A RECENT RIDE TO HERAT. 129 



the south the rulers and the ruled there is no great 

 bond of love and sympathy. In fact the Heratis hate 

 Kabul rule they would prefer any other ; so with- 

 out entering into further particulars, it will be clear 

 that the problem of inducing Herati and Kabuli to 

 combine under one leader to defend the walls of their 

 ancient city, is not one which can be seen through 

 all at once. 



Now the Heratis have always been exceedingly 

 friendly to the British. Their friendship is no new 

 thing. As a people they have never been otherwise. 

 As regards the Kabuli (that is to say, the soldiery) 

 we were not quite so clear. Some of them in Herat 

 had been in the fight at Panjdeh, and had been badly 

 beaten by the Russians ; and we had not helped them 

 with anything but excellent advice. At least that 

 was all that they knew themselves about the matter 

 all that they could be expected to see from their 

 limited point of view; and even that is assuming 

 that they were duly impressed with the excellence of 

 our advice. A little straw will show which way the 

 wind blows, and consequently I was much pleased 

 to find that some of the Kabuli soldiers on duty on 

 our guard came forward and claimed the fact of old 

 acquaintance in the Logar valley, or at Paghman, or 

 elsewhere where my wanderings in North Afghanis- 

 tan had taken me during the late war. They might 

 have seen me there, or they might not the claim 

 was a friendly one, and they lost no time in explain- 



VOL. VI. I 



