Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-01
The kHYBER PASS
Gate Between India and Ger
trail Asia.
GUARDED BY AFRIDIS
PAID BY THE BRITISH AND THE
AMEER.
No One Permitted to 90 Through Elk
cept on Two Days Of the Week
characteristics Of Afghans.
GUARDED BY AFRIDIS

cepc on Two lays OF the w eeA-
characteristics Of Afghans.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS,
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
PESHAWUR, India, March 6, 1904.
The most sensitive nerve in the British
empire terminates in Afghanistan, and the
ghost OF the car is always dancing about
the Khyber Pass, through which caravans
laden with merchandise find their way
across the mountains between India and
the countries of central Asia. Every time
there Is a stir in a clump of bushes, every
time board creaks In the floor, every time
a footstep is heard under the window, the
goose flesh rises on John Bulls back. and
he imagines that the great white bear is
smelling around the back door of his en-
pire in India.
The Khyber Pass.
Peshawur is the jumping-on place Of the
northwest, the limit of British authority,
the terminus of the railway system of India
and the great gateway between that empire
and the outer world, through which every
thing must pass. It Is to the interior of
Asia what the Straits Of Gibraltar are to
the Mediterranean sea, and the Dardanelles
to the Black and Caspian seas. While there
are 800 paths over the mountains in other
directions, and 1t might be possible to cross
them with an army, 1t has never been at
tempted and would involve dangers, ex-
pense and delays which no nation would
undertake. The Khyber Pass has been the
great and only route for ages whether for
war or commerce. The masters of central
Asia, whether Persians, Greeks, Mace
domains or AssyTfans, have held it. Alex
ander the Great crossed it with his army.
Timour the Tartar, whom We know better
as Tamerlane. came through upon his all
conQuering expedition when he subdued
India to found the Mogul empire, and IL the
Russians ever enter India by land they will
come this way.
The pass is reached by crossing a stony
plain ten miles from Peshawur, and winds
through gorges and crevices of the noun
tains for thirtythree miles at an altitude
averaging 1900 feet above the sea- AT one
point the mountains close in to about one
500 feet and the rocks rise in sheer prec-
ipices on either side; in other places the
gorge widens to a mile or more and VIII
average perhaps three-Quarters OF mile
the entire distance. 1t Is a remarkable
gateway. a natural barrier between heredi-
tary enemies and easily defended from either
side. Kabul, the capital Of Afghanistan, Is
$50 miles from the western entrance to the
defle.
Guards Of the Pass.
The British Notifications are at Jamrud,
nine miles from Peshawur, and the ter
minus of the railways, where a strong gar
rison is always kept. The pass itself Is
controlled by a powerful semi-independent
native tribe called the Afridis, estimated at
10000 strong, who receive subsidies from
the British government and from the Ameer
of Afghanistan to keep them good-natured
on the pretext that they are to do police
work and keep order in the pass. 1t Is
blackmail and bribery, but accomplishes It's
purpose. and the pass itself with a strip OF
highlands and foothills on the Afghanistan
side is thus occupied by a neutral party,
which prevents friction between the nations
on either side of the border. The Afridis
are fearless fighters, half-civilized, half
savage and almost entirely supported by
the subsidies they receive. Nearly all of
the abIe-bodied men are under arms. A few
who are too old or too young TO hghf re-
main at home and look after the cattle and
the scraggy gardens upon the gravelly hill
sides The women are as hardy and as
during as the men and are taught to handle
the rifle.
The British authorities are confident of
the LOYALTY of the AfridfS and believe that
the present ARRANGEMENT would be absolute
ly safe in time of war as 1t is In time OF
reace-that they would permit no armed
body, whether Russians or Afghans, to
cross the pass without the consent of both
sides, as is provided by treaty stipulations.
The arrangement is as effective as 1t is
novel and the Afridis carry out every detail
conscientiously. The pass is open only two
DAYS in the week, on Tuesdays and FRI
days. No one is permitted to cross or even
enter 1t from either side except on those
days. And even then travellers, tourists
and others actuated by curiosity are not al
lowed to go through without permits. The
caravans going both ways are required to
camp under fell-formed regulations at
either entrance until daylight of Tuesday
or Friday, when they are escorted through
by armed bodies of Afridis horsemen. There
fhn rloh nj ny IN
any one but 1t is just as well to go through
the ceremony, for it keeps the Afridis out
of mischief and reminds them continually
of their great responsibilities.
The Caravans.
These caravans are interesting. They
are composed Of long strings of loaded
camels ox-carts, mules and donkeys, vehi-
cles of all descriptions and thousands of
people travelling on foot, who come some
times from as far west as the Ural noun
tains and the banks of the Volga river.
They come from Persia, from all parts Of
Siberia and from the semi-barbarous tribes
who inhabit that mysterious region in CEN
trail Asia, known as the Roof OF the
World
The camel drivers and the traders are
fierce-looking men and extremely dirty.
They have Travelled long way and over
roads that are very dusty, and water is
scarce the entire distance. They look as II
they had never washed their faces or cut
their hair, and their shaggy, greasy, black
locks hang down upon their shoulders be-
meath enormous turbans. Each wears the
costume of his own country, but they are
so ragged, grimy and filthy that the ro-
nance of 1t Is lost.
The AfRhans are in the majority They
are stalwart big-bearded men, with large
features, long noses and cunning eyes. and
claim that their ancestors were one Of the
lost tribes of Israel. Their traditions, Gus
physf0RnOmy and dialect SIDpOrt this
the American missionaries who have
schools and churches among them are con-
tinually running up against customs and
traditions which remind them forcibly of
the Mosaic teachings. They have consider
able literature, poetry. history. biography.
philosophy and ecclesiastical works. and
some of their priests have large libraries
of native books which, the missionaries
say, are full of suggestions of the Old Tes-
IA