352 



CANDAIIAR. 



face, and some regiments have already supplied themselves from this 

 source by means of temporary wells. The water is excellent. 



Asses, ponies, and horses are common, the former are excellent, 

 150 rupees is a good price for one ; they carry heavy loads with the 

 additional weight of an Affghan on their back ; the ponies or tattoes 

 are less valuable, but still they are strong. 



The horses are indifferent; good, generally speaking, but heavy, 

 and with little spirit. Excellent milch cows have been procured for 

 twenty-five rupees, including the calf. Goats are not easily procur- 

 able. Sheep (DoombasJ are common, and afford excellent mutton, 

 they vary in price from two to three rupees. 



Tea from Bokhara is procurable in small quantities ; its quality is 

 decent : it was originally eight rupees a seer but is now thirty. 

 Coarse Russian cloths, and very inferior silks are also procurable. 



The great drawbacks are the want of wood, and above all want 

 of inhabitants ; from what I have seen of the cultivation, the soil ap- 

 pears to be very capable, and well adapted to barley and wheat ; rice 

 might also be raised as a summer crop. With regard to water, if 

 there is a scarcity of this element, it is due to the indolence of the 

 people. I have not yet seen any vestiges of buildings, topes, etc. 

 to indicate that Candahar has ever been a very populous place, the 

 want of trees considering the ease with which they may be cultiva- 

 ted, is a strong evidence of the extreme laziness of the Affghans, who 

 appear to me remarkably low in the scale of civilization ; and in per- 

 sonal habits, very generally inexpressibly filthy. 



Poplars, mulberries, and willows are the principal trees : the poplar 

 is very much akin to the Sofaida of the Sutledge, it is a handsome tree, 

 with a fine roundish crown. The fruit trees generally appear small 

 in gardens ; lettuces and onions are commonly cultivated, especially the 

 latter, fields of Lucerne are very abundant, and I believe clover also ; 

 a pony load of the former now costs five annas, but it is sufficient for 

 a day's consumption of two or three horses. The pomegranate at- 

 tains the ordinary size. In gardens two or three Ranunculacese, Jas- 

 minum, pinks, sweet-williams, marigolds, stocks, and wall-flowers, are 

 common, with a broad-leaved species of flag, the flowers of which I 

 have not seen. 



The crops vary according to the mode in which they have been 

 watered ; if this has been properly done, they are rich. Some of the 

 fields are tolerably clean, others filled with weeds, among which a 

 Dipsacea, and one or two Centaureoe are very common. 



