'Collection of journals and reports received from Captain the Hon G C Napier, Bengal Staff Corps, on special duty in Persia, 1874. Includes revised index. London: HMSO, 1876' [‎52r] (107/409)

beard and the mild benevolent expression of eyes and countenance,
not uncommon among the upper classes of Peshawur and Cabul.
1 had heard of a stranger staying in the village, a “ Hakim,” Nothing is
who had married and settled there two years before, and who known of this
lived no one knew how. He was credited with possession of man at Tehe ~
the secret of converting copper into gold, for he paid for every- ^gd.) G.C.iST
thing he bought in bright and new Russian Imperials. After
some little delay, and as I thought with some reluctance, the
“ mystery ” found his way to the house of one of the villagers
whose guest I was. His greeting showed at once that I was
not the first Englishman he had met. He shook me heartily
by the hand, and expressed his delight at seeing one of my
nation again, and mentioned the names of several English
men he had known, Burnes, Troup, Pottinger, and Thomson,
late Charge d’Affaires at Teheran. The account he gave of
himself was straightforward enough, but still open to question.
His father, Mirza Abdul Kareem, was Physician to Dost Mahomed
Khan, and he himself had followed the fortunes of Azim Khan,
had accompanied him to Persia after his defeat, and remained
with him till his death at Shahrood, The Sirdar’s son, Mahomed
Sarwar Khan, having determined to leave Persia and go to
Bokhara, contrary to his advice and that of all his friends, he
left him and proceeded to Teheran, where he was introduced to,
and kindly received by, Mr. Thomson ; thence after some months
he went to Asterabad to obtain a livelihood by practising his
profession, and thence found his way to Gullogah, where he
made the acquaintance of the men of Karatuppa, who, as he
says, forcibly carried him to their village and gave him a house
and wife. The latter is the weak part of his story, but it was
fully borne out by the villagers. Even if true, there is cause to
question his motive for remaining in seclusion. He has, he
says, a son at Cabul, lands, wives, and houses, and lives only on
the hope of some day being allowed to return. Why then should
he take himself so completely out of reach ? His natural residence,
if his story be accepted, would be either Mashad, Teheran, or
India. I could arrive at no satisfactory explanation ; either he
is hopelessly committed with the present Ruler of Afghanistan,
or he has some secret business for which the quiet sea-side village
is convenient. In spite of suspicion, there was a frankness and
honesty in the old man’s manners that opposed the latter alter
native, and no inquiries that I was able to make subsequently
threw any light on the matter. After a long conversation I took
leave of him and of the hospitable villagers. If not already
retained, the Hakim would be a very useful agent, and his
position an excellent one. I took charge of a letter to his son,
Abdool Ghani, living at Cabul, and promised to forward it and
any reply that might be sent. If desirable a communication
might thus be opened.
I had proposed to visit the new Russian fort on the peninsula Miankullar.
of Miankullar, an hour’s sail with a fair wind across the west
angle of the bay from Karatuppa, but found that a delay of at