A Day in Chitral 1 3 



own wife. The owner of the castle was accord- 

 ingly summoned. On being apprised of the reason 

 he had been "remembered," "Certainly," he said, 

 " the young Adamzada (noble) and his lady have 

 now been under my roof these three days ; if the 

 old man wishes their death, it is his right ; 

 but to surrender the girl such dishonour could 

 not be supported : the young couple, too, 

 are willing to die together, but they will not 

 be parted." 



From the expressions of the bystanders, it 

 was plain that the errant lovers had their entire 

 sympathies. A man so mean-spirited as to forgo 

 revenge and ask for the restitution of his wife was 

 beyond the pale altogether. At this moment the 

 old man, now shedding bitter tears, was joined by 

 some more patriarchs from his own district, who 

 added to the clamour, and begged for the restor- 

 ation of the girl ; otherwise, they said, all their 

 young wives would be carried off by Chitrali 

 Adamzadas, and things would be as they were in 

 the days of the old Mehtars, when the serf had 

 no rights. 



This was a conundrum. To regard the lady as 

 a chattel, to be handed back to her husband irre- 

 spective of her own wishes, was repugnant to 

 English ideas ; on the other hand, Chitrali nobles 

 could not be allowed to carry off the wives of 



