130 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



ing that they were glad to see me at Herat. Xot 

 the least emphatic amongst them was a man who 

 had been at Panjdeh. This was a good sign any- 

 how, and we rode out that evening, passing by the east 

 face of the city to the Kandahar gate, and southwards 

 to the bridge over the Hari Rud on the Kandahar 

 road, with the feeling that we really might enjoy 

 ourselves for a day or two in utter security. The old 

 bridge (the Pul-i-Malun) was worth the visit. Its 

 present appearance is rather that of being stranded 

 and left high and dry by the river ; and it is in 

 the same ruinous state that all else is in not im- 

 mediately connected with the city itself. But it 

 would be no great engineering feat to put it in its 

 place again or rather to put the river-channel once 

 more under the bridge. 



A very early ride next morning right round the 

 city walls gave us a good idea of the strength of 

 Herat. There is no room for argument about the 

 statement that mud walls make very respectable 

 defences. As for these mud walls, towering up to 

 a height of 80 feet over our heads, I shall say noth- 

 ing further than that they looked truly formidable. 



The evening was a very appropriate one for a visit 

 to the Masalla. Heavy clouds had come up, and 

 there was a lurid look about the sky which was quite 

 in keeping with the grandeur of desolate ruin that 

 we rode out to see. These are the ruins of two 

 distinct buildings (the Masjid and the Masalla) each 



