The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-20 00:00:00

LITERATURE AND AR7.

JOURNAL OF A POLITICAL MISSION TO AFGHANISTAN IN
1857. By H. W. BELLEW, Medical Officer to the Mis-

sion. Smith, Elder and Co., Cornhill.
Situated in the north-west corner of Hindoostan, and on
the borders of Persia, the mountainous country of the
Afghans, rendered sufficiently notorious by the events which
'visited. The British and the Afghans for some years took place there in 1841-42, has since then been rarely
re-
garded each other with mutual suspicion, and intercourse
was shunned. It happened, however, that the Persians,
during the late war, threatened the Afghan frontier ; the
Amir Dost Mahomed, therefore, sought alliance with the
British Government, had an interview with Sir John Law-
rence, received a subsidy of a lakh of rupees a month, toge-
ther with some 8,000 muskets with which to arm his troops,
and it was arranged that a deputation of British officers
should, during the continuance of the war, reside in the
country undir the Amir's protection. Accordingly Major
H. B. Lumsden and his brother, Lieut. P. S. Lumsden,
with assistant-surgeon Bellew, proceeded to Kandahar,
where they remained during the Indian mutinies, and
contributed by their presence to prevent the Afghans at-
tacking Peahawur, and thus exciting a revolt in the Pun-
jab, in which case the consequences to the British would
have been most disastrous. As it was, the Amir remained
firm in his alliance with England, and nothing occurred
during the stay of the Mission to disturb the friendly rela-
tions between the two Powers. Prefixed to Mr. Bellew's
journal is an interesting account of the Afghan origin and
character, together with considerable information respecting
the capabilities of the country. It is peopled, it seems, with
many races, of which the Afghan is the dominant one ; that
people possessing the greater part of the soil, numbering
some three millions, and differing from those around them
in appearance, manners, character, and language. Though
, Mahomedans in religion, they are evidently Jewish in type.
They style themselves " Bani-Israil," or children of Israel,
and they trace their pedigree back to Saul. However this
may be, the author appears to think that there is no doubt
that they are of Jewish race. This their traditions, phy-
r
sique, and peculiar Jewish customs tend to prove, whilst
theira
remarkable as their ,at
instability,
yin turbulencieff,-anneedkd,, ancestors.heatredofrestraintareas
emNothing,
in fact, can be much worse, than the state of society among
them. Neither for life nor property is there the least secu-
rity. The wretched peasantry, oppressed and plundered
alike by the chiefs and the soldiery, are killed without
scruple if they have the impertinence to resist or complain.
In no country does " the good old rule" that might is right
seem to flourish with greater -vigour, and the consequence
is that industry is paralysed, crime and licentiousness are
rampant, filth and disease are prominent throughout the
land, and a more hopeless state of things it would be diffi-
cult to conceive. Thus the residence of the mission at
Kandahar was far from being pleasant, and it was with no
feelings of regret that the members of the mission once
more found themselves on British ground. In feet, the esti-
mation in which the Afghans are held is significantly ex-
pressed in the proverb that " A man who goes to Hindoos-
tan acquires wealth ; a man who goes to Afghanistan loses
his head." Of the opportunities afforded to him Mr. Bel-
lew appears to have made good use, and his volume is a

A few days ago the heir-apparent adopted a somewhat
singular, and, I need hardly say, most unpopular mode of
increasing his finances. After due notice (of about 24 hours
only I) had been drummed through the city, all the copper
coinage then in circulation was called in and collected in the
Government treasury, under heavy penalty for evasion of
the order. But previous to the collection, the value of the
current copper coinage had been declared depreciated to one
half its previous value by the arbitrary law of the Sardar.
Thus a Kandahar rupee, which before this unjust decree
consisted of 32 ganda, or eight anna, was now declared as
worth only 16 ganda, or four anna; and at this rate the en-
tire copper coinage floating in the city was collected and
bought up at the Sardar's treasury. Here the coin was re-
stamped, and, after a few days, again issued at the usual
value of the coin, viz., eight anna to the ruppee ; the Sar-
dar, by the transaction, clearing cent. per cent. profit on the
entire copper currency of the city, which was said to repre-
sent between thirty and forty thousand rupees. This ruin-
ous stroke of finance—ruinous to all but the Sardar's purse,
.—was repeated on five different occasions during the resi-
dence of the Mission at Kandahar, and in two of these in-
stances affected the silver currency also I