version to Mahommedanism in the tenth century, and fled for refuge When to their present abodes. investigating this subject, he was supplied with some remarkable stories, of which the following is a sample :

"The Kátirs in the Bashgul valley informed me that they came from the west, and were once part of a numerous tribe which divided into two parties. One division, consisting of all the wealthy and otherwise notable persons, went to London, while the other, comprising menials only, settled in Káfiristán. This depreciation of themselves is in the true spirit of oriental politeness. They warned me not to trust the Kám, or to believe them for an instant if they declared that they and I were descended from a common ancestor; for it was notorious that it was the Kátirs and not the Kám who were of my race, the Kám being really more akin to the

Russians."

An oriental version of "Codlin's the friend, not Short."

Of the people generally, it is said that they would be detestable were it not for their redeeming qualities of courage, domestic affection, and love of liberty. The men are of much the same

height as ourselves, lightly built but powerful, and are remarkable pedestrians. The women are "shortish and of light build, with muscular limbs. Pretty faces are rare." Both men and women seem to be very dirty. They are by no means simple in character, but can plot with the "secrecy and tenacity of the average Oriental." They are avaricious, greedy, and quarrelsome beyond belief, whilst falsehood is cultivated as a fine art; yet they have the good qualities already mentioned, and in addition are hospitable to men and kind to animals.

"In the Káfir's opinion, a really fine manly character, what he em

VOL. CLXI.-NO. DCCCCLXXVII.

phatically calls a 'good' man, must possess the following attributes: He must be a successful homicide, a good hillman, ever ready to quarrel, and of an amorous disposition. If he is also a good dancer, a good shot with bow and arrow or matchlock, and a good aluts or stone - quoit player, so much the better. constitute a fine man; but to be These qualities really influential in the tribe, an indi

vidual must be also rich."

be

The family is the unit, and its head exercises complete authority over the members; so, in spite of violent quarrels, domestic affairs run with reasonable smoothness. The village is a collection of families, and varies according to locality, strength, and liability to attack. The tribes differ greatly one from another in language, dress, and bond customs; their sole ing that they are not Mahommedan -a tie which perhaps no longer exists. The dress, dances (for a Káfir does nothing without dancing), effigies, and funeral rites are all minutely described. The chief in the Presun country, and is detemple is at the village Kstigigrom scribed as an imposing structure twenty feet high and from fifty to sixty feet square, furnished with eight huge wooden figures of Imrá. A short distance from the temple is the approach to the nether world in the form of a hole, down which if any one should look he dies forthwith. Robertson was shown the place, and says:

"All that is to be seen is a patch of jungle-grass, limited in extent, and easily overlooked. The village Utah or priest particularly requested me peared gratified at my reply, that, as not to approach the spot; he apa guest of the tribe, I would not think of doing so. The place had already been examined by Afghan raiders, brought into the country by the Wai tribe, and the priests possibly thought that if other people went away unharmed after seeing 2 c

The country is said to be abundantly stocked with game, and the rivers to be full of fish, probably of the carp family, though unfortunately no detail is given. detail is given. The people will not eat fish, regarding them as scavengers and foul feeders. Chikor partridges and the magnificent Monál pheasant are very numerous, and there

are a few teal and wild- fowl. Bears, leopards, wild sheep, and markhor are found, the latter in wonderful numbers, for we read of a small party of Kashtán men who killed twenty-three in ten days.

"Our average was one or two aday... The Káfirs were delighted with the execution of my express rifle, and would rush forward in great glee, shouting 'tum-bah' in imitation of the sound of the rifle, to carry away a slain animal. In the spring large numbers of markhor are caught on the snow behind Kámdesh on their way up the valley; but the supply seems practically inexhaustible, though probably, in consequence of the harrying the animals get with dogs, and when they are blundering through deep snow, there are few large heavy animals. The biggest horns I saw were but forty inches in length."

The markhor are therefore inferior in size and in length of horn to those of the Káj Nág, Pír Panjál, or Astor in Kashmir, but in num

ber they must be at least as ten to

one.

And now the history of the Káfirs as a separate people is Their valleys probably closed.

were included in the territories which fell within the sphere of Afghan influence, in contrast to Chitrál and others towards the East, which are more or less controlled by the Government of India in concert with Kashmir. Afghan authority has been asserted, we are assured, without unnecessary barbarity, roads are being made, and the people will no doubt soon completely resemble the Kohistán, Lughmán, and other neighbours, who in all probability belong to the same original stock.

The mention of Chitrál reminds us that the Government of India, too, in the exercise of its influence, and the recollection of the siege was compelled to resort to force,

and relief of the fort are still fresh. Dr Robertson was British agent throughout the operations, and in recognition of his services was made K.C.S.I.

Káfiristán with its romantic val

leys and picturesque hillsides will no doubt in course of time be surveyed and explored; but it is more than doubtful whether any considerable addition to our knowledge of its strange people will hereafter be made. Their traditions will probably be lost in the flood of Mahommedanism in which

they are likely to be submerged; hence we would fain hope that this short summary, which indicates where information exists, may have a value not wholly ephemeral.

W. BROADFOOT.

IN the calm air of the Sunday morning with the brook going gently by, I came to the entrance of the hoary ruins wherein I had first seen Dariel. A chapel with lines of gray flint only, to show where once the sacred walls had risen, and nothing but the soft sky for roof, and mortar and moss for pavement. Stepan, as big as a pulpit, but more mute, stood close by expecting me, and led me along a ferny path, and dusted a stone to sit upon, with a noble quietude. But when I asked him-"What am I to do?" he took it for our national salutation, and answered, "Like a house afire, sir." So I gave it up, and resolved to act according to the light of nature, and the behaviour of the others when they arrived. Only if there came a great procession of images, as I expected, nothing should make me depart from the proper demeanour of a Briton.

However I was not called upon to assert the great Reformation. A more simple, quiet, and impressive service I never witnessed anywhere; and although there was no roof overhead, and little enclosure on either side, the view of the sky, and the passing of the wind, and the sense of antiquity around us were in harmony, as it seemed to me, with the conditions of humility, and mortality, and hopefulness. The strictest Puritan could have found fault with little except the red crosses worn by all the congregation, and a few triangles and wreaths of white flowers. And the man who can find any fault with

these must consider himself too faultless to worship any other being.

First came the women, only seven or eight in number, veiled not very heavily, and cloaked in cheerful raiment. And the last of these was Dariel, looking as if she had never dreamed of anything uncelestial, while the loveliness of her figure gleamed through the folds of her flowing mantle; even as the flexure and the texture of an agate glisten through the cloudy pretext of their coat to hide them. "Who shall understand these things?" thought I, "there is no one on earth fit to approach her; yet the Lord cannot have meant her to be always by herself." And then I thought of Hafer-Prince indeed! Prince of darkness, and nothing else—and I looked about, with anything but religious peace inside me. However I could perceive no sign of any wickedness high or low; and every heart except my own sang a grateful and worshipful tune to the Lord.

Even to me it was a quiet and devout proceeding, when Imar (not as one who preaches to a crowd of animals below him, but like a man speaking to and on behalf of men — - not abject, though beneath a cloud) began the simple offering of our love, and trust, and loyalty. To me it was grander than it might have been to those who could criticise it; for I could not object to anything, because I did not not comprehend a word. Nevertheless it did me good, inasmuch as it did the others good;

and if a man lives in himself alone, he will not find much good there, I fear. And when they began their final hymn of high thanksgiving, and hopeful trust that our Maker will not be as hard upon us as we are upon one another, the sound of great rejoicing which our Christians never indulge in— filled the valley, and went up the heights, such as we are bidden to gaze at, while we stick to the dismal hollows. I knew that I was only of a dull prosaic order, but felt for the moment above myself, with the other fellows lifting me.

However absurd it may appear to those who are always at one level of self-made dignity andsomething else true it is we all were moved, as no formality can stir us. Stepan had a mighty voice, and more than his throat was in it; then Dariel cast by her veil, and her beautiful lips were trembling, like a wild-rose quivering with petals half-open over some melodious stream. I thought of the time when I had first beheld her, and my love was not of this earth alone.

When all were gone, and I was thinking still what prigs we are, and cowards too, who suppose that there is one way only of getting near our Father, that humble man, who had been our priest, came up to me, and spoke sadly. I saw that he was down at heart, and full of doubt about himself, and wanting higher comfort than a man like me could give him. But I could not guess, until he told his melancholy story, why he should be thus downcast, after doing his utmost for the benefit of others. I had not known what the service meant, but saw that it had been simple, solemn, and free from all rant and false excitement; and this I ventured to express.

"Come in, my friend, and have

On Sundays

some refreshment. all the men dine together," he said as he led me inside the door, "and we will have something with them. I fear that you found it difficult to keep from laughing at the sight of such an astonishing set of hats, and scarcely any two alike. We copied them first, I sometimes think, from our highest and most fantastic peaks; but art has outdone nature. In truth they are a motley lot, but there is not a false heart among them."

I had seen nearly all of them before, on the day of the police invasion, but not as now in their best apparel, a strange and interesting sight. Some of them had wondrous coats, frogged and braided, and painted and patched, and and ribboned and laced, and leathered, and I know not what, with coins, and baubles, and charms, and stars, and every kind of dangle; and two of them wore Russian uniforms far advanced in years, and captured perhaps in the days of Shamyl. But their faces, though covered with beards and freckles, could not be called savage or ignoble; and though one or two were of swarthy aspect, some were as fair as Englishmen. I could well believe that there might be truth in the tradition of their tribe, that they were a separate race, distinct among the myriad mountain strains, having the hot oriental blood refreshed and strengthened from the Western founts. They regarded their chief with patriarchal loyalty and deference, but no servility or cringing; it was his pleasant duty to maintain them, and theirs to work for him, to a rational extent. Whatever they had was his, so far as nature allows such partnership; while his property enjoyed the privilege of ministering to their welfare.

"They have done well," said the