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

LITERATURE AND AR?.

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

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 nnterious by the events which
took place there in 1841-42, has since then been rarely
visited. The British and the Afghans for some years 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 nffleora
should, during the continuance of the war, reside in the
country under 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 Peshawur, 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-
sique, and peculiar Jewish customs tend to prove, whilst
remarkabletheir
a s
in ttuhrebi
rule, ns
tcieff, anne
cd
khe ad t”r eadn
eo f
troersst
.r a i
ica to at
hr ei
nags,
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
havee
t,h,tthgrheeeimagtopeorearvtoiignldoenucr
rule"
at on that
dre st ihs
mightet oc ro complain.n consequence
eicis
urighten e e
seemls ncrscruple
nop country
to flfotuh eri
ys
hdo we si
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 fact, 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-
,,ew appears to have made good use, and hie volume le a