A Peep into Toorkisthhan | Page 8

the truer
for that very reason. It was, indeed, as if the hand of God had suddenly
arrested and turned to stone varied and fantastic forms of the dark
tumultuous waves.
The solemn stillness of these lofty regions was a striking contrast with
the busy plains below. The mountains abound in wild sheep, which the
hardy hunter pursues for days together, taking with him a slender stock
of food, and wrapping his blanket about him at night, when he seeks his
resting-place amongst the crevices of these barren rocks. It is seldom
that he returns empty-handed if he takes up a good position over-night,
for the flocks of wild sheep descend from the least accessible parts at
the earliest dawn in search of pasture, and one generally falls a victim
to the unerring bullet of the rested Juzzyl. The distant view of the
barrier range was beautiful beyond description, for, though the peak on
which we stood was the highest for many miles around us, the lofty
peaks of the Indian Caucasus were many thousand feet above us. We
were now beyond the range of the wild sheep, and not a living creature
was to be seen save a majestic eagle, who, deeming us intruders where

he was lord of all, sailed up along the sides of the precipitous ravines,
sweeping about our heads as he soared upwards, then again wheeling
downwards near and nearer, till at length I fancied him within range;
but so deceptive was the distance or so defective my aim that he
continued unruffled in his course, whilst the sharp crack of the rifle
echoed and re-echoed from crag to crag. After satiating our gaze with
these wild splendours of creation, a most unsentimental craving of the
inward man warned us to descend, and we returned to Kalloo by eleven
o'clock to do ample justice to our breakfasts.
We left Kalloo on the 24th, ascending by a rugged broken track to the
highest point of the pass, where we came upon a fort surrounded by a
small belt of cultivation divided into fields by hedgerows abounding
with wild roses. I could hardly have imagined the road practicable for
camels, but the cautious though unwieldy animals eventually succeeded
in surmounting all difficulties, and arrived late at our encampment near
a village called Topechee, the whole distance being ten miles and a half.
From the crest of the pass to Topechee was a gradual descent, the road
bordering a tremendous fissure, deep and gloomy, along the bottom of
which a pelting torrent forced its way. The variegated strata on the
mountain side, forming distinct lines of red, yellow, blue, and brown,
were very remarkable, and I much regret that I had not time to devote
to them most strict examination in a geological point of view.
On the 25th we started for Bamee[=a]n, passing by another Topechee a
few miles further on, which is famous for its trout stream. Very few of
these fish are found in the country, and only in the streams within a few
miles of this spot. They are red-spotted and well-flavoured, and, as the
natives do not indulge in the angler's art, they will rise at any kind of
fly and gorge any bait offered. While halting a few minutes at lower
Topechee we fell in with an Uzbeg warrior, a most formidable looking
personage, armed, in addition to the usual weapons of his country, with
a huge bell-mouthed blunderbuss at least three inches in diameter; the
individual himself was peaceably enough disposed, and, contrary to the
usual habit of Asiatics, made no objections to our examining the small
cannon he carried. On inspecting the deadly instrument we discovered
it to be loaded to the very muzzle, a mixture of pebbles, slugs, and bits

of iron being crammed into the barrel over a charge of a couple of
ounces of powder. On our inquiring why it was so heavily charged, the
man told us with much naiveté, that it was to kill nine men, illustrating
the method by which this wholesale destruction was to be
accomplished, by planting the butt on his hip and whirling the muzzle
from right to left in a horizontal direction across us all, and telling us
very pleasantly that if he were to fire we should all fall from the
scattering of the different ingredients contained in the blunderbuss; had
we not an instant before drawn the charge from which the fellow
anticipated such dire effects, we might have felt rather uncomfortable at
our relative positions; but I doubt whether the owner had ever had
occasion to try the efficacy of his boasted manoeuvre, as he would
probably at the first discharge have been killed himself either by the
recoil or the bursting of the defective and honey-combed barrel.
The