1849.] Notes on the Geography of Western Afghanistan. 575 



in any but the most careful writing these marks are omitted, and much 

 confusion has resulted. In the common forms of hurried writing, the 

 ,> 8 j ) are undistinguishable : — ^ and £ for 3 and 8 are entirely at the 

 mercy of the points. Indeed, unless in a work copied by a scientific 

 arithmetician, it is first necessary to acertain the probable place of the 

 figure ere this numeration can be used with any chance of success. 



Native authors give a few rules — for instance, to g jeem for 3 ; the 

 tail is never drawn round, and it is thus written (7) to distinguish it 

 from ^ hee, for 8 ; viz. 7, 3 ; £• 8, — but copiers never attend to this rule, 

 and in almost every printed table I have examined, I find three and 

 eight used at pleasure. Next it is ordered to distinguish & noon, for 

 60 ; from } zee, for 7, — that a twist in front be added to the former, 

 thus ; (Xi, 50, 3, 7. While the yee ^5 for 10, is usually to be carried to 

 the rear, thus «— 10. How little confidence is to be given to manu- 

 scripts copied for sale may thus be supposed. 



The rule for determining the latitude is the same as that used by mo- 

 derns — the application of the declination to the zenith distance ; but 

 with no allowance for parallax or refraction. As regards the longitude 

 we are informed by the Ayeen Akbaree, that it may be settled by 

 watching the difference of local times, at which takes place some natural 

 phenomenon, as an eclipse of the sun or moon ; but how the exact local 

 time of one place was to be transferred to another situation, is not given. 

 I fancy therefore, that this important calculation was rather determined 

 by estimated or even measured distances along high roads. 



Moslem History of Herat. — The first account of the early rise 

 of Herat runs thus, — " That when Tuhmoorus exalted himself as a 

 God before the people, and introduced into the world every species 

 of cruelty, some tribes of Kundahar wandered from Kabul to Ghoor 

 and settled at Oobah. The violation of a virgin led to a disagreement, 

 under which a portion migrated to Koowashan, on the present Malan 

 canal, where at length a lady, called Shumeeruh, of the race of Kue- 

 omuruth, became Queen, in the days of Heyatuluh domination over the 

 country. The fort built by her was much improved by a chief called 

 Khurnoosh, in the days of Moses, about 1830 years before the Hej- 

 ree, or some 1200 B. C. Again, in the days of Bahmun, a chief called 

 Urghanoosh, enlarged the city of Shumeeruh, and as the inhabitants 

 were now Christians, each bastion was surmounted with a cross ! ! this 



