'A Journey from Bengal to England, through the Northern part of India, Kashmire, Afghanistan, and Persia, and into Russia, by the Caspian-Sea. By George Forster. In the Civil Service of the Honourable the East-India Company in Two Volumes. Vol. II.' [‎57] (70/314)

FORSTER’S TRAVELS. g7
daggers and advanced their fhields, daring him to battle and to
fight for what he had loft. The cautious officer, again, qualified
his wrath ; but he reprobated them in very Ipinfced language, and
denounced a fevere vengeance on fome fitter occafion. In the lat
ter part of the journey, an Hindoo, who had gone about a quarter
of a mile from the party, was plundered of property to the amount
of four hundred rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. , by a fmall body of thefe robbers who had
made a fudden defcent from the hills, and before affiftance could
be given, fecured the booty. It was with much pleafure, after the
peril and toil of the day, I faw the Kabul river and the fmall vil
lage of Dickah, where we halted. The ftage from Timrood to
Dickah, ufually called the Hyber-pafs, being the only one in which
much danger is to be apprehended from banditti, the officer of the
efcort gave orders to his party to quit the kafilah A train of travellers; a caravan; or any large party of travellers. , and march early
on the next morning. This opportunity, at once offering fafety
and expedition, was not to be foregone; yet, the muleteer was
with great difficulty perfuaded to embrace it, and but for the in
terference of Noor Mahomed, who was obliged to beat him into
compliance, I mu ft have attended the tedious progrefs of the ka
filah. Before I quit this ftation it is neceffary to lay before you a
brief account of the tribe of Afghans, through whofe diftrict we
had now paffed.
You will naturally be furprized, that a fmall body of people
refiding neat the capital of an extenfive empire, fiiould not have
been reftrained from infefting one of its moft public roads. The
Vol. II, H lawlefs