1895.] on a Recent Journey in Afghanistan. 569 



claimed by some as of Semite, but which I believe to be of Aryan 

 origin. But there are also in Afghanistan many people of Persian 

 origin, notably on the Herat side ; a large Turki population in the 

 Cis-Oxian provinces of Afghan Turkestan ; and very numerous relics 

 of Mongolian emigration in the shape of the Hazaras, who inhabit 

 the centre of the country. These people are bound together by no 

 very strong common feeling, except that of their religion, which is 

 Mohammedan, mainly of the Sunni persuasion ; by their love of 

 independence, which is immemorial ; by their turbulence, which is 

 unique, even in Asia ; and by their enforced respect for a strong 

 sovereign like the present Amir. 



My own visit to Afghanistan occurred in November and December 

 last, and was in response to an invitation from the Amir, Abdur 

 Eahman Khan, to visit him at his capital. Though I happened to be 

 the first Englishman who had ever been honoured by such an invita- 

 tion from an Afghan sovereign, I preferred to regard it, and I 

 think I am justified in regarding it, as a proof of the friendly 

 feelings of the present Amir toward the British people, rather 

 than as a personal compliment towards myself. It was certainly in 

 such a character that I was received and entertained while at 

 Kabul ; and whilst this may have added to the responsibilities of the 

 position that I temporarily occupied, it did not diminish either the 

 charm of the compliment or the pleasure of the visit. 



I will briefly describe to you the incidents of my journey up to 

 Kabul, my stay there, my interviews with the Amir, and my march 

 down from Kabul to Kandahar, before re-entering India by way of 

 Beluchistan. 



At 30 miles from Peshawur the Khyber Pass, after climbing 

 to the elevation of 3600 feet at Lundi Kotal, debouches at Lundi 

 Khana upon Afghan soil. Here I was received by Gholam Haider 

 Khan, the Sipah Salar, or commander-in-chief of the Afghan army, 

 on behalf of the Amir, and by a considerable escort of cavalry. I 

 was alone here and during the whole of my journeys in the country, 

 having only with me a Kashmerian body servant and a Persian 

 jemadar of the Indian Corps of Guides. The Sipah Salar escorted 

 me as far as Jellalabad, so famous for the heroic defence of Sale's 

 Brigade in 1841-42, where I was accommodated in one of the summer 

 palaces of the Amir. Proceeding by marches of about 24 miles 

 a day, and resting at night in tents provided for me by the Amir, it 

 was on the eighth morning after leaving Peshawur that I came in 

 sight of Kabul, and entered that city amid a considerable military 

 display, being escorted to the Ark, or Palace, by large numbers of the 

 mounted bodyguard of the sovereign. There I was accommodated in 

 a building erected by the present Amir at the edge of the palace 

 moat, and adjoining the Salam Khana, or great Durbar Hall. 



The city and surroundings of Kabul, with the exception of the 

 indestructible natural features, which remain unchanged, have been 

 very much altered since the experiences of the first, and even of the 



