AFGHAU- is termed in India, commences on the Malabar coast in NISTAUN. May, but is later and more moderate in Mysore; further north it commences in June. The countries under the hills of Cashmeer, and those under Hindoo Coosh have all their share of the rains, which diminish as we proceed west. At the close of July or beginning of August, the monsoon appears in clouds and showers at Peshawer, and in the countries of Bungush and Khuttuk, but is less felt in the valley of the Caubul river. The winter rain and snow which extend over all the countries west of the Indus as far as the Hellespont, are of great importance to agriculture. The spring rain falls at different times, during a period, in some places, of a fortnight; in others, a month; it extends over Afghaunistaun, Toorkistaun, and other countries. cold of winter increases at every stage, and the heat of AFGHAU The prevailing winds throughout the whole of the Winds. secure retreat. On the whole, the climate is dry, and little subject to rain, clouds, and fog, and may be pronounced favourable to the human constitution, though it may be considered as doubtful whether the diseases of Afghaunistaun are not more fatal than those of India. They are, however, few in number. Fevers and agues are common in autumn. The small-pox is remarkably prevalent, and carries off multitudes, though inoculation has long been practised by the Mollahs and Syuds in the most remote parts of the kingdom. Opthalmia is also frequent. The climate of Afghaunistaun varies exceedingly in different places; which is, doubtless, chiefly owing to the different degrees of elevation of different tracts, the direction of the most prevalent winds, and other local circumstances. The low parts are hot, the middle temperate, and the elevated cold; but the average heat of the year does not reach that of India, nor the cold that of England. Mr. Elphinstone arrived in the plain of Peshawer, which is surrounded on all sides, except the east, with hills, on the 23d of February, 1809, when the weather was cold at night but agreeable in the day, but at no time sultry. The ground was covered with hoar frost in the morning till the 8th of March, but by the middle of the month the sun was unpleasantly hot by eight in the morning. Its intense- ANIMALS. It is doubtful whether there are any Animals. ness gradually increased, but was alleviated by occa- lions in Afghaunistaun, although they are so frequent sional showers till the first week of May, when the in the neighbouring country of Persia. Tigers are wind. became heated. Some of the early trees were found in the woody regions. Wolves are common, and budding in February, and the grass springing up. By particularly formidable in the winter, when they form the first week in March, peach and plum trees began into troops, and are very destructive to the cattle, to blossom, and other kinds of vegetation rapidly fol- sometimes even attacking men. Hyænas make great lowed, and before the end of March the trees were in havoc among the sheep. Bears are common in the full foliage; early in April the barley was in ear, and woody mountains, but seldom quit their haunts, exwas cut the first week in May. The heat was fre- cept when tempted by sugar-cane plantations. There quently intense, even in the night, from that time till are two species, the black bear of India, and another the beginning of June, and attained its height by the of a dirty white, or yellowish colour. Deer of various 23d of that month. Alternate changes were to be kinds abound in the mountains; the antelope is found expected till the middle of July, when, he was in- but rarely in the plains. The deer which the Persians formed, a cool wind would set in from the east, and be call Pauzen is the most remarkable species, on account succeeded by cool and cloudy weather. The last half of the size of its horns, and the strong, though not unof September was always cold, and reckoned a winter pleasant smell of its body. A few other wild animals month. But the cold in winter is not very great, and also exist, and monkies are met with in the northsnow has been only once seen according to the recol- eastern parts. lection of the oldest inhabitants. Some of the Indian plants remain in leaf all the year. In 1809, when the summer was reckoned a cool one, the greatest height of the thermometer in the shade was estimated at 120°, and its greatest depression during the year at 25°. Bunnoo appears to be as hot as Peshawer, and the Esaukhail perhaps more so; Khost and Dour are probably cooler. The Murwut country varies, but is generally hot; the same may be said of Largee. The winter of Damaun being colder than that of Hindostaun, is more agreeable; frost is common in the morning, and the thermometer often below the freezing point at day-break; but the summer is intensely hot. The nights are nearly as warm as the days, and the inhabitants wet their clothes before they go to sleep. The countries in the range of Solimaun are generally cold. The heat of Sind is equal to that of Damaun. În proceeding east from Candabar, whose climate is hot, the Of domestic animals, excellent horses are bred in some districts; those of Heraut are considered as particularly fine. The ponies of Baumiaun, called yaubons, are in high esteem; but, in general, the horses of the Afghaun dominions are not very good, with the exception of those produced in the province of Bulkh. Mules and asses are employed, but the camel is the animal in most frequent use for carriage. The dromedary is found in the dry and sandy plains. Buffaloes are not uncommon, and oxen are made use of to plough all over the Caubul dominions. Sheep the great stock of the pastoral tribes, are remarkable for their fat. Goats abound in the mountains, and some have singularly long and curiously twisted horns. The Afghauns have also excellent greyhounds and pointers, bearing a striking resemblance to our own. The longhaired species of cats, called boorauk, are exported in great numbers. Eirds. AFGIAU Of birds, besides the ordinary species of inferior NISTAU N. consideration, as pigeons, doves, crows, sparrows, a few cuckoos and magpies (which latter abound in the cold districts), there are two or three species of eagles, of which the gentle falcon is reckoned the best. The shauheen is taught to soar over the falconer's head and strike the quarry as it rises. The chirk is taught to strike the antelope, to fasten on its head, and retard it till the greyhounds approach. Herons, cranes, storks, wild ducks, geese, swans, &c. are common. Reptiles are not in general remarkable. The snakes are innocent; the scorpions of Peshawer large and venemous, but their bite is seldom fatal. Fish Locusts. Little is known of the fish. There are turtles and tortoises. Famines have been sometimes produced by immense flights of locusts, which, however, appear but occasionally. Mosquitoes are less troublesome than in India, except in Seestaun. Bees are common. Vegetables. Many of our European trees are common in Afghaunistaun, and most of our finest fruits grow wild. Pines are perpetually to be met with, one species of which, called the jelgoozeh, is remarkable for cones larger than artichokes, and containing seeds resembling pistachio nuts. Oaks, cedars, and cypresses are also numerous in the mountains, also the wallnut and wild olive. On the plains, the commonest wild trees are the mulberry, the tamarisk, and the willow, the plane and the poplar. Wild grapes are also frequent. English flowers, of almost every kind, are to be seen. Minerals, Gold is to be found in the streams that flow from the Hindoo Coosh range of mountains. Silver exists in small quantities, in the country of the Caufirs. There are mines of lead and antimony mixed in the country of the Afreedees and Hazaurehs; and of lead alone, in Upper Bungush and other provinces. Iron is to be met with in the country of the Vizeerees and other parts, and indications of copper. Sulphur is found in Bulkh and Seeweestaun. Saltpetre is made every where from the soil. Alum is got from the clay of Callabaugh, and orpiment is found in Bulkh and the country of the Hazaurehs. GOVERNMENT.-The Afghaun nation consists of an assemblage of commonwealths or tribes, having each a government of its own, formed into one state by the supreme authority of a common sovereign, Their descent is traced to Kyse Abdooresheed, from whose four sons spring their principal distinctions. The tribes continue in a considerable degree unmixed, but each is branched out into numerous sub-divisions. The term Ooloos is applied to a whole tribe, of whom the chief is called Khaun. He is chosen from the oldest family; in some tribes the election is vested in the people, but generally it rests with the king, who can remove a khaun at pleasure, and substitute one of his relations. This gives occasion to many disputes, and to much intrigue, and has not unfrequently produced civil wars. The head of a subordinate division is elected by the oldest family belonging to it, excepting in the lowest sub-division, where the supremacy naturally devolves upon the most aged and venerable individual. The internal government of the tribes is conducted by the khauns and assemblies, called Jeergas, consisting of the heads of divisions. Each ooloo and division again holds its own subordinate jeergas. Occasionally the khaun acts without consulting the jeerga. This, how ever, is rather the model of the government, than a AFGHAUreal description of it as it is found in operation, for the NISTAUN. different clans often act independently, though they acknowledge their superiors. Sometimes the whole constitution is overturned; the khaun establishes an arbitrary jurisdiction; or, more frequently the chiefs, and even each family, rejects its dependance, which is sometimes partially remedied by the selection of some temporary magistrate. "Throughout all the tribes," Mr. Elphinstone remarks, "the clannish attachment of the Afghauns, unlike that of the Highlanders, is rather to the community than to the chief; and though, in their notion of their khaun, the idea of a magistrate set up for the public good, is certainly mixed with that of a patriarchal and natural superior, yet the former impression will always be found to be the strongest. Accordingly, the power of life and death, so commonly exercised by chiefs in the Highlands, when clanship was in its vigour, is scarcely ever possessed by an Afghaun khaun; and it is but rarely that the personal interest of the khaun, would lead a tribe to take any step inconsistent with its own honour or advantage." The tribes are frequently in a state of actual war with each other, or of suspended hostility: the Eusofzyes are never at peace. They require the service of a foot soldier for every plough, or of a horseman for every two; a fine is imposed for non-attendance. The chiefs retain the same stations of command in war as in peace. The fighting men receive no pay; but in some of the tribes, if a horse is killed the owner receives the price from a fund formed by fines, and by a tax on the tribe. Almost every sub-division provides for the maintenance of moollahs or Mahommedan priests, and for the reception of guests. The general law of the kingdom is that of Mahomet, which in the oolooses is adopted in civil actions, but the code applied to the internal administration of criminal justice, is the Pooshtoonwulle, or usage of the Afghauns, a rude and necessarily uncertain system, which opens the door for the admission of disputes and retaliations of every description. If mediation and persuasion do not avail to settle differences, the injured person is left to pursue his own revenge; in a few tribes, the parties are compelled either to submit to arbitration or to quit the ooloos. Criminal trials are conducted before a jeerga composed of khauns, mulliks or elders, assisted by moollahs and grave persons of inferior rank. Petty offences are settled by the jeerga of the village or sub-division where they occur. A jeerga is assembled by the local chief, or other respectable person, and when the assembly is met they take their seats on the ground, the principal man, after a short prayer, repeating a Pushtoo verse, which imports that "events are with God, but deliberation is allowed to man." A penalty is affixed to every offence, except among the Berdooraunees, where the jeerga determines it. It always includes a public submission and apology; and in serious cases, a certain number of young women are consigned over in marriage to the person aggrieved and his relations. After making some shew of delivering up the criminal to the accuser, the parties are directed to salute each other with the usual address of Salaum alaikum, 66 peace be unto thee," and to partake of each other's hospitality. The jeergas are useful institutions, and usually conduct themselves with tolerable hospitality; and instead of being scenes of noisy and tumultuous AFGIAU. debate, as might be supposed, they are commonly reNISTAUN. markable for order and attraction, by a display of natural eloquence. Education and language. Among the Afghauns, where parts of two sub-divisions live in the same village, though each has a head of its own, they hold their jeergas in common, and act as one. A division which quits its ooloos may be adopted into another, it being part of the Afghaun rules of hospitality, to treat them in such cases with marked attention, and to assign them lands for settlement, and their chief has a place at the principal jeerga. The king is the natural head of the tribe of Dooraunee, which is the most powerful and most civilized in the nation. His authority extends to a superintendance over the whole kingdom, and to levying troops for the common defence. All the foreign provinces of the state, and the Taujiks, who inhabit many of the plains, are under his sway: in consequence of which he is enabled to collect a revenue and maintain an army independently of the tribes. Hence results some distinction of interests between the king and the nation, and a difference of opinion respecting the extent of his powers. One or two tribes are independent of his government. EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE.-In childhood the Afghauns are committed to the instructions of a moollah, or priest, where they are taught passages of the Koran, and in some places the whole of it in Arabic. The opulent keep moollahs in their houses. In every village and camp there is a schoolmaster, who is maintained by an allotment of land and by contributions from his scholars. In towns there are regular schools. Establishments are formed at Peshawer and other places, for the completion of the education of those who are to be brought up as moollahs in logic, law, and theology; and the promotion of learning is accounted a good work in the sight of God. The Afghaun language is called Pushtoo. The words connected with religion, government, and science, are mostly introduced from the Arabic, through the Persian. The Afghauns use the Persian alphabet, and generally write in the Nushk character. Their own peculiar sounds are expressed by adding particular marks to the nearest Persian letter. The Pushtoo is a manly language, though rough; their chief authors are of modern date, not more than one hundred and fifty years: their literature has been derived from the Persians. Rehmaun is their most popular poet; though Mr. Elphinstone considers Khooshhaul as far superior. He was a khaun, of the tribe of Khuttuk, and his life was spent in struggles against the great mogul: this has given a martial air and spirit to his compositions. They have also historians and writers on theology and law. Their way of studying the sciences is perfectly methodical; so that if one learned person meets another, with whom he is unacquainted, he will inquire of him what sciences he has studied, and what books he has read; to which the other will reply, "up to so and so," which will be at once understood, as all books are read in a fixed order. Some of the Afghaun kings have given great encouragement to letters. Ahmed Shauh used to hold an assembly of the learned once a week, which practice was retained by Timour Shauh, and is still continued. Both these monarchs composed Persian poems. Agriculture. AGRICULTURE, AGRICULTURE, Afghaunistaun comprises five classes of cultivators; namely, proprietors, who culti- AFG vate their own land; tenants, who rent lands either in NIST money, or for a fixed proportion of the produce; buzgurs, or farmers, resembling the metayers of France; hired labourers and villains, who cultivate their lords' lands without wages. Land in general is very equally divided in this country. In most places there are two harvests in the year; one, sown in the end of autumn, is reaped in summer, consisting of wheat, barley, addus, and nukhod, with peas and beans; the other sown in spring and reaped in autumn, consisting of rice, arzun, Indian corn, &c. In the coldest districts there is only one harvest, sown in spring and reaped in autumn. In the country of the Kharotees their only harvest is sown at the end of one autumn and gathered at the commencement of another. Another kind of cultivation is considered important, comprehending melons of different kinds, cucumbers, pumpkins, and gourds. Wheat is the great grain of the country, and the most common food of its inhabitants; barley is given to horses. Turnips are cultivated, and used to feed cattle. The palma Christi, or castor-oil plant, is every where common, and is called budangeer. The assafoetida plant is wild in the western hills. Tobacco is produced in many parts. Lucerne is among the most important articles of the husbandry of the west. The lands are usually watered by irrigation, by means of embankments and channels, and a sort of conduit, called cauraiz. Wells and ponds are seldom used, except for drinking. The plough is usually drawn by oxen; in some places by horses; and in a few by camels and asses. The transportation of the grain and of manure is by asses, bullocks, or camels. TRADE AND COMMERCE.-It is a remarkable feature Trad in the towns of this country, that the majority of the com population does not consist of Afghauns. No Afghaun ever keeps a shop or exercises any handicraft trade: the Taujiks chiefly follow these occupations, especially in the west; and in the east, the Hindkees, a people of Indian origin. They are divided into bankers, merchants, artisans, and labourers. The banking business. falls principally into the hands of the Hindoos, owing to the prohibition contained in the Koran against Mussulmans taking interest. There are no merchants of very large fortune, though commerce is by no means held in disrepute, and though its chief agents are considered as belonging to the upper classes of society. The merchants are generally sober in their habits, and, from their intercourse abroad, enlightened men, in comparison with others. No man of any rank would scruple to sell a horse, a sword, or other article, which he did not require, though regular trade would be deemed degrading to the great. They are divided into thirty-two trades, each of which has its cudkhoda, or chief, who manages all transactions between the trade and the government. They are not taxed, but are liable to grievous exactions, particularly to the furnishing shops for the camp market. When the king marches from any city, an order is issued to the cudkhodas to furnish a shop of each trade to accompany the court to the next considerable town; in this case the artificers are not paid by the work, being regarded as the king's servants, only a sum of money is given, when they are dismissed, in lieu of payment, which, after passing through the hands of the courtiers and the head of the trade, is a very NISTAUN. GHAU. inadequate compensation to the artificer. This op- &c. " you are welcome, may you often come," &c. AFGHAU- The transportation of merchandize in an inland country like this, unaccommodated with practicable roads or navigable rivers, is, of course, by means of camels. The merchants often accompany their own merchandise to its place of destination, and sell it themselves. When the place is situated out of the haunts of the wandering tribes, the trade is conducted by animals belonging to the merchants and carriers of the cities, which are formed into caravans: and thus the foreign trade is carried on. The chief foreign trade is with India, Persia, and Toorkistaun; a cloth called ussul toos, made of shawl wool, is imported from Tibet, and the ports of Sind maintain some intercourse with Arabia. The exports to India are horses and ponies, furs. shawls, Mooltaun chintz, madder, assafœtida, tobacco, almonds, pistachio nuts, walnuts, hazel nuts, and fruits. The imports from India are coarse cotton cloths, muslins, and other fine manufacturies, silken cloth and brocade, indigo, ivory, chalk, bamboos, wax, tin, sandal wood, and almost all the sugar used in the country. Spices constitute a large importation trade. The exports to Toorkistaun are chiefly articles previously imported from India, and the principal imports are horses, gold, and silver. To Persia, the exports are shawls, indigo, Heraut carpets, Mooltaun chintz, brocades, muslins, &c., and the imports raw silk of Gheetaun and Resht, silken stuffs manufactured at Yezd and Keshaun, cottons of various colours, Indian chintz, &c. Coin and bullion also are among the imports. A great deal of internal trade is carried forward. From the western provinces to those in the east are conveyed woollens, furs, madder, cheese, cooroot, and some manufactures; from the east to the west are carried the longees, silk and chintz of Mooltaun, the mixed silk and cotton cloths of Bahawulpoor, indigo, and cotton. Iron is exported from the mountainous neighbourhoods of Hindoo Coosh and the range of Solimaun; salt from another range; alum and sulphur from Calla Burgh; horses from Bulkh; and cocoa nuts and dates from Belochestaun. MANNERS.-The most obvious division of the Afghaun nation is into the inhabitants of houses and of tents: the latter are chiefly found in the west, and compose probably half the population; but the former greatly preponderate in the nation. The commonest house is built of unburned brick, one story high, and roofed with a terrace supported by beams, or with low cupolas of the same material as the walls. A coarse woollen carpet and some pieces of felt to sit upon, constitute the chief furniture. They usually sit crosslegged, but, when any ceremony is meant to be observed, the position assumed is by the person's kneeling, and then sinking back on his heels, so that his legs are tucked under him, and concealed by the skirts of his tunic. Their chief employment when seated is conversation; smoking is not much practised, but they are a good deal addicted to taking snuff, and their boxes are sometimes carved with exquisite workmanship. A visitor salutes the party when he enters by saying Assalaum Alaikoom, " peace be unto you," to which they answer, O Alaik Assalaum, "and unto thee be peace;" then the master of the house takes the stranger's hands, and addresses him, Shu Rauglee, may you to which the reply is, Shupucheiree, The chace is the favourite amusement, which is performed by large parties assembling on horseback or on Amusefoot, and sweeping the country to a great extent, often ments. killing one or two hundred head of game in a day, It is common also for a few to go out with their greyhounds and guns to course hares, foxes, deer, or to shoot game. In some places hares are taken with ferrets. Races are not unfrequent, especially at weddings, when the bridegroom gives a camel to be run for. The superior orders tilt with their lances, and all ranks practise firing at marks with guns, or bows and arrows. They have a great passion for what is termed Sail, or the enjoyment of prospects. Every Friday the shops are shut, and as soon as a man comes from the bath, dressed in his best clothes, he joins one of the parties made for the day to some neighbouring hill or garden; a little subscription procures provision and sweetmeats, and each person, for a trifling sum at entrance, eats whatever fruit he pleases. The day is spent in walking about, smoking, playing at different games, and listening to hired musicians. Parties sometimes go from the principal cities to great distances. Dancing is one of the principal domestic amusements. Their games are often childish; others are the common ones of Europe. One favourite game, called khossye, or cubuddee, is by a man taking his left foot in his right hand, and hopping about on one leg, endeavouring to overset his adversary, who advances towards him in a similar manner. Their dress is various. The dress of the great is Dress, &c. after the Persian model. In the more civilized parts, that which is generally worn resembles that of Persia, and on the eastern borders it is like that of India. The western habit seems to be the original one of the country, consisting in a pair of dark, loose, cotton trowsers, a large frock shirt, with enormous sleeves, and reaching a little below the knee, a low cap of black silk or satin, crowned with gold brocade, or some bright cloth, a pair of half boots buttoned up to the calf; and over this, during most of the year, a large loose cloak of well-tanned sheep-skin, with the wool inside, or of soft and pliant grey felt, reaching to the ankles. The women wear a shirt resembling that of the men, but longer, and of finer materials. They also wear tight trowsers, and have a cap of bright silk, embroidered with gold thread, reaching only to the forehead or the ears, and a large sheet thrown over their heads, with which they conceal their faces on a stranger's approach. They have many ornaments, ear-rings, rings on the fingers, and pendants in the nose. This respects the married women; the unmarried wear white trowsers, and have their hair loose. The Afghaun women, compared to those of India, are large, fair, and handsome; the men are boney and muscular, hardy and active. They travel chiefly on horseback, and at a slow pace. Women often travel in cudjarvas, a sort of hamper, a few of 66 AFGHAU- the king's go on elephants, others in a litter; the king STAUN. himself generally in a kind of litter, called a nalkee, borne on men's shoulders. The nobles are entitled to a jaumpaun, or short palankeen. "I know of no people in Asia," says Mr. Elphinstone, who have fewer vices, or are less voluptuous or debauched; but this is most remarkable in the west: the people in towns are acquiring a taste for debauchery, and those in the north-east of the country are far from being pure. The Afghauns themselves complain of the corruption of manners, and of the decline of sincerity and good faith, and say that their nation is assimilating to the Persians. Their sentiments and conduct towards that nation, greatly resemble those which we discovered some years ago towards the French. Their national antipathy and a strong sense of their own superiority, do not prevent their imitating Persian manners, while they declaim against the practice, as depraving their own. They are fully sensible of the advantage which Persia has over them at present, from the comparative union and vigour of her councils, and they regard the increase of her power with some degree of apprehension, which is diminished by their inattention to the future, and by their confidence in themselves. To sum up the character of the Afghauns in a few words, their vices are revenge, envy, avarice, rapacity and obstinacy; on the other hand they are fond of liberty, faithful to their friends, kind to their dependants, hospitable, brave, hardy, frugal, laborious and prudent; they are less disposed than the nations in their neighbourhood to falsehood, intrigue and deceit." Marriage. The common people rise a little before twilight in the morning and repair to the mosque to pray, then take a light breakfast, and lunch at eleven upon bread, vegetables, curds and flesh. The great meal of all ranks is taken after the last prayers, and is called shaumee. They always bathe on Friday, and commonly twice a week. These baths contain three rooms of different temperatures; in the hottest, the bather is scrubbed by the men of the bath till his skin is perfectly clean, and the whole operations, including shaving, burning the hair off the body, and dyeing the beard, costs one hundred dinars, or three pence halfpenny. The great do not get up till sun-rise, when they pray and read the Koran for an hour, then breakfast and repair to court, sit in apartments allotted to their respective orders, and transact their official business. Afterwards they lunch and nap; and upon awaking, perform their devotions, receive visitors, and perform the business which could not be done at the palace; then amuse themselves to a late hour, when they dine and have private parties. The Afghauns purchase their wives, and consider them as property, and may divorce them without assigning any reason. The brother of a deceased husband marries his widow; but if the woman have children, it is thought most proper in her, for she has her option, to remain single. The common age of marriage is twenty for the man, and fifteen or sixteen for the woman. Those who cannot purchase a wife often remain in a state of celibacy till forty. The rich marry early the same may be generally said of people in towns. They often take Taujik, and even Persian wives; but it is reckoned discreditable to give a daughter in marriage to any other nation. The whole arrangement of the previous circumstances of acquaintance and intercourse is managed by the re spective relations of the two parties, after a man has AFGHAUintimated his wishes. Deputations wait on the father NISTAUN and mother of the girl, with presents, and settle the point of affiance; the marriage not being celebrated till long afterwards. In the country these ceremonies are often dispensed with, and love is allowed to make a more direct application, and to maintain a more regular intercourse. Polygamy is allowed, but poverty often prevents its being practised. Two wives and two concubines are deemed a large establishment in the middle classes; the means of the opulent admit of much greater extravagance. Ladies of the upper classes read, but it is considered as immodest to write, as a woman might avail herself of this talent to correspond with a lover. Hospitality is one of the most distinguishing charac- Hospitality, teristics of the Afghaun character, so much so that they reproach an inhospitable person with having no pooshtoonwulle, i. e. nothing of the customs of the Afghauns. The greatest affront that can be offered to any person is to carry off his guest, or entice him away. One of their most remarkable customs is called nannawautce, meaning I have come in." Whoever has a favour to solicit goes to the house of the man of whom he seeks it, and refuses to sit on his carpet, or partake of his hospitality till he grants it; and if he refuse, his honour incurs a stain. A man overmatched by his enemies will sometimes go nannawautee to another's habitation, who must take up his quarrel. A still stronger appeal is made when a woman sends her veil and implores assistance for herself or her family. But it is remarkable, that notwithstanding the civility and politeness with which the Afghauns treat a stranger, they will not scruple afterwards to rob him, when they consider the rights of hospitality as having ceased by his departure. It is possible however, in all tribes, except the Khyberees, to obtain a safe passage through the country by a previous agreement with the chiefs, who will furnish an escort. A single man is often sufficient for the purpose; and it is remarkable that the arrangements are most effectual with the tribes who are most notorious for their predatory habits. Robberies are unaccompanied with murder. RELIGION. The religion of the Afghauns is the Religion. Mahommedan, and they are of the sect called Soonce, which acknowledges the three first caliphs, as the legitimate successors of Mahomet, admitting their interpretation of the law, and their tradition of the prophet's precepts, in opposition to the Sheeahs, who reject them. Towards persons whose religion is entirely different from their own, they cherish no feelings of asperity, although like all other Mussulmans, they do not believe an infidel can be saved, and deem it meritorious to make war upon them. The Siks, who always treat Mussulmans as inferiors in their own country, speak well of the usage they receive in Afghaunistaun. The Afghauns never mention any future event, however certain, without adding "Inshaulla," please God; and will even say, please God I am so many years old." Many of them have a rosary about their wrist, and when a pause occurs in the conversation, begin to tell their beads. They make use of very solemn oaths, and that frequently, as I swear by God and his prophet." "May I go an infidel out of this world if it is not true." The most solemn oath is the name of God (Allah), repeated three times in different forms, "Wullah, Billah, Tillah." They never enter on 66 66 |