256 An account of Upper and Lower Suwdt. [No. 3. 



several small l&nddahs or hamlets of four or five houses by the way. 

 The ground all along our route, which lay at the skirt of the moun- 

 tains, was very irregular and hilly ; and the cultivation was very 

 scanty. A rivulet runs through this village, which is shaded by a 

 number of fine trees, under whose shade there are mosques, and 

 Jinjrahs (cells or closets they may be termed) for tulihs or students, 

 of whom many come here to study ; and, altogether, it is a very 

 picturesque and pleasant spot. At this place we were very much 

 distressed and annoyed by the Malik or headman, and a Mulla, or 

 priest, both Suwatis. The Malik wished to take away my clothes 

 and papers ; and the Mulla ordered me to show my papers to him. 

 There is no doubt but, that, in case I had shown him my papers, 

 and he had seen what was contained in them respecting Suwat, we 

 should have been all three lost. By great good luck, however, 

 some guests happened to arrive just at the time, and occupied the 

 whole of our persecutors' attention. This we took advantage of, to 

 make ourselves scarce with all speed, and reached Darwesh Khel-i- 

 Pa'in or the lower, some distance from the other village. Here we 

 halted for some time to rest ourselves ; and I made inquiry about 

 books and old coins, but without success. I found that the Shalaka'i 

 or woollen scarfs I before alluded to, both white, black, and flowered, 

 are manufactured at these two villages, just mentioned. We pro- 

 ceeded from thence to Banba. Khelah, which faces another village 

 called Khuzah Khelah, distant about a mile and half on the opposite 

 bank. Most of the villages in Suwat can be seen from each other, 

 save a very few, such as Khazanah, and Garraey, which lie to the 

 west of the spur of Sue-gali ; and Saiydugan, and Islampur, which' 

 are situated in the darah or valley bearing the latter name ; for, in 

 the whole of the centre of Suwat, there is neither mound nor hill to 

 obstruct the view. It is indeed, a most picturesque valley ; in the 

 centre is the river branching out with the green fields swelling 

 gently upwards, on both sides, until they melt, as it were, into the 

 lower hills. Here I obtained two square copper coins, duplicates, 

 but the impressions were distinct.* I was told on inquiry, that when 

 the people go to the hills for grass, they search ahout for old coins, 

 near the ruins they may pass, or sometimes they go purposely to 

 search for them, and dispose of what they find to the Hindus. 

 * Coins of Apolodotus. 



