1839] Lieut. Irwin's Memoir of Afghanistan. 893 



berries; such are the goorgoor, moomanee, kookee, simloo, gurinda 

 (the Kurounda* of Hindoostan) and some others. By the banks of 

 streams there is found a plant which bears a fruit intermediate between 

 the raspberry and bramble. The wild grape is found both in the 

 warm and cool climates, but disappears in very cold ones ; its fruit is 

 sour, but is sometimes eaten either fresh or fermented. In the coun- 

 tries of the west, sugar being dear, various substitutes are found for it, 

 for example, preparations of dates and other fruits, and a preparation of 

 the sugar melon and honey ; but perhaps the most common is what is 

 called Doshab, which is sometimes made of apples or mulberries, but 

 oftener of grapes, wild or cultivated, the juice of which is boiled to a 

 consistence. 



127. Where grasses are plentiful, as in Cabul and the cultivated 

 parts of Khoorasan and Toorkistan, a spirit is extracted from them. 

 In the Punjab and Sindh coarse sugar is the chief material from which 

 spirits are extracted, but the inhabitants of the latter sometimes use 

 the date alone, or mixed with sugar, and in the Punjab the same 

 use is made of a fruit called Umlok, which is both wild and cul- 

 tivated. 



In some villages of Cabul a strong drink is extracted from mul- 

 berries, and in Kushmeer from pears. In Keerategin, and other parts of 

 Toorkistan, there is a coarse grape called Muska, this they gather, boil, 

 and afterwards dry in the sun. A water melon is now opened at one 

 end, and about nine of these grapes are inserted and forced into the 

 substance of the water melon, which being done, the orifice is shut 

 up by re-applying the piece which had been cut out. In. seven or 

 eight days it is found that both substances have fermented, and the 

 pulp of the water melon is converted into an intoxicating liquid fit for 

 home use. But in Toorkistan the favorite liquors are Koomiz, made 

 from mares' milk, and Boza, made from rice ; these liquors are both 

 wines, not spirits ; they are somewhat acid, and are reckoned whole- 

 some. Koomiz is not considered as coming under the prohibition of the 

 law of Mahomet ; but in most of the principalities, especially where 

 the Tajiks bear sway, Boza is strictly forbidden. Although these pro- 

 hibitions, whether serious or not, are quite ineffectual when they are 

 met by a disposition to elude them, both Koomiz and Boza are less 

 consumed in the great towns than among the pasturing tribes ; yet on 

 the whole there is less intoxication among the latter, for the people 

 of towns indulge themselves in opium, the wine of the grape, and 



* Carissa Carandas. Linn. 



5y 



