108 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Haji Mirza Hussein 



AMANUUAH KHAN, THE AMIR OF 

 AFGHANISTAN 



His word is absolute law to his people. He 

 alone has the power to pronounce death sen- 

 tences. He runs his country's trade, religion, 

 and politics and censors its only newspaper. 



The bill of fare of the Afghan is very 

 simple and reflects the poverty of the 

 country. Bread, fruits, vegetables, tea, 

 sweet milk, sour milk, and cheese are the 

 main foods. Rice, mutton, fowl, and 

 sweets cooked in various ways are found 

 on the tables of the well-to-do. The 

 average Afghan has no particular fond- 

 ness for wine or spirits. 



Tobacco raised in the land is of in- 

 ferior quality; the better sorts are im- 

 ported from Persia, Russia, India, and 



Egypt. The Amir Habibullah Khan al- 

 ways had a good private stock of Havana 

 cigars. Both young and old people take 

 snuff. 



Tea, sweetened and unsweetened, is 

 the favorite drink and is consumed in 

 prodigious quantities. When you go to 

 see an Afghan, you can hardly escape be- 

 fore swallowing four or five cups of tea ; 

 it is, therefore, no trifling gastronomic 

 feat to pay several visits in one after- 

 noon, the more so if the polite host (with 

 a view of honoring the European guests) 

 has the tea served in big Russian glasses. 



The right hand is always used in eat- 

 ing and drinking, the left hand being con- 

 sidered unclean. 



Dogs, though numerous and useful, 

 are looked upon as unclean, and pious 

 people never touch them. 



THF AFGHAN WILL NOT KIU, FLFAS 



Animals that go badly lame on the 

 march or camels that get snow-bound in 

 the mountain passes are abandoned to 

 their fate. Afghans never kill such ani- 

 mals, as we might do, to put them out of 

 their misery. They believe that the lives 

 of all living things are in the hands of 

 Allah, and that man sins if he presumes 

 to interfere with the Supreme Will. 

 Afghans will not even kill fleas or other 

 vermin ; they merely pick them off and 

 throw them away ! 



The trade of Afghanistan is moved 

 entirely by caravans and is largely in the 

 hands of Hindus and Tadjiks. The chief 

 route lies through the famous Khyber 

 Pass, the great gateway from India, 

 which has been fortified by the British 

 Government (see pages 92-94). 



This pass is open every week, on Tues- 

 days and Fridays, except in very hot 

 weather, when it is available to trade 

 only on Fridays. A most rigid scrutiny 

 is exercised by the Amir's agents on all 

 who come and go. As soon as caravans 

 from India enter the country, their In- 

 dian leaders are turned back and heavily 

 armed Afghan guides take their places. 



Some of these Afghan caravans, or- 

 ganized with military precision, number 

 thousands of camels and a proportionate 

 number of guides and camel-drivers. In 

 the morning the Khyber Pass is open for 

 caravans coming into Afghanistan, and 



