Meer my wishes and intentions, requesting him to furnish me with an
adequate escort for my protection. He evinced a decided unwillingness
to facilitate my advance, treating my anxiety to collect coins as an
assumed reason to conceal some other more important motive. This was
very provoking, but, by this time, we were so much accustomed to have
the true and simple account of our plans and intentions treated with
civil incredulity, that we felt almost disposed to allow the
frequent insinuations of our concealed political character to remain
uncontradicted--so useless were all our endeavours to satisfy the
natives as to our real position. In vain I urged upon the Meer the
emptiness of all his professions of friendship if he now declined to
assist me in the manner I clearly pointed out; all was of no avail; on
the contrary, the more urgent I became the more obstinate he grew, and
I at last was painfully convinced, not only that he disbelieved me,
but that he had not the slightest intention of permitting us to
proceed across his frontier in the direction of the territories of the
King of Bokh[=a]r[=a]. He objected that it was a long journey from
C[=a]bul to Balkh merely to pick up "rubbish;" and though the actual
danger was only for a short space, yet, if any accident happened, if,
as he declared was highly probable, we were seized and carried into
slavery, he should have to answer to the British Government. His
horsemen too would be an insufficient protection against an attack
from the numerous hordes of thieves who infested the desert, and
would surely be on the alert to pounce upon so valuable a booty.
He continued repeating these arguments till we lost all hope of
persuading him, and not deeming it advisable to risk a rupture of our
present apparently good understanding, we reluctantly submitted and
turned our thoughts homewards.[*]

[* Note: The anxiety I have here shewn to procure the escort from