into heaven, and I care not;" and the other to the left, saying, "These into hell, and I care not." Whenever God is thus regarded as an arbitrary tyrant, instead of an all-loving Father whose dealings with His children transcend our knowledge but do not revolt our moral consciousness, religion, or rather that which takes its place, becomes a frightful instrument of evil; and even when the natural working of the human heart is too strong to allow of its being carried out practically to its logical conclusions, on the other hand, it prevents our higher sympathies from being of much practical use. It is worthy of such a system that it should regard a few external observances, and the mere utterance of such a formula as, "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is His prophet," as insuring an entrance into heaven, and that its heaven should be one of purely sensual delight. I do not mean to say that Mohammed is responsible for all that Mohammedanism has become for even in this case there has been manifested that curious tendency of religions to thrust forward and deify that which their founders began with repudiating and condemning-but he is in great part responsible; and of all famous books in the world, the Kurán is about the least edifying. Hardy, brave, mean, and wicked a people as the Afghans are, they are great lovers of poetry, and have produced not a little poetry of a high order. They are very fond, at night, round their camp-fires, of reciting verses, and these verses are usually of a melancholy kind, relating to love, war, the unsatisfactoriness of all earthly enjoyment, and the cruelty of fate. Captain H. G. Raverty has rendered a great service in present ing us with an almost literal translation of the productions of the more famous Afghan poets; and these do not at all make the Afghan character more intelligible. When the women of a village ventured to come out to look at me, usually some man with a big stick drove them away with heavy blows, and remarks upon them which even a Rabelais would have hesitated to report; yet the Afghans have romantic ideas of love, and are fond of singing these beautiful lines : "Say not unto me, 'Why swearest thou by me?' Thou, indeed, art the very light of mine eyes; In this world thou art my life and my soul, Thou art in truth the all-engrossing idea of my mind, The dust of thy feet is an ointment for the eyes— My heart ever yearneth toward thee exceedingly— When thou laughest, they are nothing in comparison, Truly I am thy lover, and thine, thine only- Of the despairing melancholy of the Afghan poets it would be easy to quote many instances; but I prefer Selections from the Poetry of the Afghans, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Literally translated from the original Pushtoo. London, 1862. to give the following example, also translated by Captain Raverty, by a chief of the clan Khattak, of their stirring war-songs: "From whence hath the spring again returned unto us, Which hath made the country round a garden of flowers? There are the anemone and sweet basil, the lily, and the thyme; The jasmine and white rose, the narcissus, and pomegranate blossom. The wild flowers of spring are manifold, and of every hue; The maidens place nosegays of flowers in their bosoms; Come now, maidens, apply the bow to the violin; And thou, cup-bearer, bring us full and overflowing cups, The Afghan youths have again dyed red their hands, They have made rosy their bright swords with gore; Ae-mal Khan and Dar-ya Khan-from death preserve them!— Were neither of them at fault when opportunity occurred. They dyed red the valley of Khyber with the blood of the foe; On Karrapah, too, they found both war's din and tumult. From Karrapah, even unto Bajawar, both plain and mountain, Time after time, as from an earthquake, quaked and shook." CHAPTER XLIX. HOTI MARDÁN AND THE KHYBER PASS. CAPTAIN HUTCHINSON-ADVANTAGES OF RESIDING AT HOTI MARDÁNTEMPERATURE-HAWKING-ASSASSINATIONS-THE PANJAB GUIDES AND THEIR EXPLOITS-OUR TRUE POLICY IN INDIA-GENERAL JOHN NICHOLSON-THE PANJAB IN THE MUTINY-PESHAWAR AND ITS OFFICIALS-THE KHYBER PASS-CONCLUSION. ONE day's march from Hoti Mardán, or Murdan, I was handed over to the care of an escort of the Panjáb Guides, a famous regiment which is usually quartered in that fort. Its officers showed great hospitality and kindness, and especially Captain Hutchinson, whom I had met at Hardwar, as also in Kashmír, and whose shooting expeditions had made him familiar with some of the remotest parts of the Himálaya and with the regions lying to the north of Kashmír. He had just returned from a journey into Gilgit, which he described as exceedingly barren and stony; and his quarters in the fort were adorned with many trophies of the chase, including quite a pile of the skins of the great snow-bear. Elsewhere, I heard a story of an officer who, on getting leave after a long period of close service, went up and spent his leave at this little remote fort of Hoti Mardán, where he had formerly been stationed. That was adduced as a remarkable instance of English eccentricity; but I can quite appreciate the man's choice. The officers of a crack regiment in an isolated position. make very good company; there is excellent sport of various kinds, including hawking, to be had at Mardán; there is just enough of personal danger connected with a residence there to keep one lively; interesting expeditions may be made along or across the frontier; the whole country round is full of important antiquities; and the climate during great part of the is delightful. year According to the regimental records of temperature for the year 1872, the thermometer (in the open air, but in a position sheltered from the sun), had, in the month of January, an extreme range from 27° to 64°, and a mean range from 46° to 52°. In February, the extreme range was from 32° to 73°, and the mean from 48° to 52°. In April, the extreme range was 53° to 91°, and the mean 69° to 82°. The hottest month was June, when the extreme range was 70° to 109°, and the mean 92° to 100°. That sounds very dreadful; but the pure and excessively dry air of these regions does not make a temperature of 100° so intolerable as a temperature of 80° is in the moist regions of the coast, or, during the rainy season, in those parts of India which are much exposed to the influence of the south-west monsoon. Evaporation of moisture from the skin and clothes is the great source of coolness in a hot country; and, of course, the drier the air is, the greater the evaporation and consequent coolness, while, the more the air is loaded with moisture, the less is the evaporation from our persons, and the more we |