Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎38r] (76/312)

in turmoil. The division of Seistan between
the two countries, although carefully and con
scientiously made by General Goldsmid , left
both the Shah and Shere Ali discontented,
and we had to buy the Ameer s consent to the
award for the sake of peace. But it gave
Persia all the productive plains of the district,
while its considerable additions dissatisfied
Cabul. and here therefore lies always to hand for
Russia a means of mischief which may be used
to coerce or to bribe Sherb Ali . She has an
other in the Afghan pretender, Abd-ur Rahman,
who is as likely as not to make his appearance in
Balkh, if the Afghan Prince hangs back at all
from defying us ; so that the materials for an
"unofficial war" are plentiful, and the intention
of waging it is certain, if, as these Muscovite
journals are allowed to state, the St. Petersburg
Government means to insist upon its right to
1 maintain a Resident at Cabul, and friendly rela-
j tions with Shere Ali . Both are entirely in-
' compatible with past Imperial pledges, and
equally incompatible with the peace and security
of our Indian Empire. Both must be forbidden
i and rendered impossible in future, either by the
development of events—for assuredly there will
remain no Russian agent in the Afghan capital
if we occupy it—or by the enlargement of this
! frontier matter into that vaster question which
lies behind it, and which must, sooner or later,
find a solution—the question, that is, of Central
Asia. There are many who will "be of opinion
that prudence, opportunity, and circumstances
alike dictate the settlement of the larger problem
now, while Russia is weakened by war and inter
nal dangers, rather than hereafter, when she will
have re-equipped her forces, and re-organised j
her shattered finance.
A FORMER MISSION TO CABUL.
That Thul, or Thal-biland-Khail, .should have
been selected as the rendezvous of a column
which may have to advance into Cabul will not
seem strange to those who remember the course
taken by the Mission to Candahar in 1857. , En
tering the Afghan territory at this point, Lums-
den's party advanced up the beautiful Kuram
valley, and over the range beyond, till at the
village of Shaikhabad they struck the military
road that connects Ghuzni with the capital. On
that occasion the escort required when passing
from Kohat to Thul, through territory nomi
nally British, was two guns, a troop of cavalry,
and three companies of infantry. The
Waziris, a numerous and very powerful
tribe, had then only just come under ■
British rule, and had not even felt the*
principles of orderly government. They are
still pne of .the most lawless communities uponi
the Indian frontier, but the latest official report :
on their conduct announces that " their conduct 1
is from year to year visibly improving." Never
theless, they continue to enjoy by stealth their
old tribal feuds, for the Mahsud and Darwesh
Kheyl Waziris are still the best of enemies.
Nor when in 1877 the Ameer of Cabul suddenly
reinforced/ his garrisons in the Kuram valley
and in Khost were there wanting turbulent
spirits to anticipate the disturbance that might
be pending by private hostilities. That action j
of the Ameer has never yet been explained, nor |
is it known why within the last year or |
so his Highness should have come to display
so remarkable a partiality for this border trifoe.
The head men of the Waziris are now periodi
cally summoned to Cabul, whence they return
bearing handsome presents from Share Ali
Khan. Perhaps the astute hill men knew more
than they chose io tell, but the appearance of
General Robertswith his Snider rifles will, in a
few days, explain to them that their secret was
not so well kept after all. The Snider rifle is a
thing of terror to the jezail-armed mountaineers,
and save under exceptional circumstances
they will not face that arm. But as the bulk j
of the tribe remain, to all appearance, friendly, i
there is no reason for referring further to this dis
like. It is more pleasant to recall the fact that the
one thing the Oriental free lance likes, next to
easy plunder, is regular pay. Should a demon
stration among the fortified villages that nestle
in the orchards and cornfields of the Kuram
valley be called for, the Waziris will be in great
requisition as scouts and skirmishers, and even
among these wild-cat races of the frontier the
" Sirkar ka tulub "—Government pay—is pro
verbially punctual. For although they are essen
tially fighting men, the Waziris are penny wise,
and while dreaded even by their rough neigh
bours for their ferocious bravery, they are en-
vied for the source of wealth which they possess .
and cleverly keep to themselves in their famous
breed of horses. It is distinguished by a peculiar
curve and twist of the ear, and remarkable among
the horses of India for its wiry, hardy frame and
high temper. Tradition says that the Waziris
stole the original progenitors of their studs from
the royal stables of the Persian Nadir Shah
when he invaded India, but the Waziris them
selves assert that the conqueror bestowed the
precious animals upon their ancestors in recogni
tion of their brilliant horsemanship. And, in
deed, Nadir Shah would have had some excuse
had he done so, for these hill men excel on horse
back. Among themselves they never shoe their
steeds, but ride them barehoofed and often bare
backed up and down their dangerous hills
as if they were veritable centaurs. So highly
do they prize the exclusive possession of the
breed that they will never sell a mare, but a
market is held periodically at Thul for the sale
of horses.
The Mission of 1857 made many etrange ex
periences, which, as they may be in store for the
other Mission that is preparing to-day, are full
of present interest. Starting from Thul, they
found themselves traversing a ra>vine-scored
valley, covered with the fragrant " kuskuss,"
in which innumerable sounders of wild pig
found pleasant covert. The escort, a cutthroat
band of brigands, beguiled the journey by per
forming extraordinary feats of horsemanship in
pursuit of the startled swine. Next day the river
had to be forded, and as the current was then
(in March) very rapid, the wild horsemen had
plenty Of opportunity to display their skill and
courage in piloting the baggage of the strangers
across. For twenty miles of difficult and rocky
road no inhabitants or animal life, hardly any |
vegetation was encountered, but approaching!
Boghzai the travellers found a hamlet of good
size, in which every male went fully armed, and'
it is thus literally true that while one man
ploughs another stands on the watch rifle in
hand. The Toris of Boghzai are all thieves,
and when a male child is born, the baptismal
ceremony consists ii) putting the infant burglar
through a hole in a wall, while his relatives
exhort him to be a thief " heart and hand,"
as his father and grandfather were before
them. A marlingspike, used for breaking holes
: through the mud walls of neighbours' houses with
larcenous intent, is a part of the regular f urni- !
ture of a Tori house ; it is looked upon as a
household chattel, part of the regular outfit a
young couple should set up in life with. From
Boghzai to Saddah, thirteen miles, a succession
of cornfields and orchards occupied the banks of
the Kuram, but the loopholed huts peeping out
among the fruit trees told their own strange
tale of the life that was usual in this
Arcadia. The next sixteen miles to Killa-i-
Kuram (the fort of Kuram) lay through similar
scenes, many of the villages having a compact
fort-like appearance, and being armed with |
{chevaux de frise of thorns along their walls.
A few miles from the fort the path led through
an extensive grove of splendid mulberry trees,
plane trees of immense size and stately appear
ance, the remnants of a pleasure garden of the
Emperor of Delhi, Shah Jahan.
When passing the fort the Mission was received
with presented arms by five companies of a red-
coated regiment, whilst a salute of twenty-one
guns was fired from a brass battery, and then a
band of original instruments struck up in honour
of the strangers the British National Anthem 1
It was original also. The fort of Kuram is de
scribed as of large extent, possessing eight
bastions, each surmounted by a round tower, and
the whole surrounded with a moat crossed by
drawbridges with covered ways. The scenery
here is superb, and in the magnificent forests that
clothe the hills large and small game, from tigers
to pheasants, abound, while the river flowing
below was found to be literally stocked with fine
mahseer. Many English trees—the hawthorn,
sycamore, oak, ash, horse-chestnut—grow here
side by side with the cedar and olive, fig and
mulberry. Here the Mission was halted for
four days, not to enjoy the natural beauties of
the spot, but to give time for certain murderous
banditti, who had occupied the road with the
object of intercepting the travellers, to move off.
As they refused to do so the Mission had to
alter its route bo as to avoid the obstruction,
and while they marched out by the alternative
path, the red-coated regiment marched off in
high glee to chastise the obstructives, the