802 Lieut. Irwin s Memoir of Afghanistan. [Oct. 



than strength. They do not accustom themselves to foot service, and 

 probably could not undergo great fatigue except on horseback. This 

 is still more true of the natives of Toorkistan. Such is the plenty of 

 horses in that country, and so much are they reckoned a necessary of 

 life, that even beggars travel on horseback. The natives of Khoora- 

 san have a great aversion to foot service, and do not excel in that spe- 

 cies of travelling, in which the natives of India are generally acknow- 

 ledged to surpass all their western neighbours. This is absurdly 

 attributed to their foot, when it can be more naturally deduced from 

 the state of their country and their mode of life. Among them none 

 are equal to the Bhutties, or people of Bhutner, where there are said to 

 be some who will travel 30 kos, and after robbing a village or a caravan 

 return the same distance without halting. The people of Hurreeana 

 are in this respect somewhat inferior, but are a robust nation, and in 

 bravery surpass all their neighbours. Being now under our Govern- 

 ment, it behoves us to consider how we shall make use of these qua- 

 lities, or at least prevent them from being turned against us by an 

 enemy. The hill tribes among the Afghans, and others, excel in 

 climbing and in travelling among mountains. The Khyburees are 

 employed in hill warfare as far east as Kot-Kangra, which is situated 

 near the right bank of the Hyphasis before it leaves the mountains ; 

 but the Kohistanees are reckoned to excel all others in such operations, 

 and have been known to fight well even in the plain. It is a common 

 observation in the country, that the inhabitants of hills make little 

 figure in war when they venture into the plains, and during the late 

 broils more than one instance has occurred to confirm it. None is 

 more striking than the defeat of Shooja-ool-Moolk, when in the spring 

 of 1802 he brought a force of Khyburees against Peshawur. It is 

 said their inability to bear the heat of the climate was the chief 

 cause of their discomfiture, which terminated in many of them dy- 

 ing of thirst. The natives of the cold and temperate climates express the 

 utmost dislike to the summer heat of that of the warm, but their im- 

 patience under it is not always in proportion to the coldness of their 

 native places. The Cabulies support it better than the hill 

 Afghans, or even the Dooranees, whose climate is much warmer than 

 Cabul. This part of the Dooranee character has been very manifest in 

 their history, and productive of important effects. The Persians, 

 though inferior in courage, excel them in steadiness, another good qua- 

 lity of a soldier, and bear the extremities of heat and cold with equal 

 patience. The poverty, ingenuity, and enterprising disposition of the 

 Kushmeerees annually disperse considerable numbers of that nation 



