of Western Afghanistan and North-Eastern Persia. 135 



eating in a fresh state, but it is collected in immense 

 quantities to be dried. The dried fruit, tut-i-maghz, is met 

 with in every household, for eating as a relish with their 

 ordinary bread diet, or it is made into flour, talkhan, to be 

 mixed with corn-flour and baked into bread, or the dried 

 fruit is allowed to steep in water for a night ; this infusion, 

 called shir-a-tut, is drunk as an accompaniment with food. 

 From what I have seen of the collecting and drying of 

 mulberries in Afghanistan I certainly would refrain under 

 any circumstances from partaking of them. These are 

 exported in some quantity to India. The fruit of the 

 grafted varieties is only eaten fresh, and is occasionally to 

 be seen for sale in the Bazaars. 



At Karobagh there was a circle of very fine old Mulberry 

 trees, varying from 12 to 16 feet in circumference, bvit much 

 stunted and gnarled in their growth ; the largest trees of 

 the sort, however, that I met with in my travels were at 

 Bezd, in Khorasan, where there were many of a very great 

 age. The timber is much valued for building purposes, the 

 wood for fuel, and the darker pieces of the wood, the colour 

 of which is deepened by burying in the ground for a time, 

 for the manufacture of combs ; this darkened wood is employed 

 as a substitute for Ebony. 



Morus nigra, Lm7h Urticaceye. 



The Black Mulberry, shd-tut. I met with an occasional 

 tree of this in orchards, cultivated by grafts for its fruit ; 

 and on one or two occasions saw the fruit on sale in the 

 Bazaars. 



Mosh — Ji^>« — mush — grief, sorrow, lamentation. 



Moschus moschiferus, Lirin. 



The Musk Deer, from which is obtained the gland techni- 

 cally called the Musk-pod, that contains the Musk, tibit 

 mushk. Tliis is imported from Central Asia to be employed 

 as a scent, or in medicine. 



Moth — shaprcik, shaiipvah 



Milked — ^JLo — is Bdellium, a gum-resin yielded by a 

 Balsamodendron species. The gum-resin gugal 



