A Peep into Toorkisthhan | Page 4

remount horses with the Sipahi guard being encamped
about half a mile off to our rear. At about eleven at night the European
sergeant in charge of the horses burst into our tent in some
consternation, stating that a large band of robbers were descending
from the adjacent hills to attack the treasure. Sturt immediately jumped
up, and mounting his horse gallopped off to the supposed scene of
action. All was quiet without the camp; within there was a terrible
bustle, which Sturt at last succeeded in allaying by sending out patrols
in various direction, who reported that nothing could be either heard or
seen of the dreaded robbers. Being rather averse to these nocturnal
diversions, especially as they promised to be of frequent occurrence, I
made careful inquiries to ascertain if there were any real foundation for
the alarm, but all I could learn was, that the neighbourhood had always
been noted for robbers, who hasten towards the point upon the report of
any party worth plundering passing near any of their forts. Possibly
some robbers had gained intelligence of our treasure, and had actually
appeared on the hills, but on discovering the strength of our party had
retired.
The next day our route lay through delicious fields of ripening clover,
in such profusion that the air was impregnated with its agreeable
perfume, to a small fort called Oorghundee, remarkable chiefly for

being the head-quarters of the oft-mentioned thieves, of whom I
daresay the reader is as tired as we were after the mere dread they
inspired had caused us to pass two sleepless nights. But we were now
determined to assume a high tone, and summoning the chief of the fort,
or, in other words, the biggest villain, into our presence, we declared
that in the event of our losing a single article of our property or being
annoyed by a night attack, we would retaliate in the morning by cutting
the surrounding crops and setting fire to the fort!
The military reader, especially if conversant with some of the
peculiarities of eastern discipline, will question how far we should have
been justified in carrying our threats into execution. I can assure him
we had no such intention; but be that as it may, our threats had the
desired effect, and at length we enjoyed an uninterrupted night's rest.
On the morning of the 16th we proceeded to Koteah Shroof, the whole
distance being about ten miles: but the first three brought us to the
extremity of the beautiful valley through which we had been travelling
ever since we left Cabul. The aspect of the country in the immediate
vicinity of our path has been well described by one of the most
lamented victims to Affghan ingratitude and treachery. "If the reader
can imagine," writes Sir Alexander Burnes, "a plain about twenty miles
in circumference, laid out with gardens and fields in pleasing
irregularity, intersected by three rivulets which wind through it by a
serpentine course, and dotted with innumerable little forts and villages,
he will have before him one of the meadows of Cabul." To complete
the picture the reader must conceive the grey barren hills, which,
contrasting strongly with the fertility of the plains they encompass, are
themselves overlooked by the eternal snows of the Indian Caucasus. To
the English exile these valleys have another attraction, for in the hot
plains of Hindoostan artificial grasses are rarely to be found, and the
rich scent of luxuriant clover forcibly reminds the wanderer of the
sweet-smelling fields of his native land.
But these pleasing associations were soon dispelled by the steep and
rugged features of the pass through which we ascended on leaving the
plain. It is called the Suffaed K[=a]k or White Earth, and we found by

the barometer, that the gorge of the ravine was about a thousand feet
above our last encamping ground. The hills on either side were ragged
and abrupt, but of insignificant height: the length of the pass itself was
about two miles, and from its head to Koteah Shroof the road was stony
and difficult; but, as we had been careful at starting not to overload our
baggage animals, they got through their work without being much
distressed.

CHAPTER III.
I find it difficult to convey to the reader an adequate conception of the
strange character of the hilly country we had now entered: no parts of
Wales or even the varied groupings of the Swiss mountains offer a
correct analogy. After passing the defile of the Suffaed K[=a]k the hills
recede to a distance of about two miles on either side of the road, and
the whole space thus offered to the labours of the peasant is very highly
cultivated; but the barren rocks soon hem in the narrow valley, and