The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-25 00:00:00

LITE.RAI ÜBE.

lost Among the Afghans : Being the Adventures
the Wild
of John
Campbell (otherwise Fel inghee Baeha) amongst
Tribes of Central Asia. Related by Himself. Smith,
Elder, and Co., Cornhill.
In 1857, some gentlemen attached to the Persian em-
bassy, while on the road from Teheran to Herat, received,
at Meshed, a letter from a youth who
represented himself
as of English birth, and then lying in hourly appre-
hension of cruel death for refusing to acknow-
ledge the Mahommedan religion. Inquiries were
instituted, the lad, apparently about eighteen years
of age, was closely questioned, and ultimately sent with an
escort to the Hon. Charles Murray, the British Ambassador
to the Court of Persia. He was unable to speak a word of
English, but, through the medium of Persian interpreters,
related one of the strangest stories it was certainly ever the
duty of a British envoy to listen to. He had been found,
he said, when 2 years old, on the battle-field at Tezeen, where
the English army was so cruelly massacred by the Aff-
ghana. His nurse, a native woman, who survived the car-
nage, represented that he was the son of an English officer
slain in the battle, An Affghan chief, pleased with the
child, took it home, and reared it as his own. In course
of time the boy learned his story, and, from that moment,
determined to escape. In this he succeeded, travelled into
Bokhara, u andered among the passes of the Hindoo Koosh
mountains, reached even the Chinese frontier, made friends
everywhere, performed many marvellous teats, and expe-
rienced numberless hairbreadth escapes. At one time he is
travelling with caravans in Turkestan deserts ; then he herds
with robbers, or studies with holy dervishes in Tartarian
wastes. Occasionally he turns soldier, and performs prodi-
gies of valour, or saves a town by his cunningly devised
stratagems. He serves with the Russians, and is highly
popular, but soon quits the service, impelled by a restless
desire to meet his countrymen, which—after many wander-
ings among naked magicians (who conjure up
visions which are worthy of Bulwer Lytton's " Strange
Story," and, indeed, remind us very strongly of
the concluding chapters, of that remarkable
book),' warriors and robbers, and taking part in the
siege of Herat, where be is looked upon as a miracle of
courage and ingenuity—he achieves as we have related.
Mr. Murray sent him to Bombay, where Lord Elphinstone
the Governor, Sir John Lawrence, and others examined
carefully into the truth of his narrative. Atter a
stay of two years at Bombay, John Campbell (for that name
was given him by Lord Elphinstone) was sent to England
and placed under the care of a Baptist minister who had
been a missionary in India. He was then placed in a
school at Brighton, conducted by Mrs. Edmund Fry and
her two sons, one of whom acts as editor of this volume.
He remained at Brighton for about a year, during which
time he acquired a competent acquaintance with the Eng-
lish language, and then returned to India, having received
an appointment as superintendent of the Government tele-
graph at Kurrachee, a position for which his knowledge of
the Eastern languages peculiarly fitted him.
Such is a brief outline of the career of the hero of this re-
markable book. The editor anticipates that some doubts may
be cast upon Campbell's veracity ; and certainly not without
reason. The Bombay authorities were, it is said, satisfied
with his narrative ; and certainly they were in a position to
sift the evidence adduced ; but the adventures related are
so strange, and Campbell's mode of relating them so egotis-
tical and romantic, that doubt on the reader's part may
well be excused. The whole narrative is such as a pro-
fessed writer of amazing adventures might dress up for a
boy's magazine. There are disguises and stratagems,
abrupt changes of fortune, scenes of battle, murder, sudden
death, enough for the most eager appetite for sensations.
Moreover, the geography of the book is not beyond sus-
picion, though we are told the attaches of the embassy at
Teheran tested the story by the means of numerous maps.
We have no proof, however, that the narratives of adven-
tures given to Mr. Murray and to Mr. Fry, the editor of
the book, were identical. We are hurried from Cabul to
the Chinese frontier, from the Khyber Pass to Bokhara,
with startling rapidity ; and the publishers should at least
have appended a map showing the course of Campbell's
wanderings. A few well-known names occur; but we are
utterly perplexed by continual references to great towns
and powerful kings unknown to our researches. It is almost
a pity the author left England so soon. Had he been in-
troduced to London society, he might have related before
the Geographical Society the story of his life, and no doubt
he would have shared with Da Chaillu the lionising hon-
ours of the day. The book will create a sensation. It is
either a most remarkable narrative of adventures, or a not
less remarkable imposture. We will not take upon our-
selves at present to decide which, but will extract a few of
the anecdotes interspersed in the book. Soon after his
escape from Cabul he becomes servant to an innkeeper at a
place called Saniropoor. Having quarrelled with his mas-
ter, and attempted to kill him, he is condemned to be
punished, and here is a specimen of the torture inflicted on
criminals :

HORRIBLE PUNISHMENTS.
" They led us out into a field surrounded by a high iron
wall. A vague feeling of horror crept over me when I saw
this place, for I knew at once that it was the execution-
yard. The executioner, who was a negro man, approached
and first singled out the old man who told me we should see
the stars, and I soon saw what he had meant by these words.
The negro sat him down and drew his dagger. The poor
old man cried ont, ' I thorn,' which is, I will speak the
truth ;' but the executioner plunged his dagger into his

heart, saying, It is now too /ate.' He drew his dagger
out reeking with blood, and cut the man's throat to make
sure of his death. Oh, horror I the poor wretch's eyes
started half out of their sockets, and his tongue lolled out
of his mouth, whieh was covered with foam. A camel was
brought, and the body was laid on it and carted away. I
shivered with fright ; my blood froze in my veins, and the
rest of the prisoners stood like dead men, witnessing the
fearful commencement of horrors. The first being thusdis-
posed of, they took a second man. Him they hung and a
third was seized. He was laid flat on his face on the ground,
a large sharp stake was then driven through his back, peg-
ging him, writhing with agony, to the ground. He of
course soon died. The nine other prisoners were then met
down on zinc blocks of wood. The executioner then went
to one of them, and with his knife made a gash in his arm,
and he thrust a candle in under the skin—this he did
again and again, till the man was covered with
candles. When the nine poor wretches had all
been served thus, all the candles were lit. Then the exe-
cutioner told a man who stood by, with a paper in his
hand, to read out the list, who these men were, and what
were their crimes; and he read—The first was a spy. The
man who had been hung was a robber who had killed a
man and taken his horse. The nine men were murderers;
end the man who was staked down was a fornicator who
had defiled his own daughter. They were all Mahomme-
dans. Who can imagine the state I was in when all this
was over? My turn was come at last. A man told me to
follow him ; I obeyed with a sickening feeling in my heart.
He lead me to a large stump in the ground, through which
were put planks of wood like see-saws, but so high up as to
be quite out of my reach. I was tied by my hands to one
end of !hese, my legs hanging down, but far from reaching
the gri,unti ; a weight was put on the other end of the plank
tobalance me, and I was left swaying in intolerable, and
every na.ment increasing, agony. Oh, the torture I endured
that dreadful day ; often I almost regretted ever having left
Affghanietan, but even then I could not wish myself back
among the Affghane. No, I thought, this trouble I have
brought on myself by my own hot rashness. I was left on
this rack all day, and in the evening I was taken down."
THE MAGICIANS OF THE JUNGLE.

" In the evening, to my great surprise, I came suddenly
to a queer-looking little hut, outside which I saw some naked
people squatting on the ground, with their faces buried be-
tween their knees, which they were clasping with
their arms. There was something weird and ghastly
in their appearance, so that I felt an instinctive dread, and laid
14old of my sword. At this the creatures lifted up their heads,
and said, What are yon about, young man ?" Who are
you,' I asked. And what do you here ?' Without heed-
log my question, they merely said, Come down and take
rest.' I dismounted, and approached these strange beings,
wondering who they could be, for their nails were like great
claws, and long hair was on their bodies. They had hidden
_their faces again, and they sat motionless, hugging their
knees. I half doubted their humanity, and again took hold
of ray sword, just to try if they knew what pain was ; but
then
bei4htotheey, could not possibly see me do this, their faces
and
said,,e young
away, they immediately lifted up their heads,
or pen le Joung man, what are you about ?" What sort
speak; bliru?' I asked, ' You squat there, and won't
resumed . their they said, Sit down and rest;' and again
:extartaordinary position. I sat down, and
waited to seah
and hoped they WotadtholY would do. I was very hungry,
they rose, and I follow:fder me food. When it got quite dark
all sat down again as ix,tothem into the house, where they
a candle. This fellow ssarea: Presently a man brought in
I had seen for some time
alltloper human being, the first
he fell down before one of the ~k 6 clothes on. Suddenly
hade
men, crying aloud, and
d,
kissing his feet. Then he arose
took the
light and motioned me to follo;wilird his eyes,
I went after him,
Lore,
and various
and he led me to a room in which we!s.
gra:taker:l, cud went into
household things. The servant left
Bud vegeta-
vat
Doerd fire
littla garden near the house, and
bles or herbs. In the middle of the room
between four large stones. The servant
fire a round shallow iron pan. As soon as the
twilai:
g Chopped the;s
heated, he put the herbs in, having
ho fried them with butter, pepper, and
up, and
541 t and he brought flour and water acid nixed
a cake,
which he cooked in t
hepan with the herbi
, when
l
all was done, he brought it and set itbeforeme.'
him to eat with 11l do I
but he refused to so. was took ur.-
gry to stop
astel de of, so
thin I bega
so
t anyg n
eating directly, and never, in mylife,
good,
Wheat I had finished,
I asked where I should keep
~,y horse, • n(l the man said he would
take
said I would go too, and look after him ; CO we wecharn of
t,him.a.:,d.
!di
as I felt sure no one would touch tie animal, I left hi_
tied up outside the house, and went in-doors to rest. I lay
down , to sleep, and soon found myself alone in the
room ; the man had gone away with the light, without say-
ing a word. I rose and tried to open the door, but, to my
astonishment, it was fast locked ; so I lay down and went
to Bleep. I dreamt that a beautiful girl was by my side.
I looked at her face, she was very lovely, and I kissed her;
pw, the moment I touched her lips, a sudden pang shot

. _..._ __..._
through my teeth, and I awoke. I felt very unhappy, and
began to cry; the girl had vanished, but my teeth were still
in great pain. The door was open, and there cas a light
in the room, and on looking round I saw the servant stand-
ing by my side, offering me something in a cup. I said,
' Thank you, Ido not want to drink.' He r ied, 'lf you
do not drink, your teeth will continue to pai 1 2 ou ; so I took
the cup and swallowed the contents, which tasted to me.
like some sort of wine. In a little while all my limbs began
to feel very heavy ; my hair seemed to me like trees, my
arms and legs like mountains, and I laughed excessively
at nothing at all. Then the man brought some bul-
lock's-dung and burnt it in the fire, and while it was
smouldering,he laid three eggs upon the embers; gradually
the fire faded, and at last went quite out, leaving the
blackest darkness in the room ; thick, and it seemed to me
almost palpable, was this darkness. Presently 1 saw some-
thing moving in the ashes, and the three eggs appeared
glowing with a red light, like rubies. One of them rose in
the air, and gradually expanded, opening out into a large
ardent ball, in which I saw many countries, and kingdoms,
and peoples. 1 gazed attentively on this wonderful picture
for a time, and then it gradually faded. The egg remained
for some moments, still burning in the air, and revolving
rapidly, and at last fell down on the ashes. Again the same
thick darkness filled the room, but soon the second egg rose
from the fire-place as the first had done, and burned with
the same red light. It expanded, and I heard a fearful noise
as of lend thunder, and in the luminous ball I saw again
many countries and people, but the latter were all dead.
Suddenly they all arose, and began to dance; some of them
thrust out their tongues, others looked very angry, and
others were crying. I was all this time unable to stop
laughing. Then I saw scenes of war; all the people in the
mysterious landscape began to fight, shooting and stabbing
one another with great fury. This picture vanished
slowly, and the egg, after finning for some time in the
air, fell cl,,wn and left me in the terrible darkness. Once
more the red light appeared in the ashes, and the third
egg rose and expanded as the others had done. Another
scene presented itself. I looked upon the most beautiful
jungles and gardens, just such forests as I had passed
through, and suddenly the landscape was enlivened with
troops of beautiful girls dancing and singing together,
and drinking wine—amongst them I spied the same
damsel of whom I had dreamed. She moved as if to speak
to me, and I heard her companiono:aolr hor who I srao,
' He is a poor stranger boy,' she answered, with an accent
of pity. I sprang forward to embrace her, but the servant
man seized my arm and held me back. I struggled hard
to get free, but he cried, ' Take care, if you go near her you
will be mad till judgment-day, and never leave the jungles.'
' Who are these beings ?' I asked. He told me they were
creatures summoned by the arts of the naked men; and if
any one touches these beings he will be mad till the end of
time. 'lt is best,' he said, 'to turn away from their en-
chanting looks, or you will love the spirits and lose your
reason.' By this time the scene was beginning to fade;
the beautiful maid slowly retired, bidding me adieu as she
went. I felt some pain to see her go. The globe then
began to revolve, and finally fell, leaving me in deep dark-
ness."

Ten Years in the United States. By D. W. Mitchell.
Smith, Elder, and Co:, Cornhill.
Strongly opposed to President Lincoln's Government,
and believing that the cause of progress will gain by the
secession of the South, the author of this volume has pro-
fited by his ten years' residence in America to collect a num-
ber of facts and statements bearing upon the causes of the
present struggle, and of considerable interest as showing
the working of the democratic form of Government. Still,
the observations are not new. They simply confirm the
views which the most sensible Englishmen have enter-
tained respecting the " States;" and they accord in
all essentials with the opinions which this journal has
consistently expressed. Thus the author, whilst sy mpa-
thising with the South, by no means defends slavery in the
abstract. Hd accepts it as an ugly fact, to be made the best
of. He considers that the negroes, as a class, are incapable
of self-governmont, and that they are, upon the whole, well
cared for and well treated in the South ; whilst the North
on the contrary, not only looks upon them with hatred and
contempt, but would be glad to be utterly rid of them by
any means, however violent, even to the extent of hounding
them on to massacre their masters, that it may have an excuse
for massacring them in turn. The extreme Abolitionist
party he considers mischievous fanatics; and whilst admit-
ting the accuracy of the separate incidents in Mrs. Stowe's
" Uncle Tom's Cabin," he considers it utterly false as a
whole. The most mischievous political party in the North
he considers to be the Irish. Courted by the rival candi-
dates for power, and animated by the most rancorous hos-
tility to this country, they have contributed, more than any
other section of " United States" citizens, to demoralise the
lands of their adoption and embitter its feeling towards us;
and the author wisely suggests that it would be far better if
they expended their superfluous energy and their political
influence to introduce among themselves a little social re-
form, for in the Irish slums in New York all the worst
features of the worst dens in London seem exaggerated in a
tenfold degree. But, as regards dirt, something is due to
the influence of the Roman Catholic religion. The saints
and hermits of old were notorious for their contempt of the
decencies of life. The odour of sanctity is a sufficiently
suggestive phrase. Even now on the Continent cleanliness
seems by no means allied to what is there looked upon as
godliness ; and Rome, with the finest supply of water of any
city in the world, is almost destitute of baths. But to return
to the "States." Corruption, it seems, is not the exception
but the rule, Every man has his price and considers him-
self aggrieved if he does not get it. If needful a Legisla-
ture may be bought almost in the lump. Vote by ballot is
a farce, and the worse men grasp the best places. Such in
brief is that pleasant state of things on the other side of the
Atlantic, which the Manchester school would fain introduce
among us. To those who may still have faith in the efficacy
of a Republic we recommend a perusal of this volume, of the
contents, of which we offer the following specimens :
AMERICAN STAMINA.
"Much observation has since convinced me that the
American descendant of Europeans has not constitutional
physical stamina equal to that of the European. Were the
Americans subjected to poor and scanty fare, insufficient
shelter and clothing, excessive labour and mental depres-
sion as extensively and frequently as great numbers in
Europe, the population of the Union States, lam con-
vinced, would show an unmistakeable deterioration. I speak
of the most populous portion of the continent of North
America; the atmosphere of which, for two-thirds of the
year coming from the west, has passed over the vast
breadth of land bounded by the Pacific, and is, therefore,in
a condition very different from that of the air we breathe in
the west of Europe, which also coming from western quar-
ters for about two-thirds of the year, is a sea air. Our sci-
entific knowledge on this subject is probably very:imperfect ;
but that in a long course of years such an atmospherical
difference must tell on the human constitution, every one
will believe who notices the respective effects in England on
his own feelings, and on vegetable life of the east and west
winds."