the ascent of the mountain presented no difficulty except that its rocky sides were somewhat steep. i resolved to go up early the next morning before making a start with my camels. in the meantime during the evening i was instructed by mahommed hussein, my camel man, in the beluch fashion of making bread--really a most ingenious device. a stone of moderate size, say 4 inches in diameter and as round as can be found, is made red hot on the fire, and upon it a coating of paste--flour, water, and salt--is deposited evenly so as to make an envelope of paste one inch thick all over. three, four, five, or as many of these balls as required being made, they are placed in a circle near a blazing fire, so that the outside may get baked as well as the inside. when ready for consumption the balls are split open and the stones removed. the bread is really most excellent and resembles a biscuit. [illustration: beluch prisoners at saindak.] at saindak (altitude 3,810 feet) there are a number of wells, mostly very salt, but one has quite fair water, only slightly brackish. the water, however, had a peculiar taste of its own, as if it had gone through lead deposits, and, on mentioning this to some beluch they told me that lead was, in fact, found on the mountains just above this camp. having drunk two glasses of this water i was taken with bad internal pains, but i must in fairness own that i do not know whether to attribute this entirely to the water or to indiscreet consumption of an irresistible, extra rich plum-cake which the wonderful sadek now produced, much to my surprise and delight, from among my provisions. travellers, however, would do well to bring their own supply of water from kirtaka, if they are coming from robat, or from mukak, if travelling from quetta. the ascent to the summit of the saindak mountain well repays the traveller for the exertion of getting there, and that not only on account of its geological formation. looking over the lower mountains one obtained a magnificent view of the afghan desert as far as the eye could see, to the north-west and north-east, while to the west lay a mountain mass, the mirjawa mountains, and innumerable sand hills. to the south-south-west towered above everything the double-humped active volcano of kuh-i-daftan, with its snow-capped crater. it was smoking, notwithstanding the ridiculous theory entertained by some f.r.g.s. that volcanoes cannot exist so far south in the northern hemisphere! we saw this volcano for several days and it threw up considerable volumes of smoke. at night it occasionally had quite a glow above its crater. the volcano, i need not say, is in persian territory, and is some 60 miles distant, as the crow flies, from saindak, although in the clear atmosphere it does not appear more than a few miles off. it is a most impressive mountain. parallel ridges of sand hills, facing east, were to be seen to the south-west of the saindak mountain, and then a wide flat plain, beyond which four successive mountain ranges, formed a powerful barrier. to the south-east also were high mountains. on the top of the mountain we came upon some of the holes that contain lead and _surmah_ or _surf_--a substance much used by women in persia, afghanistan, beluchistan and india for blackening the lashes and lower eyelids. surmah was plentiful enough, especially between two layers of perpendicular rock, and also in surface pebbles when split open. calcareous rock with galena was to be found, besides fragments of calcite, gypsum, and slag. it appeared that the natives must at some time have tried to exploit these mines in a primitive manner, for there were many holes bored all over the top of the mountain, and near them bits of coal embedded in slag. these excavations were generally bored in mounds of yellow earth, or, rather, the mounds were of that colour because of the earth which had been extracted from the borings, the colour of the surrounding earth and rock being grey and black. lead filaments in brittle layers were also noticeable mixed with the earth. two inches below the ground one found, on digging, a thick deposit of salt and gypsum. my camels with loads had made an early start, and on my returning to camp some three hours after their departure i proceeded to catch them up on my excellent _mari_. there was very little of interest on the march. we rose over a gentle incline, travelling due south upon undulating ground to an altitude of 3,870 feet, beyond which we descended into a flat basin with a broad outlet to the south-south-east, and another south-west by a narrow defile in the mountain range. we then crossed a broader plain, about two miles broad, with good grazing for camels, and here again, being well out in the open, we got a magnificent view of the daftan volcano (south-west) in all its splendour. we reached mukak (3,580 feet) in the afternoon, the distance from saindak being 13 miles, 880 yards, and, owing to my camels being tired, and the small beady plant called _regheth_--much cherished by camels--plentiful, we halted for the remainder of the day. at this place we found the usual _jemadar_, a _duffadar_, and four men, and were cordially received by the _palawan's_ moonshee, a nice fellow who wore a peaked turban of gigantic size, and a brown coat beautifully embroidered on the back and sleeves with violet-coloured silk. the embroidery, he informed me, took six years to make--it was not fully completed yet--and, on inquiring the cost of it, he said that it would certainly fetch as much as 10 rupees (13_s._ 4_d._) when quite finished! the pattern on it was most cleverly designed and produced a graceful effect. on the middle of the sleeves were a number of superposed t's made of ribbon bands and with delicate ornamentations round them, such as little squares with radiating threads, a frieze going all round the arm, and parallel lines. on the back was a large triangle upside down, the base at the neck and the point downwards, joining at its lower end a square the inside of which was most elaborately embroidered. the _palawan_, or strong man, in charge of this station, was a man with a romantic history of his own, and perhaps the british government were very wise to employ him. he is said to possess enormous muscular strength, being able to perform such amazing feats as reducing to dust between his first finger and thumb a silver rupee by merely rubbing it once, or breaking any coin in two in his hands with the same ease that one would a biscuit. aïd mahommed, that was his name, was unfortunately absent on the day i passed through, so i was not able to witness his marvellous feats--of strength or palming(?)--and the accounts of his native admirers were not to be taken _au pied de la lettre_. mukak had six mud rooms, three roofed over and the others unroofed. water was plentiful but slightly brackish, and a salt rivulet, a few inches broad, irrigated a patch or two of cultivation below the rest house. among low hills, we rode away first due east from mukak, the track at a mile's distance rising to 3,620 feet, and we remained at this altitude for five miles. again on this march we obtained a glorious view (at 200° b.m.) of the daftan volcano, with its two imposing white domes on the crater sides. we had then gone north-east for 6½ miles, when, after rounding some sand hills, our track proceeded again due east. we had crossed a plain one mile broad and four and a half miles long, where there was good grazing (_regheth_) for camels, but no tamarisk. at the termination of the plateau, which rose some 50 feet higher than the remainder of it, we commenced to descend by a gentle incline, having high hills to our left (north) and low hills to our right (south), the track being due east. to the north-east we had another long, straight, monotonous spread of fine sand and gravel in slight undulations, and to the south-west very low ranges of sand hills varying in height from 20 feet to 100 feet. before us on our left to 100 bearings magnetic (e.e.s.e.) stood above the plain a pillar-shaped mound of enormous height resembling, from a distance, a semi-ruined tower, and south-south-east (150° b.m.) another isolated red mountain with a sharp, needle-like point. other smaller rocks, of sugar-loaf form, were scattered about on our left. by the roadside an enormous boulder weighing several tons could be seen, the presence of which could not easily be accounted for unless it had been shot out by volcanic action. it was most unlike the formation of the rock in the immediate neighbourhood of it, and had all the appearance of having dropped at this place. the track again changed its course and now went to east-south-east, (120° b.m.). my riding camel was taken very ill, and even mahommed's most affectionate language, and the caresses he bestowed on him as if the animal had been his dearest relation, had no appreciable effect upon his health. the animal evidently had a colic, caused, no doubt, by excessive eating of _regheth_ the previous day. he seemed to have the greatest trouble in dragging his legs along, and every now and then he languidly swung his head round and gave me a reproachful look, which undoubtedly meant "can't you see i am ill? i wish you would get off." well, i did get off, although walking in the desert is not a pleasure at any time, and when we arrived at the next well, after a dreadfully slow march, we proceeded to doctor up our long-necked patient. now, doctoring a camel is not an easy matter, for one cannot work on his imagination as doctors do on human beings. when a camel is ill, he is really ill. there was no mistake about the symptoms of his complaint, and after a consultation sadek, mahommed and i agreed that a strong solution of salt and water should be administered, which was easier said than done. while the poor brute lay with his long neck stretched upon the sand, moaning, groaning and breathing heavily, we mixed a bag of salt--all we had--with half a bucket of water, and after endless trouble--for our patient was most recalcitrant--poured the contents down his throat. [illustration: interior of rest house, mukak.] [illustration: the rest house at sahib chah.] we had some moments of great anxiety, for the animal was taken with a fit. he fell on his side, his legs quivered three or four times, and for one moment we really thought our remedy had killed him. the medicine, however, had the desired effect, and about an hour later the camel was again as lively as a cricket, and we were able to continue. the reader may perhaps gauge what the loss of a camel would have been when he is told that between sher-i-nasrya, sistan, and nushki--a journey of some 500 miles--neither camels nor any other mode of conveyance are, under ordinary circumstances, to be procured. we passed a conical hill, by the roadside, which had thick deposits of gypsum on the south-east side of its base, while on the north-west side the process of petrification of the sand was fully illustrated. the thin surface layer when moist gets baked by the sun, and thus begins its process of solidification; then another layer of sand is deposited on it by the wind and undergoes the same process, forming the thin, horizontal strata so common in the section of all these hills. the lower strata get gradually harder and harder, but those nearer the surface can be easily crumbled into sand again by pressure between one's fingers. these were the main altitudes registered on the day's march: plain, 3,220 feet; 16 miles from mukak, 3,200 feet; while a mile and a half further we had gone as low as 2,500 feet on a wide plain with undulations. the rocky mountain, when seen edgewise from a distance, had appeared like a tower; now, on approaching it on its broad side, its silhouette altered its semblance into that of an elongated crouching lion. great quantities of gypsum could be seen in layers under the sand and fragments that covered the surface. in places the ground was quite white as if with snow. the track, until we had passed the isolated "lion" mountain (about 20 miles from mukak), maintained a direction of east, east-south-east, and south-east, but about a mile further, it turned sharply northwards in a bed of soft sand, between sand mounds to the north-east and a sand bank facing north, the top of which, full of humps, was not unlike a crocodile's back. to the right we had an open space where one got a view of the desert and mountains to the south, and then we wended our way, in zig-zag, among sand hills bearing no unusual characteristics, and travelled across a very sandy plain with clusters of _regheth_ here and there. this was one of the worst bits of the robat-nushki road. the sand was troublesome and the track absolutely obliterated by it in this portion. twenty-three miles, 660 yards from mukak we arrived at sahib chah, a spot which no traveller is ever likely to forget, especially if a few drops of water from one of the wells are tasted. when the road was made it was very difficult to find drinkable water in this part, and this well--renowned all over beluchistan and sistan for its magic powers--has up to the present time been the only successful attempt; but i understand from captain webb-ware, who is in charge of the road, that he hopes to find or has found water further north, on the other side of the hill range, and that in future the traveller will be spared the good fortune of visiting this heavenly spot. most attractive iron troughs had been brought here and placed near the four wells, and up-to-date wooden windlasses had been erected on the edge of each well--conveniences that were not quite so common at the stations we had already passed. this may lead the unwary traveller to believe that the water of these wells must have some special charm. one well was, fortunately, absolutely dry. the water of two was so powerful in its lightning effects that unfortunate was the wretch who succumbed to the temptation of tasting it; while the water of the fourth well, one was told, was of a quite good drinking kind. i had been warned not to touch it, but my men and camels drank some and it had equally disastrous effects on men and beasts. sadek, who was requested to experiment and report on such occasions, thought his last hour had come, and he and the camel men moaned and groaned the greater part of the night. the water seemed not only saturated with salt, but tasted of lead and phosphorus, and was a most violent purgative. the rest-house could not be called luxurious; the reader is referred to the photograph i took of it facing page 332. it was roofless--which, personally, i did not mind--and the walls just high enough to screen one from the wind and sand. it was in two compartments, the wall of one being 4½ feet high, and of the other about 7 feet high, while 15 feet by 8 feet, and 10 feet by 8 feet were the respective dimensions of each section. the place lies in the middle of a valley amid hills of chalk or gypsum and deep soft sand, and is screened by a low hill range to the north-east and north, while a low flat-topped sand dune protects it on the south-west. the new track, i believe, will go north of the north-east range. chapter xxxii sick men and camels--what came of photographing sahib chah--losing the track--divided opinions--allah _versus_ the compass--sadek's way of locating positions--picked up hungry and thirsty by sensible mahommed who had come in search--curious scenery--trouble at mirjawa--mythical perso-beluch frontier--gypsum and limestone--mushki chah. as all my camels as well as my men had been very sick during the night; as we had a long march before us the following day, and as i wished to take a photograph of the place, i resolved not to leave until the sun had risen, and in order to avoid delay i despatched all the camels and loads, except my camera, at four o'clock in the morning, meaning to walk some ten or fifteen miles, and thus give my own camel a rest. sadek, who said it was not right for a servant to ride when his master walked, refused to go on with the caravan and insisted on remaining with me. when the camels left--there was a cutting northerly wind blowing raising clouds of sand--i retreated to the shelter to wait for the sun to rise, and had a few hours' sleep in a solitary blanket i had retained. the track had so far been so well defined that i never thought of asking mahommed which way it led out of these hills. the sun having risen, and the photograph of sahib chah shelter duly taken, we proceeded to catch up the camels, but a few yards from the shelter all signs of the track ceased, and even the footprints of my camels had been absolutely obliterated by the high wind of the morning. to the east-south-east were rather high rocky hills and two passes, one going round to the north-north-east (which apparently would take us away from our direction), and another east-south-east, which seemed more likely to be the right one. to mislead us more we saw what we believed to be faint camel tracks smothered in sand in this direction, so on we went, sinking in fine sand, which kept filling our shoes and made walking most uncomfortable. i climbed to the top of the rocky hill to reconnoitre, but higher hills stood all round barring the view, and i was none the wiser. on we went--certain that we were going wrong, but unable to find where the track was. among hundreds of sand hills, dunes, and high parallel hill ranges it was not easy to discover it. there were flat stretches of sand and parallel dunes several hundred feet high stretching from north by north-west to south by south-east, and as i knew the way must be east we had to go over them, down on the other side, only to be confronted with others before us like the waves of a stormy sea. the sun was scorching, and when the sand got hot, too, walking was most unpleasant. when we were not on sand while ascending the hill slopes and tops we were on cutting shale. sadek, who had not yet recovered from his previous night's experience at sahib chah, was still sick, and with the extra exertion somehow or other lost his head altogether. after having gone up and down, i should not like to say how many times, we were confronted by a flat valley to the south-west and more mountains to be crossed in the direction we were going, to the north-east. sadek thereupon maintained that the track must perforce be along the valley, to which i would not agree, and i insisted on keeping east, which i knew would bring us right in the end. as we climbed hill after hill, sadek dragged himself behind me with a discontented face, every few minutes glancing back at the distant flat valley to the south-west, to which he pointed, sighing: "good master, that's road!" but up and down we continued, away from it, eastwards, range after range of hills being left behind and more ranges standing in front of us. sadek, who was sweating under the weight of the rifle and camera, grumbled that he was ill and tired, hungry and thirsty, and it was very little consolation to think that from this spot, the two nearest wells of drinkable water were distant one about twenty-eight miles, the other over forty miles. we had nothing whatever with us to eat or drink. after some three hours of uncertainty--and i must confess that it was somewhat trying each time we had reached the top of a range, which we climbed with anxious enthusiasm, expecting to get a glimpse of the track, to find our view obstructed by yet another range, generally higher than the one on which we stood,--after hours of toiling, as i was saying, we now came to a rocky range about double the height of any we had climbed so far. sadek, on looking at it, declined to climb any more. he said he knew the track must be in the opposite direction and we should only have to climb all these hills back again. he sat down and puffed away at cigarettes to allay his hunger and thirst and soothe his temper, while i climbed to the highest point, some 480 feet, above the point where i had left sadek. behold! on reaching the summit, beyond another range lower to the north, along a wide undulating plain i did discern a whitish streak like a chalk line stretching from west to east,--unmistakably the road. i signalled the news to sadek, and shouted to him to come up, which he most reluctantly did. when panting half-way up the hill, he still turned round to the south-west and disconsolately exclaimed, "no can be road, my good master. that is road!" (to the south-west). i ordered him to hurry up to my point of vantage and see for himself. "may be road, may be not road," was his obstinate verdict, when the white streak across the plain was triumphantly pointed out to him. "but, sadek, can you not see the white perfectly straight line stretching along, straighter than anything else around you?" "i can see plenty white lines, master. _up-stairs_ mountains, _down-stairs_ mountains"--(by which he meant gypsum strata on the top and foot of hills). "may be," he added, sarcastically, "all roads to shalkot (quetta)!" "can you not see that the white track leads exactly in the direction where my compass says we must go?" "pfff! compass no good!" he exclaimed with an air of amusing superiority, and he stooped to pick two pebbles of different colours. "take one of these in one hand, and one in the other," he asked of me. "now throw one towards the east and one towards the west." i having for curiosity's sake complied with his request, he gravely examined the discarded stones. "yes, sahib, your compass speaks truth! allah says yours is the right road!" on requesting an explanation of this novel method of locating positions, sadek looked very solemn, and with a pause, as if he were about to pour forth words of great wisdom, and disregarding altogether the fact that my efforts solely and simply were responsible for discovering the track, "you see, my master," he said, "one stone i called _good road_, the other i called _no road_. whichever stone you throw first is allah's wish. allah is more right than compass." at any rate the method was simple enough, and it fortunately happened that allah and my compass seemed in agreement on that occasion; so adding these circumstances to the more substantial fact that we could see the track plainly before us, we gaily descended from our lofty pinnacle, and with renewed vigour climbed the lower and last hill range, the last obstacle before us. in the trough between the two ranges, however, the fine sand was extremely nasty, almost as bad as quicksand, and we had some trouble in extricating ourselves. we sank into it almost up to the waist. we then crossed the broad plain in a diagonal for nearly four miles, and at last, after some seven hours of anxiety, not to speak of hunger and thirst, we struck the road again. sadek, who, notwithstanding allah's patent method, my compass bearings, and our combined eyesight, was not at all certain in his own heart that we should find the road that day, was so overcome with joy when he actually recognised my camel's footprints upon the sand, where not obliterated by the wind, that he collapsed upon the ground from fatigue and strain, and slept snoring sonorously for nearly two hours. as luck would have it, a beluch horseman travelling towards mushki-chah had overtaken my camels, and much to mahommed's astonishment, informed him that he had not seen the sahib on the road, so mahommed, fearing that something had happened, had the sense to turn back with two camels to try and find us. we were very glad of a lift when he arrived, and even more glad to partake of a hearty lunch, and a long, long drink of water, which although brackish tasted quite delicious, from one of the skins. the track was like a whitish streak on a sombre grey valley, with black hills scattered here and there, and a most peculiar dome-like hill on our left (10° b.m.) towards the north. eastwards we could see a long flat high table mountain, not unlike kuh-i-kwajah of sistan. on our right were low, much broken-up hills; to the west, low sand hillocks, and facing us, north-east-east (80° b.m.) a low black hill range standing in front of some high and very pointed peaks. to the south-east there was an open space. we made a diagonal crossing over several sand dunes that stood from 50 to 80 feet high, and extended to a great length southwards. then we approached the curious-domed hill. it was of a warm reddish-brown colour, with a yellow belt of sand at its base, and half-a-dozen sugar-loaf sand hills to the west of it. to the east of it rose the flat-topped plateau, yellowish at the two extremities, as one looked at it from this point, and black in the centre. on the north-east (at 70° b.m.) was a pointed peak, perfectly conical. it was a very long march to mushki-chah, and we had a few mild excitements on the road. we came across some picturesque beluch, clothed in flowing white robes, and carrying long matchlocks with a fuse wound round the stock. they were extremely civil, all insisting on shaking hands in a most hearty fashion, and seeming very jolly after they had gravely gone through the elaborate salutation which always occupies a considerable time. further on we met a cavalcade, which included the naib tashildar of mirjawa, an afghan in british employ, and the _duffadar_ of dalbandin, the latter a most striking figure with long curly hair hanging over his shoulders. they were with some levies hastening to mirjawa, an important place, which, owing to the ridiculous fashion in which the perso-beluch commission under sir t. holdich had marked out the frontier, was now claimed both by persia and beluchistan as making part of their respective territories. when i was at the perso-beluch frontier there was much ado about this matter, and some trouble may be expected sooner or later. anybody who happens to know a few facts about the way in which the frontier line was drawn must regret that england should not employ upon such important missions sensible and capable men whose knowledge of the country is thorough. it would, no doubt, be very interesting to the public to be told in detail _exactly how_ the frontier was fixed, and whether sir t. holdich, who was in charge, _ever_ visited the whole frontier line. the government maps which existed at the time of the frontier demarcation were too inaccurate to be of any use, as has been proved over and over again to our sorrow. it would also be interesting to know whether the astronomical positions of some of the supposed principal points of the boundary have been accurately tested, and whether some points which had been corrected by really efficient officers have been omitted, if not suppressed, in order to cover certain discrepancies. and if so whether it was an expedient to avoid showing the weakness of the maps (on which certain names figure prominently) which were taken as a basis for the delineation? the facts are too commonly known by all the officers in beluchistan and by the foreign office in calcutta, as well as by persians, to be kept a secret. it is painful to have to register facts of this kind, but i most certainly think it is the duty of any englishman to expose the deeds of men who obtain high sounding posts and can only manage to keep them by intrigue and by suppressing the straightforward work of really able officers (which does not agree with theirs) to the eventual expense and loss of the country at large. as we went along, leaving the plain which we had crossed for some fifteen miles, we saw to the south-west large white patches like snow. these were made of gypsum and white limestone covering the ground. a curious long, low, flat hill, with hundreds of vertical black streaks at its base and a black summit, resembled a gigantic centipede crawling on the flat desert. at the eastern end of the long plain were mud-hills on the left side of the track, and black, isolated, rounded mounds on the right. to the south-east a very curious mountain could be seen, one side of which was of beautiful white and yellow marble, and from this spot we crossed hills of sand and gravel, and the track was more tortuous, but still travelling in a general direction of east-south-east (110° b.m.) other mountains there were, entirely of white marble, and a great many beautifully tinted fragments of marble, as well as yellow alabaster, were strewn about abundantly upon the ground. we travelled among hillocks for about seven and a half miles, then emerged again into a plain with a hill range to our left, but nothing near us on the south. at the entrance of the valley on our left stood a curious high natural stone pillar. by moonlight, but with clouds fast gathering and threatening rain, we eventually reached mushki-chah at about ten in the evening, having travelled some 36 miles. the distance by road from sahib chah would have been 28 miles 660 yards. here we found the remainder of my caravan which had arrived some hours previously. chapter xxxiii mushki-chah--a ziarat--beluch dwellings--the beluch and the camera--characteristics of beluch--three wells of good water at kundi--the kuh-i-sultan and the "spear of the sultan"--a big ziarat at kundi--nineteen hours on the saddle--tretoh--cold wind--parallel rows of sand barchans--startling effect of mirage--chah sandan--brahui salutation--belind khan and his good points--a respected officer--praying at the ziarat. mushki-chah (3,570 feet) is rather more interesting than other stations we had passed, because of the greater number of beluch one saw about. here, too, however, one's sojourning had to be curtailed, for unluckily the water was not only brackish--to which one does not object so much--but had a sulphurous taste, with a sickening smell--not dissimilar from that of an old-fashioned hospital ward, when the windows have not been opened for several days. otherwise it had no drawback. there were four filthy pools from which water was obtainable and which reminded us of a previous experience at girdi in sistan. the water of one well had a nasty green coating on the surface; the second was of a deep yellow colour. the other two wells were slightly cleaner but they, too, were of a suspicious colour--that of strong tea. a cluster of a dozen palm trees or so had grown near this water, and a little way beyond on a sand and gravel bank was a ziarat with a low surrounding wall of black stones. the ziarat was of an ovoid shape, it just missed being circular, about 18 feet long and 16 feet broad. an entrance had been made to the east and a sort of altar constructed to the west by north west--which is about the accurate direction of mecca from this spot. a high pole on which flew red, white, and blue rags was fixed into the altar. the altar--if one may call it so--was a mass of blocks of beautifully coloured marble. some pieces resembled the best sienna marble, others were capriciously streaked in white and dark brown; other large pieces were quite transparent and resembled large blocks of camphor or ice. others were more granular, like lumps of frozen snow. then there were some lovely bits of a greenish yellow marble and some brown. these beautiful stones and pieces of marble were brought to these ziarats from great distances by devotees. stones reduced by nature into queer shapes, hollowed for instance by the action of sand or water, perfectly spherical, or strikingly coloured were favourite offerings. at this particular ziarat, a small marble mortar with pestle and a marble hammer, occupied the most prominent place. a flint arrow head was also in evidence. further was perched a curious doll with a string and charm round its neck, and some chips of beautiful transparent streaked yellow marble like bits of lemon. from the pole hung a circle of wood and horns, as well as coarse wooden imitations of horned animals' skulls. offerings of palm leaves had also been deposited. west of the ziarat was a small semicircular mesjid of brown stone, with a few white marble pieces to the north by north-west, and, further, long heaps of stones extending in a north by north-west direction. the last one was in the shape of a grave with a high white stone pillar to the south. the new bungalow, of which the foundations were just being laid, will be erected near this ziarat. quite a number of beluch were settled at mushki-chah, and some lived in small quadrangular mud houses, with a black tent stretched over the walls to act as roof; or else they had put up coarse huts made of branches of tamarisk and thatched with palm tree leaves and tamarisk, in which they lived--apparently in the most abject poverty. yet, although these residences were often not higher than five or six feet, their owners did not lack pride. in beluchistan as in england, the home of a man is his castle. the beluch, however--most unlike the english--would not let anybody who did not belong to his creed go into it. the occupations of the stay-at-home people did not seem to have an excess of variety, and consisted mainly of plaiting fuses for their matchlocks, keeping the threads tightly stretched by means of a wooden bow. there were but few coarse implements inside their huts, and a bag or two with grain. a long matchlock and a sword or two lay in a corner in most dwellings, and that was about all. the house of the chief was somewhat more elaborate, having trunks of palm trees inserted vertically into the stone wall to strengthen it. it had a mud and stone enclosing wall, and trophies of heads of _dumbahs_ near the flat roof. in one room of this dwelling lived the family, in the other the animals. an out-of-door enclosure for horses was also noticeable. two mud huts were next to it. the thatched semispherical huts of palm tree leaves and tamarisk were also interesting, as was the windmill, identical with those already seen in sistan. on my arrival at mushki-chah two large tents had been placed at my disposal--the first time i had been under a tent on this journey--and i received a great many callers. a very amusing incident occurred when i asked an old beluch and his two sons to sit for their photographs. they put on a sarcastic smile and said they would rather die a natural death than be taken. the old man, who said he had heard all about "the black boxes," as he styled cameras, and all the mischief they could do, complained that since one or two sahibs had passed along the route carrying "black boxes" a great many beluch had been taken ill, had misfortunes of all kinds, and those who actually had the camera pointed at them had died from the effects. one sahib had offered him, personally, a bag of silver if he would only sit for his picture, but "no, sir, not i!" said the father, as he shook his head and scratched his beard; and "no, sir, not we!" echoed the grinning youths, "never shall we be taken!" before they knew where they were, and without any suspicion on their part, i had, by a dodge of my own, taken three photographs of them, the best of which is reproduced facing page 350. they were rather characteristic types of the lower class beluch of northern beluchistan. they possessed very quick, bright, shining eyes, dark complexions and long noses, very broad at the base. the mouth was generally the worst feature in their faces, the upper lip being drawn very tight over the teeth and giving rather a brutal expression to their countenances. the men were very powerfully built, thick-set, with ribs well covered with muscle and fat, powerful, coarse wrists and ankles, and square-shaped hands with short stumpy thumbs. [illustration: windmill at mushki chah.] [illustration: three beluch who would not be photographed!] their attire was simple; a sort of long white cotton blouse buttoned over the right shoulder and ample trousers of the same material. many, however, wore a felt "overcoat"--or rather, "overskin," for there was no other garment underneath. a white turban was worn wound round the head. a _duffadar_, six _sawars_ and six camels were stationed at mushki-chah. i left mushki-chah on january 21st at 3.30 a.m., my camels with loads having started some hours previously, and our way lay for eight miles due east, first over sand hills and undulations, then on a perfectly straight and level track. to the south we had a barren waste of flat desert. we then veered east-south-east (110° b.m.), and fifteen miles off turned slightly further to the south-east (120° b.m.). to the north-north-east we had a mountain range. on nearing kundi we found tamarisk plentiful and good grazing for camels. some of the tamarisk trees were 10 feet high. the march was a very cold one, a north-north-west gale blowing fiercely and penetrating right through our clothes and flesh to the marrow of our bones. three wells of good water were found 1¼ miles before reaching kundi. the rest-house was uninhabited and fast tumbling down. in 21 miles 1,100 yards we had slightly risen to 3,660 feet, and this point is one which remains well impressed on one's mind, partly on account of the splendid view obtained of the sultan mountains to the north-east--a gloomy black mass with the highest peak of a light red colour. the kuh-i-sultan is a most weirdly fantastic mountain range. sir charles mcgregor, who saw these mountains from a distance, speaks of them as the "oddest-looking mountains he had ever seen." but the best description is that given by major a. h. macmahon, who was, i believe, the first european to explore the range. approaching it from the north he, too, was struck by the grotesque shape of its numerous sharp peaks; above all by the neza-i-sultan--"the spear of the sultan"--an enormous rocky pillar of hard conglomerate, roughly resembling a slender sugar-loaf with tapering summit, and precipitous sides, that rise on the crest line of the range. "the fissures," macmahon says, "made by rain and weather action down its sides give it a fluted appearance from a distance. we expected to find a high natural pillar, but were not prepared for the stupendous size of the reality. judging from its width at the base, which is over 100 yards in diameter, the height must be no less than from 500 to 800 feet. the sultan, in whose honour this range is named, is an ancient mythical celebrity, who is said to be buried in the vicinity of the mountains. his full name is sultan-i-pir-khaisar, and he is the patron saint of beluch robbers. hence these mountains have a reputation as a robber resort. the sultan mountains abound in the assafoetida plant, and in the summer months traders come in numbers from afghanistan to collect it." i was in a great hurry to return to england, and could not afford the detour entailed by going near enough to photograph the "spear." besides, major macmahon gives a capital photograph of it in the _royal geographical society's journal_. at kundi, a big ziarat, with many trunks of tamarisk trees, some 10 feet high, supporting bleached horns, has been erected to the kuh-i-sultan. hundreds of beautiful pieces of marble and alabaster of all sizes, colours and shapes have been deposited here, as usual, but the sand is fast covering the whole ziarat. from kundi the track, which has come in a south-east-east (120° b.m.) direction, now turned sharply to north-east (60° b.m.). ten high mud and stone _neshans_--or _tejia_ (cairns) as they are called by the beluch--have been erected to warn the traveller. four curious mounds with tufts of high tamarisk trees upon them are to be seen at kundi. there is fair grazing for camels all along. one is specially attracted by the peculiar stones corroded into all sorts of shapes, strewn all over the ground. we made a double march on that day, and--barring the quaint sultan mountains which we saw all along--had but a very flat uninteresting country all round. we arrived during the evening at tretoh, having been nineteen hours on the saddle. it was bitterly cold at night, the drop in the temperature being very great immediately after the sun went down. at this station, too, the water tasted very bad--almost undrinkable--but was not necessarily unwholesome. we were glad to get into the thana and light up a big fire in the centre of one of the mud rooms, but no sooner had we done this than it got so hot that i had to find a cooler abode in the new bungalow in course of construction, which had not yet a roof. it was always a marvel to me how the natives could stand the great heat in the rooms with no draught for the smoke and heat to get away. it positively roasted one alive, but my men seemed to revel in it. on the other hand they suffered from the cold to a degree that was also unaccountable to me. on many occasions i have heard my camel-driver moan from pain in his frozen toes and fingers, but, true enough, when out in the open desert the wind was rather penetrating, and his clothes, barring a waistcoat, consisted of thin white cotton garments. personally, i never had occasion to make a change in my tropical clothing (i could not if i had wanted to), nor did i ever once have to use an overcoat. but--i seldom know what it is to feel cold. we delayed our departure the next morning to see if the gale would abate, but at 10 a.m. we had to venture out. one was rather at the mercy of the wind on the hump of the camel. it did blow! the wind hampered the camels greatly and was a nuisance all round, as one could only by an effort remain on the saddle. the flying sand filled one's eyes and ears, and the wind catching the brim of one's hat made such a hissing noise that one had to find a more comfortable headgear by wrapping up one's head in a blanket. the desert was here absolutely flat, with some grazing for camels (_kirri_). we were going north-east-east (70° b.m.) amid low sand hillocks and sand banks, and the sultan mountain still on our left in all its glory. to the north-east (55° b.m.) we had another mountain mass lower than the sultan and not nearly so picturesque, and before us, on going over a gentle incline some 35 ft. above the level of the plain (about 13 miles from tretoh), three long rows of bright yellow, flat-topped, crescent-shaped sand-hills stretching for several miles from north to south were disclosed. these three rows of barchans were parallel, and at intervals of about from 300 yards to 500 yards from one another. the barchans averaged from 50 ft. to 100 ft. in height. another row of them stretched along the foot of the mountain range to the north and extended from north-west to south-east. the cause of these extensive parallel rows of barchans was to be found in gaps in the hills to the north between the sultan, the next range, and two intervening obstacles in the shape of a low mound and a great rock, the sand being blown through the interstices and gradually accumulating in the plain on the south. on that march we saw a most extraordinary effect of mirage. to the east (100° b.m.) the peculiar flat-topped gat (or gut) mountain, which looked like a gigantic lamp-shade, could be seen apparently suspended in the air. the illusion was perfect, and most startling to any one with teetotal habits. of course the optical illusion was caused by the different temperatures in the layers of air directly over the earth's surface and the one above it. where the two layers met they deviated at an angle, or practically interrupted what would, under ordinary circumstances, be direct rays of vision. (the same effect, in other words, as produced by placing a stick vertically in water.) the real horizon was obliterated, as well as the lower part of the mountain, by the white haze caused by the warm lower layer of air. some nineteen miles from tretoh, where the hill range to the north became low, a few sand hills were to be seen, then where another gap existed in the range yet another long row of barchans stretched southwards. a mile or so beyond this spot a long sand and gravel bank stretched across the plain from north-north-east to south-south-west and near chah sandan another similar bank existed, fifty feet high, parallel to the first. at chah sandan (altitude 3,380 ft.) we were most enthusiastically received by the _duffadar_, who was politeness itself. the beluch salutation is somewhat lengthy. in the ba-roh-iya or brahui language, as spoken in north beluchistan where i was travelling, it sounds thus:--"_shar joroz druakha joroz haire meretus me murev huaja khana_," after which the persons greeting seize each other's hands and raise them to the forehead, bowing low. inquiries follow about the _mulk_ or countries one has crossed on one's journey, and whether the people have treated one kindly. the _duffadar_ at chah sandan was an afghan, belind khan by name, and had the following good points about him. he was a most sportsmanlike fellow; was very bright, civil and intelligent, and owned chickens that laid delicious eggs. he possessed a beautiful dog to which he was passionately attached, and he and his brother had a greater capacity for tea than almost any men i have known. above all, belind khan had intense admiration for the british and what they did, and as for captain webb-ware, his superior officer, he pronounced him to be the greatest "bahadur" that ever lived. "even in my own country (afghanistan)," he exclaimed, raising his right hand in the air, "there is no 'bahadur' like him!" this was not pure flattery but it was truly meant, and it was most pleasant to find that such was the opinion, not only of belind khan, but of every one of captain webb-ware's subordinates on the entire length of the road from the frontier to quetta. there is a _thana_ of three rooms at chah sandan and a ziarat to the sultan mountain. i took a photograph of belind khan making his salaams in the ziarat, the altar of which was made of a pile of white marble pieces and rounded stones with sticks on which horns and a red rag had been fixed. chah sandan possessed three wells of excellent water. the distance from tretoh to chah sandan was 23 miles 760 yards. chapter xxxiv the picturesque gat mountain--strange-looking mountains--mirui--white covered country--sotag--desolate shed at chakal--the _karenghi rirri_ deadly plant--the mesjid or masit--their characteristics--the religion of beluch--sects--superstitions--the symbol of evil--a knife "possessed"--a beluch's idea of a filter. due east of chah sandan was the gat mountain, this time, as there was no mirage, duly resting upon the desert. it was a most attractive looking mountain, and quite one of the most striking sights in the scenery upon the nushki-robat road. five miles from chah sandan we again struck high, flat-topped sandbanks, and a great many conical sand hills. ten miles off we went through a cut in the hills near which are to be found a well of brackish water and a great many palm trees, of two kinds (_pish_ and _metah_). big tamarisks (_kirri_) were also abundant, and there was good grazing for camels, _regheth_ being plentiful. near the salt well stood a gigantic palm tree. we had come east-north-east (70° b.m.) from chah sandan, and from this, our nearest point to the gat mountain, the track turned east-south-east (110° b.m.). one really had to halt to look at the gat, it was so impressive. two enormous blocks of rock several hundred feet high, one, roughly speaking, of a quadrangular shape (to the north) and one rectangular (to the south), were joined on the east side by a perpendicular wall of solid rock. up to about two-thirds of the height of the mountain these huge blocks had accumulations of debris and sand, forming a slanting pad all round except on the west side, where there was a sort of hollow recess. there was a large plain with good camel grazing to the east-south-east, bounded from east to south by a semicircle of low hills. after leaving gat there was nothing of interest on the march. another extensive sand bank, 50 feet high, forming the eastern part of the hilly semicircle above mentioned, was crossed, then we were in a barren valley. further on, however, after going over yet another sand dune (extending from north to south) we entered one more plain, this time absolutely covered with low palm trees. from this plain we began to rise in order to cross the hill range that stood before us, and here there were innumerable sand hills and sand banks, the latter facing north. near mirui one found one's self among strange-looking mountains, some like huge waves of sand, debris, and shale; one to the left, a huge flat-topped mass in horizontal well-marked strata, while further on was a third, a most perfect cone. behind this to the south lay a mass of lower pointed conical sand hills. mirui being one of the more important stages on the road, a most comfortable large bungalow has been erected here, like the one at robat, with four rooms and four bath rooms, kitchens, etc. the water is very good at this place; there is a shop with the usual supplies for caravans, and a staff consisting of a _jemadar_, a _duffadar_, one postal moonshee, seven _sawars_, four _hasildars_, one _havildar_. the bungalow at mirui is most picturesquely situated among the quaint mountains, and the six-roomed _thana_ some little distance below, against the mountain side, looks quite formidable. it not only has high towers at the corners of the wall, but possesses an additional watch tower erected on the top of the mountain, commanding a fine view of the country around. before it, surrounded by hills, spreads a valley from north to south, which the track crosses in a south-south-west direction among palms and plentiful high tamarisks. the bungalow stood at an altitude of 3,500 feet, the valley where the _thana_ was situated was one hundred feet lower (3,400 feet), and the steep although not high pass by which we left the valley 3,550 feet. a short zig-zag led us into a second valley with a sand bank barring our way directly in front to the south-east (125° b.m.), the direction of the track. for a change we had high precipitous cliffs on the north and a low range of sand hills extending from north-north-east to south-south-west. two very lofty isolated peaks broke the monotony of the horizon line to the north-east (to 70° and 80° respectively). having crossed a third and a fourth plain, two barren, the other at the foot of a sandbank with plenty of tamarisk, the track, which for a short distance went east, turned suddenly to the north-east (70° b.m.). we had now a great expanse of open country before us with abundant tamarisk, palm trees, and _eshwark_, which made capital grazing for camels. three high red mounds stood respectively to the south-east, south, and south-west, while almost north (350°) the two high pointed conical peaks we had observed on the previous march were again visible. on the south-east there was quite a high mountain range. this was a region of sand banks, all facing north, only one out of the lot spreading in a south-south-west direction, and of semi-spherical sand hills which were also numerous. on getting near sotag the sandy ground was so covered with gypsum that for some distance it looked just as if it had snowed. the photograph reproduced in the illustration gives a good idea of the scenery in that part. some three and a half miles from sotag a gap in the hills afforded a view of an extensive plain to the south, with innumerable reddish-yellow sand hills, and a range of high mountains far away beyond. from this point the track rises gently over an undulation about 88 feet higher than the plain, and on the other side undulations continue, and nothing whatever is to be seen except the same range of hills to the south, with its peaks assuming pyramidical shapes toward the eastern portion. [illustration: ziarat at chah sandan. (belind khan salaaming.)] [illustration: desert covered with gypsum, near sotag.] we passed the salt well of jujiki about half way between the two stations, and arrived at the desolate shed of chakal at nine in the evening, where the thatched roofs of two out of three of the rooms had been torn down to supply fuel to travellers. there is only a salt well at this place, but some two miles off the road a well of good water has been dug, near which a new bungalow has been erected. but as we arrived late, having done a double march-mirui to sotag 12 miles 1,320 yards sotag to chakal 14 " 220 " ------------------- total 26 miles 1,540 yards --and as i intended moreover continuing to dalbandin after three hours' rest, i did not avail myself of the convenience. we had carried a supply of good water with us. there was no wood here nor grazing for camels, but both fuel and food for the animals can be obtained at the bungalow. chakal was at the identical altitude of mirui, 3,600 feet. my camels with loads left at midnight, and some two hours later i followed. this was a most uninteresting march in a north-east by east (70°) direction with sand hills on either side of the track, and high distant mountains to the south--a red stretch of flat sand between extending all along from north-east to south-west. when there were no more sand hills we came to sand banks, which made the track undulating like a switchback railway. our attention was drawn to a curious plant with a fruit resembling small oranges lying upon the ground and called by the natives _karenghi rirri_. there were hundreds of these fruit about, but mahommed, who had great local botanical knowledge, advised me not to eat them because their poison was deadly, and we did not care to experiment in order to test the accuracy of his statement. all along this robat-nushki route one finds a great many _mesjids_ (or _masit_, as the word is pronounced by the beluch). the mesjid or masit is a sort of temporary praying spot where good mussulmans say their prayers at sunrise or sunset, and answers the purpose--if one may be allowed the expression--of an open-air mosque! the mesjid may be simple or elaborate, small or big, according to devoutness, patience and materials at hand, but its most frequent shape is circular, or at least more or less regularly curved, and its material, stones, or if stones are not obtainable, sand or mud banked up. looking to the west towards mecca is a stone higher than the others, and in the more elaborate mesjids, such as the one shown in the illustration, a proper kneeling-place to fit the knees is made on the western side, with a stone in the centre to mark the exact direction of mecca. a "revered tomb" is duly placed in the centre of the larger mesjids, and an entrance way into them bordered with stones is always present. to enter the mesjid by stepping over the ledge from any other side would be considered irreverent. the interior is always cleared of all stones and made as smooth as practicable. there are mesjids just big enough for one man, these being frequently made by caravan men to say their prayers; and there are large ones for the use of several people. the praying spot to the west is, however, generally only big enough for one at a time. [illustration: circular mesjid, with tomb and outer kneeling place.] [illustration: mesjid on the site where a man had been killed. (between kishingi and morad khan kella.)] then there are the more ornamental constructions which had a neatly made wall of white marble enclosed in a case of black stones, a high black pillar to the west and two small white marble ones by its side. the entrance in this case was to the east with a stone slab across it which was raised when entering the mesjid. one mesjid, or more, are generally to be found near burial places. occasionally i have seen large square or rectangular ones, but they are not quite so common as those of a rounded shape. in some cases the mesjid consists of a mere semicircle facing towards the west. the beluch, as every one knows, is a suni mussulman and nourishes a hatred for the shia sect, but although very observant of certain rites pertaining to the religion of mahommed, the beluch is not bigoted in religious matters, and this is probably due to the fact that _mullahs_, _saiyads_, _fakirs_ or other such religious officials and fanatics are seldom to be encountered among the beluch in northern beluchistan. far south in makran matters are different; the people are more fanatical, and several religious sects, such as the _rafais_--a sect which proves its faith in the prophet by self-inflicted tortures--the _khwajah_ and the _zikris_ are found, as well as the "_biadhiah_," who are despised as heretics by both suni and shia mussulmans, and who fully reciprocate the hatred. unlike other true mussulmans, these biadhiahs indulge in intoxicants and are very slack in religious observances. but the brahuis--with whom i mostly came in contact in the north--although not very strict, are certainly most reverent and generally not intemperate. they have no actual mosques wherein to go and pray, but worship in the improvised mesjids which i have described. in fact, the word _mesjid_ merely means "a place of worship." superstition is generally rampant in people leading a somewhat wild life of adventure. some of the legends of the good and evil _gins_, or spirits and _peris_, fairies, are very quaint. the belief in the magic power of spells and charms is also deeply rooted. captain webb-ware told me two rather amusing instances of superstition. one day he was out stalking in the hills near dalbandin, when he came across a snake (_ekis carinata_). the beluch shikars who were with him refused to go on and sat down for half an hour waiting for the evil influences--of which the snake was a palpable symbol--to vanish. on another occasion one of his men dropped his knife--a knife which, by the way, he had found on the road. the beluch got off his camel and stalked the knife as it lay on the ground, and when within a few feet of it he let fly a stone at it--or as near it as he could. this was, he explained, to hit and hurt the "pal" which was in the knife, by which he meant that the knife was "possessed," and a positive proof of it lay in the fact that he had dropped it on no less than three separate occasions. there was a certain humour in the remark made by a beluch at isa tahir to captain webb-ware when he saw the captain's servant, with an efficient filter, reduce the filthily slimy water of the only local pool into water as clear as crystal. he rushed to the captain in a state of great concern and anxiety. "sahib," he said, "do you know what your servant is doing? he is taking _all_ the colour, _all_ the strength, and _all_ the smell out of the water that you are going to drink!" chapter xxxv captain webb-ware, c.i.e.--the nushki route--an excellent track--bungalows built and in course of construction--the water--postal service--important government concession--the nushki route and the railways--hints to traders--quaint official formalities--pilgrims and their ways--an amusing incident. we arrived very early at dalbandin, the march from chakal being very short (18 miles, 190 yards) and easy. here i had the pleasure of meeting captain f. c. webb-ware, c.i.e., political assistant at chagai, and officer in charge of the nushki-robat road. not only has this officer devoted all his time and energy to making the road, but, being a man of means, he has personally gone to considerable expense to "push" the road and make it a success. it would not have been easy to find a more practical and sensible man to do the work, and, considering the difficulties he had to encounter, it is marvellous with what little expenditure he has obtained such excellent results. it is all very well for the usual newspaper critic--who generally does not know what he is writing about--to complain of this and complain of that, and declare that something should have been done in exactly the contrary way to the way in which it is done. in regard to this road, any one with any common sense must see that all that could have been done has been, or is being, done--and done well. [illustration: the type of thana and new bungalow between nushki and robat.] the road itself--for a desert road--is excellent in every way as far as the frontier, and some sort of shelter is to be found at every stage. of course the road has only just been opened and all the arrangements for the accommodation of travellers are not quite completed, but large comfortable bungalows had already been erected--as we have seen--at robat, mirui, and dalbandin, while smaller buildings of the same type will shortly be completed at mall, kuchaki chah, yadgar chah, sotag, and chah sandan. in addition to these, the erection of bungalows has been taken in hand at chakal, tretoh, mushki-chah, saindak, kirtaka, and mahommed raza chah, and it was anticipated that all these rest houses would be finished before the close of 1902. owing to the great increase in the traffic upon the route, the accommodation at mall, yadgar chah, and karodak, has been nearly doubled, and two rooms added to the already extensive _thana_ at dalbandin, while the tretoh, mushki-chah, and mukak posts have been much enlarged and strengthened. on the persian territory the vice-consul in sistan has erected small shelters, which, although necessarily not quite so luxurious as those under the direct control of the british authorities, are yet quite good enough for any one to spend a a night in. we have thus a complete belt of rest-houses extending from quetta to sher-i-nasrya in sistan. every effort has been made to improve the water supply upon the road, and new wells are constantly being sunk. true, the water, all along the route, is not of the best, but one does not generally expect to find delicious sweet spring water in a desert. one thing is, nevertheless, certain, that the best has been made of given circumstances. barring the most trying section of the route (in beluchistan territory) between mukak and mushki-chah, where the water is really foul, the majority of wells may be more or less brackish, but, as i have said before, not necessarily unwholesome. in fact, i have a firm belief that brackish water is the water one should drink in the desert to keep healthy, and is the remedy provided by nature for the purpose of balancing other ill-effects produced by travelling over hot, sandy, dry, barren land. brackish water, however, should not be confounded nor classified with dirty water. there are post offices at the principal stations, such as robat, saindak, mirui, dalbandin and nushki, and a bi-weekly service links robat with quetta, the time taken to convey letters being now reduced to 100 hours. a consular postal service in connection with this continues from robat, _via_ sher-i-nasrya, birjand to meshed. there is a parcel-post service, on the very convenient "value payable parcel system," as far as robat and sistan; but from england the post office will not take the responsibility of insured parcels beyond robat. the government has granted a most important concession--of great value to traders--by which money can be remitted to or received from either sher-i-nasrya (sistan) or birjand, through the consular treasury, under the charge of the vice-consul for sistan. messrs. mciver, mackenzie, & co., of karachi, and mr. duncan macbean, of the punjab bank, quetta, are prepared to act as forwarding agents for indian and persian firms, and the quetta branch of the punjab bank is further in business communication with the imperial bank of persia, which, as we have seen, has agencies in the principal cities of west persia and also in meshed. another concession, most important to the stimulation of trade by this overland route, has been granted by the north western railway in regard to goods despatched from karachi to quetta for export to persia by the nushki-robat route. from the 1st of april, 1901, a rebate, equal to one-third of the freight paid, was given on all goods, such as tea, spices, piece-goods, iron, kerosene oil, sugar, brass and copper, etc., booked and carried from karachi to quetta for export to persia by the sistan route. the usual charges are to be paid on forwarding the goods, but on producing a certificate from the agency office at quetta that the goods have actually been despatched to persia, _via_ sistan, the amount of the rebate is refunded. from the 1st of may, 1901, another concession came into effect, allowing a similar rebate of one-third of the actual freight paid on all goods received at quetta from persia by the sistan route (a certificate from the agency office at quetta being required to prove the fact), and despatched thence to karachi or kiamari, or to north-western railway stations in the punjab and north-west province, or to stations on connected lines. merchants despatching goods to persia by the nushki-route should be careful to have each of the original invoices of their goods attested by some qualified officer at the place from which the goods are despatched. by doing this they will find that their goods will be passed through the persian customs at the frontier with no trouble and no delay. the invoices should be clearly written in the english or french languages. the number of travellers along the nushki-sistan route is gradually increasing, several officers returning to england travelling by it; but i was assured that i was the first european who had travelled on that route in the opposite direction, viz, from england to quetta. only british subjects and persians, it is stated, are allowed to travel on this route, and some quaint instances of inconceivable official formality on the part of the government of india are cited. for instance, a german was allowed to travel by the route from quetta to sistan, but another german who wished at the same time to travel from sistan to quetta was arrested at the frontier, detained some two months in sistan, and permission refused. i myself had quite an amusing experience at a certain station with a travelling police officer, who was not aware of my coming, and seemed in a great state of mind, fearing that i should prove to be a russian spy! [illustration: the nushki-robat track.] the only thing to be regretted along this route, and one which i think will be a perpetual cause of friction and annoyance with the persians and russians--as i am sure it would be to us were we in their case--is that we should allow pilgrims to use this trade route in order to visit the sacred shrine of imam raza in meshed. the number is so fast increasing that it is proposed, i believe, to provide special accommodation for pilgrims at every stage between quetta and robat. now, there are pilgrims and pilgrims. some are no doubt well-to-do people and deserve to be looked after; but the greater number are decrepit, sickly fanatics, burdened with all sorts of ailments, whose wish it is to go and die and be buried in the vicinity of the sacred shrine. furthermore, not only do the living ones go and breathe their last in meshed (or more frequently upon the road), but among their personal luggage they try to bring over corpses of relations for interment in the holy burial place. the passage of corpses to persia through beluchistan is not permitted by the local government, but occasional attempts are made to smuggle them through, and it is not a very easy matter to detect them, not even by the smell of the corpses, which can be no worse than that of the living pilgrims. even at best these parties of pilgrims are a miserable, half-decomposed lot, with bundles of filthy rags. when anybody dies on the road, attempts--generally successful--are invariably made to bring the bodies along. that we have had, and still have, the plague in india is a matter we cannot very well hide; that the passage across the beluchistan and persian deserts should be a sufficient disinfectant as far as individuals go is also theoretically probable; but i am not certain that the theory would apply to the filthy rags and bedding. i would not speak so feelingly had i not seen these pilgrims myself. now, if we choose to allow these creatures to bring infection into other countries--and it must be remembered that if they do go to the shrine it is generally because they are infected with some complaint or other, or actually for the purpose of dying there--we ought not to grumble if the russians, who see their thickly populated territories of transcaspia threatened, enforce upon the persian officials the necessity of hampering the progress of such parties towards meshed. nor can we blame them if, when the persian authorities are unable to enforce stringent measures, they take matters into their own hands, whether in a strictly legal way or otherwise, in order to prevent these sickly hordes from coming towards their frontier. i am sure that if the sacred shrine were in british territory, and ailing russian pilgrims came over bringing bundles of badly-packed dead relations with them, the outcry in this country would be general, and we should soon put a stop to it. as it is, the provocation to hinder them is very great, while the benefit that we reap by letting these wretches through is rather difficult to detect; they are an expense to the government rather than otherwise, not to speak of the endless bother and annoyance they give our various officials on the road, for indeed, religious people, whether mussulman or christian or buddhist, can make themselves a nuisance for religion's sake. moreover, our caravans, following directly after these funereal parties, have occasionally fared badly at the hands of the alarmed natives. in sistan, major benn was telling me an amusing incident: one or two members of one of these fanatical parties died at the consulate; the local persian doctor pronounced it--or them--cases of plague, and the natives were scared to death for fear that the infection should spread; and one day when major and mrs. benn were peacefully riding along the city wall, a number of people with rifles collected upon the ramparts and fired a volley with actual bullets over their heads. it was explained afterwards that the intention was not to cause the riders any harm but merely to drive away the "spirits of infection" which hung over the consul, who had been with the pilgrims. there seems to be a belief that the intense cold of the winter, the terrific heat of the summer, and the torrential rains of the autumn, make the nushki route impracticable during the greater part of the year, but nothing could be further from the truth. one can travel on this route comfortably at almost any time of the year, except during the heavy rains, when the desert becomes a swamp and makes it impossible for camels to go on. in summer, of course, one has to travel at night, and in winter it is pleasanter travelling during the day. chapter xxxvi the beluch-afghan boundary--substantial advantages obtained--the afghans driven from chagai--who owns beluchistan?--how beluchistan is subdivided--treaties and engagements with the kahn of kelat--the _brahui_ and _nhauri_--when british political connection with kelat began--intrigue--the treaty of 1839--the treaty stolen--kelat stormed by the british--a revolution--protection of caravans--treaty of 1841--at the death of nasir khan--boundary matters settled in 1887--a brahui rebellion--british mediation--a state of chaos--the marris and bugtis--reconciliation of the sardars with the khan of kelat--treaty of 1876--british agents at the khan's court--railways and telegraphs--subsidies--british troops stationed in the country--major sandeman, agent to the governor-general--the agreement of 1883--transfer of dues and tolls--the chiefship of kharan--the chief of las bela--troublesome marris--british beluchistan--the occupants of zhob. a few details of how the british government came to make the nushki-robat road may interest the reader. after the afghan war was over, it was supposed that our boundary extended as far north as the river halmund, but we let things slide for many years and took no steps to extend our influence so far, and the result was that the amir of afghanistan--who very rightly regarded chagai as a most important strategical position, in fact, almost the key to the halmund--took possession of the place. in 1896 a commission was sent out to define the perso-beluch frontier properly, and major macmahon, a most thorough and conscientious officer, was placed in charge of the mission. on looking at the map, one might, if unaware of certain important circumstances, be led rashly to believe that the natural geographical boundary between beluchistan and afghanistan is along the course of the river halmund, or else that it should follow the watershed of the chain of mountains extending, from west to east, from the malek siah, the lahr kuh, the kacha kuh, mirjawa or saindak mountains, to the mountain mass extending as far as the sultan mountain. one cannot at first grasp why, when two such excellent natural boundaries exist, the boundary has been drawn right across the desert between the halmund and these ranges--where there is nothing to mark a division except the whitewashed pillar-posts put up by the boundary commission. this is what would appear, but here is what really happened. while we were taking no trouble to spread our influence in that portion of the country, the afghans claimed as theirs a considerable portion of what to-day makes part of n. beluchistan. a point which it is well not to lose sight of is that, after the sistan mission of 1872, when general sir frederick goldsmid, assisted by general sir richard pollock, acted as arbitrators between the persian and afghan governments, it was agreed that the kuh-i-malek-siah (mountains), close to where the ziarat has been erected, should mark the most south-westerly point common to the two countries. this point being given, when the beluch-afghan boundary commission began its work in march, 1894, they found that the afghans claimed a great deal more land as theirs than was expected. the line of boundary to be defined from gomal to the persian frontier was some 800 miles, and during the two years which it took to complete the laying down of the boundary line the mission is said to have had very great trouble with the afghan commissioners. and here one can hardly forbear comparing the magnificently thorough manner in which this frontier was fixed, with the shoddy, confused method in which the perso-beluch frontier was "demarcated"--if the word can be used in this case--by sir thomas holdich at the same epoch. in the case of the afghan-beluch frontier, 800 miles of frontier line was carefully laid down under the direction of captain (now major) a. h. macmahon, to whom great britain may be grateful for possessing to-day several hundred square miles of land more than she would have done; and, mark you, these additional square miles are--in a way--strategically the most important portion to us of beluchistan. i am referring to that zone of flat territory, north of the mirjawa, saindak and sultan mountains, which forms a southern barrier to the afghan desert, and along a portion of which we have now built the nushki-robat route. strategically, more particularly if a railway is to be constructed, the advantages in gaining that strip of land on the north side of the mountainous region cannot be over-estimated, and only a fearless, but extremely tactful, well-informed and, above all, able officer like macmahon could have scored such an unexpected success against the very shrewd afghan commissioners. the latter well knew the political value of the concession, and so did the amir at cabul--who, angered at hearing of the advantages gained by the british commissioners for their own country, is said to have treated his representatives in a summary way on their return to the afghan capital. but the line of boundary was laid in an unmistakable manner. the final agreements and really _accurately_ drawn maps were signed on may 14th, 1896, by both the afghan and british commissioners, and there was no going back on what had been done. one of the important results of this boundary commission was that we definitely drove the afghans out of chagai, north of which place the frontier now extends eastwards to the sarlat mountains. the first thing that directed attention to these remote regions was nushki, a little district some 90 miles from quetta--a place most conveniently situated for strategical and trade purposes. this was an outlying portion of the khan of kelat's territory. as a matter of fact these people were always fighting among themselves; they had a bitter enmity with one another, and their feuds had accumulated on an ever increasing scale for centuries. they merely acknowledged the khan's authority when it suited their ends. the government first requested the khan or kelat to keep the district in order, being a frontier district, not far from the afghan boundary, and notified him that trouble there might involve trouble with the british government. the khan, however, was helpless, and the ultimate result was that the government came to terms with the khan and agreed to give him a quit rent of 9,000 rupees a year--a sum much larger than he ever got out of it for himself--and took over nushki from him. one question frequently asked is: "who owns beluchistan?" to which one might almost answer: "yes, who does?" like afghanistan, nepal, and other such buffer states, beluchistan is going through a somewhat slow but sure process of absorption. beluchistan is a mere expression of political geography, and the country called by that name has on the west a semi-mythical boundary with persia; on the north a real boundary with afghanistan; to the south the arabian sea, and to the west, the brahuic and lukhi mountains, bordering with sindh and the lower dejarath. beluchistan may be subdivided as follows:- british beluchistan, with the assigned districts of quetta and the bolan; territories under the immediate rule of the khan of kelat. sarawan and thalawan, the lands belonging to the two leading brahui clans. the chiefship of las bela. makran, kharan, and the country of the beluch tribes, such as the marris and bugtis, along the punjab and sind borders. bori and zhob. we have certain treaties, engagements and sanads with the khan of kelat and the other chiefs, and the country--again i have to use a paradoxical expression--may be regarded as a sort of "dependent independent" state. i can find no better way of describing it. we have bought up all the rights held by the chiefs that were worth buying for our purposes, and while, theoretically, the country is supposed to be merely under our "sphere of influence," we might with our fast-absorbing qualities practically consider it absolutely our own. the brahui khan of kelat is the most powerful ruler in beluchistan, and the city of kelat may be looked upon as the beluch capital of beluchistan. quetta, of course, is the capital of british beluchistan. the beluch may be roughly divided into two great classes, the _brahui_ and the _nharui_, the latter to be subdivided again into the _rinds_ and the _numris_. these classes, however, are again to be split up into a great many tribes of different names. [illustration: a beluch family.] the meaning of the word _brahui_ is said to be "inhabitants of the desert," and of _nharui_ "men of the plains." the nharui profess to be of arab origin, and to have come from the west; and they despise the idea that they are akin to the afghans or the turkomans. their features and habits would support this view, and their language undoubtedly bears traces of strong western influence if not of actual western origin. their being such much finer specimens of men than the average persians, may be accounted for by the fact that during the arab invasion only the fittest and finest survived to get as far as this, and that of these men the beluch are the present descendants. like all nomads the beluch are most wonderful linguists. i met a great many men who knew three, four or five languages, such as brahui, nharui, persian, afghan, and even hindustani, and on experiment they showed remarkable facility for picking up and correctly retaining words of any foreign language. the theory that the brahui--the most numerous class in beluchistan--are tartar mountaineers is, to my mind, incorrect. they believe themselves to be the aboriginal people of beluchistan, and this, i think, is more likely the case. their language is quite different from any of the nharui dialects. the nharui tribes are much given to raids and warfare, and even last year, when i was going through beluchistan, a small war had just been settled by a british force, sent to suppress the rebels, in conjunction with a persian force from kerman on the other side. i cannot speak of the southern tribes as i did not visit them, but the brahui with whom i came in contact, although very fond of a life of adventure, i invariably found extremely gentlemanly, hospitable and dignified in every way. they were men of a splendid type who, combined determined bravery with the quietest, softest, most considerate and graceful manner. the khan of kelat is the most powerful ruler, and with him we have several important treaties. from the time of abdullah khan, in the eighteenth century, kelat had been a state independent of the delhi empire, and had incorporated several provinces. to understand fully the evolution of beluchistan into its present condition i will give a hasty historical review of the most important occurrences. the political connection of the british government with kelat commenced during the time of the grandson of nasir khan, mehrab khan, a weak ruler who became khan in 1819. he was disliked by the chiefs of the various tribes for being under the influence of a man of low extraction called daud mahommed, for whom fateh mahommed, the hereditary minister, was sacrificed. fateh's son, naib mulla mahommed hasan, however, murdered the intruder and was himself placed in the position his father should have occupied, but his hatred for the khan never ceased to crave for revenge. in 1838 this treacherous minister, in the khan's name, but without his knowledge, incited the tribes to rise and harm the british troops in their march to restore shah shujia to his dominions. sir alexander burns had to be deputed to kalat to prevent hostility and attempt to negotiate a treaty. the treaty contained the following stipulations.[7] "(art. 1.) the descendants of nasir khan, as well as his tribe and sons, shall continue in future to be masters of the country of kelat, kachki, khorstan, makran, kej, bela and the port of soumiani, as in the time of the lamented ahmad shah durani. "(art. 2.) the english government will never interfere between the khan, his dependants and subjects, and particularly lend no assistance to shah nawaz fateh khan, and the descendants of the mahabbatzai branch of the family, but always exert itself to put away evil from his house. in case of h. m. the shah's displeasure with the khan of kelat, the english government will exert itself to the utmost to remove the same in a manner which may be agreeable to the shah and according to the rights of the khan. "(art. 3.) as long as the british army continues in the country of khorasan, the british government agrees to pay to mehrab khan the sum of 150,000 of company's rupees from the date of this engagement by half yearly instalments. "(art. 4.) in return for this sum the khan, while he pays homage to the shah and continues in friendship with the british nation, agrees to use his best endeavours to procure supplies, carriage and guards to protect provisions and stores going and coming from shikarpur by the route of rozan dadar, the bolan pass, through shal to kuchlak from one frontier to another." with assurances of fidelity to the saddozai family and friendship to the british government--and stipulation that all supplies and carriage obtained from the khan must be paid for "without hesitation"--the treaty was duly concluded on march 28th, 1839. everything seemed satisfactory and the khan promised to visit quetta to pay his salaams to shah shujia. sir alexander burnes, who had preceded him, was robbed on the way of the draft of the treaty signed by the khan. treacherous mulla mahommed hasan did not fail to impress upon the british that the khan had given directions to have the treaty stolen, and had, furthermore, prevented mehrab from proceeding to quetta. the hostility of the khan being evident, it was resolved to send a punitive expedition to kelat to give the khan a lesson. on the 13th of november, 1839, the town was stormed and taken by a detachment of general wiltshire's brigade, mehrab khan was killed and his son fled, while the khan's minister was made prisoner and his treachery proved. shah nawaz khan--a youth of fourteen, a direct descendant in the male line from mahabat khan--was set up by the british as the future khan of kelat. the provinces of sarawan and kach gandava were annexed to the dominions of the amir of afghanistan. mehrab's son, nasir khan, the rightful successor to the rule of kelat, headed a revolution; shah nawaz was deposed, the british representative at kelat was killed, and nasir khan was eventually established in power by the british, the two provinces restored to him, and a new treaty concluded with him on october 6th, 1841. this treaty acknowledged nasir khan and his descendants the vassals of the king of cabul; allowed if necessary, the honourable company's or shah shujia's troops to be stationed in any positions they deemed advisable in any part of his territory; and declared that a british resident officer's advice should always be followed. caravans into afghanistan from the indus as well as from soumiani port were to be protected from attacks, and no undue exactions imposed on them; the british government undertook to afford nasir khan protection in case of attack; while nasir khan bound himself to provide for the support of shah nawaz whom he had deposed. this treaty became useless after the retirement from cabul, and it was found necessary to negotiate a new agreement dated 4th of may, 1854, which annulled the treaty of october 6th, 1841, enjoined perpetual friendship between the british government and the khan of kelat, his heirs and successors, and bound nasir khan and successive khans "to oppose to their utmost all enemies of the british government with whom he must act in subordinate co-operation, and not enter, without consent, into negotiations with foreign states." british troops might occupy, if necessary, any position they thought advisable in the kelat territory, and british subjects and merchants from sindh or the coast to afghanistan were to be protected against outrage, plunder and exactions. a transit duty, however, was to be imposed at the rate of six rupees on each camel-load from the coast to the northern frontier, and 5 rupees from shikarpur to the same frontier. to aid nasir khan, his heirs and successors, in the fulfilment of these obligations, and on condition of faithful performance of them, the british government bound itself to pay to mir nasir khan, his heirs and successors, an annual subsidy of 50,000 company's rupees. if, however, the conditions required were not fulfilled year by year the government would stop the payment of the annual subsidy. when nasir khan died in 1857, his brother, his son, and his half-brother claimed the succession, and the latter, khudadad khan, a boy of ten, was elected by the chiefs; but had it not been for the support given him by the british government, who for four successive years paid him an additional 50,000 rupees besides the 50,000 stipulated in the agreement, in order to help him to suppress the rebellious marris tribe, he could not have maintained his position. the leading kelat chiefs, dissatisfied with their ruler, elected sherdil khan, khudadad's cousin, as khan of kelat, but he was murdered the following year, 1864, and the banished ruler reinstated in his former position. previous to his banishment, in 1862, a proper agreement was signed defining the boundary line between british india and the khan's territory, but it was not till 1887 that matters regarding it were absolutely settled. one thing may be said for the beluch, and that is that, barring a few squabbles, they have in the main been friendly and faithful towards the british. on february 20th and march 23rd, 1863, a convention was entered into with the khan containing an additional clause for the extension of a telegraph line through such of his dominions as lie between the western boundary of the province of mekran under the feudatory rule of the jam of beyla and the eastern boundary of the territory of gwadur, for the protection (only) of which line, and those employed upon it, the khan was to receive an annual payment of 5,000 rupees, the whole sum to be expended among the chiefs and people through whose country the line passed. it was particularly stipulated that the sites on which british government buildings were to be erected should remain the property of the khan. constant risings took place during the rule of khudadad, and the brahui chiefs combined in an open rebellion in 1871. the khan, being unable to suppress the rising, demanded aid of the british. a mediation took place in jacobabad, their confiscated lands were restored to the sardars, the allowances which they customarily received in the time of mir nasir khan the younger were again granted, and the sardars on their side had to return all the property plundered. a state of chaos followed this arrangement, the khan ceased to take an interest in the administration of his country, caravans were constantly attacked and robbed, raids were frequent, and no compensation was ever paid for losses sustained. the political agent had to withdraw from kelat, and in 1854 the payment of the subsidy was withheld until the khan should stand by his agreement and restore order. an attempt was made to keep quiet the marris and bugtis frontier tribes by additional payments to the chiefs in the name of the khan, but their attitude was uncertain. constant attacks occurred on the frontier and a state or absolute anarchy reigned in the khan's country, when captain sandeman was despatched in 1875 as a special agent for the government to attempt to bring about a reconciliation between the khan and the sardars. at a darbar held at mastung in july, 1876, an official reconciliation actually took place between the khan and the leading brahui chiefs. on the 8th of december of that same year the khan was received by the viceroy of india at jacobabad, and a new treaty was concluded, which was the actual foundation of the beluchistan agency. the new treaty renewed and reaffirmed the treaty of 1854, and while the khan of kelat and his successors and sardars bound themselves faithfully to observe the provisions of article 3 of that treaty, viz., "to oppose all enemies of the british government, and in all cases to act in subordinate co-operation with the british government; the british government on its part engaged to respect the independence of kelat and to aid the khan, in case of need, in the maintenance of a just authority and the protection of his territories from external attacks." british agents with suitable escorts were in future to reside permanently at the court of the khan and elsewhere in the khan's dominions, and a representative of the khan would in future be accredited to the government of india. the british agent at the court of the khan would, in case of dispute with the sardars, use his influence to bring about an amicable settlement, and if unsuccessful, the dispute was to be submitted to arbitration. at the request of the khan and of the sardars, and "in recognition of the intimate relations existing between the two countries, the british government (by article 6 of treaty) assented to the request of h.h. the khan for the presence of a detachment of british troops in his country, on condition that the troops should be stationed in such positions as the british government might deem expedient and be withdrawn at the pleasure of the government." the agreement further provided for the construction of railways and telegraphs through the territories of the khan, and for free trade between the state of kelat and british territory, subject to certain conditions for the mutual protection of fiscal interests. the annual subsidy of the khan's successor was increased by this treaty to 100,000 rupees, plus 20,500 rupees annually for the establishment of posts and development of traffic along the trade routes in a manner agreeable to the british government. in compliance with the agreement, british troops were stationed at shalkot (quetta) and mittri, and on february 21st, 1877, major sandeman was appointed agent to the governor-general, with three assistants, the headquarters to be in quetta. afterwards the territories, under the political control of the agent, were subdivided into distinct agencies of which kelat was one. during the afghan war the khan behaved most loyally towards the british. further developments necessitated a fresh agreement signed on june 8th, 1883, by which the khan of kelat made over the entire management of the quetta district and niabat absolutely, and with all the rights and privileges, as well as full revenue, civil and criminal jurisdiction, and all other powers of administration, to the british government, the agreement to take effect from april 1st, 1883, on condition that, in lieu of the annual surplus of revenue hitherto paid to the khan, the british government should from march 31st, 1884, pay a fixed annual rent of rs.25,000, without deductions for cost of administration. the khan transferred all his rights to levy dues or tolls on the trade in either direction through the bolan pass, as well as from kachi to khorassan, and to and from british india and the districts of sibi, quetta and pishin. for the latter concession the british government paid the khan the annual sum of rs.30,000 net, plus a fixed yearly sum to be paid by the viceroy of india to the sarawan and kurd sardars for their services in the pass. the full civil, criminal jurisdiction, and all other powers of administration within the limits of the said pass, and within the land purchased by the british, were also ceded to the british government. the population of the state of kelat, including kharan and makran, was estimated by aitchison at about 220,500 souls--the area at 106,000 square miles. the chiefship of kharan lies along the northern border of the state of kelat, roughly from near nushki, west-south-west to panjur. the principal tribes are the naushirwanis, and their chiefs have at various epochs acknowledged the suzerainty of the khan of kelat, and the rulers of persia and afghanistan respectively. in 1884 sardar azad khan acknowledged allegiance to the khan of kelat, and in 1885 a settlement was made with him by which he undertook to do certain tribal services in consideration of an annual payment of rs.6,000. besides kharan the sardar holds lands in panjgur, and lays claim to jalk, dizak, and kohak, the two first being within the persian boundary. we have other important agreements, such as the one (1861) with the chief of las bela for the protection of the telegraph, for which he receives a subsidy of rs.8,400 a year; and a number of agreements with the various chiefs of makran, mostly relating also to the protection of the telegraph line with subsidies or allowances to each chief. to the troublesome marris, a tribe occupying the country from the nari river and the outskirts of the bolan as far as the plain of sham near the punjab boundary to the east, allowances are paid directly for tribal services and for good behaviour. these people have given considerable trouble on several occasions, but are now friendly. a petroleum concession was ceded by sardar mehrulla khan to the british government for an annual cash payment. the affairs of british beluchistan (pishin, sibi and dependencies) are too well known for me to refer to them again beyond what i have already mentioned in these pages. till 1878 british beluchistan formed part of the territories of afghanistan, and was occupied by british troops during the afghan war. by the treaty of gandamak its administration was put into the hands of british officers, but the surplus revenue was paid to the amir at cabul. the control of the khyber and michui passes was also retained. in 1887, however, the district was incorporated with british india, and is now known as the province of british beluchistan. [illustration: beluch huts thatched with palm leaves and tamarisk.] an agreement of submission and allegiance was made by the maliks of zhob, bori and the muza khal, and sardar shahbaz khan, on november 22nd, 1884, and they further undertook to pay a fine of rs.22,000, to put a stop to further raiding in british territory, and raise no opposition to british troops being stationed in zhob and bori. the occupation of zhob took place in 1889-90, when the somal pass was opened up, and the tribes intervening between the zhob and the punjab in the suliman range were subsequently added to the district. footnotes: [7] see treaties, engagements and sanads. aitchison, office superintendent government printing, calcutta. chapter xxxvii the evolution of nushki--the zagar mengal tribe--tribal feuds--competition in trade--venturesome caravans--pasand khan--dalbandin and its geographical situation--game big and small--dates--a famous ziarat--a beluch burial ground--preparing corpses for interment--how graves are cut into the ground--beluch marriages--beluch thoughtfulness towards newly married couples--a mark of respect. having given a general sketch of the agreements with the principal chiefs we will now return to matters relating to the most important point, the pivot, as it were, of our route--nushki. when nushki was taken over by the british government, the leading tribe in the district was the zagar mengal, a brahui tribe. they had settled in nushki approximately a century or 150 years ago, and were a most powerful tribe, supposed to number about 9,000, a large proportion of whom lived in registan (country of sand), to the north and mostly north-east of nushki across the afghan frontier. the zagar mengal sardar was in nushki itself, and he had a right of levying what is termed in beluch, _sunge_ (a transit due) on all merchandise passing through nushki. foreseeing how such a right would interfere with trade, the british government came to terms with the sardar, by which, instead of his transit dues, he undertook what is called in beluchistan a _noukri_ or service (old custom by which a man supplies a number of _sawars_ and is responsible for them). the next thing was to settle all the tribal feuds. three or four tribes were at war. cases were carefully inquired into and settled according to beluch law, through the medium of a tribal _jirga_, a council of elders. one case led to another and eventually all were settled up to everybody's satisfaction. in the meantime traders from shikarpur, from quetta, and kelat, began to be attracted to nushki; a bazaar was started and is fast growing from year to year. one hundred thousand rupees have already been spent on it, with the result that a number of competing traders came in. competition resulted in good prices, which further attracted trade, first from the districts to the north in the immediate vicinity of nushki, and later from further and further afield. the name of nushki--practically unknown a few years ago--is at present well known everywhere, and the place has, indeed, become quite an important trade centre. from nushki, as we have seen, a chain of posts, manned by local beluch levies, was pushed west as far as robat on the persian frontier. even as late as 1897 trade in these parts was limited to a few articles of local consumption, and persian trade was represented by a stray caravan from sistan that had forced its way to nushki and frequently lost men, camels and goods on the way. the venturesome caravans seldom numbered more than one or two a year, and were at the mercy of a mamasani beluch called pasand khan, who lived in sistan and levied blackmail on such caravans as came through. this man was well acquainted with all the marauders who haunted the stretch of country south of the halmund between sistan and chagai. pasand khan levied at the rate of twenty krans (about 8s. 4d.) per camel, and saw the caravans in comparative safety as far as chagai, from which point they were left to their own devices and had to force their way through to quetta as best they could. next to nushki along the route, dalbandin--owing to its geographical situation, its ample supply of good water and good grazing--is probably the most important spot, and may one day become quite a big place. there is direct communication from this spot to chagai (and afghanistan), robat, ladis, bampur, kharan, the arabian sea, charbar, gwadur, ormarah, soumiani and quetta. even as things are now, dalbandin is a somewhat more important place than any we had met on coming from robat, with a very large _thana_ and a couple of well-provided shops. captain webb-ware's large camp made it appear to us men of the desert quite a populous district. there was excellent water here and good grazing for camels, while on the hills close by ibex shooting was said to be good. gazelles (_chinkara_ and persian gazelle), both called _ask_ in beluch, are to be found in the neighbourhood of this place, and wild asses (_ghorkhar_) nearer sahib chah. _katunga_ (sand grouse), _sisi_, _chickor_, a few small bustards (_habara_), and occasionally ducks are to be seen near the water, but taking things all round there is little on the road to repay the sportsman who is merely in search of game. [illustration: circular ziarat with stone, marble and horn offerings.] [illustration: ziarat with tomb showing stone vessels.] the spacious rest-house at dalbandin was quite palatial, with actual panes of glass in all the windows, mats on the floor, folding chairs to sit upon, tables and indian bedsteads. thanks to the kind hospitality of captain webb-ware, i had a most pleasant and instructive day's rest here, and nearly made myself sick by greedily eating irresistible beluch dates, the most delicious it has ever been my luck to taste. these dates are very carefully prepared in earthen jars with honey, and they say that only one date--the best--is picked from each tree. no description could ever come up to their delicate flavour. there is a famous ziarat a couple of miles from dalbandin which well repays a visit. the larger ziarat itself is circular, 25 feet in diameter, with a mud and stone wall 4 feet high round it. it has a door to the east and a tomb to the west. a bundle of sticks is laid outside the wall, and another much larger, with red and white rags upon it, at the head of the tomb, the latter being covered as usual with pieces of white marble and round stones. at the head of the grave near the upright sticks was a large stone with holes in the centre, and also a number of wooden drinking cups, masses of horns, sticks, whips, ends of broken bottles, bits of rope, etc. these fragments of civilization hardly added to its picturesqueness. the tomb lay from north to south--a very curious fact, for, as a rule, the head of the tomb in other ziarats was to the west. the tomb, however, lay in the western portion of the ziarat circle. the enclosing wall was adorned with horns of sacrificed goats, and, in fact, outside to the south was the sacrificial spot with some large slabs of stone smeared with blood, and the usual upright sticks, but no rags appended to them. it had, nevertheless, some decoration of horns. a second ziarat was to be found on the top of the hill--generally these ziarats go in couples, the principal one on the summit of a hill, the other at the foot, the latter for the convenience of travellers who have not the time or the energy to climb to the higher sacred spot,--and this ziarat was 45 feet long also with a tomb--this time of black rounded stones--with an upright white slab of marble. the wall of black stones was 1½ feet high. below this, to the south, was a third smaller oval ziarat, 20 feet long, 12 feet wide, with many offerings of horns perched on poles to the west, and a heap of fancy stones, together with some implements such as a mortar, pestle, and cups. a fourth ziarat, very small, with a mud tomb on which two mill stones had been deposited, was a little further on and had a solitary rag flying. near these ziarats was an extensive beluch burial-ground, to which bodies were brought from very great distances for interment. there was a large rectangular mesjid, the first i had seen of that shape, at the western point of the graveyard, and three smaller ones at the other corners, and the graves were very nice and tidy, formed generally of fragments of yellow marble, a high stone pillar at the head and one at the foot, and little chips of marble along the upper centre of the grave. others more elaborate had a neat edge and centre line of black stones and coloured end pillars, while some consisted of a pile of horizontal sticks with an upright one at each end. the bodies of more important people, such as chiefs, were given larger tombs, often very gaudy and of a prismatic shape, made of myriads of bits of crystal within a black border of stones. occasionally a trench was dug round the graves. it was interesting to note that here, too, as on the kuh-i-kwajah, one saw "family graves" which, although not in actual compartments like those on the sistan mountain, were, nevertheless, secluded from the others within a low boundary stone wall. the prismatic graves seldom rose more than 1½ feet above ground, but the semi-spherical tumuli which marked some of the more important burial places were from 3½ to 4 feet high. these tumuli were either of mud or of large smooth pebbles, and generally had no pillars. one or two, however, had a pillar to the west. to the east of the graveyard the graves which seemed of a more recent date had sticks at each end instead of stone pillars, and these were connected by a string to which, halfway between the sticks, hung a piece of wood, a ribbon, or a rag. the meaning of this i could not well ascertain, and the versions i heard were many and conflicting. some said these were graves of people who had been recently buried, it being customary to erect the stone pillars some months after burial, and that the string with dangling rag or piece of wood was merely to keep wolves from digging up dead bodies. others said it was to keep evil spirits away, but each man gave a different explanation, and i really could not say which was the true origin of the custom. the pillars over a man's grave, some say, signify that the man died without leaving issue, but i think this is incorrect, for it would then appear by most graves that the beluch are the most unprolific people on earth, which i believe is not the case. children's graves were usually covered with pieces of white marble or light coloured stone, and those of women were generally smaller and less elaborate and with lower pillars than men's graves. the preparing of corpses for interment is rather interesting. with men, the lower jaw is set so that the mouth is closed tight, and is kept in this position by the man's own turban which is wound round the chin and over the head. the eyes are also gently closed by some relative, and the hands placed straight by the sides. as soon as life is pronounced extinct the body is covered over with a sheet and the dead man's relations go and procure new clothes, after which the body is removed from the tent or house and is taken towards a well or a stream, according to circumstances. here the body is laid down and carefully washed, after which it is wrapped up quite tight in sheets--so tight that the outline can plainly be distinguished. in most cases, a pillar is put up, a few stones laid round, or the outline of a grave drawn on the spot where the body has lain to undergo this operation. the body is then removed to the burial ground and laid most reverently in the grave. [illustration: beluch mesjid and graveyard at dalbandin.] beluch graves are most peculiarly cut into the ground. instead of being vertical, like ours, they are in three sections. the higher is vertical, and leads to an inclined side channel giving access to a lower last chamber, in which the body is actually deposited. the origin of this, i was told, is to prevent hyenas and wolves digging up the bodies. [illustration: section of beluch grave.] when once the body is laid in its place of rest, dried sweet-scented rose leaves are spread over it in profusion, and then the grave is filled up with stones and plastered with mud. the channel between the two chambers is filled entirely with stones, and the upper chamber entirely with earth. some few of the graves i saw had fallen through, but most were in excellent preservation and appeared to be well looked after by the people. that the beluch are provident people we had palpable proof in this cemetery, where one saw several graves ready for likely future occupants. another mesjid, a circular one seven feet in diameter, was further to be noticed to the north-east of the graveyard. it had yellow marble pillars of sugar-loaf and cylindrical shapes and was enclosed by a neat stone wall. a beluch marriage is a practical business transaction by which a girl fetches more or less money, camels or horses, according to her personal charms, beauty, and social position. beluch women, when young, are not at all bad-looking with well-cut features and languid eyes full of animal magnetism like the persian, and they seem shy and modest enough. the beluch men have great respect for them, and treat them with consideration, although--like all orientals--they let women do all the hard work, which keeps the women happy. a marriage ceremony in beluchistan bears, of course, much resemblance to the usual mussulman form, such as we have seen in persia, with variations and adaptations to suit the customs and circumstances of the people. a good wife costs a lot of money in beluchistan, although occasionally, in such cases as when a man has been murdered, a wife can be obtained on the cheap. the murderer, instead of paying a lump sum in cash, settles his account by handing over his daughter as a wife to the murdered man's son. bad debts and no assets can also be settled in a similar manner if the debtor has sufficient daughters to make the balance right. under normal circumstances, however, the girl is actually bought up, the sum becoming her property in case of divorce. when the marriage ceremony takes place and the relations and friends have collected, the first step is for the bridegroom to hand over the purchase sum, either in cash, camels, or sheep. a great meal is then prepared, when the men sit in a semicircle with the bridegroom in the centre. enormous quantities of food are consumed, such as rice saturated with _ghi_ (butter), piles of _chapatis_ (bread) and sheep meat. a man who pays four or five hundred rupees for a wife is expected to kill at least twenty or thirty sheep for his guests at this entertainment, and there is a prevailing custom that the bridegroom on this occasion makes a gift to the _lori_ or blacksmith of the clothes he has been wearing since his betrothal to the girl. the women on their side have a similar sort of entertainment by themselves, stuff themselves with food to their hearts' content, and wash it down with water or tea. at the end of the meal a bowl is passed round and each man and woman rinses mouth and hands. the _sung_, or betrothal, is regarded as most sacred, and much rejoicing is gone through for several days with music and dancing and firing of guns, and this is called the _nikkar_, just preceding the _urus_, or actual marriage ceremony, which is performed by a mullah. the bridegroom, having ridden with his friends to a neighbouring ziarat to implore allah's protection, returns and sits down in the centre of the circle formed by the men. two of his friends are sent to fetch the girl's father, who is led down to the assembly. the bridegroom again assures him in front of all these witnesses that should he from any fault of his own divorce his wife he will forfeit the premium paid for her, whereupon the father replies that he will settle a sum on the girl as a "_mehr_" or dowry. the father then departs, and returns, bringing the bride wrapped up in her best clothing and _chudder_. a slightly modified mussulman form of marriage is then gone through, and the mullah asks the woman three times if she agrees to marry the man. everything having passed off satisfactorily, the happy couple depart to a hut or tent placed at their disposal, and very discreetly, nobody goes near them for some considerable length of time. it is said that the thoughtfulness of the beluch towards a newly-married couple will go so far that, even if the tribe were stalked by the enemy, no one would go and warn the happy couple for fear of disturbing them! the bridegroom stays with his bride for several days, and if he belongs to some other village or encampment, will then return to his home, and leave his wife behind for months at a time. beluch wives are said to be quite faithful, and at the death of the husband go for a considerable time without washing. this mark of respect for the husband is, however, extensively indulged in even before the wife becomes a widow--at least, judging by appearances. chapter xxxviii a long march--karodak--sandstorm--a salt plain--yadgar--padag--beluch huts--fierce wind--plants--kuchaki chah--another double march--mall--two tracks--peculiar cracks--a gigantic geological fault--an old beluch fort--nushki. captain webb-ware having most kindly arranged to "dak" camels for me, i was enabled to remain here one day by sending my own camels with loads ahead, i proposing to catch them up by going three marches on january 27th. the distance was 54 miles 980 yards, and i covered it in nine hours, which was quite good going. "sand mounts and high hill ranges were to the north and south, and the track lay east-north-east (70° b.m.) with parallel sand ridges to the north. three long sand banks from 30 to 50 feet high, facing north, accumulated by wind coming through gaps in the hills. to south, high mountains as one approaches karodak." that is the only entry i find in my note-book for the march between dalbandin and karodak (16 miles 380 yards). here the camel that had been sent ahead for me to ride to the next post-house had unluckily bolted, and after wasting nearly an hour the beluch were unable to capture him. i bade good-bye to the _jemadar_ and his men, who had politely escorted me thus far, and had to continue upon the same camel. at karodak (3,220 feet) there was a small _thana_ surrounded by sand hills, with high tamarisks and good grazing for camels, but the water of the wells was salt. we trotted along in a terrific wind storm, with yellowish dust obscuring everything like a fog, and went over numerous big stretches of mud and salt, cracked by the sun in semicircles like the scales of a fish. low hills could now be perceived to north, south and east, when the wind slightly abated and the dust settled down. after crossing a sand ridge extending from north to south, we still going east-north-east (70° b.m.), another large salt plain disclosed itself before us. the old track went from this point towards the south, but the new one was in a perfectly straight line. for the first time since entering beluchistan one began to see some little vegetation on the hill sides, and a few high tamarisks could be noticed in the plain itself. at yadgar (altitude 3,100 feet) we found a four-towered _thana_, with one _duffadar_, four sepoys, five _mari_ camels, and three wells of good water, as well as a new bungalow, but i only remained just a few minutes to change my belongings from captain webb-ware's camel to mine, which was waiting here for me, and speedily proceeded for padag where, in a terrible wind which had risen again after sunset, i arrived at eight o'clock in the evening. at padag (3,080 feet) a number of semi-spherical beluch huts, 4 to 5 feet high, with domes thatched with tamarisk and palm leaves, were to be seen. most dwellings were in couples, enclosed in a circular wall for protection against the wind as well as from the observation of intruders. although a cold wind was blowing fiercely at the time, and the thermometer was only four degrees above freezing point, there were some twenty children playing about perfectly naked, and they seemed quite happy and comfortable. from padag we went across another plain of salt and mud, with _sorag_ grass and _drog_, two plants much cherished by camels. to the north of our track was an extensive surface of salt deposits, extending from west to east, which looked just as if the country were covered by snow. quantities of _eshwerk_--very pretty to look at when in flower, but most poisonous--were now found, and _brug_, good for horses. there were three parallel ranges of broken-up mountains on our south, and lots of tamarisks on the south edge of the salt deposits. it was rather curious that to the north of our track the vegetation consisted entirely of _drog_ grass, whereas to the south there was only _eshwerk_. a few yards from the track to the south we came upon a graveyard (a kabistan) with some fifteen or twenty graves. water we had seen flowing in two or three channels from the mountain to supply villages and forming pools here and there. we passed between two mountains into another plain with dried up _karankosh_ bushes, much liked by camels. good grazing for horses was to be found north, and extended as far as the foot of the mountains. [illustration: kuchaki chah rest house.] [illustration: old beluch mud fort near nushki.] kuchaki chah, an unroofed rest-house a few feet square--a photograph of which can be seen in the illustration here appended--lies between two high ranges of rocky mountains with high accumulations of sand to the south-west and north-east respectively. the rugged mountains to the south were called bajin. another shrub, _trat_, also much cherished by camels, was plentiful here. black precipitous rocks in vertical strata, splitting into long slabs and blocks, were to be seen along the mountain range to the south. we had made another double march on that day, and reached mall in the middle of the night. padag to kuchaki chah, 13 miles, 756 yards; kuchaki chah to mall, 15 miles, 1,154 yards. total, 29 miles, 150 yards. it was freezing hard, thermometer 28° fahrenheit, and the wind bitterly cold. my men felt it very much and so did my camels, which all became ill. we left mall again very early the following morning, as i intended to proceed direct to nushki. there were two tracks here to nushki, the old and the new. the old track went in a straight line and was in consequence some miles shorter; the new track more or less follows the foot of the mountain range, probably taking this course for the convenience of the several beluch villages to be found in the nushki plain. the rocky mountain range to the south got lower as we approached nushki, and was then crossed by another low range extending from north to south while the longer and higher range stretched from north-north-east to south-south-west. a few miles from nushki we came across some most peculiar and very deep cracks in the earth's crust. one could plainly see that they were not caused by the erosion of water, but by a commotion such as an earthquake. in fact, we came, soon after, to a place where the whole sandy plateau had actually collapsed, and when we stood on the edge of the portion which still remained unchanged, we could see it end abruptly in perpendicular cliffs. what was the evident continuation of the valley lay now some hundred or more feet below its former level. in this lower valley there were a number of beluch villages. this crack and depression extends for no less than 120 miles, according to major macmahon, who in 1896 went, i believe, along its entire length into afghan territory, and he describes it as "a well-defined, broad line of deep indentations, in places as clearly defined as a deep railway cutting. springs of water are to be found along its course. the crack extends north from nushki along the foot of the sarlat range, and then diagonally across the khwajah amran range, cutting the crest of the main range near its highest peak and crossing the lora river. a well-marked indentation was traceable at the edge of the plain near murghachaman, some 18 miles north of chaman." macmahon states that the beluch themselves attribute it to three different earthquakes, of which accounts have been handed down by their fathers, and at the time of which deep fissures appeared that have subsequently extended. major macmahon adds that this crack marks the line of a gigantic geological fault, with sedimentary rocks to the east of it and igneous rocks to the west, and he believes, rightly, i think, that the length of this fault line exceeds that of any other fault line yet discovered. on the upper plateau on which we travelled tamarisks altogether disappeared for the last twenty miles or so, and _tagaz_ shrubs, varying from one to six feet high, were practically the only plant we saw. in the underlying plain tamarisk was most plentiful. facing us on the mountain side a white cliff could be seen from a a long distance, with a most regular row of double black marks which looked exactly like windows. on approaching nushki we saw some patches of cultivation (wheat)--quite a novelty to us, being the first crops of any extent we had seen since leaving sistan--and near at hand an old beluch fort, of which a photograph is given in the illustration. the fort possessed a picturesque composite old tower, partly quadrangular, partly cylindrical. we reached nushki at night (31 miles, 1,320 yards from mall). chapter xxxix a new city--the bungalow--numerous beluch villages--nomads--beluch architecture--weaving looms--implements--beluch diet--cave dwellers of nushki--beluch dress--children--the salaam of the chiefs--an impressive sight--the kwajah mahommed ziarat--shah hussein's ziarat and its legend--a convenient geographical site. on arriving at this new city, with actual streets and people moving about in them, shops, etc., it seemed to me at first almost as good as if i had arrived back in london again. the bungalow, on a prominent hill 75 feet above the plain, was simply and nicely furnished, and was most comfortable in every way. from it one obtained a fine panoramic view of the small town and the neighbouring country with the many beluch villages scattered about. north, two miles off, was mengal, a village of about 300 houses and 1,500 people; west lay jumaldini (2½ miles distant), 200 houses, 6-700 inhabitants; north-west, badini in two blocks, one belonging to alun khan, the other jointly to khaian khan and adal khan: 200 houses collectively, 400 to 500 people. little badal khan karez, with only 30 houses, stood to the south-west. the population of these villages is formed of the tribes called _barechis_ and _rashkhanis_, the people of badini and jumaldini being entirely rashkhanis. the barechis formerly inhabited afghanistan, but migrated to the nushki district three generations ago. bagag (south-west) is a village generally inhabited by mandais, a branch of the jumaldini rashkhanis. two big villages are to be found south, and they are called _batto_, which means "mixture," owing to the populations being composed of rashkhanis, mingals, samalaris, kharanis, and other minor tribes; and south of batto are two more villages (east and west respectively of each other). the one east is harunis, a separate tribe from either the rashkhanis and the mingals, who follow the head chief rind. the second village (west) is ahmed val, inhabited by ahmed zai mingals. besides these villages, the remainder of the population is of nomads. it may have been noticed that regarding the village of bagag i said that "generally" it was inhabited by mandais. certain villages are inhabited by certain tribes during the summer, the people migrating for the winter months, and other tribes come in for the winter and vacate their quarters in the summer. the beluch is not much burdened with furniture and can do this without inconvenience. the crops grown consist of wheat, barley and _jowari_ (millet). where good grazing is obtainable the younger folks are sent out with sheep, horses and camels. almost each tribe has a different style of architecture for its dwellings. those near nushki are usually rectangular in shape, domed over with matting covered with plaster. the only opening is the door, with a small porch over it. wooden pillars are necessary to support the central portion of the dome (semi-cylindrical), which is never higher than from five to eight feet. the mangers for the horses, which form an annexe to each dwelling--in fact, these mangers are more prominent than the dwellings themselves--are cylindrical mud structures eight or nine feet high, with a hole cut into them on one side to allow the horse's head to get at the barley contained in the hollowed lower portion. [illustration: beluch huts and weaving loom.] [illustration: cave dwellers, nushki.] the weaving looms are the largest and principal articles of furniture one notices--not inside, but outside the houses. the illustration shows how the cloth and threads are kept in tension, from every side, in a primitive but most effective manner. the women work with extraordinary rapidity and with no pattern before them, beating each transverse thread home by means of an iron comb held in the hand. the pattern on the cloths is of a primitive kind, generally sets of parallel lines crossing one another at right angles. in the same photograph two beluch dwellings can be seen, with matting showing through the thatch. in many villages, however, the walls of the houses are made of sun-dried bricks, and only the roof is made of a mat plastered over with mud. in either case the beluch seems to have a liking for crawling rather than walking into his house, for the doorway is invariably very low--4½ to 5 feet high. one is generally sorry to peep into a beluch dwelling, but i felt it a sort of duty to see what there was to be seen. nothing! or almost nothing. a large wooden bowl, a stone grinding wheel with a wooden handle to grind wheat into flour, a wooden drinking cup or an occasional tin enamelled one, of foreign importation, a matchlock, and that was all. in some of the smarter dwellings, such as the houses of chiefs, a few additional articles were to be found, such as a _badni_--a sort of jar for taking water--flat stones which are made red hot for baking bread, some occasional big brass dishes--_tash_--used on grand occasions--such as wedding dinners; and a _deg_ or two or large brass pots. nearly every household, however, possesses one or more _khwa_ or skins for water, and a large _kasa_, made either of metal or wood, into which broth is poured during meals. occasionally in a corner of the hut a small table is to be seen, on which are placed all the family's clothing, blankets, _darris_ or carpets, and _lihaf_ or mattresses. these carpets, or rather rugs, are generally spread when receiving an honoured guest. the beluch diet is wholesome but simple. they are fond of plenty of meat when they can get it, which is not often, and they generally have to be satisfied with dry bread. the woman who can make the largest and thinnest bread is much honoured among the beluch. when they do obtain meat it is generally boiled and made into a soup called _be-dir_, which in the brahui language really means "salt water," to express "flavoured water." milk and _ghi_ are dainties seldom indulged in and, being mussulmans, the beluch imbibe no intoxicants, but are smokers of strong bitter tobacco. it is not uncommon for lambs, sheep and calves to share the homes and some of the meals of their masters. perhaps the most peculiar folks at nushki are the cave dwellers, who live in abject misery in holes eroded by water in the cliffs near the river. when i visited them most were half-naked and trembling with cold. a few rags answered the purpose of blankets. the only articles of furniture and comfort were a primitive pipe moulded out of mud--the _chilam_ or the _gaddu_ as it is called by the kakars--which occupied a prominent place in the dwelling, and a musical instrument placed in a receptacle in the wall of the cave. at the entrance of the cave a wall had been built for protection against the wind and water. in another dwelling an _assah_ or long iron rod, like a crutch, the emblem of fakirs, was noticeable, and by its side an empty "potted-tongue" tin with a wire attached to it--an article which was made to answer to a great many uses. this cave had a small store place for food, a drinking cup, and the wooden vessel--another emblem of fakirs--in which charitable people deposit money for the support of these poor wretches. the dress of the better class beluch men consists of a _khuss_, or sort of loose shirt reaching below the knees, and the enormous trousers falling in ample folds, but fitting tight at the ankle. at an angle on the head they wear a conical padded cap, embroidered in gold or silver, inside a great turban of white muslin. they also wear shawls or long scarves thrown over the shoulders in a fashion not unlike our highlanders. either shoes with turned-up toes are worn or else sandals. felt coats or sheep-skins are donned in winter, while the richer people wear handsome coats and waistcoats of cloth embroidered in gold or silver. the chiefs possess most beautiful and expensive clothes. the women of the poorer classes are garbed in a short petticoat, usually red or blue, and a loose shirt. a long cloth, not unlike a chudder, is thrown over the head, and is kept tight round the forehead by a band. it is fashionable to let it drag on the ground behind. women generally go about barefooted. better class ladies wear similar clothes but of better material, and often richly embroidered. occasionally they put on large trousers like persian women. the hair is either left to flow loose at the sides of the head, or is tied into a knot behind. necklaces, ear-rings, nose-rings, bracelets and armlets are worn; white shells of all sizes from the persian gulf, as well as glass beads, playing a very important part in women's ornaments. bracelets cut out of a large white sea-shell are common. beluch children are rather quaint, with little skull caps, much decorated with silver coins, one of which larger than the others hangs directly over the forehead. the poor little mites are further burdened with ear-rings, bracelets and heavy necklaces of glass beads. mothers seem tenderly fond of their children. i was much delighted on the morning of january 29th to find that all the chiefs of the neighbouring tribes, garbed in their gaudy robes, had come with their retinues to pay their salaams to me. i heard the buzzing noise of a crowd approaching up the hill, and on looking out of the bungalow window beheld a most picturesque sight. a tall, long-haired figure in a brilliant long gown of red velvet, with gold embroideries in front and back, walked slowly a-head, followed by a cluster of venerable old men, some in long yellow skin _poshteens_, others in smart waistcoats covered with gold and silver embroidery. all wore huge turbans with gold embroidered conical caps inside. behind them came a mass of armed men with swords and rifles. on reaching the bungalow, fearing that i should still be asleep, they became silent, and as i watched them unseen from behind the blinds i do not believe that i have ever in my life gazed upon such a fine, dignified, manly lot of fellows anywhere. they seated themselves in a perfect circle, some twenty yards in diameter, directly outside the bungalow, carpets having been spread where the chiefs were to be accommodated. the chiefs sat together, and the soldiers and followers--over 150--with guns, matchlocks and snider rifles, squatted down in two semicircles at their sides. an opening was left large enough for me to enter the ring, and when i approached all respectfully rose and salaamed, and the chiefs, coming forward in turn, shook me heartily by the hand with the usual long beluch salutation, each bowing low as he did so. sitting in the centre of the circle on a carpet, which had been spread for me, i addressed them in a few words, which they seemed to appreciate, and each chief answered back in a simple, straightforward and most thoughtful, gentlemanly manner. mahommed ali, the leading chief, in a red velvet coat, was the mingal sardar of the three powerful tribes, jumaldini, badini, and mingal, and by his side sat kaim khan with his shield and sword, the second sardar of the neighbourhood and brother of the jumaldini sardar. jan beg, who sat on the left hand side of the chief sardar, was a thin tall man, and alam khan, a splendid old fellow with a fine inlaid sword, can be seen standing in the photograph reproduced in the illustration. the last of the principal five badini chiefs was a comparatively young man of black complexion, long jet black curly hair, and garbed in a gaudy poshteen, sword and belt. his name was kasin khan. then there was kadar bakhsh, uncle of the present mingal sardar, a man most useful to the british government, and beside him his brother, attar khan. gauher khan, nephew of the mingal sardar, was a picturesque young man with heavily embroidered black coat and a black turban. he carried his sword in his hand. as one looked round the circle it was really a most impressive and picturesque sight--colours of all sorts dazzling in the sunlight. among the other most important men were adal khan (cousin of the badini chief), a very old fellow, curved from age; and bai khan, his cousin, who looked somewhat stronger; kaiser khan, a smart young fellow with curly hair, black coat and trousers, was the son of the jumaldini chief, and a young fellow of weak constitution, by name abdullah aziz, was son and heir of the badini sardar. [illustration: a badini sardar.] [illustration: the salaam of the beluch sardars at nushki. (sardar alam khan standing.)] sherdil and mehrullah khan, with elaborately embroidered coats and snider rifles, sat among the elect, and the others were soldiers and followers, but a fine lot of fellows indeed, all the same. when the formal reception broke up i showed them my repeating rifles, revolvers and various instruments, which interested them greatly; and the leading chiefs having been entertained to tea, they eventually departed after repeated salaams. although the beluch and the afghan shake hands on arrival, they seldom do so on departing, the handshake being for them an outward sign to express the joy of seeing a friend. on surveying the neighbourhood from our high point of vantage at the bungalow, we found plenty to interest the observer. to the north and north-west directly below the hill could be seen a graveyard in two sections, the tombs being very high above ground, with prismatic tops of white stones, whereas the bases were of black pebbles. the tombs in the graveyard to the north-west were in bad preservation. there was at this spot a well known ziarat called kwajah mahommed, and the british government has given much pleasure to the natives by sanctioning a "mufi" or remission of revenue for ever of all the land belonging to this ziarat in order to provide for the support of it. the people of the district are extremely religious, and they have erected mesjids and ziarats on every possible hill in the neighbourhood. the most interesting is the shah-hussein ziarat, which has a curious legend of its own. they say, that when the arabs attacked shah-hussein, he killed all his enemies by merely praying to god. with their heads, which suddenly turned into solid stone, he built the ziarat. the tomb is made, in fact, of round stones, some of enormous size, evidently worn into that shape by water, but the natives firmly believe that they are petrified heads of arabs! nushki is most conveniently situated in a large valley with mountains sheltering it from the north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-south-west, but from south-south-west to north there is a stretch of open flat desert (the _registan_, or "country of sand") as far as the eye can see. to the south of the bungalow is a hill range stretching from north-north-east to south-south-west, and suddenly broken by the valley, through which runs the stream which, then proceeding along the nushki plain from east to west, turns in a graceful curve round the western side of the hill on which the bungalow is situated, and proceeds across the desert in a north-north-west direction, where, having supplied several villages and irrigated their fields, it eventually exhausts itself in the desert. a broad river bed can be noticed on the east side of and parallel with the above hill range. the east side of these hills has been much worn by water action; so much so that actual holes and caves in the soft strata of sand and gravel have been corroded by the water, and these holes, as we have seen, are now inhabited by destitute beluch. chapter xl the fast growing city of nushki--the tashil--the tashildar--beluch law--hospital--pneumonia and consumption--lawn tennis--the nushki bazaar--satisfactory trade returns--the projected quetta-nushki railway--a great future for nushki--an extension to sistan necessary--also a telegraph--preferable routes for a railway to sistan--from nushki to kishingi--a curious mesjid--mudonek ateng mountain--a fast of twenty-five days--the chiltan and takatu mts.--the gurghena tribe--huts and tents--beluch hospitality--villages. let us take a walk through the fast growing city of nushki. half a dozen years ago there was next to nothing here, but now we have a beautiful _tashil_--a large walled enclosure, with a portico all round inside and circular towers at the four corners. the actual tashil office, occupying the north-east corner, has a most business-like appearance, with handsome iron despatch-boxes, clocks that mark each a different time, but look most imposing all the same, and folio-documents folded in two and carefully arranged in piles upon the floor by the side of wise-looking clerks squatting in their midst. the tashildar himself, sardar mahommed yuzaf khan popalzai, is a much respected man of afghan birth, of the bamezi popalzai durranis, or descendants of the tribe reigning in cabul before mahommed zeis took the throne, when his ancestors and the saddo zeis were forcibly banished from the country. [illustration: the new city of nushki. (overlooking the tashil buildings.)] the tashildar, a most intelligent officer, seems to understand the beluch chiefs thoroughly, treats them with extreme consideration--in private life dealing with them as honoured guests, and politically as government subjects who must adhere to their loyalty to the king. there are also within the tashil wall a post and telegraph office and a treasury, a neat little red brick building, with strong iron gates and huge padlocks. prisons are on either side of the treasury, so that one single sentry may keep an eye on both the prisoners and the local government funds. when i visited the place an old man in chains was squatting in the sun outside his cell. i inquired what crime he had committed. his daughter, they said, was betrothed to a young man, and at the time appointed for the marriage the old man did not bring the girl to the bridegroom as stipulated. he had consequently already been here in prison for two months to pay for his folly, and would possibly have to remain some months longer, for, according to beluch law--which is in force here--such a crime deserves severe punishment. another prisoner--a cattle lifter--had a most hideously criminal head. prisoners were very well cared for, had nice clean cells given them, and were provided with plenty of food and blankets. the tashil establishment consisted of one tashildar, one _sarishtedar_ (clerk who reads papers), one judicial _moharrir_, one _kanungo_ (revenue clerk), three _patwaris_, one accountant in treasury and one treasurer, one _chaprassi_, one petition writer, one levy moonshee, one post and telegraph master, one postman, one hospital assistant, one compounder, three servants. next to the tashil was the _thana_ and police-station, with a police thanedar, one sergeant and nine (punjab) constables, as well as a levy _jemadar_ with one _duffadar_ and ten _sawars_. there is a practical little hospital at nushki, with eight beds and a dispensary, but the health of the place seemed very good, and there were no patients when i visited it. moreover, it seems that the beluch prefer to be given medicine and remain in their dwellings, except in cases of very severe illness. the principal ailments from which they suffer are small-pox, measles, and scurvy, which in various stages is most prevalent among the beluch. chest complaints are unknown among them while they live out in the open air, but when they are forcibly confined to rooms, for instance as prisoners, they generally die of pneumonia or develop consumption. two caravanserais are found at nushki, one for traders from sistan, and one for caravans from quetta, and a mosque, so that the place is quite a self-contained little town. in front of the hospital one is rather staggered by finding an actual tennis court laid down according to the most precise rules, and no doubt in course of time we may expect golf links and ping-pong tournaments which will mark further steps towards the anglicisation of that district. but personally i was more interested in the local bazaar, counting already 150 shops. the nushki bazaar is along a wide road kept tidy and clean, and the place boasts of butcher-shops, a washerman, one tailor marked by smallpox and one who is not; _ghi_ merchants with large round casks outside their doors; cloth merchants; blacksmiths and grain shops. in a back street--for, indeed, nushki boasts already of two streets parallel with the main thoroughfare--under a red flag hoisted over the premises is an eating house--a restaurant for natives. the merchants are mostly hindoos from sind. [illustration: jemadar and levies, nushki.] [illustration: a giant beluch recruit. (chaman.)] the land on which the shops have been built has practically been given free by the government on condition that, if required back again at a future date, the builder of the house upon the land reclaimed is entitled, as an indemnity, only to the restitution of the wood employed in the construction of the house--the chief item of expense in nushki constructions. cotton goods, blue, red and white, seem to command the greatest sale of any articles in nushki, after which the local trade consists of wheat, almonds, barley, carpets (from sistan), wool, _kanawes_ (cloth from meshed), and cloths imported from england, mostly cheap cottons; camels, dates, etc. the transit trade of nushki is, however, very considerable. the government returns of the trade that passed through nushki during the year from april, 1900, to april, 1901, showed an aggregate of rs.1,534,452, against rs.1,235,411 for the preceding twelve months, while two years before (1898-1899) the returns barely amounted to rs.728,082. last year, 1901, the trade returns made a further jump upwards in the nine months from april to the end of december, 1901, the imports amounting to rs.680,615, and the exports rs.925,190, or an aggregate of rs.1,605,805, which is very satisfactory indeed. so much has been written of late about nushki, especially in connection with the new railway, that i have very little to add. i most certainly think that, strategically and commercially, nushki is bound to become a very important centre, and, as far as trade goes, eventually to supplant quetta altogether, owing to its more convenient position. the projected railway from quetta to nushki will be a great boon to caravans, both from afghanistan and persia, because the severe cold of quetta makes it very difficult for camels to proceed there in winter, and camel drivers have a great objection to taking their animals there. for any one looking ahead at the future and not so much at the present, it seems, however, almost a pity that the newly sanctioned railway should not join nushki with shikarpur or sibi instead of quetta, which would have avoided a great and apparently almost useless detour. nushki will be found to develop so fast and so greatly that, sooner or later, it will have to be connected in a more direct line with more important trading centres than quetta. quetta is not a trading centre of any importance, and is merely a military station leading nowhere into british territory in a direct line. however, even the quetta-nushki railway is better than nothing, and will certainly have a beneficial effect upon the country it will pass through. from a military point of view the railway as far as nushki only is practically useless. it is only a distance of some ninety odd miles, through good country with plenty of water and some grazing. in england one reads in the papers and hears people talk of this railway as the quetta-sistan railway, and people seem to be under the impression that nushki is on the persian border. it should be clearly understood that from nushki to sistan (sher-i-nasrya) the distance, through practically desert country and scanty water, is over 500 miles. to my mind it is in the robat-nushki portion of that distance, where travelling is difficult, and for troops almost impossible, that a railway is mostly needed. i have gone to much trouble, and risked boring the reader, to give all the differential altitudes upon the portion of the road between robat and nushki, and it will be seen that hardly anywhere does the track rise suddenly to more than 50 or 100 feet at most. the ground could easily be made solid enough to lay a line upon; tanks for the water supply might be established at various stations, and a railway could be built with no trouble and comparatively small expense. again, for the trade of southern persia, robat would, i think, be a fairly good terminus on the perso-beluch frontier; but, in order to compete with russia in sistan and khorassan, it would be a very good thing if the government could enter into an arrangement with afghanistan, so that if such a railway were built it should strike from dalbandin across the desert up to the southern bank of the halmund, and have sher-i-nasrya in sistan for its terminus. this would do away almost altogether--except in a small section--with the difficulty of the water, and would shorten the distance by at least one quarter. the idea one often hears that it would be dangerous to construct such a railway, because it would be to open a passage for russia into india, is too ridiculous to be argued about. it might be pointed out that the russians on their side seem not to reciprocate the fear of our invading their country, for they are pushing their railways from the north as far as they can towards the persian frontier, and it is stated that a concession has been obtained by them for a railway line to meshed. but, either _via_ robat or the halmund, the principal point is that if we do not wish to lose southern persia we must push the railway with the utmost speed, at least as far as the frontier. anything, in such a case, is better than nothing, and most undoubtedly a telegraph line should be established without delay--possibly as far as the sher-i-nasrya consulate. matters are much more urgent than we in england think, and if warning is not taken we shall only have ourselves to blame for the consequences. from nushki i went to a great extent along the line which is to be followed by the future railway. it seemed very sensibly traced, avoiding expensive difficulties, such as tunnels, as much as possible, but of course this railway has to go over a good portion of mountainous country and cannot be built on the cheap. [illustration: the track between nushki and kishingi.] i left nushki on the 31st, following a limpid stream of water, and we began a zig-zag ascent of the mountains before us to the east, leaving behind to the north-east in a valley a large camp of railway engineers and surveyors. after some two miles we reached a broad valley, and we continued to rise until we had reached the pass, 4,820 feet. on the other side we descended only 75 feet to a plain--a plateau, with hill ranges rising on it, and a barrier of higher mountains behind. the vegetation here was quite different from anything we had met in the desert, and _kotor_ was plentiful--a plant, the beluch say, eaten by no animal. tamarisk seemed to flourish--it is a wonderful plant that flourishes almost everywhere. the plain was subdivided into three. in the first portion, four miles wide, and one broad, the _monguli_ shrub was abundant, and, like the _kotor_, was pronounced a useless plant, despised by all beasts. in the second plain we found more _kotor_, and in the last--very sandy--a lot of tamarisk. the ground was cut about by numerous dry water-channels, and after a very easy march of some eleven miles we came to the bungalow of kishingi, having ascended from 3,745 feet at the nushki tashil to 4,720 feet at the kishingi rest-house. we had seen a great many white pillar posts indicating the line of the future railroad. we had now quite a different type of rest-houses--two-storied, and very nice too, the two rooms being comfortably enough furnished. a caravanserai was attached to the bungalow. still going east we crossed another narrow valley, through which the railway was traced, and after going over a pass 5,250 feet we were in a valley with a lot of _johr_ growing upon it--a plant which the beluch say is deadly to man and beast alike. on the top of the pass we saw a mesjid, and several more were found on descending on the other side as well as a graveyard. a curious white mesjid was to be seen here shaped like an 8, and erected on the site where a beluch had been killed. a conical mountain to the south, the mudonek ateng, was famous, my camel driver told me, because a beluch fakir is said to have remained on the top of it for 25 days without food or water. a small stone shelter could be seen on the top of the mountain, which, they say, had been the fakir's abode during his long fast. there is very little of special interest on this well-known part of the route near quetta. we rose for several miles to a higher pass (5,700 feet), and were then on a higher flat plateau with a high range stretching half-way across it from south-south-east to north-north-west. one's attention was at once drawn to the north-east by two renowned peaks in british beluchistan, the chiltan, and further off the takatu mount. at their foot on the other side lay quetta. in front of these we had the hilti range stretching north-west to south-east, ending in mount barag on the north, and the two askhan hills. this part seemed more populated, and we left to the east the tribe of gurghena, comprising four villages at intervals of about one mile from one another. the last was situated in the wide valley to the west of the hilti range. other villages could be seen further in the valley extending towards the south, which were supplied with water by a river flowing along the valley. a few _ghedan_, or low grass huts, were scattered about the valley, and some black tents 5½ feet high, with one side raised like an awning by means of sticks. a pen for sheep was erected near them with tamarisk branches and sticks. we were very thirsty and went to one of these tents. the woman who occupied it gave us some water, but, although in abject poverty, angrily refused to accept a silver coin in payment, saying that beluch cannot be paid for hospitality. water costs nothing. god gives water for all the people alike, and, if they were to accept payment, misfortune would fall upon them. further on we passed the village of paden, with cultivation all round and plenty of water. the chief had quite an imposing residence, with a tower and castellated entrance gate, and the characteristic cylindrical mangers for horses in front of his dwelling. but although more elaborate, even this house--the largest i had seen--was absolutely devoid of windows, except for a loop-hole to the east of the tower, which i think was more for defensive purposes than for ventilation's sake. the village of kardegap was seen next, and we arrived at morad khan kella (5,500 feet) twenty-four miles from our last camp. chapter xli morad khan kella--the horrors of a camera--seven high dunes--three tracks--where the railway will be laid--a fine old tamarisk turned into a ziarat--pagoda-like rest-houses--science _versus_ comfort--kanak--afghan women--the kandahar road--how we butcher foreign names--quetta and chaman--the horse fair and durbar at sibi--arrival in calcutta--the first mishap--the death of faithful lawah--the end. there was a ruined fort at morad khan kella, and half a mile off a beluch village with two towers. each house had a separating wall extending outwardly. the beluch is wretched if he is not secluded. the first thing he ever wants to know is the exact extent of his property, then he is quite happy and can live at peace with his neighbours. as folks live more outside their houses than indoors, i suppose such a demarcation of property is necessary. moreover, people and beasts live in friendly intercourse, and no doubt the beasts, which may be the cherished pets of one man, may be just the reverse to his neighbours. the houses were rectangular and plastered over with mud. the people here were not quite so friendly as in other villages, and one began to feel the effects of nearing civilisation. somebody, too, had been at this people with a camera before, for i hardly had time to take mine out of its case before the whole population, which had collected around, stampeded in all directions in the utmost confusion. only a little child--whom the mother dropped in the hurry-scurry--was left behind, and he was a quaint little fellow clad in a long coloured gown and a picturesque red hood. we left morad khan kella (5,430 feet) again on february 2nd, along the vast plain which is to be crossed by the future railway from north to south (190°). on nearing the killi range we came again to some high sand dunes rising in a gentle gradient to 250 feet, their lowest point being to the north, the highest to the south. the plain itself on which we were travelling (stretching from south-west to north-east) rose gradually to 5,650 feet on undulating ground with a number of sand hills, seven high long dunes, and some minor ones. we then came to a flat plain slanting northwards and with high sand accumulations to the south near the hill range. a rivulet of salt water losing itself in the sand was found next, and then we had to cross a pass 6,020 feet. one obtained a beautiful view of the mustang mountains to the south-east with two plains, intersected by a high mountain range between us and them. there were three tracks from this pass. one south-east, called the mustang track, the other (north-east) the tiri road, and one, on which we were travelling, north-north-east (50°) to kanak. the very high kuh-i-maran peak could be seen in the distance to the south-east. the railway will here follow the river which, coming from mustang, flows south-west to panchepoy. then the line will proceed through the gorge in the mountains to the west. some few miles from kanak at the entrance of this gorge were curious cuts in the sand, evidently caused by water. tamarisk was most luxuriant here. [illustration: taleri (kanak). the new type of rest house between nushki and quetta.] a small graveyard and a semi-natural ziarat, formed by a much contorted centenarian tamarisk tree of abnormal proportions, were also to be seen here. the branches had been twisted to form a low doorway leading to a huge grave in the centre of the enclosing oval formed by the old tree and some other smaller ones. large round stones, as well as palm leaves, brooms, and various implements had been deposited on the grave; while suspended to the tree branches over the doorway hung brass camel-bells and tassels from camel collars. during that day we had come across a great many mesjids, either single or in sets of three, and several other ziarats of no special importance. in the valley of kanak there were a number of beluch towns and villages, two at the foot of the shalkot mountain and one in each valley to the south of the track. we made our last halt at the pagoda-like bungalow of kanak, a comfortable large, black wood verandah with a tiny dwelling in the centre, whitewashed walls, and a corrugated iron roof. the man who built it was apparently more of a mechanical engineer than an architect, and every detail is carried out on some highly scientific principle which impressed one much after the less elaborate but very practical abodes we had inhabited further east. here there was a gate suspended on long iron rods besides the usual hinges, each screw had a bolt at the end, and on proceeding inside, the ceiling was supported on very neat but most insecure-looking wooden bars no thicker than three inches. a most ingenious theory of angles kept up the heavy roof--why it did, heaven only knows! in contrast to the other bungalows, where we had no glass at all, here we had glass everywhere. one's bedroom door was two-thirds made of the most transparent panes of glass that could be got, and so were the two doors of the bath-room--one leading directly on to the outside verandah. the boards of the floor had shrunk, and between the interstices one got a bird's-eye view of what went on in the underlying room. a great deal of space and expense has been devoted to outer show and scientific detail, whereas the rooms were small, and unfortunate was the man who tried to occupy the upper room when a fire had been lighted in the chimney of the room below. the bungalow was, however, comfortably furnished, and from its spacious verandah afforded a most magnificent view all round. the high chiltan mountains above shalkot were on one side, and various picturesque hill ranges stretched across the large plane dotted with a beluch village here and there. in front of the entrance gate at the bungalow a nice pool of water reflected in its more or less limpid waters the images of over-leaning leafless trees. [illustration: the horse fair at sibi, beluchistan.] whatever remarks one may make about the construction of the bungalow it must be confessed that it photographed well. (see illustration facing page 438). the altitude of kanak was 5,730 feet. we made an early start on this our last march, steering between the handsome takatu mountain and the chiltan, between which quetta lies. we met a number of afghan women in long, loose black gowns from neck to foot, and silver ornaments round the neck and arms. they had austere but handsome features with expressive eyes. about six miles from quetta we struck the wide kandahar road at the foot of the takatu mountain. from this point we got the first glimpse of shalkot or quetta. "quetta" is the english corruption, abbreviation, or adaptation, if you please, of the word "shalkot!" one almost wished one could have trembled when one stopped for a moment to read the first notice in english on approaching the town, warning new-comers of the dreadful things that would happen to any one entering the town carrying a camera or found sketching or taking notes! it came on to snow as we approached the place, and shortly after sunset my caravan entered the neat, beautifully-kept roads of quetta, and behold, joy!--i heard for the first time since august last the whistle of a railway engine. this was on february 3rd, 1902. i met with unbounded civility and hospitality from everybody in quetta as well as at chaman, our most north-westerly point on the afghan boundary. for those who believe in the unpreparedness of england, it may be stated that, from this point, we could with ease lay a railroad to kandahar in less than three weeks. a most charming invitation from the honourable the agent to the governor-general and chief commissioner in beluchistan, col. c. e. yate, c.s.i., c.m.g., etc., took me almost directly to sibi, where the annual horse show and beluch durbar were to take place. a great many locally-bred animals were exhibited, some very good indeed. camel, horse, and cow races enlivened the show, and a very weird representation of a beluch raid was performed with much _entrain_. at the durbar, the leading chiefs were presented by col. yate with handsome gold and silver embroidered coats, waistcoats, scarves and turbans, and the scene was very impressive. one could not help again being struck by the dignified, manly behaviour of the beluch on one side, and their frank respect for the british officers,--a respect indeed well-deserved, for a finer set of men in every way than our political service officers can be found nowhere. it is a pity we have not similar men _all_ over india. from sibi i travelled by rail across country to calcutta, where i arrived at the beginning of march, having completed my journey overland--if the short crossing from baku to enzeli be excepted--from flushing (holland). [illustration: beluch boys off to the races--horse fair at sibi.] it never does to boast. i was feeling somewhat proud to have travelled such a long distance with no serious mishaps or accidents, when, much to my sorrow, sadek, my persian servant, returned one evening to the hotel dreadfully smashed up. he had been attacked in the bazaar by three englishmen of calcutta, two of whom had held him down on the ground while the third kicked him badly in the head, body and legs. it appears that these three ruffians had a grievance against persians in general, hence their heroic deed against a man who had done them no harm. it was indeed too bad to have to register that, in a journey of over 10,000 miles, the only people who had shown any barbarity were--in a sort of way--my own countrymen! much as i love beluchistan, i like india less and less each time i go there. maybe it is because i always have misfortunes while in the country. indeed, i received a last and severe blow while proceeding by train from calcutta to bombay to catch a homeward steamer. my faithful cat lawah died, suffocated by the intense moist heat in the carriage. the other two cats i just managed to keep alive by constant rubbing with ice. from bombay i despatched sadek back to teheran _via_ the gulf and bushire, and the two surviving cats and i sailed by p. & o. for england, where we all three arrived happy, safe, and sound. appendix tables showing the distance from quetta to meshed via robat, sher-i-nasrya (sistan), birjand. _distances from quetta to persian frontier._ _name of stage._ _distance._ _miles._ _yards._ quetta to girdi talab 16 -girdi to kanak (taleri) 16 -kanak to morad khan kella 24 -morad khan kella to kishingi 24 -kishingi to nushki 12 -nushki to mall 31 1,320 mall to kuchaki chah 15 1,154 kuchaki chah to padag 13 756 padag to yadgar 22 1,390 yadgar to karodak 15 970 karodak to dalbandin 16 380 dalbandin to chakal 18 190 chakal to sotag 14 220 sotag to mirui 12 1,320 mirui to chah sandan 20 220 chah sandan to tretoh 23 760 tretoh to noh kundi 21 1,660 noh kundi to mashki chah 21 1,100 mashki chah to sahib chah 28 660 sahib chah to mukak 23 660 mukak to saindak 13 880 saindak to kirtaka 18 750 kirtaka to chah mahommed 16 1,107 chah mahommed raza to raza kuh-i-malek-siah 24 368 distances from robat (beluchistan) to sher-i-nasrya (sistan). robat to hormak 18 miles. hormak to girdi-chah 32 " girdi-chah to mahommed raza chah 28 " mahommed raza chah to lutak 12 " lutak to baghak 16 " baghak to sher-i-nasrya (sistan) 8 " sher-i-nasrya to birjand, about 12 stages 210 miles. birjand to meshed, _via_ turbat-i-haidari 277 " botanical specimens collected by author in north beluchistan. (presented to the british museum of natural history.) _native name._ _agat_ lornia spinosa. sch. bip. _buju_ stipa (grass). _eshwerk_ rhazya stricta dec. _jirri × jerr_ artemisia herba-alva asso. _karkar_ fagonia aucheri boiss. _kesankur_ peganum harmala l. _kanderi_ (?) salsola. _kirri_ tamarix articulata vahl. _kul_ } _drug_ } phragmites communis trin. (a reed.) _kulich' nell_ cressa cretica l. { anabasis sp. _lara_ { tamarix sp. _pish_ nannorhops ritchieana wendl. (palm.) _sachdonne_ astragalus sp. --- moricandia sp. --- alyssum. --- cichorium (?). --- nerium oleander l. --- convolvulus sp. --- salicornia fruticosa l. --- suæda monoica forsk. [illustration: sketch map of a. henry savage landor's journey from kerman (persia) to quetta (beluchistan) giving detailed survey of sistan-nushki route by author.] index i. == vol. i. ii. == vol. ii. abal kassem khan, i. 40 abbas ali, camel man, ii. 117 abbas ali khan, british agent in birjand, ii. 104 abdulabad, i. 79 abid, ii. 19 accumulations of wealth, i. 120 across the salt desert, ii. 1-89 afghan-beluch boundary, the, ii. 377 afghan desert, ii. 309 invasion, i. 88 soldiers, ii. 101 women, ii. 440 afghanistan, ii. 316 afghans, ii. 283, 322 african black, an, i. 80 agdah, i. 371 agha baba, i. 51, 73 mahommed, i. 88 agha mahommed's invasion of persia, i. 449, 450 ahwaz, i. 340 ahwaz-isfahan track, i. 340 alabaster throne, i. 225 ala-el-mulk, governor of kerman, i. 317, 433 alamut mt., i. 69 alexandrovo, i. 3 aliabad, i. 250 ali murat, ii. 24 alliance française, i. 171 alliance israelite, i. 172 ambition, i. 126 american interests, i. 95 amir of birjand, ii. 94 sistan, ii. 157 audience of the, ii. 185 anar, i. 419 ardakan mts., i. 372 ardeshir meheban irani, i. 405 armenian archbishop, i. 282 men, i. 283 women, i. 283 armenians, i. 282 emigration of, i. 284 artillery, ii. 92 assiabo gordoneh, i. 374 astara, i. 27 astrabad, i. 29, 185 azerbaijan, i. 185 azizawad, i. 249 backhtiaris, i. 341 badjirs, (ventilating shafts), i. 380, 408 baghih, i. 428 baku, i. 5, 21 native city, i. 23 bambis, i. 365 bandan, ii. 136 bandan mts., ii. 136 bandar abbas, i. 332 trade of, i. 334 band-i-sistan, ii. 227 banking in persia, i. 139 bank-notes, i. 129, 147 banks, i. 135 banque d'escompte et de prêts, i. 134 poliakoff, i. 134 barbers, i. 309; ii. 71 baths, i. 376 bazaar, i. 35, 245, 267, 296-312; ii. 27 beetroot sugar company, the, i. 118 beggars, ii. 30 behai sect, the, i. 391 belgian customs officers, i. 155, 337 bellew, ii. 321 bellows, i. 255 beluch, ii. 102, 120 beluch-afghan boundary, ii. 308 beluch bread, ii. 325 chiefs, ii. 420-422 dancing, ii. 305 diet, ii. 417 dress, ii. 418 durbar, ii. 441 dwellings, ii. 415 fakir, ii. 433 fort, ii. 413 graves, ii. 313, 410, 422 graves, section of, ii. 402 graveyard, ii. 400, 438 greeting, ii. 276 hospitality, ii. 434 huts, ii. 434 implements, ii. 417 love and war songs, ii. 301 marriages, ii. 403 maternal love, ii. 311 mesjids (or mazit), ii. 363 music, ii. 296 ornaments, ii. 419 prisoners, ii. 324 religion, ii. 364, 423 rugs, i. 318 salutations, ii. 356 tents, ii. 310 types, ii. 350 weaving looms, ii. 416 beluchistan, i. 98 persian, i. 191 subdivisions of, ii. 381 benn, major, r. e., british consul, sistan, ii. 145, 163, 168, 169, 172 benn, bazaar, ii. 150 biddeh, i. 375 biddeshk, i. 277 birjand, ii. 90 citadel, ii. 92 city, ii. 91 commercially, ii. 93 exports, ii. 99 imports, ii. 98 industries of, ii. 97 routes from, ii. 93 ruined fortress at, ii. 90 biwarzin yarak range, i. 69 blackmail, i. 93 bohemian glass, i. 307 bokhara, amir of, i. 25 bombay amelioration society of the parsees, i. 404 brahui, ii. 365, 382 bread, i. 310 making, ii. 259 of camel men, ii. 24 british bazaar, ii. 151 flag, difficulties of hoisting the, ii. 172 goods, i. 36, 153, 166, 178; ii. 147 india navigation company, the, i. 334 legation, i. 96, 98 staff, i. 98 protection, ii. 95, 153 trade, i. 155, 161 traders, ii. 152 britishers, i. 143 in persia, i. 84 bunjar, ii. 194 buried city, seemingly, ii. 270 bushire company, i. 147 business principles, i. 120 cairns, ii. 50, 353 camel men, ii. 2, 56 devoutness of, ii. 82 riding, ii. 8 camels, ii. 70, 331, 336 canals, ii. 255, 320 capital, i. 120, 140 customs soldiers, ii. 278 caravan from kerman to quetta, ii. 159 caravan men, i. 334, 341 caravans, i. 71 caravanserais, i. 269, 310, 375; ii. 48, 91 carriage fares (resht teheran), i. 54 carpet factories, i. 313 carpets, i. 153, 314 birjand, ii. 97 kerman, i. 316, 437 herat, i. 318 sultanabad, i. 317 tabriz, i. 318 turcoman, i. 318 yezd, i. 318 caspian sea, navigation of, i. 50 steamers, i. 21 catacombs, i. 14 cats, intelligence of, ii. 40 cave dwellers of nushki, ii. 418 chagai, ii. 379 chah-herizek, i. 246 chah-i-mardan, ii. 320 chah sandan, ii. 356 chakal, ii. 362 chaman, ii. 441 chaman singh, ii. 150 chanoh, i. 370 chap, a beluch dance, the, ii. 306 chappar or post-horses, i. 259 charity, i. 89 chel-payeh, ii. 51 chiltan mt., ii. 434, 440 chinese turkestan, i. 129 chinese war, the, i. 107 christianisation, i. 391 church missionary society, i. 390 churches, i. 17 churchill, mr., acting h.b.m. consul, resht, i. 61 civilising agents, i. 167 clemenson and marsh, messrs., ii. 132 clouds, ii. 112 above the desert, ii. 80 coachmen, i. 57, 63 cocoon trade, i. 60 coin, old and new, i. 133 coins, i. 237 cold, ii. 77, 81, 410 colleges and schools, i. 294 communication, i. 139 ways of, ii. 160 compagnie d'assurance et de transport en perse, i. 48 company promoters, i. 122 compensating laws of nature, ii. 48 competition in birjand, ii. 97 trade, i. 37 confidence in foreigners, i. 123 conical temporary graves, ii. 229 consular postal service, ii. 110 consulate guard, ii. 178 hospital, ii. 179 mosque, ii. 177 consulates, i. 162 british, i. 39 consuls, ii. 108 copper, i. 276 coin, i. 130, 133 work, i. 267, 305 cossacks, i. 6, 18, 349; ii. 108, 139 crater, ii. 134 credit, ii. 101 criminals, i. 89 currency, i. 127 customs caravanserai, sistan, ii. 150 officials, ii. 166 dadi, ii. 235 dalbandin, ii. 367, 397 routes from, ii. 397 damovend mt., i. 243, 255 dancing, i. 198 darband, ii. 47 mt., ii. 42, 44 daria-i-nimak (salt lake), i. 250 dearth of coins, i. 130 deawat, i. 374 deformities, i. 208, 245 deh-i-husena, ii. 251 dentistry, i. 210 deschambe bazaar, i. 60 difficulties of traders, ii. 101 diseases, ii. 115 distances from teheran to isfahan, i. 280 drog, ii. 409 dry river beds, ii. 21, 44, 78, 125 dunes, i. 355, 373; ii. 255, 281 duties, i. 156 ears of persians, i. 208 education, i. 143, 386 of persians, i. 169 electricity of the desert, ii. 55, 70, 134 elongating effects of the desert, ii. 66 england and russia, i. 162 english education, i. 174 goods, i. 96 englishman as a linguist, the, i. 177 enzeli, i. 26, 29 bay, i. 30 eshwark, ii. 361 eshwerk, ii. 409 eternal fires, i. 22 euphrates valley railway, i. 163 european commercial houses, i. 152 europeans, i. 90 european women, i. 298, 391 exchange, i. 138 family graves, ii. 400 famine, i. 75 fanatic, ii. 289 farah rud, ii. 209 farmitan, ruins of, i. 447 farming system, i. 155 fars trading company, i. 147 farsakh, the, i. 409 fatabad, i. 456 fedeshk, the village of, ii. 82 fever, ii. 32, 48, 53, 85, 115, 117, 135, 183 fever-stricken, ii. 95 people, ii. 83 fezahbad, i. 360 fight between afghans and sistanis, ii. 162 fin palace, i. 265 fire temples, i. 399, 452 destruction of, i. 396 worshippers, i. 401 food for camels, ii. 40 foreign education, i. 172 exchange, i. 140 speculations, i. 121 foreigners in persian employ, i. 155 fort, ii. 28 fortress, ii. 135 in ruins, ii. 113 fossils, ii. 43 foxes, ii. 71 fraud, i. 113, 116 friction, ii. 95 friday, the day of rest, i. 311 fruit trees, i. 76 fuel, i. 377 garland, james loraine, i. 286, 288 gas company, the, i. 116 gat mt., ii. 355, 358 geographical frauds, i. 332 geological fault, ii. 411 georgians, i. 20 german commercial training, i. 177 goods, i. 19, 96, 180 minister, i. 95 germany, i. 95, 161, 163 ghiez, i. 279 ghilan, i. 184 province, i. 36, 59, 77 ghilan's trade, i. 36 ghul khan, ii. 235 gigantic rock inscription, i. 453 girdi, ii. 275, 277 glass, i. 255 godar-i-chah, ruins of, ii. 320 water of, ii. 321 godar-khorassunih pass, ii. 12 god-i-zirreh, ii. 322 salt deposits (afghanistan), ii. 316 golahek, i. 99 golam jelami, dr., ii. 179 golandeh, ii. 115 gold, i. 127 coins, i. 132 goldsmid, sir f., ii. 321 goldsmiths, i. 122 government guarantee, i. 341 of india, i. 161 grapes, i. 35 graveyards, ii. 109 grube, mr., i. 144 gullahbad, i. 354 gurghena tribe, ii. 434 gyabrabat, i. 269 gypsum, ii. 332, 333 hallucination, i. 65 halmund water, ii. 150 hamadan, i. 188 hammam (baths), i. 386, 440 hamun-i-halmund, ii. 138, 280 hand of prophet nazareth abbas, the, i. 264 haoz panch caravanserai, ii. 24 hardinge, sir arthur, i. 96, 221 head mullah, death of, i. 115 heat, ii. 38, 39, 51 hindoo caravanserai, kerman, i. 442 hindoo merchants, i. 426 hoarding, i. 139 hodjatabad, i. 377 holy city, i. 253 horjins (saddle-bags), i. 303 hormak, ii. 283, 285 horse fair, i. 18 hotels, i. 38, 40, 80, 81, 112 hotz and son, i. 135, 152, 154 house of commons, i. 161 houses, i. 93, 365; ii. 86, 145, 256 husena baba, ii. 253 husseinabad, ii. 148 ice store-houses, i. 266, 433 illuminations, i. 216 imperial bank of persia, i. 43, 90, 127, 135 importation of arms, i. 320 imprints, ii. 21 incorrect maps, i. 331; ii. 23, 140, 142 india, the invasion of, i. 159 indian pilgrims, ii. 110 tea traders, ii. 153 teas, ii. 156 indo-european telegraphs, i. 73, 90, 254, 263, 284 infanticide, i. 208 infantry soldiers, i. 115 inscriptions and ornamentations on chappar-khana walls, i. 415 intermarriage, ii. 65 investments, i. 124 iron, i. 276 isfahan, i. 74, 285 avenue, the, i. 321 bridge, the, i. 285 commercially, i. 330 historical paintings, i. 324 jewish quarters, i. 286 madrassah, the, i. 285, 321 palace, the, i. 285, 323 square of, the, i. 296 iskil, ii. 195 isphandiar khan, i. 343 itinerary of journey, london to baku, i. 1-20 baku to enzeli, i. 26-28 enzeli to resht, i. 29-43 resht to teheran, i. 57-80 teheran to isfahan, i. 241-280 isfahan to yezd, i. 351-380 yezd to kerman, i. 408-430 kerman to birjand, ii. 1-89 birjand to sher-i-nasrya (sistan) ii. 112-141 sher-i-nasrya to zaidan, ii. 194-232 zaidan to kuh-i-kwajah, ii. 233-250 kuh-i-kwajah to robat, ii. 251-292 robat to saindak _viâ_ god-i-zirreh (afghanistan), ii. 307-323 saindak to quetta, ii. 324-441 quetta to calcutta, ii. 441-442 calcutta to london, ii. 442-443 jaffarabad, i. 377 jamsetsji n. tata, mr., i. 407 janja mt., i. 69 "jazia" tax, the, i. 403 jewellers, i. 319 jews, i. 116, 286, 290, 384 of isfahan, features of the, i. 292 jubareh, i. 286 julfa, i. 282 europeans at, i. 284 graveyard, i. 284 kajar dynasty, i. 88 kajars, i. 221 kala ardeshir (fort), i. 445 kala-i-dukhtar or virgin fort, i. 443 kalantar of sistan, the, ii. 195, 197 kalaoteh, ii. 10 kanak, ii. 438 kanats, i. 75, 353, 355, 371, 379; ii. 28 kandahar road, ii. 440 karenghi rirri, ii. 363 karodak, ii. 408 karun river, navigation of, i. 340 kashan, i. 262, 263 kasvin, i. 48, 51, 73 manufacturer of, i. 77 rest house, i. 73 kavkas and mercury steam navigation company, i. 26 kawam-ed-douleh, i. 113 kayani, the, ii. 139 kehriz natenz peak, i. 277 _kerbas_ cloth, i. 77 kerjawa (litters), i. 247 kerman, i. 431 british consulate, i. 432 cloths and felts, i. 437 europeans at, i. 432 garrison of, i. 435 madrassah, the, i. 439 to neh, route _viâ_ khabis, ii. 1 keshk (cheese), ii. 119 kevir, the, i. 370 khafe-khanas, i. 65 khale mandelha, i. 250 khan of kelat, ii. 380, 383-394 kharkoff, i. 18 kharzan pass, i. 50 khorassan, i. 134, 185 khupah, i. 357 khuzistan, i. 190 kiafteh, i. 372 kiev, i. 12 kievo-petcherskaya monastery, i. 14 killi range, ii. 437 kirtaka, ii. 312 routes from, ii. 312 kishingi, ii. 433 kohrut, i. 271 dam, i. 270 kort, i. 72 kotor, ii. 432 kran, i. 134, 139 kuchaki chah, ii. 410 kudum, i, 51, 63 kuh-benan mts., ii. 31 kuh djupahr, i. 429 peaks, i. 428 kuh-i-buhlan pass, i. 272 kuh-i-daftan (volcano), ii. 327 kuh-i-kwajah, ii. 235-250 characteristic skulls, ii. 245 dead houses, ii. 241 gandun piran ziarat, ii. 242 graves in compartments, ii. 240 kala-i-kakaha, city of roars of laughter, ii. 238, 247 legends regarding, ii. 248 kuk fort, ii. 247 priests' house, ii. 244 tomb of thirty-eight sections, ii. 242 kuh-i-malek-siah, ii. 282 kuh-i-maran, ii. 438 kum, i. 89, 242, 252 kundi, ii. 351 kupayeh mountains, ii. 7 kurdistan, i. 189 rugs, i. 317 kurus peak, ii. 10 kushkuhyeh, i. 423 lahr kuh, ii. 293 lalun mines, i. 117, 119 langherut, i. 256 languages, i. 175 lascelles, sir frank, i. 151 laskerisha, ii. 309 lawah, ii. 27 cat, ii. 442 lawah, tracks from, ii. 27 lawah's trade, ii. 28 lead, ii. 327 leather tanneries, i. 254 legation guards, i. 100 legations, i. 95 leker kuh range, ii. 21 lenkoran, i. 27 levantines, i. 61 lingah, i. 337 loaf-sugar, i. 37 loan, six per cent., i. 152 london society for promoting christianity amongst the jews of isfahan, i. 286 stock exchange, i. 137 luft-ali-khan, i. 450 luristan, i. 190 lynch brothers, i. 342 maclean incident, the, i. 156 macmahon, major a. h., ii. 321, 351, 378, 412 mcgregor, sir charles, ii. 321, 351 mahala-giabr, i. 449 mahommed ali brothers, ii. 151 azim khan brothers, ii. 152 azin, a descendant of the kayani, ii. 239, 252 mahommed hayab, ii. 152 raza chah, ii. 262, 310 mahommerah, i. 339 trade of, i. 344 maiden's tower, baku, i. 23 maladministration, i. 131 malayer and borujird districts, i. 189 malcolm, rev. napier, i. 389 malek-siah, ziarat, (where three countries meet), ii. 287 mall, ii. 410 marble, ii. 345 market worth cultivating, ii. 157 massacre of jews, i. 291 matsuma fatima, i. 253 mazanderan, i. 185 meftah-el-mulk, i. 103 meftah-es-sultaneh, i. 102 meh-rab shrine, i. 264 meiboh, i. 375 menzil, i. 68, 69 bridge, i. 51 meshed horses for remounts, ii. 148 meshed-i-sher, i. 29 meshed, pilgrimage to the sacred shrine of, ii. 95 track to, ii. 73 mesjids, ii. 403, 433, 438 miletor, mr., belgian customs officer, sistan, ii. 166 military drill, i. 112 officers, ii. 92, 103 political service, ii. 168 miller, mr., russian vice-consul for sistan, ii. 149 minerals, i. 188 mint, the, i. 128 mirage, i. 260, 355, 373; ii. 356 mirjawa, track to, ii. 312 mirui, ii. 359 mirza hassan ashtiani, i. 150 mirza-taki-khan, assassination of, i. 265 missionaries, i. 85, 281 missionary work, i. 389 misstatements, ii. 166 model farm, i. 118 moisture, i. 59 mol-ali, i. 70 money, i. 124 morad-khan kella, ii. 435, 436 mosques, i. 93, 253, 264, 266, 267, 285, 296 motor cars, i. 239 mount sofia, i. 284 moving pictures, i. 233 mudir school, i. 387 mudonek ateng mt., ii. 433 muht, ii. 113 mukak, ii. 328 mullahs, i. 44, 89, 92, 124, 150, 170, 253, 285 murchikhar, i. 278 murd-ap, i. 31, 50 mushir-ed-doulet, minister of foreign affairs, i. 104, 106 mushki-chah, ii. 345 mushroom-shaped mount, ii. 286 music, i. 435 mustang track, ii. 437 muzaffer-ed-din shah, i. 138 naiband mt., ii. 56, 58, 78 village of, the, ii. 57 villagers, clothes of, ii. 68 nao gombes, i. 369 naphtha, i. 190 napier, ii. 321 nasirabad, ii. 139 nassirabad, i. 261 native merchants in birjand, ii. 98 natives, troublesome, ii. 61 naus, mr., i. 155 nawar-chah, ii. 279 new consulate buildings, ii. 174 nharui, ii. 382 nickel coins, i. 131 nihilists, i. 18 northern persia, i. 53, 145, 161 nose of persians, i. 210 nushki, ii. 395, 414-432 bazaar, ii. 428 beluch durbar at, ii. 420 beluch tribes near, ii. 414 caravanserais, ii. 427 health of, ii. 427 hospital, ii. 427 projected railway, ii. 429 tashil, ii. 425 tashildar, ii. 425 trade of, ii. 428 traders in, ii. 396 route, ii. 96, 153, 367 advice to traders, ii. 371 concession to traders by the, ii. 370 evolutions of the, ii. 376 first to travel from london to quetta by the, ii. 371 forwarding agents by the, ii. 370 game on the, ii. 397 pilgrims by the, ii. 372 post offices on the, ii. 369 railway rebate on freight for goods by the, ii. 370 rest houses on the, ii. 368 trade of the, ii. 147 traffic on the, ii. 368 travellers by the, ii. 371 water supply on the, ii. 369 oasis, ii. 56 observation, i. 174 officials, i. 113; ii. 86 oil wells, i. 20, 22 opium, i. 435 smoking, ii. 29, 83 effects of, ii. 84 orphans, college for, i. 104 padag, ii. 409 paichinar, i. 70 paintings, i. 229, 236 palawan (strong man), the, ii. 329 palm-trees, ii. 28, 136 parsee, british subjects in yezd, i. 405 ceremonies, i. 400 generosity, i. 407 national assembly, i. 405 priests, i. 400 school, i. 388 traders, i. 404 parsees of india, i. 173 of kerman, i. 443 fire of the, i. 402 or guebre (zoroastrians) of yezd, i. 394-407 zoroastrians, i. 383, 449 pasand khan, ii. 397 passangun, i. 257 passports, i. 31 patang kuh, ii. 254 pearls, i. 237 persecution, i. 292-295 persian army, the, i. 111 cats, ii. 6 cossack regiment, i. 115, 222 crowds, ii. 110 customs duty, ii. 167 dancing, ii. 304 dinner, i. 456, 458 expedition against beluch, i. 435 gulf, i. 164 trading company, i. 135 imperial government, obligations of the, i. 138 justice, ii. 189 markets, i. 138, 167 music, ii. 302 musical instruments, ii. 303 officials, i. 102 question, the, i. 98 soldiers, i. 434 tea market, ii. 154 telegraphs, i. 352, 363, 371 the, as a soldier, i. 111 wedding, i. 193 women's dress, i. 211 jewels, i. 213 out-of-door dress, i. 213 persia's condition, i. 109 perso-beluch frontier, ii. 343 petroleum express, i. 5 phillot, major, h.b.m.'s consul, kerman, i. 432; ii. 169 phonograph, ii. 178 pigeon towers, i. 352 pilgrimage for sterile women, i. 455 pilgrims, i. 15; ii. 73 pilgrims, indian, ii. 95 pipes, i. 308 piri bazaar, i. 32 road, ii. 437 pish, ii. 358 pits, ii. 118 plague, fears of the, ii. 374 plucky englishwoman, ii. 173 policy of drift, i. 164, 340 political service, ii. 108 polygamy, i. 192 portraits of sovereigns, i. 235 post horses, i. 267, 270, 409, 418 offices, ii. 293 stations, i. 63 practical mission work, i. 289 praga, i. 7 preece, mr., british consul-general, isfahan, i. 279, 286, 348 preparing bodies for interment, ii. 401 prime minister, i. 223 princes, i. 67 prisoners, ii. 426 protection against heat, ii. 38 protest, a, i. 150 punctuality, i. 125, 242 pusht-i-kuh, i. 190 queen victoria's portrait, i. 232, 235 quetta, ii. 440 quivering minarets, the, i. 328 rabino, mr., i. 130, 136, 144 rafsenju, routes from, i. 425 rahdari tax, ii. 167 railway, i. 91 to kandahar, ii. 441 travelling, i. 20, 55 railways needed, ii. 148, 169 rain, ii. 112, 286 redress, i. 277; ii. 153 regheth, ii. 330, 334, 358 registan, ii. 395 reliability of sistanis, ii. 161 religious education, i. 172 removals, i. 100 resht, i. 35, 44 governor-general of, i. 62 respect of natives, ii. 145, 178 rest houses, i. 64 in north beluchistan, ii. 294 rice, i. 61, 77 road concession, the, i. 242 robat (beluchistan) frontier post, ii. 291 garrison needed at, ii. 170 robbers, i. 270, 273, 277, 361, 410; ii. 73, 122, 135, 352 rock habitations, ii. 15, 57 sculpture at shah abdul hazim, i. 244 rostoff, i. 18 routes, ii. 73 across the salt desert, ii. 46 royal college, teheran, i. 170 rudbar, i. 68 ruins, i. 351, 382; ii. 28 russia, i. 163 russian bank, i. 42, 137, 188 competition, i. 48 custom house, i. 2 goods, i. 53; ii. 147 government, i. 129 grant, i. 346 influence, i. 343 line of steamers, i. 337 loan, i. 127 market, i. 167 protective tariff, ii. 156 railway travelling, i. 7 road, the, i. 47, 50 capital employed in construction of, i. 52 tolls, i. 54 roads in persia, i. 162 tariff, i. 161 tea market, ii. 155 the, i. 143 vice-consul, ii. 172 vice-consulate, ii. 149 russia's aim in the persian gulf, i. 332 commercial success, i. 182 trade, i. 145, 155 rustamabad, i. 64 rustam's house, ii. 264 sadek, i. 241, 243; ii. 442 sahib chah, ii. 334, 337 sahlabad, ii. 120 saïd khan, ii. 295 saigsi, i. 354 saindak mt., ii. 307, 324, 326 salaam to mecca, i. 257 salambar mt., i. 69 salare afkham, h. e., i. 40 salt and sand, i. 427 deposits, ii. 24, 119, 124 desert, ii. 36 journey across, ii. 1-89 incrustations, ii. 280 sediments, ii. 21 stream, ii. 75, 78, 129 sanctuaries, i. 89 sand bar, i. 374 barchans, ii. 355 formation of, ii. 318 deposits, i. 422 sand dunes, ii. 408 hills, i. 377; ii. 290, 315, 355, 407 mounts, ii. 260 movement and accumulations, ii. 271 storm, ii. 24 sara mountains, i. 361 sar-es-iap (no. 1), ii. 9 (no. 2), ii. 14 sar-i-yezd, i. 410 sar-tip, the, ii. 162 sayids, i. 207, 368 sefid-rud (river), i. 51, 63 serde-kuh (mts.), i. 414 servants, i. 86, 241, 420 shah-abdul-azim, i. 91, 118, 244 shah, an audience of the, i. 219 shah rud (river), i. 70 shah's anderum or harem, i. 238 automobile, i. 218 banqueting room, i. 229 birthday, i. 216 country residences, i, 238 favourite apartments, i. 230 jewelled-globe room, i. 232 museum, i. 227 palace, i, 225 son, the, i. 239 stables, i. 89 shai, i. 131, 133 shehrawat, i. 371 shela (the salt river), ii. 279 shemsh, i. 418 sher-i-nasrya (sistan), ii. 140, 142 sher-i-rustam (rustam's city), ii. 263-269 shiraz wines, i. 191 shirkuh mt., i. 373 shops, i. 35 siberia, i. 166 sibi horse fair, ii. 441 silk, i. 60, 77, 409 carpets, i. 317 silver, i. 127 coin, drain of, i. 128 purchasing power of, i. 128 coins, i. 132 sin sin, i. 260 sistan, i. 185 articles saleable in, ii. 158 british influence in, ii. 161 commercially, ii. 157 exports from, ii. 159 vice-consulate, history of, ii. 171 sistan's health and prevalent diseases, ii. 180 transition, ii. 161 small-pox, i. 70 société de chemins de fer et des tramways de perse, i. 91 prêts de perse, i. 143 soh, i. 276 soldiers, i. 222 sorag, ii. 409 sotag, ii. 361 "spear of the sultan," the, ii. 352 speculators, i. 147 stable of rustam's legendary horse, ii. 268 stars and planets, ii. 36, 114 state bank of st. petersburg, i. 144 statistics, i. 62 stern, dr., i. 287 stone pillar, ii. 314 stuart, miss, i. 289 sugar, ii. 98 sultan mts., ii. 351 summer residences, i. 99 terraces at warmal, ii. 255 sunge (transit due), ii. 395 sunsets, i. 251; ii. 274 in the desert, ii. 79 superstition, ii. 365 surmah, i. 206; ii. 327 sweets, i. 302 sykes, major, ii. 159, 208, 237 tabriz, i. 186 tadji, i. 213 takatu mts., ii. 434, 440 tamarisk (kirri), ii. 262, 312, 353, 359, 361, 438 teeth of persians, i. 209 teheran, i. 79, 87, 184 amusements in, i. 85 etiquette in, i. 85 european quarters in, i. 88 foreigners in, i. 86 "place du canon," the, i. 88 social sets, i. 85 "top meidan," in, i. 90 tejerish, i. 99 tek-chand, ii. 151 telegraph needed, ii. 169 telegraphs, i. 98, 139 temporary consulate, ii. 174 territorial rights, i. 168 thefts, ii. 166 theological college, i. 254, 264 thirst, ii. 54 time, i. 125, 142 tobacco, i. 37 tobacco corporation, the, i. 148 tokrajie mts., ii. 31 toman, i. 58, 134 tower, ii. 45 of silence, i. 378 trade caravanserais, i. 442; ii. 97 increase in, i. 36 tramways, i. 91 transcaspia, i. 128 treasuring of capital, i. 121 treaties, sanads and engagements with the khan of khelat and other beluch chiefs, ii. 381-394 trench, major g. chevenix, ii. 144, 169, 172 tretoh, ii. 353 tribal feuds, ii. 396 twilight, i. 251; ii. 80, 275 types of natives, i. 354, 367; ii. 16, 63, 257 umar-al-din khan, a british trader, ii. 97-99 vanity, i. 122 vegetation, i. 59, 62 veziroff gazumbek, russian agent, birjand, ii. 107 volcanic formation, i. 71; ii. 128 region, ii. 13 votka, i. 19 walton, m.p., mr. joseph, i. 161 warmal, ii. 255 warsaw, i. 5 water, i. 62, 258, 278, 355, 374, 382; ii. 48, 51, 59, 75, 77, 120, 126, 277, 326, 334, 336, 353, 357, 362, 366, 369 water-melons, i. 260 water-skins, ii. 72 weapons, i. 236, 319 weaving-loom, i. 366 webb-ware, c.i.e., captain f. c., political assistant at chagai, ii. 147, 170, 357, 367 well for unfaithful women, i. 202 wheat from arabistan, i. 342 whirlwinds, i. 361 white, captain, ii. 169 white, dr. henry, i. 392 wife, price of a beluch, ii. 404 wind, ii. 75, 81, 408 wind of 120 days, the, ii. 150 windmills, ii. 136, 149 witte, mr. de, i. 144 wolves, ii. 15, 34, 71 woman's society, i. 84 women, i. 428, 429; ii. 66, 137 anatomically, i. 205 seclusion of, i. 193 work of mission among jews, i. 288 yadgar, ii. 408 yate, c.s.i., c.m.g., colonel c. e., agent to governor-general of beluchistan, ii. 441 yezd, i. 381 citadel, i. 385 european community, i. 391 government of, i. 385 governor of, i. 385 health of, i. 390 hospital, i. 390 population of, i. 383 trade, i. 383 zagar mengal tribe, ii. 395 zaidan, ii. 260 history of, ii. 219-232 architecture, ii. 226 bellew, ii. 222, 225, 230 canals, ii. 227 canals dry, ii. 232 caravanserai at kala-i-fath, ii. 231 deshtak, ii. 222 devastation of, ii. 220, 221 goldsmid, sir f., ii. 223, 230 jalalabad, ii. 222 kayani kings, ii. 231 kayani maliks, ii. 221 nad-i-ali, ii. 222 nadir shah, ii. 231 peshawaran, ii. 222, 223, 225 pulki, ii. 222 rud-i-perian, ii. 228 safavi dynasty, ii. 221 shah rukh shah, ii. 220 taimur lang, ii. 221 the great city, ii. 187, 194-232 arabic inscriptions, ii. 215-217, 223 chir-pir or tomb of 40 saints, ii. 214 citadel, ii. 206 covered passages, ii. 206 curiosities found at, ii. 196 extensive graveyard, ii. 211 goldsmid, sir f., ii. 202 graves, ii. 214 high wall and towers, ii. 205 ice store-houses, ii. 203 imposing citadel, ii. 204 kala-i-fath, ii. 194, 213, 220, 226, 230, 231 lash yuwain, ii. 194, 209, 226 length and breadth, ii. 208 length of, ii. 209, 220, 232 mil-i-zaidan pillar, ii. 201 objects found at, ii. 215 oil lamps excavated at, ii. 217 outer towers, ii. 203 protecting fortresses, ii. 220 remains of double wall, ii. 210 rud-i-nasru, ii. 213 canal, ii. 208 sand accumulations, ii. 213 strange image excavated at, ii. 218 sykes, major, ii. 202, 228 tablets, ii. 216 unroofed structures, ii. 211 wall, continuation of, ii. 207 zein-ed-din tower, i. 264 zemahlabad fort, ii. 155 zen-u-din, i. 413 ziarats, ii. 337, 352, 356, 398, 423, 438 ziegler & co., i. 134, 152, 318 zil-es-sultan, i. 323, 349 an audience of, i. 350 zirreh, ii. 280 zorap, ii. 270 zoroaster, i. 396 zoroastrian religion, i. 398 the end. richard clay and sons, limited, london and bungay. transcriber's notes: 1. obvious punctuation and printing errors repaired. 2. format of: "(altitude," "per cent.," "a.m.," "p.m.," "a.d.," "b.c." and "s.s." have been standardised. 3. this text contains diacritical marks and symbols, where possible these are represented in the text by the following symbols. diacritical mark above below ------------------------- ----- -----macron (straight line) [=x] [x=] 