Topographical Remarks regarding Afghanistan. 335 



The aspect of the country would seem adverse to kingly state; 

 it is poor and rocky, and not well adapted for the pageantry 

 of royalty which was formerly kept up by the possession of 

 Cashmere, the fertile valley of Peshawur, and fruitful Scinde, 

 and the wild tribes fought and gained plunder, but never paid. 



Cabul, its houses, &;c. — Cabul from the time of the emperor 

 Baber has been described in glowing colours, praised for the 

 fineness of its climate, the beauty of its scenery, its gardens, 

 their fruits and their flowers have been the theme of the poet 

 and the traveller. " The climate is extremely delightful, and 

 there is no such place in the known world, for there is at 

 once mountains and streams, town and desert." 



The mountains are bare rocks; the streams insignificant; 

 the town has a mean appearance; and the desert adds but 

 little to its beauty, for it is so common all through the country, 

 as not even to have that charm which variety affords. 



The royal garden, said to be the finest in Cabul, is a quad- 

 rangular space about 1000 yards in length and 800 in breadth, 

 enclosed by a dilapidated mud-wall; muddy canals run 

 through it, and straight rows of Lombardy poplars planted 

 along the eight walks which branch off from the quadrangu- 

 lar space in the centre; fruit trees planted in even rows, 

 rosebushes, beds of iris, narcissus, stock, gillyflower, and sweet 

 william, and I believe the graves of some saints, constitute 

 the garden. 



The atmosphere is so dry that after the spring rains irriga- 

 tion is constantly required ; even the ground on which the 

 fruit trees are planted is saturated with moisture at least five 

 times in the season, rendering this smiling garden little better 

 than a marsh, and yet the water is only a few feet from the 

 surface of the ground. 



The streets of Cabul are narrow and badly paved, with im- 

 perfect hollows or gutters in the centre, generally leading 

 into some stagnant hole, mostly the neighbourhood of the 

 Hummaum, or vapour baths. 



