The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1879-01-24


wales and glens are enriched with lux
uriant foliage and watered by numerous
mountain streams. Khorasssn, or the
Land of the Sun, is, on the other hand,
almost the opposite of Cabul, for its
principal features are long low ranges o!
rocky hills and elevated plsteaus Of sand
and gravel and while the summer in
Cabul is rendered mild and bearable by
the cool breezes waited down to its plains
from the mountains, Khorassan has to
bear the full blaze of the fierce Indian
sun.
In the Mohammedan cemetery'on the
southeast OF the city OF Cabul is tomb
stone with the following epitaph:
Here lyeth the body of John Hicks,
son of Thomas and Edith Hicks, who
departed this life 18th October, 1866"
Perhaps some of our readers can inform
US as who John Hicks was, end what
took him to Cabul in the Is when
) g..s.zebe was Mogul of ia, and
lying of England
=! : =! !! : ]!
and the Bugtees.' e the
wild and cruel Jaiis who hit the
Khyber Pass and its neiWoorhood.
The dominant race in Khorass2D is
undoubtedly the Brahoe, which is sup
posed by some authorities to have come
from Abyssinia, while Others maintain
that the tribes are of Mongol extraction
The term Bslooch (for these tribes are
also known as the Bsloochees-Beloo
chistan being the original name of Kho-
rassan) or Blush, as it is written by the
Persian scribes, is, according to Prof.
Rawlinson, derived from Belus, King of
Babylonia, the Nimrod of scripture.
The government of each tribe is a
most complete democracy, split up into
as many factious as there are families.
Each section OF tfibe has its own quar-
rels and supports its own chief, whose
tenure of authority is often of the most
precarious nature, being raised to power
one day to be overthrow the next
There are also blood.feuds of long stand
ing between them, 50 that village is
divided against village and house against
house. 1t was to one of these terrible
feuds that the late Lord Mayo owed his
sad death; the man who sssassinated
him having been sentenced to penal
servitude for life for killing another
with whom he had a feud. He had
once been servant to the Viceroy and
thought that he should have pardoned
him.
The most numerous and important
race are the Afghans proper, whose form
of government and general customs re-
semble all other Mohammedan nations,
and who, while proud of their Islamism,
do not hesitate to break all its laws when
ever their love of fighting, thieving and
debauchery makes it incumbent on them
to do so. The absence from their midst
of honor and patriotism is very remarka-
Bile; indeed, they are a bgoted and
treacherous race, stained by indescriba-
bic debaucaery, aid degraded to the
lowest depths of infamy and corruption
In spite of their debauched lives, it is
remarkable to find that the Afghans and
Beloochees are, physically, fine races,
tall, robust, welcomed and active.
The former, especially, have extremely
handsome faces and the beauty of their
women has been noticed by ali our trav-
elers. TIE Afghans are great sportsmen,
hunting and hawking bsing their favor
lite pastime, while in craftsmanship
and Workmanship they cannot be ex-
celled. Strange TO say, chess is one of
their amusements; but what they most
like is to lie and listen to stories of the
"Arabrian Nights" style, though more
interminsble and always of more or less
corrupt nature.
The females enhance their beauty by
all the arts so well known to the Eastern
peoples; and their hair worn in long
plaits, is often adorned with ornaments
ofa rough, yet, withal, OF an effective
character, composed of metal or glass.
The women OF the higher classes are,
however, kept in strict seclusion, and
nobody is permitted to enter the halems,
where they pass the greater part of their
lives
Perhaps the most lawless OF all the
Afghan tribes is the frontier tribe. the
Waziris, who are born warriors and