Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-05-03
AsTOkisHED AFGHANs.
A Chief Writes of His Visit to Calcutta
and Of What He Saw.


A Chief Write. of His Visit to Calcutta
and Of What He Saw.
Certain Afghan chiefs in charge of
the Khyber pass have lately visited
Calcutta as guests of the government
The following is All interesting ac-
count which has been given by one of
their number of the impressions de-
rived from his visit.
This is Kings country; every one
ought to be astonished at seeing all
the wonderful things to be seen in it.
The thing which has most astonished
us is the regularity with which every
thing is conducted. During our railway
journey we arrived at tho different
stations and left again with great
regularity. as arranged. There is
nolhing like this in our country. A
country which is iIl-governed is not a
good country.
I'VE arrived at Calcutta early in the
morning. and. being tired. stayed in
our lodgings the whole Of that day.
On the day following we went
TO Howrah to see the railway
station and the workshops. We
saw all the engines at work There is
nothing like these in our own country.
which is a poor country. We were
then taken to the mint and saw the
pice and FOUR anna pieces that are be-
ing coined there. The Cabul rupees
are only worth twelve and one-half
annas; they are stamped with a die
and hammer There is nothing to
equal this government either in its
silver or any thing else. or in its
management of the country. We
visited the fort the next day. and con-
sidered that very strong. We saw all
the cannon and big guns there. They
are very good guns.
1--WE were then taken to the bo-
tanical gardens in steam launch.
This is the first time we have been on
board steamer, and we enjoyed the
trip very much. The gardens are by
far the finest we have ever seen. We
were then taken to the geological gar
dens and to Mateabruz, the palace of
the late King of Dude. which is a very
fine place. We saw all the animals at
the geological gardens. Some of the
animals here we had seen before at
Cabul, but some of them we have
never seen before, and they greatly
astonished us. as we could not tell to
what country they belonged.
1--WE then paid visit 10 the Bac-
chantc, and were truly astonished by
the big guns and by every thing on
board. We never saw such things
before. No other government could
ever make ships like that The chief
wanted to distribute Rs. 900 among
the crew for showing all these won-
derful things. but the Captain of the
ship said the sirkar would be very
angry at their accepting present
The chiefs again wanted to give the
sailors present, but were told that
they could not be allowed to do so. as
what had been shown to them had
been shown for their own amusement.
When we went down in the hold we
saw the mems tables spread in
minute and again taken up. their beds
put down and taken up-all done in
minute-and in a moment the ship
was made ready for a fight. The big
guns were fired. but only with fuses.
We saw the sailors going up the rig
ging very quickly. at the double. and
run up the masts and remain quiet
thele. We have never seen these
things before. We were presented to
the Lord Sahib of the sea, who was
very kind to lis.
I'VE were then taken to Dunn. DUN,
where We saw a smail-arms manu-.
factory and the workmen making
cartridges and bullets. Another day
we visited the Englishman newspaper
office. and saw them printing, and
also making lead letters. One of us
wrote verse in Persian. A sahib
then took paper and with machine.
which cut like very sharp knife into
some white stuff. he wrote It. Then
lead was poured on. and in few min
ules they were printing the verse on
some copies of the EngIishman. which
were presented to us. We also spoke
through the telephone. Some of us
were at the Englishman office and
some at Mess-s King Hamilton's. and
we recognized each others voice.
Then we visited the telegraph office,
where we spoke with a friend at
Peshawur-all in a few minutes. One
of us asked relative at Peshawur how
he was. as he had been suffering from
fever. He replied: Quite well; how's
your boil?' Now. these words aston
ished us very much. because none of
MS knew that this man had had boil
only his relative at Peshawur. Great
are the MAYS of the sirkari'' London