846 Itinerary from Herat to Cabool via Candahar. [No. 154. 



rude in his manners. Beyond the respect he pays to his master, he 

 looks upon all as his equals, and addresses them without ceremony. A 

 European travelling in Afghanistan, must be immediately struck with 

 the familiarity which exists between the high and low, nevertheless an 

 Affghan is a slave to his master ; beyond this, however, he would rather 

 suffer himself to be killed, than subjected to a foreign yoke. Deriving his 

 origin from a wandering tribe, he practises hospitality equal with the 

 Arab. 



He is courageous, and believes himself to be the bravest soldier in the 

 world, on this point he is quite convinced ; he delights, in recounting the 

 exploits of the Dooranees that adorned the armies of Nadir, and con- 

 quered India under Ahmed Shah ; he delights in times of disorder, as it 

 gives him an opportunity of gratifying his inclination to plunder. In 

 religion he is a fanatic, and is as superstitious as a Turk or Persian ; 

 being a Sonnee in the strictest sense of the word, he detests the Per- 

 sians who are Sheahs. Beyond this, he is tolerant towards other 

 presuasions, above all, to Christians, as he believes in the Gospel, and 

 looks on it as an inspired work. Like the Persian, he puts great faith in 

 dreams and astrology, and possesses equally with him all the prejudices 

 of the Mahomedan; but still will partake of food with any one of a 

 different sect to his own ; he has no education ; with them, their rulers 

 and priests are the only persons that can read or write ; their books are 

 in Persian. From their youth they are taught to use the spear and 

 the sword, to take a true aim, and to ride well, and this is all the in- 

 struction they receive. An Affghan is a good swordsman ; his food is 

 bread, rice, meat and milk ; kouroot, (a kind of curd,) is his favorite dish ; 

 he does not indulge in wine, his religion prohibiting it, but he delights 

 in drinking bang, and smoking intoxicating drugs, the use of which 

 for the time produces a sort of stupor, which delights the senses, but 

 the excessive use of which soon brings on imbecility of mind ; his dwell- 

 ing is like the Persians, with this difference, that it is more simply 

 furnished. Their luxuries consist in having fine horses, splendid trap- 

 pings, rich attire, and above all many retainers. Their costume is 

 much the same as the Persian, only differing in the head dress. The 

 sheep skin cap is here substituted by an unbecoming cap wound round 

 by a large blue turban with a red border, which by the manner of put- 

 ting it on, points out the particular tribe to which they belong. The 



