A Peep into Toorkisthhan by Rollo Gillespie Burslem
page 48 of 144 (33%)
page 48 of 144 (33%)
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measured tone. But on horseback the inferior dismounts, and, according
to the degree of rank, touches or embraces the stirrup. The valley of Kammurd is of an oblong form flanked by stupendous mountains; the enormous barrier of the Dundun Shikkun almost precludes the possibility of bringing cannon from the south, although one gun is known to have been dragged over by sheer manual labour; it was brought by Dost Mahommed from Cabul to quell some refractory chiefs, the carriage being taken to pieces, and the gun fastened by ropes in the hollowed trunk of a tree. On the 5th of July we reached Piedb[=a]gh, five miles further down the valley, which gradually decreased in breadth, seldom exceeding two hundred yards, and sometimes contracting to fifty. Along the banks of a muddy river flowing through the centre of the narrow vale, the sycamore tree was very luxuriant, and two or three forts formed a chain of communication from one end of the cultivated land to the other. Piedb[=a]gh, as its name implies, is a complete orchard, _piedan_ meaning perpetual, and b[=a]gh, garden; from a distance it looks like a thick wood with the turrets of the forts overtopping the dark foliage. We took advantage of the quiet beauty of this spot to give our horses a day's rest, and lucky it was for us we had at Bamee[=a]n exchanged for stout yaboos the unwieldy camels which we had brought from Cabul; the yaboos get over the ground twice as fast as the camel, and for mountainous districts are infinitely preferable to the "ship of the desert." It was lucky also that we had not burdened ourselves with bedsteads or charpoys, as they are called in the East (literally "_four feet_"); they would have inconvenienced us much; and we should, probably, have |
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