THE CROSS OF CONSTANTINE.-EXTINCTION OF THE SLAVE TRADE.

"Conquer in this!'-Strong is thy Saviour's might;
When bursts the morning of a brighter day,
Rise, Christian victor in the glorious fight,

Arise rejoicing from thy cell of clay !

39

SIR T. F. BUXTON'S PLAN FOR THE EXTINC
TION OF THE SLAVE TRADE.

To a description of the extent and horrors of the Slave Trade, the failure of our efforts for its suppression, and an account of African superstitions and cruelties, (Sir T. F. Buxton remarks in describing his volume,) I have added some practical suggestions for calling forth the latent energies of that quarter of the globe, and for exhibiting to its inhabitants where their true interest lies.

The principles of my suggestions are comprised in the following propositions :

1. That the present staple export of Africa renders to her inhabitants, at infinite cost, a miserable return of profits.

2. That the cultivation of her soil, and the barter of its productions, would yield an abundant harvest, and a copious supply of those articles which Africa requires.

3. That it is practicable to convince the African, experimentally, of the truth of these propositions, and thus to make him our confederate in the suppression of the Slave Trade.

I despair of being able to put down a traffic, in which a vast continent is engaged, by the few ships we can afford to employ: as auxiliaries they are of great value, but alone they are insufficient. I do not dream of attempting to persuade the African, by appealing merely to his reason or his conscience, to renounce gainful guilt, and to forego those inhuman pursuits which gratify his cupidity and supply his wants. But when the appeal we make is to his interest, and when his passions are enlisted on our side, there is nothing chimerical in the hope that he may be brought to exchange slender profits with danger, for abundant gain with security and peace.

If these views can be carried into effect, they have at least thus much to recommend them :-

They will not plunge this country into hostility with any portion of the civilized world: for they involve no violation of international law. We may cultivate intercourse and innocent commerce with the natives of Africa, without abridging the rights or damaging the honest interests of any rival power.

They require no monopoly of trade; if other nations choose to send their merchantmen to carry on legitimate traffic in Africa, they will but advance our object, and lend their aid in extinguishing that which we are resolved to put down.

They involve no schemes of conquest; our ambition is of another order. Africa is now torn in pieces. She is the victim of the most iron despotism that

her broad territory. We desire to usurp nothingand to conquer nothing-but the Slave Trade.

The cross which led thee scathless through the gloom, the world ever saw; inveterate cruelty reigns over
Shall in that hour heaven's royal banner be;
Thou hast o'ercome the world, the flesh, the tomb ;
Triumph in Him who died and rose for thee!"
Lady Flora Hastings.

Finally, we ask of the government only that which subjects have a right to expect from their

capitals of those petty kingdoms; finally it re- | portion of the Himalêh mountains known as the ceives the name of Affghanistan, that being a Hindoo Coosh, which overlooks Balk or Bukhara, corrupted Indian word, expressive of the warlike the ancient Bactria; on the east it is equally elecharacter of the Affghans*. vated above the plains of the Indus (the Punjab Sinde, &c.), by the Solyman hills-a branch of the

The Affghan country, as at present marked out by geographers, is bounded on the north by that | Himalêh running north and south, and towering

far above the snow line; on the south it overlooks Sewesteen, and on the south-west a deep valley *"In India," says M. Klaproth, "they are known under the name of Pathdni," (they call themselves Pooshtoon, in the plural Pooshtduneh,)" derived from the verb paithnd, to fall upon (se jeter sur quelque chose), to enter, to penetrate suddenly, to make invasion; for during a long period the Affghan tribes made themselves famous for their frequent incursions into the

runs between it and Beloochistan. It slopes gradually to the west, and loses the appearance of elevation as it approaches Persia; whence its boundary consists of a winding line drawn along the deserts of Kerman and Khorassan. These limits place it between the thirtieth and thirty-fifth degrees of North latitude, and the sixty-second and

various provinces of Hindustan."-Sur la langue des Afghans- seventy-first of East longitude; and are indicated

Mémoires relatifs à l'Asie, tom. iii. p. 418.

in our map by a dotted line.

The north-east corner of the country may be | IIerât occupy the north-western corner next to

called the nucleus of its mountain system. The Hindoo Coosh, which rises behind the city of Cabûl, has so prodigious an altitude, that travellers complain of the difficulty of breathing; the strongest men suffering from giddiness and vomiting. Thousands of birds are also found dead on the snow from the rarity of the atmosphere; yet they are accustomed to higher elevations than men or quadrupeds. "The greatest silence is preserved in crossing the Hindoo Coosh, and no one speaks loud, or fires a gun, lest the reverberation cause a fall of snow." The city of Cabûl lies at an elevation of six thousand six hundred feet above the level of the sea; and some of the passes between it and the plains of Turkistan are from twelve thousand to thirteen thousand feet high, and covered with snow t. From this important branch of the Himalêh ranges, the mountains of Affghanistan branch off throughout the land in the directions already

indicated.

For so mountainous a country, Affghanistan presents two peculiarities: it has few rivers, and experiences little rain. This has been accounted for from the boundless mountain tracts by which it is surrounded exhausting the clouds of moisture before their arrival over the country. The hills have, therefore, little drainage with which to fill river-beds. All the streams which intersect the country are fordable in some part of their course during most of the year; the mountain torrents being quickly drained off, either by absorption in the deserts that abound-particularly in the western districts or diminished by the people for irrigating the land. The Helmud river is one of the largest, and with the Gizea (in Arrowsmith's map; the Furrah of others), falls into the only lake known to exist, called the Zurrah. The other rivers are the Cabul, the Turnuk, and Urghandâb; the Eoomul, the Zhobe, the Lorah.

Thus deficient in the main element of fertility, the cultivated spots in Affghanistan, though not few, are far between. The most considerable of these is the valley of Cabûl, in the north-east corner of the land, and extending for nearly two hundred miles. It is divided into several districts; in the chief of which are the cities of Ghiznee and Cabûl, possessing the finest river; the most fertile plains in the country are situated in this valley, particularly the Peshawur and Lugmaun districts, which are blessed with a delightful climate and productive soil. The western section of the Cabûl valley is of a hilly character, and is called Kohistan, or the highlands.

Various other valleys, formed by the divergence of the mountains, are distributed at wide intervals throughout the whole territory. The plains of

*Burnes' Travels into Bokhara, &c., vol. ii. pp. 247, 248. + Id. vol. ii. p. 240.

the Persian boundary. The valley constitutes their most important division, and may be about thirty miles long, and fifteen miles broad. Southward of it, a dreary expanse of desert, seldom interrupted by habitable soil, occupies the whole of the western and part of the southern boundaries of Affghanistan, comprised, for the most part, in the province of Seistan. The sand of which this desert is composed being light, indeed almost impalpable, is peculiarly subject to the sport of the winds, which heaps it up in huge wall-like ridges, and over them the traveller must climb in pursuance of his journey.

The climate of Affghanistan varies considerably (from its peculiar configuration) in different parts of the country. A day's journey from the perpetually frozen highlands into the plains, will bring the traveller to a climate where the heat is sufficient to mature the productions of the hottest parts of India. The simoom sometimes passes over the country to occasion great destruction of life and property. The Cabûl district possesses the best climate, that of the Peshawur plain being, by all accounts, unequalled.

The inhabitants of this wild and varied territory appear to occupy a middle place in the scale between civilization and barbarism. If, remarks Elphinstone, a European were suddenly transported to Affghanistan, without having had his views modified by the Turks, Persians, Tartars, or Hindostanee tribes, the condition of the Affghanistan and its inhabitants would be startling to him. He would discover a wild assemblage of wastes and hills, unmarked by inclosures, and destitute of all refinement of husbandry. He would be struck with the forlorn appearance of one part, and the populousness of another. He would find few resting-places, and those he came to far from each other; but this would be balanced by the hospitable disposition of the natives he might happen to fall in with. The Affghans themselves he would find living in a state of rude independence, and distributed, for the most part, over the open country; while the towns and agricultural districts—inhabited by Persians and other foreigners-exhibit a degree of industry and habitual order, equalled only in China.

The Affghans are divided into several tribes, who confine themselves to particular districts: the principal of them are the Berdooranees, the Damaun, (occupying the eastern division,) and the central tribes. The Dooranees, Ghilgees, &c., are spread over the western provinces. These again are subdivided into numerous families, or smaller tribes, of which forty-six have been enumerated. All testimonies agree in attributing to the whole of these tribes, qualities befitting them for mighty deeds. They are robust in their persons, and so brave that they have long been known in the

AFFGHANISTAN.-INDIAN HOSPITALITY.

43

armies of India as their most valiant soldiers under | entirely upon tradition, and are more than questhe name of Patans.

But the Affghans present points of consideration to the Christian and to the philanthropist of the deepest interest, especially at this time. Closely united to Great Britain, they are, in a measure, our fellow-subjects. Can anything be done to improve their social, moral, and spiritual condition? The question need not be hopelessly answered in the negative; for when the darkness of Islam- | ism shall be dispelled by the light of Christianity, it may be fairly anticipated that its beams will first enter the minds of these people; for of all Mohammedans they are the least intolerant. Although they have all the superstition of their class, they have little of its bigotry, and freely extend the hand of friendship to those whose creeds are entirely at variance with their own†.

Another proof of their tolerance is, that although nothing is so hateful to a Mussulman as a Jew, the Affghans secretly claim descent from the ten tribes of Israel. This pretension is supported by many learned orientalists. "We learn from Esdras," says Sir William Jones, " that the ten tribes, after a wandering journey, came to a country called Asareth," (corrupted, this author conjectures, to Hezareth, the northern province,) " where we may suppose they settled. Now the Affghans are said by the best Persian historians to be descended by the Jews. They have traditions among themselves of such a descent, although since the invasion of Islam they studiously conceal their origin from all whom they admit not to their secrets." These secrets are, it seems, recorded in a book (Assar al Afåghin), from which extracts have been made by Vansittart, where we find the origin of the people traced up to Saul. Moreover, although the Affghans consider the term Fahoodee, or Jew, one of reproach, they do not hesitate to call themselves Bin-i-Isreel, or children of Israel. Sir W. Jones adds in confirmation of their Jewish origin,-" The Pushtoo (or native) language, of which I have seen a dictionary, has a manifest resemblance to the Chaldaic." Burnes adds §, the Affghans look like the Jews, and that the younger brother marries the widow of the elder, according to the law of Moses.

If the above suppositions were true, they would add an interesting stimulant to the efforts of Christians, for the relief of Affghanistan from the Mohammedan yoke. But these claims of descent rest

* Quarterly Review, vol. xxxvii. p. 144.

The Affghans belong to the sect of Soonee, which acknowledges the three first Caliphs as the legitimate successors of Mohammed, admitting their interpretation of the law, and their tradition of the prophet's precepts, in opposition to the more orthodox Sheaks who reject them. Thus the Soonees are a class of Mohammedan dissenters.

‡ Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. Art. iv. p. 76. Carey and Marsham also make a similar assertion.

Travels into Bokhara, vol. i. p. 164.

tionable. Elphinstone disallows them altogether, and is supported by Klaproth, than whom no oriental scholar is entitled to greater deference. In his opinion, the account of their emigration from Palestine is a fable of no historic value, being a forgery of the Mohammedan traditions. There is no resemblance whatever between the Pushtoo and Chaldaic languages; the rudiments and a vocabulary of which Klaproth publishes. He also declares that the native documents he has seen prove that the Affghans present a necessary link, as it were, in the long chain of Indo-Germanic nations, which extend from the banks of the Ganges to the frozen shores of Iceland; and that their original country is that which they actually inhabit; that is to say, the territory between Persia, Bukhara, and Hindûstan *.

INDIAN HOSPITALITY.

THE virtue of hospitality in India, as elsewhere, prevails most in the milder and more unfrequented districts. "I sometimes frequented places," says Forbes, "where the natives had never seen an European, and were ignorant of everything concerning us: there I beheld manners and customs simple as were those in the patriarchal age; there, in the style of Rebecca, and the damsels of Mesopotamia, the Hindoo villagers treated me with that artless hospitality so delightful in the poems of Homer, and other ancient records. On a sultry day, near a Jinore village, having rode faster than my attendants, while waiting their arrival under a tamarind tree, a young woman came to the well; I asked for a little water, but neither of us having a drinking vessel, she hastily left me, as I imagined, to bring an earthen cup for the purpose, as I should have polluted a vessel of metal; but as Jael, when Sisera asked for water, gave him milk, and brought forth butter in a lordly dish,' so did this village damsel, with more sincerity than Heber's wife, bring me a pot of milk, and a lump of butter, on the delicate leaf of the banana, the lordly dish of the Hindoos. The former I accepted; on my declining the latter, she immediately made it into two balls, and gave one to each of the oxen that drew my hackney. Butter is a luxury to these animals, and enables them to bear additional fatigue."-Oriental Memoirs.

*Sur la langue des Affghans, Mémoires relatifs à l'Asie, tome iii. p. 422.

Besides the authorities already named, the following authors have been consulted in compiling this article:-Baillie Fraser, in McCulloch's Dict. of Geography, vol. i. p. 14-21. Elphinstone's Cabûl. Forster, Jones, Vansittart, and Rennel, in "Asiatic Researches."