56 Lieut. Irwin's Memoir of Afghanistan. [No. 97- 



is sometimes a few acres of cultivated ground, but no inhabitants 

 in winter. This however is not the only meaning of the term. 

 The fields of this country are generally lulm, though the quantity 

 of irrigated is still considerable; part of the lulm has the advantage 

 of water from khwurs. Wheat is a chief product, and in ordinary 

 years more than a maund and a half of Delhi may be had for 

 a rupee, and the exportation is considerable. The northern part 

 however does little more than supply itself. It does not appear 

 that any sort of provisions is imported into the country. The 

 quantity of sugar raised is very small, and that article is import- 

 ed chiefly from Jellalabad in return for wheat. Fuel, timber, 

 and fodder are sufficiently plentiful, especially in the hilly 

 parts, and water is every where near, the people drinking from 

 springs and from streams ; there are few wells. A certain shrub, 

 by the Afghans called tirkh, is the chief fuel. Nawangee is perhaps 

 the largest town, Bajour itself being much declined, and the 

 former may be equal in population to one-half of Pushut. The 

 villages in general are small or ordinary. On some of the fron- 

 tiers are considerable spaces without fixed inhabitants, and the 

 centre of the country is not so well peopled as the plain of 

 Peshawur. Bullocks and asses are most used in carriage, and 

 there are not many horses in the country. The wheat, ghee, 

 and honey are good, and iron is one of the exports from the 

 northern parts. 





Kafirs. 

 191 . This people live in a very rugged country, with numer- 

 ous streams and springs ; from the latter they drink, and also 

 water their fields, which however are of little account. They derive 

 their subsistence from their flocks of goats, which seem to be of 

 a species superior to others known in these countries. Their 

 cows and sheep are perhaps in equal numbers ; wheat far exceeds 

 all the other grains they cultivate ; it is sown in the spring, and 

 watered. Fuel and timber are plentiful, and their houses are con- 

 structed of wood. Some of their villages are large, containing 

 3,000 inhabitants, and on an average they are of an ordinary 

 size ; they are not fortified, but are situated in places difficult of 

 access. They do not use tents in any season of the year, but 



