Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1885-06-06

abominablc There is more dirt and |
decay in and about IL, just because II is
bigger than the other places, like kusan
or Penjdeh. Blu, in the opinion Of the
few Englishmcn who have visited
Hcrat in the course Of the present |
century, j, might he made capable Of
offering the most stubborn resistance
even to European besiegers. 1t has
never yc, been bcsicged by European
army, though European officers have
assisted in It's defence and its assault.
Russian officers were pitted against
an Englishman the brave Eldred
Pottinger in 1897. They accompanied
the Persian army Of $4,000 men,
which besiegcd Herat at that period,
and which, after ten inonths, was forced
to give up the. attempt The Persians
pounded the town with fifty pieces Of
artillery The success of the resistance
was entirely owing TO the genius and
the personal influence Of the young
English soldier n ever there is TO be
another siege of Hcrat, the assailants
will be much more formidable than the
raw lcvics Of the "King of Kings"
Mahomcd Shah, were in 1897.
pottingcr found the fortications of
Herat in ruinous condition, and little
or nothing has been done since his day
to repair them.
Herat is fortified by "outworks and
wall round the town" The outworks,
however, are very few The main line
Of Notifications may be described as
wall about az feet high, built on huge
earthworks, and surrounded by ditch
about 40 feet wide and sixteen deep
The whole enclosure is in the form Of q
square, or rather oblong about 1000
yards long by 1900 yards wide. The
ditch is, or may be, flooded from the
Herr Rud River, which flows westwards
to kusan, and thence northwards past
Sarakhs, and onwardG to the Turcomap
desert. But though strongly built, the
quadrangular earthworks, with their
superintendent wall are, in military
sense, extremely weak. Each side of
the quadrangle is straight-in other
words, there are no outrunnlng angles
for flank firing purposes. There are
no outworks at the corners OF the
quadrangle. The northern side,
however, is more strongly defended
than the eastern, southern, or western. An
enemy in possession OF the surrounding
country would soon starve out the
garrison, and, by intercepting the Herr
1 10 ,,1 L.. I'll.
In the center of the town there are a
vast cistcrns, in which it has been
alleged water may be stored in
sufficient quantity to supply the civil
population and the garrison, for twev c
months But it appears, too, that tn C
waterstores might be destroyed with
the greatest ease by cannonade from
1.-The elevated ground on the northern
side Of the city.
i The population Of Herat is supposed
to be about twenty-five or thirty
thousand--the nearest fraction of its
population in the days of its prosperity.
Christie, who visited the city in 1909,
estimated its population at one
hundred thousand. Connolly, who saw
the town in 1928, said it had sixty-five
thousand. In Pottinger's time it was
believed to have forty thousand After
the siege the number dwindled down
to less than ten thousand.
General Ferrier, who was in Herat in
IS45, thought there were twenty-five
thousand inhabitants These remarkable
fluctuations indicate the troublous char
acter of the timesand the lawlessness of
the tribes inhabiting the surrounding
regions. Since the days of Ghenghiz
Khan and Timour, Herat has perhaps
been assailed and sacked more often
than any other city in the world. The
r Herat OF modern history is but the
| paltriest ruin of the "Arian" city of the
, olden time. There is no reason to
, doubt the statements of old historians
that Hcrat contained one-and.a-hall
5 millions of inhabitants, and that its
, architecture was the wonder and pride
of the eastern world. One or two
= buildings which lin a crumbline
condition) exist since the time o,
r Timour are still among the best spec
Y linens Of Mohammedan architecture
r The ruins OF Herat, like the ruins o.
! Delhi, cover the country for many miles
= around. There has perhaps been Z
e slight improvement in the state O
: Herat since its last conquest by the
y Afghans; but the only reason for tho
S supposition is the slight increase of it.
. population. Since the year 1873 up tc
1863 Herat was incesantly fought for by
: the Afghans, by the Suddozye Prince.
of Herat itself, by the Persains, who
always claimed suzerain rights over it
In earlier years Of English Intervention
: in Centeral Asia, the fixed policy Of thu
n English Government was the mainten
d ance Of Heat Independence, not onl,
S as against Persia, but as against Cabul
o But in 1863 Dost Mahomed the able
Of all the Afghan Ameers, conquered
and annexed the principally, sine
), which time England has regarded
:, Herat as an integral part of tn
n dominions OF the rulers Of Cabul
r There was an. attempted chang
n Of policy by Lord Lytton, who, whel
e Governor-G General Of India, ha,
/ elaborated remarkable scheme 70
], the separation of Candahar from tn
. Ameer's kingdom, and the transferenc
], Of Herat to Persia The first portion
y Of this programme was put in force
r The latter never was-but il Woul
is have been, il the Conservatives ha
Is returned to power in 1880. Herat tn
s. magnificent is now one Of the dirtes
St dens in the whole world. Arthu
'e Connolly expressed his wonder how tn
II .....ll IL 4. 49,