The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-06-18
THIRTY MILES TO HERAT.
A Travellers sketches BY the Way.

! the New York ITi62t1se, why We were
there or how we got there. but think of
/ Saturday in November, 1880, and of
another missionary and myself at En-
! all, a little Afghan town thirty miles
! out on the Pivy or Irak road from He
/ rat. If you chance to be good-pay
( ing guest at the inn, you are solemnly
informed that Mondays and Wednes-
/ days are the only two lucky days for
/ journeying. We were fortunate enough
to be poor, and so no one said a word
| about Saturday being an unlucky day
! to start on. As soon as we came out
! the walters of the establishment ap-
| peared, six Arab boys, each with two
| kaaoGs in his hand. To be k1aoked is the
! first step in the general system of ex-
| tortion in vogue. A knox, you may not
understand, is an article of some kind
which you have used while at the pOti
or inn, and which the waiter-boy in
sists on presenting to you on your de-
| parture. OF course you must pay for
/ the gift, or run the risk of being pelted
with gravel. My proffered tn0ks were
I the two napkins which had used, the
leather covering of chair. two plates.
and lamp. The return for the six ar
ticles was equivalent to as many dol
| lars, and | was vexed, for the knOkS
were of no use to us at all. Hesitating
| o moment, the leader of the boys asked
if l would not accept the kn0kS. Eyes"
! l said, IF l can choose for myself!''
"All right" they grunted. '.Bring
me then three of the coach rugs,a drap-
cry, and two silver cupsr' said. They
were dumfoundcd. Such audacity was
too much. and as they hurried out to
confer with the landlady the post
horses came, and we mounted.
The road was cross between high
way and a byway. 1t proceeded
through a vast arid plain, fiat as a
floor, and sparsely peopled by nomads,
with village here and 4 village there,
and spots of luxurious vegetation at
every mountainous break. On the
north the rough hills were magnificent,
and on the south distant roseate ranges
skirted the plains and filled the per
| spective with ever-varying mirage.
That portion of the country is made
| quately governed and unsafe, and as
there is little traffic the expenses of
| travelling are enormous. We were in
no humor to gain realizing sense of
our surroundings; but one thing l did
realize, and that was that the horse
| bhtb iOuO " do IL OOUJyp VI dlI
! horses that | ever saw 6oUgy Afghan
is the worst for saddle use. He was
! milk-white, and rather stylish, but he
went with skip-and-a-jump trot that
was not comfortable for man who had
not been in a saddle for a year But
he did not trot all of the time, for lust
in advance of us was Il Russian travel
or with thirty-six loads of luggage and
| q train of attnnH and tho IL -
| the eastern roads are such that one
| company can not come near enough to
| another to hear the crack of whips.
Although our party carried a bag of
mail, we had no right to 90 past the
Russian. who, fancy, was in no hurry
| to get on to Cabul. AT mid d-afterpoon
he halted for the night. and we had to
do likewise.
Co.'s was the name of the place, and
| it was in sequestered and desolate
| spot. A narrow, rusty old gate opened
out of an archway at the wayside, and
was marked 1t0qtgh. The word means
"Welcome!' but We were not sure of
being welcome, fOr in vain we pound
| ed the gate with the hammer used for
| that purpose. But at last a brave lit
| tie lad came and gave us admittance.
| We dismounted, and, walking up
weedy lane, entered the village, and
| sought the P0ti. The entrance was a
| square cellar and the accommodations
we're like those OF all other eastern
| hostelries. There was one innovation
| "a glass window, a dirty one at that,
| but one OF which the proprietor was
| very proud. He took the sash out and
| showed 1t to US, and then took US to
| our chambers, where in strange sort
of contrivance boy burns some char
| coal and cooked our rice. After sun
rise priest came in to see US, wearing
robes, but with bare feet. He wanted
to convert US, but he spent a good
half-hour in telling us that by the will
! of Allah his skin was of a delicate ecru
color, which fact he regarded as mark
of divine honor, inasmuch as it distin-
| guished him from the burnt-sienna col
ored natives. Afterward he talked
theology in a mad sort of way. Apollo
gizing for the building that he called a
..mosque, he invited us out to ses it,
and we found very gaudy place, hung
all over with festOonS and tinSeled
drapery, with tapers burning and tin
ornaments sparkling.
We saw perhaps dozen Afghan wo-
men. They wore no bonnets. but sim
ply long veil of gauzy stuff. Look at
them in the right way, and they are
pretty. Their countenances have a
Jewish cast, but they are not brunettes
Their skin is an9mic, strikingly so. and
they wear their hair tied over ball SO
as to make them look more than natur-
ally white. They walk remarkably
we'll, and in the management of their
wells display much innate grace and
elegance.
OF the men may as well say that
they are not unlike what a cross be-
tween a Hindu and Persian would be,
Athletic. fair, and well-bearded; they
have aquiline faces, with the foreheads
shaved, and the hair on the sides hang
ing in curls that fall over the shoulders
in picturesque, shaggy, mane-like
way. Their carriage is full of resolu-
ton and pride, and from one border of
the country to another you can not but
remark that they remind you of bantam
roosters. And they are like them, too
turbulent, vain, brutal, guarrelsome,
liking nothing better than the practice
of martial sports of cruel cast. The
EG=h, or chief tribesman of Co.'s, was as
perfect game-bird as ever saw.
This same kGzh wanted to buy my
pens and ink, and had no alternative
save to consent. But L exacted price
of him, and that was a ride in his slam
to Herat. 1t was preferable to 6Ougy
riding. though a slam is a carriage that
is as awkward and unwieldy as any
thing ever drawn by horses. From
Selup, three miles further on, to Herat,
fine carriage road had been recently
finished. and as our Russian had gone
on by another road, we had a pleasant
ride. When we came within sight OF
Herat we found a rope stretched across
the road to stop US, until naaltah came
out to collect toll and exact an oath
that we were not enemies of the city.
Then he went back and sent out
mounted courier, whose duty it was to
tell US that we could enter the city by
way of the river bridge. We turned
down into the valley, where, passing
village and village, and coming among
q network of irrigating canals, we
reached the magnificent bridge,a struc-
+r,.o of arohos oollaI