1859.] Notes on Kdfiristdn. 351 



wooden benches or tables, stools made of wood, and sometimes of 

 wicker-work covered with goat-skin : for the Kafirs cannot squat 

 down in the Oriental fashion ; and in this point, in particular, they 

 bear a striking resemblance to Europeans in being unable to sit-cross- 

 legged with any comfort.* Their beds are made of wood, and similar 

 in form to the Indian chdrpde — a simple frame with short legs, over 

 the frame of which they lace bands of leather. 



The Si'ah-posh tribes are rich in herds of oxen and cows, and flocks 

 of sheep and goats, the latter of a very superior breed. They also 

 rear immense numbers of fowls.f They eat beef, but the flesh of sheep 

 and goats, particularly the latter, is more commonly consumed, as 

 also the game they capture in the chase, such as deer, antelope, ibex, 

 — the antlers of which they set up in their places of worship — and 

 the Mchdr or mountain sheep, and other smaller animals. They 

 sometimes eat the flesh of bears, but this is very seldom. Burnes 

 describes them as eating monkeys, which is not truly the case ; and 

 as far as I can discover, these animals, if they really exist in the 

 country, are extremely rare. Monkeys are found generally in tropical 

 climates, not in such localities as the valleys of the Hindu Kush, where 

 snow often lies on the ground for months together, and which are 

 surrounded on all sides by mountains capped with the snows of ages. 

 It is possible, that, in the more sheltered valleys — which are said to 

 be much warmer than the nature of the country and climate might 

 lead us to expect, and where grapes attain great perfection — these 

 animals may be found, but only in small numbers. 



Their other articles of food, consist of unleavened bread, milk, 

 curds, butter, honey, a few herbs, vegetables, and fruit, which latter 

 their country produces in great quantities, and of excellent flavour. 



All classes of people drink a great deal of wine,J as do most of the 



* Lieut. Wood in the account of his journey to the Oxus, says of a Kafir lie 

 met with — " Crossed-legged he could not sit, for in this respect the Kafirs differ 

 from all eastern nations, and like Europeans prefer a chair, or anything raised, to 

 a seat upon the ground." 



t " In the winter season they fatten numerous poultry." Baber's Memoirs. 



X " In this sequestered tract of country grapes and fruit are produced in great 

 abundance, and it also produces a large quantity of wine, but in the making they 

 boil it. The people are wine- bibbers— they never pray, neither fear God nor 



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