336 Notes on Kajiristan. [No. 4, 



constructed at the expense of great time, labour, and perseverance, 

 where oxen could not be brought ; and in these places the soil is 

 ploughed by baud. 



The plough used by the Kafir tribes is a very rough and primitive 

 affair, consisting of a piece of wood about eight feet in length, 

 terminating in three prongs of about a foot long, and somewhat in 

 the form of a trident, save that it is slightly curved towards the 

 prongs or teeth. A rope of goat's hair is fastened to this machine, 

 at the middle, and this the woman or man holds with both hands. 

 Should the plot of ground be of any size, the back of the individual 

 — generally a female — is turned from the plough ; and with the rope 

 over one shoulder, she pulls it along, whilst a man guiding and push- 

 ing it forward with one hand, scatters the grain with the other, from 

 a little bag fastened round the waist, as he goes along. If the plot 

 be small, as is generally the case, the woman stands on one side of 

 the little field with her face turned towards the plough, whilst her 

 husband, father, or brother, as the case may be, stands at the other. 

 She then merely draws the plough towards her, whilst he guides it, 

 and sows the seed as before described. By this method the soil, as 

 may be easily conceived, is merely turned ; but when an ox can be 

 attached, it is done in a better manner. The ploughing and sowing 

 having thus been completed, both persons go over the land again, 

 and cover up the grain with their feet. 



The principal harvest takes place in the autumn, and the crops, 

 which are sown in the spring, greatly depend, as before mentioned, 

 on the rain to bring them to perfection. When the corn is suffi- 

 ciently ripe, it is cut down, carried home, and the grain separated 

 from the straw by oxen treading over it. 



Burnes, in his remarks on the Kafirs, — as quoted by the Edin- 

 burgh Reviewer — " imbibing the prejudices of his Muhammadan 

 informants, calls the Kafirs a race of savages," and says, "There 

 is nothing either in their customs or religion, which seems to be 

 any way remarkable. The women do all the out-door vjorh, and 

 follow the plough : it is even said that they are sometimes yoked in 

 it along with an ox" 



Women, as I have related, assist the men in ploughing, as well as 

 in other agricultural labours, and in the former case only where 



