1844] Itinerary from Herat to Cabool via Candahar. 839 



plies to be had, besides the want of water at some of the usual stages, 

 which would oblige them at times to make double marches; supplies 

 could be drawn from Furrah and Goriskh. The caravans that use this 

 road are composed of camels, rarely are mules to be met with : they pay a 

 tax of three sequins, and horses six, with a present to the conductor of 

 the caravan ; camels generally travel the distance in twenty five-days, 

 horses in eight, or at most ten. The latter march day and night, and 

 only halt during the time necessary to rest their laden beasts ; they com- 

 mence to march generally at mid-day, and do not halt until midnight. 

 They always rest at places some distance off the road, to avoid any 

 thieves that may be abroad. At day break they are again in motion to 

 arrive at the next stage about two or three hours after- sun rise ; here 

 some hasten to get a little rest, while others are employed in cooking 

 and giving their horses a feed ; at 12 in the day they again are in motion, 

 and continue the same time as the preceding day. This manner of tra- 

 velling is slow, and most tiresome for a person who is not accustomed to 

 it. Before commencing our journey, we laid aside our Persian costume 

 to assume that of the Affghans ; this precaution was indispensable, as the 

 latter being Soonees and detesting the Persians, we should have been 

 constantly in trouble. The better to deceive them, we had our beards 

 and mustachios fashioned after theirs, and during the whole of the jour- 

 ney, we conformed to their ways. 



We left Herat the 1st of October 1826, our first halt was at a cara- 

 vanserai of Shahabad, which is, after passing the defile called Mir 

 Dooad ; in passing through which, I was imprudent enough to separate 

 from the caravan, and my friend Avitabile and myself would most assur- 

 edly have peen assassinated by some of the Noorzye tribe, who inhabited 

 these hills, had we not owed our escape to the fleetness of our Arabs. 

 It is in these gorges, that commences the lower range of the Ferauz 

 Khan mountains, its direction is from N.W. to S.E., they are not how- 

 ever, to be compared in height to those which extend further to the 

 N. The most elevated spot is called Firoug, from whence branch off 

 two ranges, that of Karek and Kosserman, which run towards the W. 

 These valleys are some of them cultivated, and others not. They are 

 inhabited by pastoral people, who live in tents, and who generally en- 

 camp near the source or by the side of a rivulet ; they communicate by 

 a number of paths accessible to horsemen. 



