344 Itinerary from Herat to Cabool via Candahar. £No. 154. 



it is easy to see that they were erected in haste, and without any or- 

 nament. Two principal streets run through it, crossing each other at 

 right angles, and meeting in the centre of the town, which is called 

 the Chir Son, over which is a lofty dome, from whence the streets face 

 the four cardinal points ; they are broad, and are intended to have been 

 grand bazars, but have never been completed, and in their places have 

 been built miserable huts. The only building in Candahar worth noticing, 

 is the tomb of Ahmed Shah, which is surmounted by a handsome octan- 

 gular dome ; the garden that surrounded it, has been entirely neglected. 

 The population of this city may be reckoned at twenty-five thousand 

 souls, composed of Affghans, Persians, Beloochees, and Hindoos ; who 

 are distinguished from each other by the form of their head-dress; the 

 first are most numerous. I observed that the females are kept more 

 secluded than in Persia. It is very rare to encounter women in the 

 streets ; those that go abroad, are of a tribe that practice medicine, and 

 bleed the sick. Among the crowds that are seen in the bazars, are 

 many half-witted creatures, that are perfectly naked, and whom the Aff- 

 ghans treat with great consideration, considering them to be inspired 

 by God. They are called Houlliads, that is to say, Saints ; at their 

 death, tombs are built over them, which eventually become places of 

 pilgrimage to the people of the country ; this is why so many places of 

 this kind are to be met, particularly at Candahar. The principal ones are 

 those of Shah Masesond, Baba-Wallee and Huzrutgee, the first is about 

 ten pharsacs to the North, upon the range of hills which bears the same 

 name. They there find small yellow stones, transparent and like am- 

 ber, with which chaplets are made, and are in great request among the 

 Affghans; other colours are found, but not of so fine a water as the 

 first. Candahar is not commanded from any point ; it has a wall for de- 

 fence flanked by towers, and in pretty good order, but which could of- 

 fer little resistance to artillery. The ditch which encircles it, is not deep ; 

 it is filled from the Patab canal, which would be easy to turn in another 

 direction by a besieging army, and thereby reduce the inhabitants to 

 their wells, of which there are very few within the town. The an- 

 cient city is situated close under the eastern side of a hill, which bounds 

 the plain of Candahar to the west. The remains of the citadel are 

 still to be seen from some distance ; it is now entirely in ruins, and de- 

 serted, Nadir Shah having destroyed it. There is to be seen at the 



