360 Notes on K&flristdn. [No. 4. 



himself on the generosity, and places faith on the word, of a Kafir, he 

 treats him in the most hospitable and generous manner. If one of 

 the former people falls by chance into the hands of the Kafirs, when 

 not on their yearly crusade, and says that he is a friend or acquaint- 

 ance of a certain Kafir of a certain tribe, they release him ; and 

 even if such person happens to be accompanied by a second party, he 

 has merely to say, " This man is my friend, and I am the friend of 

 such and such a Kafir (mentioning his name) of a certain village," in 

 order to obtain his companion's release also. 



If a Si'ah-posh and a Muhammadan wish to enter into a truce of 

 friendship, as they sometimes do with the people of Badakhshan and 

 Chitral or Kashkar, but rarely with the more cruel and bigoted 

 Afghans, they exchange weapons, and until these are again returned, 

 they remain at peace ; but after they have been given up, the friendly 

 intercourse ceases, and the fire of enmity burns as fiercely as before. 



Another custom is to kill a goat and dress the heart, of which 

 each of the contracting parties takes a portion, and afterwards salute 

 each other ; but this mode of agreement is not so binding as the 

 former, which is considered sacred. This latter mode of making 

 covenants with their enemies, is something similar to that described 

 by Mr. Elphinstone in his work on the " Kingdom of Kabul." 



The Kafirs follow a different practice in entering into agreements 

 amono-st themselves. These are made in the following manner. They 

 take a piece of gold, or a golden ornament, and place it in a cup filled 

 with water, and the terms of the compact or promise having been 

 stated, each of the contracting parties drinks off a small quantity of 

 the liquid, after which the agreement is binding. This form they de- 

 signate sun-wuruh (^jj &?"*), or sun-ao-ioi (lsj I c^-w), sun being 

 the term for gold, and wurulc or ao-ivi, the name for water. 

 Another method is to take a piece of salt which each party tastes, 

 and the bargain is complete. This method, however, is observed 

 amongst most eastern people. 



Somewhat similar usages to the foregoing were prevalent amongst 

 the Medes ; and are mentioned by Rollin in the following words. 

 " The manner these people had of contracting an alliance with one 

 another is very remarkable. Besides other ceremonies, which they 

 had in common with the Greeks, they had this in particular — the 



