1834.] Antiquities of Afghanistan. 325 



has spared these cemeteries : yetthis does not surprise us when the Bhdts 

 of Bamidn, such gigantic types of idolatry, remain trophies of cotem- 

 porary or even prior ages. These wonderful images are mentioned in 

 the Koran, and if we admit the authority of the Mahabharat, and the 

 si til more fabulous history of the Pandu dynasty, their antiquity will ap- 

 proach to a period co-existent with the fall of the Grecian kingdom, 

 which is perhaps somewhat repugnant to conjectural analysis ; yet we. 

 must either assign that date, or an epoch antecedent to Alexander's 

 conquest, for the construction of those wonderful idols. 



But, to return to Jeldldbdd. The topes are here very thickly planted on 

 both banks of the river, which washes the northern limit of the valley; the 

 declivity of the soil being from the snowy ridge of Suffed koh, hasthrown 

 the stream quite to their base; and hei - e the tombs appear, black with age, 

 extending from Bald JBdgh to the conflux of the Kabul river atDronta, 

 about 10 miles downward and four from Jeldldbdd. As we passed along, 

 several were noticed, which did not appear to be delapsed; but they had no 

 doubt been excavated at their base, since it is in this immediate vicinity 

 that recent discoveries have been chiefly directed. — In the plain were 

 seen the ruins of others which had subsided into mere heaps like cairns : 

 these were standing in the midst of green fields, but this is rare ; and 

 upon a shelf of conglomerate rock, and diluvial accretions continuous 

 from the roots of Suffed koh, and here forming the cultivable limit of 

 the valley on the south, extends a long line of tumuli or ruined sepul- 

 chres, insulated upon natural eminences; though often upon raised 

 platforms, a dozen of these may berecognised, not as mere visible heaps, 

 but mounds of great size, and which until very recently had been un- 

 disturbed by man*. Several having been opened by Mr. Martin 

 Honigberger with sufficient recompense. Their position is strange 

 enough, upon a bare rugged surface of attrited stones, furrowed by the 

 intersections of water-courses, the cliff of which formed of agglutinated 

 pebbles, or pudding stone, is hollowed into recesses which were repre- 

 sented to me as the caves of the Kafirs, or " unbelievers :" they are still 

 inhabited by the pastoral tribes, who migrate with their flocks, accord- 

 ing to the seasons of the year, and take up their winter quarters in 

 these Troglodite abodes. The site of the topes commands the whole 

 landscape, which is limited to a narrow slip of luxuriant cultivation, 

 sloping to the cavity of the valley ; the interval southward, of ten or 

 twelve miles, being a high plain of g ravel, pebbles, and rolled stones, 

 all sterile and arid to the foot of Suffed koh, where again villages and 



* There is one immense edifice, but now crumbled into a mere heap, near 

 Jel&labad, which serves the Nawab as a prospect point : he often repairs to it and 

 seats himself upon its summit for hours to enjoy the fresh atmosphere. 



