,among the ,wild ,tribes of the ,afghan ,frontier ,a ,record of ,sixteen ,years' ,close ,intercourse with the ,natives of the ,indian ,marches ,by ,t4 ,l4 ,pennell1 ,m4,d41 ,b4,sc41 ,f4,r4,c4,s4 ,with an introduction by ,field-,marshal ,earl ,roberts1 ,v4,c41 ,k4,g4 ,and with #cg ,illustrations #b ,maps ,second ,edition ,london ,seeley ,co4 ,limited #ch ,great ,russell ,street #aiji ,,to ,,my ,,mother1 ,,to ,,the ,,inspiration ,,of ,,whose ,,life ,,and ,,teaching ,i ,,owe ,,more ,,than ,i ,,can ,,realize ,,or ,,record ,,introduction ,this book is a valuable record of sixteen years' good work by an officer--a medical missionary--in charge of a medical mission station at ,bannu1 on the ,north-,west ,frontier of ,india4 ,although many accounts have been written descriptive of the wild tribes on this border1 there was still plenty of room for ,dr4 ,pennell's modestly-related narrative4 ,previous writers--e4g41 ,paget and ,mason1 ,holdich1 ,oliver1 ,warburton1 ,elsmie1 and many others--have dealt with the expeditions that have taken place from time to time against the turbulent occupants of the trans-,indus mountains1 and with the military problems and possibilities of the difficult regions which they inhabit4 ,but ,dr4 ,pennell's story is not concerned with the clash of arms4 ,his mission has been to preach1 to heal1 and to save2 and in his long and intimate intercourse with the tribesmen1 as recounted in these pages1 he throws many new and interesting sidelights on the domestic and social1 as well as on the moral and religious1 aspects of their lives and characters4 ,during a long career in ,india ,i myself have seen and heard a good deal about these medical missions1 and ,i can testify to their doing excellent and useful work1 and that they are valuable and humanizing factors and moral aids well worthy of all encouragement and support4 ,no one can read ,dr4 ,pennell's experiences without feeling that the man who is a physician and able to heal the body1 in addition to being a preacher who can minister to a mind diseased as well as to spiritual needs1 wields an influence which is not possessed by him who is a missionary only4 ,as the author himself writes3 ,the doctor finds his sphere everywhere1 and his hands are full of work as soon as he arrives 7at his station74 ,he is able to overcome suspicion and prejudice1 and his kindly aid and sympathetic treatment disarm opposition1 while his life is a better setting forth of ,christianity than his words4 ,there is a door everywhere which can be opened by love and sympathy and practical service1 and no one is more in a position to have a key for every door than a doctor4 ,these few words fairly sum up the situation1 and ,i fully agree with the view they express4 ,on such a wild frontier as that on the ,north-,west ,border of ,india the life of a doctor-missionary is beset with many perils4 ,a perusal of ,dr4 ,pennell's most interesting story shows that he has had his share of them1 and that in the earnest and zealous discharge of his duties he has faced them bravely and cheerfully4 ,i cordially recommend his book to all readers1 and my earnest hope is that medical missions will continue to flourish4 ,,roberts1 ,f4,m4 ,december #ai1 #aijh4 ,,preface ,after sixteen years of close contact with the ,afghans and ,pathans of our ,north-,west ,frontier in ,india1 ,i was asked to commit some of my experiences to paper4 ,the present book is the result4 ,i have used the ,government system of transliteration in vernacular names and expressions1 and ,i beg the reader to bestow a few minutes' consideration on the table of corresponding sounds and letters given on p4 xvi1 as it is painful to hear the way in which ,englishmen1 who1 with their wide imperial interests1 should be better informed1 mispronounce common ,indian words and names of places which are in constant use nowadays in ,england as much as abroad4 ,nothing is recorded which has not been enacted in my own experience or in that of some trustworthy friend4 ,in ,chapters ,,xiii4 and ,,xiv4 it would have been unwise to give the actual names1 so ,i have put the experience of several such cases together into one connected story1 which1 while concealing the identity of the actors1 may also make the narrative more interesting to the reader2 every fact recorded1 however1 happened under my own eyes4 ,in ,chapter ,,xxii41 the night adventure of ,chikki1 when he met an ,english officer in disguise1 was related by him to me of another member of his profession1 and not of himself4 ,i wish to thank the ,church ,missionary ,society for allowing me to reproduce some articles which have already appeared in their publications1 notably ,chapter ,,xx4 and part of ,chapter ,,iv4 ,i tender my best thanks to ,major ,wilkinson1 ,i4,m4,s41 ,major ,watson1 ,h4 ,bolton1 ,esq41 ,i4,c4,s41 and ,colonel ,s4 ,baker1 for some of the photographs which have been here reproduced2 and to ,dr4 ,j4 ,cropper for his kindness in reading the proofs4 ,we are at present engaged in building a branch dispensary at ,thal1 a place on the extreme border mentioned several times in the text1 where the medical mission will have a profound influence on the trans-border tribes1 as well as on those in ,british ,india4 ,this will be known as the ,lord ,roberts ,hospital1 as that place was at one time of the #ahgi-hj campaign the headquarters of his column4 ,the ,author's profits on the sale of this book will be entirely devoted to the building of the hospital1 and carrying on of the medical mission work at ,thal4 ,t4 ,l4 ,,pennell4 ,p4 and ,o4 s4s4 ,china1 ,gulf of ,suez1 ,september #bd1 #aijh4 ,,contents ,chapter ,i ,the ,afghan ,character ,pages ,paradoxical--,ideas of honour--,blood-feuds--,a sister's revenge--,the story of an outlaw--,taken by assault--,a jirgah and its unexpected termination--,bluff--,an attempt at kidnapping--,hospitality--,a midnight meal--,an ungrateful patient--,a robber's death--,an ,afghan dance--,a village warfare--,an officer's escape--,cousins #ag-cj ,chapter ,,ii ,afghan ,traditions ,israelitish origin of the ,afghans--,jewish practices--,shepherd tradition of the ,wazirs--,afridis and their saint--,the zyarat1 or shrine--,graveyards--,custom of burial--,graves of holy men--,charms and amulets--,the medical practice of a faqir--,native remedies--,first aid to the wounded--,purges and blood-letting--,tooth extraction--,smallpox #ca-dc ,chapter ,,iii ,border ,warriors ,peiwar ,kotal--,the ,kurram ,valley--,the ,bannu ,oasis--,independent tribes--,the ,durand line--,the indispensable ,hindu--,a lawsuit and its sequel--,a ,hindu outwits a ,muhammadan--,the scope of the missionary #dd-ec ,chapter ,,iv ,a ,frontier ,valley ,description of the ,kurram ,valley--,shiahs and ,sunnis--,favourable reception of ,christianity--,independent areas--,a candid reply--,proverbial disunion of the ,afghans--,the two policies--,sir ,robert ,sandeman--,lord ,curzon creates the ,north-,west ,frontier ,province--,frontier wars--,the vicious circle--,two flaws the natives see in ,british rule3 the usurer1 delayed justice--,personal influence #ed-fg ,chapter ,v ,the ,christian's ,revenge ,police posts versus dispensaries--,the poisoning scare--,a native doctor's influence--,wazir marauders spare the mission hospital--,a terrible revenge--,the ,conolly bed--,a political mission--,a treacherous ,king--,imprisonment in ,bukhara--,the ,prayer-,book--,martyrdom--,the sequel--,influence of the mission hospital--,the medical missionary's passport #fh-gg ,chapter ,,vi ,a ,day in the ,wards ,the truce of suffering--,a patient's request--,typical cases--,a painful journey--,the biter bit--,the condition of amputation--,i am a better shot than he is--,the son's life or revenge--,the hunter's adventure--,a nephew's devotion--,a miserly patient--,an enemy converted into a friend--,the doctor's welcome #gh-hh ,chapter ,,vii ,from ,morning to ,night ,first duties--,calls for the doctor--,some of the out-patients--,importunate blind--,school classes--,operation cases--,untimely visitors--,recreation--,cases to decide #hi-ig ,chapter ,,viii ,the ,itinerant ,missionary ,the medical missionary's advantage--,how to know the people--,the real ,india--,god's guest-house--,the reception of the guest--,oriental customs--,pitfalls for the unwary--,the ,mullah and the ,padre--,afghan logic--,a patient's welcome--,the ,mullah conciliated--,a rough journey--,among thieves--,a swimming adventure--,friends or enemies8 --,work in camp--,rest at last #ih-aac ,chapter ,,ix ,afghan ,mullahs ,no priesthood in ,islam--,yet the ,mullahs ubiquitous--,their great influence--,theological refinements--,the power of a charm--,bazaar disputations--,a friend in need--,a frontier ,pope--,in a ,militia post--,a long ride--,a local ,canterbury--,an enemy becomes a friend--,the ghazi fanatic--,an outrage on an ,english officer #aad-abe ,chapter ,x ,a ,tale of a ,talib ,early days--,the theological curriculum--,visit to ,bannu--,a public discussion--,new ideas--,the forbearance of a native ,christian--,first acquaintance with ,christians--,first confession--,a lost love--,a stern chase--,the lost sheep recovered--,bringing his teacher--,the ,mullah converted--,excommunication--,faithful unto death--,fresh temptations--,a vain search--,a night quest--,the ,mullahs circumvented--,dark days--,hope ever #abf-aci ,chapter ,,xi ,school-,work ,different views of educational work--,the changed attitude of the ,mullahs--,his ,majesty the ,amir and education--,dangers of secular education--,the mission hostel--,india emphatically religious--,indian schoolboys contrasted with ,english schoolboys--,school and marriage--,advantage of personal contact--,uses of a swimming-tank--,an unpromising scholar--,unwelcome discipline--,a ward of court--,morning prayers--,an ,afghan ,university--,a cricket-match--,an exciting finish--,a sad sequel--,an officer's funeral--,a contrast--,just in time #adj-aeb ,chapter ,,xii ,an ,afghan ,football ,team ,native sport--,tent-pegging--,a novel game--,a football tournament--,a victory for ,bannu--,increasing popularity of ,english games--,a tour through ,india--,football under difficulties--,welcome at ,hyderabad--,an unexpected defeat--,matches at ,bombay and ,karachi--,riots in ,calcutta--,an unprovoked assault--,the ,calcutta police-court--,reparation--,home again #aec-afg ,chapter ,,xiii ',alam ,gul's ,choice ,a farmer and his two sons--,learning the ,quran--,a village school--,at work and at play--,the visit of the ,inspector--,pros and cons of the mission school from a native standpoint--,admission to ,bannu ,school--,new associations--,in danger of losing heaven--,first night in the boarding-house--,a boy's dilemma #afh-agh ,chapter ,,xiv ',alam ,gul's ,choice 7continued7 ,the cricket captain--,a conscientious schoolboy--,the ,scripture lesson--,first awakenings--,the ,mullah's wrath--,the crisis--,standing fire--,schoolboy justice--,blessed are ye when men shall persecute you for ,my ,name's sake--,escape from poisoning--,escape from home--,baptism--,disinherited--,new friends #agi-ahi ,chapter ,,xv ,afghan ,women ,their inferior position--,hard labour--,on the march--,suffering in silence--,a heartless husband--,buying a wife--,punishment for immorality--,patching up an injured wife--,a streaky nose--,evils of divorce--,a domestic tragedy--,ignorance and superstition--,beautiful ,pearl--,a tragic case--,a crying need--,lady doctors--,the mother's influence #aij-bja ,chapter ,,xvi ,the ,story of a ,convert ,a trans-frontier merchant--,left an orphan--,takes service--,first contact with ,christians--,interest aroused in an unexpected way--,assaulted--,baptism--,a dangerous journey--,taken for a spy--,a mother's love--,falls among thieves--,choosing a wife--,an ,afghan becomes a foreign missionary--,a responsible post--,saved by a grateful patient #bjb-baj ,chapter ,,xvii ,the ,hindu ,ascetics ,the ,hindu ,sadhus more than two thousand years ago much as to-day--,muhammadan faqirs much more recent--,the ,indian ideal--,this presents a difficulty to the missionary--,becoming a ,sadhu--,an ,afghan disciple--,initiation and equipment--,hardwar the ,holy--,a religious settlement--,natural beauties of the locality--,only man is vile--,individualism versus altruism--,the ,water ,god--,wanton monkeys--,tendency to make anything unusual an object of worship--,a ,brahman fellow-traveller--,a night in a temple--,waking the gods--,a ,hindu sacrament--,a religious ,bedlam--,a ward for imbeciles--,religious delusions--,all humbugs--,yogis and hypnotism--,voluntary maniacs--,the daily meal--,feeding1 flesh1 fish1 and food #baa-bbf ,chapter ,,xviii ,sadhus and ,faqirs ,buried gold--,power of sympathy--,a neglected field--,a ,sadhu converted to ,christianity--,his experiences--,causes of the development of the ascetic idea in ,india--,more unworthy motives common at the present time--,the ,prime ,minister of a ,state becomes a recluse--,a cavalry officer ,sadhu--,dedicated from birth--,experiences of a young ,sadhu--,an unpleasant bedfellow--,honest toil--,orders of ,muhammadan ascetics--,their characteristics--,a faqir's curse--,women and faqirs--,muhammadan faqirs usually unorthodox--,sufistic tendencies--,habits of inebriation--,the sanctity and powers of a faqir's grave #bbg-bdj ,chapter ,,xix ,my ,life as a ,mendicant ,dependent on the charitable--,an incident on the bridge over the ,jhelum ,river--,a rebuff on the feast-day--,an ,indian railway-station--,a churlish ,muhammadan--,helped by a soldier--,a partner in the concern--,a friendly native ,christian--,the prophet of ,qadian--,a new ,muhammadan development--,crossing the ,beas ,river--,reception in a ,sikh village--,recognized by ,his ,majesty ,yakub ,khan1 late ,amir--,allahabad--,encounter with a ,brahman at ,bombay--,landing at ,karachi--,value of native dress--,relation to natives--,need of sympathy--,the effect of clothes--,disabilities in railway travelling--,english manners--,reception of visitors #bda-bef ,chapter ,,xx ,a ,frontier ,episode ,a merchant caravan in the ,tochi ,pass--,manak ,khan--,a sudden onslaught--,first aid--,native remedies--,a desperate case--,a last resort--,the ,feringi doctor--,setting out on the journey--,arrival at ,bannu--,refuses amputation--,returns to ,afghanistan--,his wife and children frightened away #beg-bff ,chapter ,,xxi ,frontier ,campaigning ,the ,pathan warrior--,a ,christian native officer--,a secret mission--,a victim of treachery--,a soldier convert--,influence of a ,christian officer--,crude ideas and strange motives of ,pathan soldiers--,camaraderie in frontier regiments--,example of sympathy between students of different religions in mission school--,a famous ,sikh regiment--,sikh soldiers and religion--,fort ,lockhart--,saraghari--,the last man--,a rifle thief--,caught red-handed #bfg-bgf ,chapter ,,xxii ,chikki1 ,the ,freebooter ,the mountains of ,tirah--,work as a miller's labourer--,joins fortune with a thief--,a night raid--,the value of a disguise--,the thief caught--,the cattle lifter--,murder by proxy--,the price of blood--,tribal factions--,becomes chieftain of the tribe--,the zenith of power--,characteristics--,precautionary measures--,journey to ,chinarak--,a remarkable fort--,a curious congregation--,punctiliousness in prayers--,changed attitude--,refrained from hostilities--,meets his death #bgg-bhf ,chapter ,,xxiii ,rough ,diamonds ,a novel inquirer--,attends the bazaar preaching--,attacked by his countrymen--,in the police-station--,before the ,english magistrate--,declares he is a ,christian--,arrival of his mother--,tied up in his village--,escape--,takes refuge in the hills--,a murder case--,circumstantial evidence--,condemned--,a last struggle for liberty--,qazi ,abdul ,karim--,his origin--,eccentricities--,enthusiasm--,c rosses the frontier--,captured--,confesses his faith--,torture--,martyrdom #bhg-bie ,chapter ,,xxiv ,deductions ,number of converts not a reliable estimate of mission work--,spurious converts versus indigenous ,christianity--,latitude should be allowed to the ,indian ,church--,we should introduce ,christ to ,india rather than ,occidental ,christianity--,christianizing sects among ,hindus and ,muhammadans--,missionary work not restricted to missionaries--,influence of the best of ,hindu and ,muhammadan thought should be welcomed--,the conversion of the nation requires our attention more than that of the individual--,christian ,friars adapted to modern missions--,a true representation of ,christ to ,india--,misconceptions that must be removed #bif-cjd ,chapter ,,xxv ,a ,forward ,policy ,frontier medical missions--,their value as outposts--,ancient ,christianity in ,central ,asia--,kafiristan3 a lost opportunity of the ,christian ,church--,forcible conversion to ,islam--,fields for missionary enterprise beyond the ,north-,west ,frontier--,the first missionaries should be medical men--,an example of the power of a medical mission to overcome opposition--,the need for branch dispensaries--,scheme of advance--,needs #cje-cab ,glossary #cad-cah ,index #cai-cbd ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,dr4 ,pennell ,travelling as a ,sadhu ,frontispiece ,a ,khattak ,sword-,dancer #bh ,a ,zyarat or ,shrine on the ,takht-i-,suliman #cd ,a ,group of ,lepers at a ,zyarat or ,shrine in ,hazara #cf ,the ,khaiber ,pass4 ,a ,village in the ,pass #df ,a ,cavalry ,shutur-sowar1 or ,camel-rider #df ,types of ,frontier ,tribesmen #ej ,bannu ,villagers #ef ,the ,khaiber ,pass4 ,khaiber ,rifle ,sepoy on the ,watch #fb ,the ,result of a ,blood-,feud #hb ,a ,transborder ,afghan bringing his ,family to the ,hospital #hb ,bannu ,mission4 ,a ,group of ,patients #id ,a ,group of ,out-patients at the ,mission ,hospital #id ,travelling by ,riding ,camel #ajj ,itineration by ,means of ,ekkas and ,mules #ajj ,ferrying across the ,river ,indus #aab ,travelling down the ,indus on a ,kik #aab ,mahsud ,labourers at ,work in ,bannu ,cantonment #adh ,bannu ,mission4 ,a ,group of ,students #adh ,a ,football ,match at ,bannu #aed ,the ,bannu ,football ,team #aed ,the ,chief ,bazaar1 ,peshawur ,city #aef ,the ,bazaar in ,peshawur ,city #aef ,the ,indus in ,flood-time #aeh ,a ,ferryboat for the ,mail on the ,indus ,river #aeh ,a ,modern ,black ,hole #afd ,boy and ,girl grazing ,buffaloes #agj ,women carrying ,waterpots #aif ,women going for water at ,shimvah #aih ,water-carrying at ,shimvah #aih ,near ,shinkiari1 ,hazara ,district #bjh ,a ,muhammadan ,faqir #bab ,dr4 ,pennell #bdd ,flour ,mills near ,shinkiari #bgh ,map of the ,north-,west ,frontier ,province #cac ,map of the ,north-,west ,frontier of ,india #cah ,,table ,,of ,,the ,,chief ,,sounds ,,represented ,,in ,,the ,,government ,,system ,,of ,,transliteration a short u1 as in bun4 broad a1 as in mast4 i short i1 as in bin4 ee1 as in oblique4 e a1 as in male4 o long o1 as in note4 u short oo1 as in foot4 long oo1 as in boot4 q guttural k4 kh ch1 as in loch4 gh guttural r1 not used in ,english4 ' the ,arabic letter 'ain1 a guttural not used in ,english4 ,,pronunciation ,,of ,,the ,,principal ,,oriental ,,words ,,used ,,in ,,this ,,book ,afghn ,jahn ,nizm ,afghnistn ,jamla ,panjb ,afrdi ,jellbad ,panjbi ,allhu ,akbar ,kabr ,pathn ,amr ,kbul ,patwr ,badakshn ,kfir ,peshwur ,baltistn ,klabgh ,qurn ,bengli ,kalm ,rm ,bezwda ,karchi ,ramazn ,bhgalpur ,karm ,risldr ,bukhra ,khalfa ,rshkes ,chenb ,khorasn ,sdhu ,chils ,koht ,sanysi ,chinrak ,laghmni ,saragri ,chitrl ,lohni ,sardr ,derajt ,majd ,sarkr ,dharmsla ,mlik ,subadr ,ghulm ,mirzda ,sulman ,hkim 7ruler7 ,mughl ,tlib ,hakm 7doctor7 ,multn ,tamna ,hardwr ,nnak ,tirh ,hazra ,nrowl ,waziristn ,islm ,nezabzi ,,among ,,the ,,wild ,,tribes ,,of ,,the ,,afghan ,,frontier ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,afghan ,,character ,paradoxical--,ideas of honour--,blood-feuds--,a sister's revenge--,the story of an outlaw--,taken by assault--,a jirgah and its unexpected termination--,bluff--,an attempt at kidnapping--,hospitality--,a midnight meal--,an ungrateful patient--,a robber's death--,an ,afghan dance--,a village warfare--,an officer's escape--,cousins4 ,the ,east is the country of contradictions1 and the ,afghan character is a strange medley of contradictory qualities1 in which courage blends with stealth1 the basest treachery with the most touching fidelity1 intense religious fanaticism with an avarice which will even induce him to play false to his faith1 and a lavish hospitality with an irresistible propensity for thieving4 ,there are two words which are always on an ,afghan's tongue--izzat and sharm4 ,they denote the idea of honour viewed in its positive and negative aspects1 but what that honour consists in even an ,afghan would be puzzled to tell you4 ,sometimes he will consider that he has vindicated his honour by a murder perpetrated with the foulest treachery2 at other times it receives an indelible stain if at some public function he is given a seat below some rival chief4 ,the vendetta1 or blood-feud1 has eaten into the very core of ,afghan life1 and the nation can never become healthily progressive till public opinion on the question of revenge alters4 ,at present some of the best and noblest families in ,afghanistan are on the verge of extermination through this wretched system4 ,even the women are not exempt4 ,in #aije1 at ,bannu1 there was a case where a man had been foully murdered over some disputed land4 ,it was generally known who the murderer was1 but as he and his relations were powerful and likely to stick at nothing1 and the murdered man had no near relation except one sister1 no one was willing to risk his own skin in giving evidence1 so when the case came up in court the ,judge was powerless to convict4 ,am ,i to have no justice at the hands of the ,sarkar8 passionately cried the sister in her despair4 ,bring me witnesses1 and ,i will convict1 was all the ,judge could reply4 ,very well2 ,i must find my own way2 and the girl left the court to take no rest till her brother's blood1 which was crying to her from the ground1 should be avenged4 ,shortly after this ,i was sitting in a classroom of the mission school teaching the boys4 ,it was a ,friday morning1 when thousands of the hillmen come in to the weekly fair1 and the bazaars are full of a shouting1 jostling throng1 the murmur of which reaches even the schoolroom4 ,suddenly a shot was heard1 and then a confused shouting4 ,running out on to the street hard by1 ,i found a ,wazir1 quite dead1 shot through the heart4 ,it was the murderer who had escaped the justice of the law1 but not the hand of the avenger1 for the sister had concealed a revolver on her person1 and coming up to her enemy in the crowded bazaar1 had shot him point-blank4 ,she was arrested there and then1 and the court condemned her to penal servitude for life4 ,i met her some weeks later as she was on the march with some other prisoners to their destination in the ,andaman ,islands4 ,resignation and satisfaction were her dominant feelings4 ,i have avenged my brother2 for the rest1 it is ,god's will3 ,i am content4 ,those were the words in which she answered my inquiries4 ,the officer who has most power with the ,pathans is the one who1 while transparently just1 yet deals with them with a strong hand1 whose courage is beyond question1 and who1 when once his mind is made up1 does not hesitate in the performance of his plans4 ,to such a one they are loyal to the backbone1 and will go through fire and water in his train4 ,tender-handed grasp a nettle1 ,it will sting you for your pains2 ,grasp it like a man of mettle1 ,soft as silk it then remains4 ,this has its counterpart in a ,pashtu proverb1 and is no doubt a true delineation of the ,afghan character4 ,some years ago some outlaws had fortified a village a few miles across the border1 and had there bidden defiance to the authorities while carrying on their depredations among the frontier villages1 where they raided many a wealthy ,hindu1 and even carried off the rifles from the police posts4 ,the leader of the gang was ,sailgai4 ,his father was ,mian ,khan1 a ,wazir of the ,sparkai clan4 ,when still a boy ,sailgai showed great aptitude and skill in archery1 and when about fifteen he commenced rifle-shooting1 and soon became a noted marksman4 ,this1 however1 led him to associate with the desperadoes of the clan1 and before long he became the leader of a gang which used to go out at night-time to break into shops and into the houses of rich ,hindus4 ,when this occupation began to pall on him he became a highway robber1 and lay in wait with his confederates in various parts of the ,kohat-,bannu road to waylay and rob travellers both by day and night4 ,the next step onward--or downwards1 we should say--was to become the leader of a gang of dacoits4 ,these men would enter a village1 usually in the late evening1 and hold up the inhabitants while they looted the houses of the rich ,hindus at leisure4 ,on these occasions they often cut off the ears of the women as the simplest way of getting their earrings2 and fingers1 too1 suffered in the same way if the owner did not remove his rings quickly enough4 ,at the same time ,sailgai became a professional murderer1 and used to take two hundred to four hundred rupees for disposing of anyone obnoxious to the payer4 ,still1 up to this time he had contrived to keep clear of the police1 and had never been caught4 ,if anyone informed against him he soon discovered who the informant was1 and paid him a night visit1 only leaving after he had either killed him or taken a rich ransom4 ,some eight years ago he took two hundred rupees for killing a ,bizun ,khel ,wazir1 and went to his house one evening with fifteen of his followers4 ,the ,wazir1 however1 got a warning1 and made a bold stand1 and ,sailgai had to fire seven times before he despatched him1 and by that time the brother of the deceased had fetched some police and followed up in chase of ,sailgai4 ,when1 however1 the police saw that they had a well-armed band to contend with1 although about equal in number to the ,wazirs1 they beat a hasty retreat1 with the exception of one man1 who opened fire on the murderers at two hundred paces1 but was hit and disabled1 so that ,sailgai and his party got away in safety4 ,government gave a reward to this1 the one brave man1 and put a price on ,sailgai's head1 so that he could no longer enter ,british territory except by stealth1 and he retired to his fort at ,gumatti1 which he strengthened and made the base for marauding expeditions on ,government territory4 ,these subsequently became so frequent and so successful that the ,indian ,government was finally constrained to send up a column under ,colonel ,tonnochy1 who was in command of the #ecrd ,sikhs at ,bannu1 to destroy his fort once for all4 ,before the guns opened fire the ,political ,officer1 ,mr4 ,donald1 walked up alone to the loopholes of his fort to offer ,sailgai and his fellow-defenders terms4 ,knowing well the long list of crimes that would be proved against him1 he replied that he had determined to sell his life as dearly as possible in the fort where he had been born and bred2 and we must say1 to his credit1 that they restrained their fire till ,mr4 ,donald got back to his own lines4 ,colonel ,tonnochy brought the guns up to within sixty yards of the fort1 and while directing their operations he was mortally wounded4 ,when the tower was finally taken by storm1 all ,sailgai's companions were dead1 and he himself wounded in four places4 ,he1 however1 with a last effort took aim at the ,british officer1 ,captain ,white1 who was bravely leading the assault1 and shot him dead1 and was almost at the same moment despatched by that officer's orderly4 ,wazirs from ,gumatti1 as well as from all the rest of the neighbourhood1 are constantly coming to the mission dispensary1 and some of them have been in-patients4 ,the police munshi who made the bold stand above mentioned was himself treated for his wound in our hospital4 ,the ,afghan has in some respects such inordinate vanity in connection with his peculiar ideas of sharm1 and is so hot-headed in resenting some fancied insult1 that he sometimes places himself in a ridiculous position1 from which he finds it difficult to extricate himself without still further sacrificing his honour4 ,an instance of this occurred in ,december1 #ahih4 ,the mission school athletic sports were in progress in the mission compound1 and the political officers of the ,tochi and ,wano were engaged not far off in a jirgah of the representatives of the ,mahsud and ,darwesh ,khel sections of the ,wazirs4 ,suddenly the cry was raised1 ,the ,wazirs have attacked us6 and for a short time all was confusion4 ,wazirs were seen rushing pell-mell into school1 bungalow1 and other buildings1 and a great part of the spectators who had gathered to see the sports fled in confusion4 ,it transpired1 however1 that1 so far from the ,wazirs desiring to do us any injury1 they were the ,mahsuds in flight from the ,darwesh ,khels1 who were hot in pursuit1 chasing them even into the mission buildings where they had sought refuge4 ,the council had been proceeding satisfactorily1 and with apparently amicable relations on both sides1 when a ,darwesh ,khel malik1 in the excitement of debate1 gesticulated too close to the seat of the ,political ,officer4 ,a ,mahsud orderly1 thinking he was disrespectful to the officer1 pushed him back with needless force1 so that the malik slipped and fell4 ,the ,darwesh ,khels round him at once set on the orderly1 saying he had done it of malice prepense1 and began to beat him4 ,in another moment the whole assembly were frantically attacking each other2 but the ,mahsuds1 being very decidedly in the minority1 found safety in flight1 and1 our mission compound being the nearest rallying-place1 had come down upon us in this unceremonious manner1 with the ,darwesh ,khels in hot pursuit4 ,fortunately1 no serious injury resulted1 and both parties were soon laughing at their own foolish hot-headedness4 ,bluff is a very prominent characteristic of the ,afghan1 and this makes him appear more formidable than he really is to those who are not acquainted with his character4 ,he is also a great bully and exults in cruelty1 so that he becomes a veritable tyrant to those who have fallen into his power or are overawed by his bluff4 ,at the same time1 he has a profound reverence for the personification of power or brute force1 and becomes a loyal and devoted follower of those whom he believes to be his superiors4 ,it is often asked of me whether ,i carry a revolver or other arms when travelling about among these wild tribes4 ,for a missionary to do so would not only be fatal to his chance of success1 but would be a serious and constant danger4 ,it would be impossible for him to be always on his guard2 there must be times when1 through fatigue or other reasons1 he is at the mercy of those among whom he is dwelling4 ,besides this1 there is nothing which an ,afghan covets more1 or to steal which he is more ready to risk his life1 than firearms2 and though he might not otherwise wish harm to the missionary1 the possibility of securing a good revolver or gun would be too great a temptation1 even though he had to shed blood to secure it4 ,my plan was1 therefore1 to put myself entirely in their hands1 and let them see that ,i was trusting to their sense of honour and to their traditional treatment of a guest for my safety4 ,at the same time1 ,i was rather at pains than otherwise to let them see that the bluff to which they sometimes resorted had no effect upon me1 and that ,i was indifferent to their threats and warnings1 which1 as often as not1 were just a ruse on their part to see how far they could impose on me4 ,once1 when ,i was in a trans-border village1 resting a few hours in the heat of the day1 some young bloods arrived who had just come in from a raid1 and were still in the excitement of bloodshed4 ,some of them thought it would be a good opportunity to bait the ,daktar ,sahib1 and one of them1 holding his loaded revolver to my chest1 said3 ,now we are going to shoot you4 ,i replied3 ,you will be very great fools if you do1 because ,i am of more use to you than to myself1 and you would as likely as not poison yourselves with my drugs if ,i were not there to tell you how to use them4 ,at this the senior man of the party rebuked them1 and offered me a kind of apology for their rudeness1 saying3 ,they are only young fellows1 and they are excited4 ,do not mind what they say4 ,we will see that no harm comes to you4 ,on another occasion ,i came to a village across the border rather late at night4 ,there were numerous outlaws in the village1 but the chief under whose protection ,i placed myself took the precaution of putting my bed in the centre of six of his retainers1 fully armed1 in a circle round me1 one or two of whom were to keep watch in turns4 ,i had had a hard day's work1 and was soon sound asleep1 and this was my safety1 because ,i was told in the morning that some of the more fanatical spirits had wanted to kill me in the night1 but the others said3 ,see1 he has trusted himself entirely to our protection1 and because he trusts us he is sleeping so soundly2 therefore1 no harm must be done to him in our village4 ,not long ago there was a notorious outlaw on the frontier called ,rangin1 who had been making a practice of kidnapping rich ,hindus1 and then holding them to ransom4 ,i was in the habit of visiting our out-station at ,kharrak about once a month1 and usually went alone and by night4 ,information was brought that ,rangin1 knowing of this1 intended one day to kidnap me1 and hold me to a high ransom4 ,the next time ,i visited ,kharrak1 ,i purposely slept by the roadside all night in a lonely part1 that the people might see that ,i was not afraid of ,rangin's threats4 ,needless to say1 no harm came of it2 but the people there in the countryside spread the idea that1 as there was an angel protecting the ,daktar ,sahib1 it would be a useless act of folly to try to do him an injury4 ,although the honour which an ,afghan thinks is due to his guest has often stood me in good stead1 yet sometimes the observance of the correct etiquette has become irksome4 ,a rich chief will be satisfied with nothing less than the slaying of a sheep when he receives a guest of distinction2 a poorer man will be satisfied with the slaying of a fowl1 and the preparation therefrom of the native dish called pulao4 ,on one occasion ,i came to a village with my companions rather late in the evening4 ,the chief himself was away1 but his son received me with every mark of respect1 and killed a fowl and cooked us a savoury pulao1 after which1 wearied with the labours of the day1 we were soon fast asleep4 ,later on1 it appeared1 the chief himself arrived1 and learnt from his son of our arrival4 ,have you killed for him the dumba8 he at once asked2 and1 on learning from his son that he had only prepared a fowl1 he professed great annoyance1 saying3 ,this will be a lasting shame 7sharm7 for me1 if it is known that1 when the ,bannu ,daktar ,sahib came to my village1 ,i cooked for him nothing more than a fowl4 ,go at once to the flock1 and take a dumba1 and slay and dress it1 and1 when all is ready1 call me4 ,thus it came about that about #a a4m4 we were waked up to be told that the chief had come to salaam us1 and that dinner was ready4 ,it would not only have been useless to protest that we were more in a mood for sleep than for dinner1 but it would also have been an insult to his hospitality2 so we got up with alacrity and the best grace possible1 and after a performance of the usual salutations on both sides1 we buckled to that we might show our appreciation of the luscious feast of roast mutton and pulao that had been prepared for us4 ,on one occasion1 in turning back to ,bannu from a journey across the frontier1 ,i had an escort of two villainous-looking ,afghans1 who appeared as though they would not hesitate at any crime1 however atrocious4 ,they1 however1 looked after us with the greatest attention1 and brought us safely into ,bannu4 ,on arrival there1 ,i offered them some money as a reward for their good conduct2 they1 however1 refused it with some show of indignation1 saying that to take money from one who had been their guest would be contrary to their best traditions4 ,consequently1 ,i sent them over to rest for the night at the house of one of my native assistants1 with a note to give them a good dinner1 and send them away early in the morning4 ,he gave them the dinner1 but when he got up in the morning to see them off1 he found that they had already decamped with all his best clothes4 ,among the ,afghans theft is more or less praiseworthy1 according to the skill and daring shown in its perpetration1 and to the success in the subsequent evasion of pursuit4 ,two years ago an ,afghan brought his little daughter for an operation on her eye4 ,the operation was successfully performed1 and the day of discharge came4 ,meanwhile the eyes of the ,afghan had lighted on my mare1 and he thought how useful it would be to him on his travels1 and the night following his discharge we found that he had come with a friend and taken the horse away4 ,unfortunately for the success of the undertaking1 he had an enemy1 who1 when a reward was offered for the discovery of the thief1 thought he might enrich himself and pay off an old grudge at the same time4 ,the culprit had1 however1 by this time arrived with his capture safely across the ,afghan frontier into ,khost1 and no laws of extradition apply there4 ,other members of the tribe1 however1 reside in ,british ,india1 and would be going up with their families into the hills as the heat of summer increased4 ,the ,deputy ,commissioner called for the chiefs of the tribe1 and informed them that until they arranged for the return of the mare1 he would be reluctantly compelled to issue orders that they were not to go up to the hills with their families4 ,at first they protested that they had no control over the thief1 whom they had themselves turned out of their tribe because he was a rascal2 but when they found that the officer knew them too well to be hoodwinked by their bluff1 they found it convenient to send up into ,khost and bring back the mare4 ,the man through whose instrumentality it was brought back has posed to me ever since as my benefactor1 and expected a variety of favours in return4 ,the theft was universally reprobated by the tribe1 but chiefly because circumstances had doomed it to failure4 ,notorious thieves and outlaws have frequently availed themselves of the wards of the mission hospital when suffering from some fever or other disease which has temporarily incapacitated them2 but1 of course1 they come under assumed names1 and otherwise conceal their identity4 ,it is to be hoped1 however1 that they benefit all the same from the addresses and good counsel which they daily hear while under treatment4 ,sometimes1 as in the case ,i am about to relate1 their identity becomes known4 ,a few years ago1 in ,bed #bf--the ,southsea bed--there was ,zaman1 a noted thief1 who came in suffering from chronic dysentery1 and continued under treatment for over two months4 ,he lingered on1 with many ups and downs1 but was evidently past recovery when he came in4 ,he paid much attention to the ,gospel that was read to him1 and sometimes professed belief in it1 but showed no signs of repenting of his past career4 ,but when told eventually that there was no hope of his recovery1 he at once had a police officer summoned1 so as to give him the names of some of his former pals1 hoping thereby not only to get them caught and punished in revenge for their having thrown him off when too weak and ill to join in their nefarious practices1 but also to gain a reward for the information given4 ,he gradually sank and died1 professing a belief in ,christ2 but ,he alone1 who readeth the heart1 knoweth4 ,i do not think he would have turned informer had not his confederates apparently deserted him in his distress4 ,no description of ,afghan life would be complete which did not give an account of their public dances4 ,these take place on the ',id days1 or to celebrate some tribal compact1 or the cessation of hostilities between two tribes or sections4 ,it can only be seen in its perfection across the border1 for in ,british ,india the more peaceful habits of the people and the want of the requisite firearms have caused it to fall into desuetude4 ,across the frontier some level piece of ground is chosen1 and a post is fixed in the centre4 ,the men arrange themselves in ever-widening circles round this centre and gyrate round it1 ever keeping the centre on the left1 so as to give greater play to their sword-arms4 ,the older and less nimble of the warriors form the inner circles2 outside them come the young men1 who dance round with surprising agility1 often with a gun in one hand and a sword in the other1 or1 it may be1 with a sword in each hand1 which they wave alternately in circles round their heads4 ,outside them1 again1 circle the horsemen1 showing their agility in the saddle and their skill with the sword or gun at the same time4 ,on one side are the village minstrels1 who give the tune on drums and pipes4 ,they begin with a slow beat1 and one sees all the circles going round with a measured tread2 then the music becomes more and more rapid1 and the dancers become more and more carried away with excitement1 and to the onlooker it appears a surging mass of waving swords and rifles4 ,the rifles are as often as not loaded and discharged from time to time1 at which the gyrations of the horsemen on the outside become more and more excited1 and one wonders that heads and arms are not gashed by the swords which are seen waving everywhere4 ,suddenly the music ceases1 and all stop to regain their breath1 to start again after a few minutes1 until they are tired out4 ,the excitement and the intricate revolutions often bring the scene to the brink of a real warfare1 and not infrequently it ends in bloodshed4 ,in one instance1 where a man fell1 and in falling discharged his rifle with fatal effect into another dancer1 the unintentional murderer would have had his throat cut there and then had not his friends hurriedly dragged him out and carried him off to his home1 fighting as they went4 ,in this way blood-feuds are sometimes started1 which will divide a village into two factions1 and not end till some of the bravest have fallen victims to it4 ,on one occasion ,i was seated with some ,afghans in a house in the village of ,peiwar in the ,kurram ,valley4 ,most of the houses were on either side of one long street running the length of the village1 and ,i noticed that some little doors had been made from house to house all down the street1 and on inquiring the object of this1 ,i was told that some time before a great faction fight had been carried on in the village4 ,one side of the street was in one faction and the other side in the other faction1 and they were always in ambush to fire at each other across the street4 ,the only way to get to the village supply of water was to go from house to house down to the bottom of the street1 and in order to do this without exposure1 doors had been made1 while by common consent they had agreed not to shoot while getting their supplies from the stream at the bottom4 ,my host went on to show me sundry holes in his door and in the wooden panels of the windows1 which the bullets of his neighbours across the street had penetrated1 and said3 ,it was behind that hole in the door there that my uncle was shot2 that hole in the window was made by the bullet which killed my brother4 ,pointing to another ,afghan who had come into the room and seated himself on the bed1 he said3 ,that is the man who shot my brother4 ,on my remarking upon the peace and goodwill in which they appeared to be living at the present time1 he said3 ,yes1 we are good friends now1 because the debt is even on both sides4 ,i have killed the same number in his family4 ,after a faction fight of this kind1 the fatalities on both sides are added up1 and if they can be found to be equal1 both sides feel that they can make peace without sacrificing their izzat 7honour71 and amicable relations are resumed1 it being thought unnecessary to investigate who were the real instigators or murderers4 ,if1 however1 one side or the other believes itself to be still aggrieved1 or not to have exacted the full tale of lives required by the law of revenge1 then the feud may go on indefinitely1 until whole families may become nearly exterminated4 ,the avenger will go on waiting his opportunity for months or years1 but he will never forget2 and one will always remember the hunted look and the furtive expression and nervous handling of the revolver and cartridges which mark the man who knows that one or more such avenger is on his track4 ,a ,political ,officer in the ,kurram ,valley was once visiting a chief of the village of ,shlozan1 who1 like all chiefs1 had a high tower1 in which he would seek security from his enemies at night4 ,his host took him up into the tower1 after carefully seeing that a window in the upper story was shut4 ,the officer1 thinking he would like a view of the country round1 went to open it1 but was hurriedly and unceremoniously pulled back by the chief1 who told him that his cousin had been watching that window for months in the hope of having an opportunity of shooting him there4 ,the officer made no further attempt to look out of the window1 but some months later he heard that his friend the chief1 having inadvertently gone to the open window1 had been shot there by his cousin4 ,so universal is the enmity existing between cousins in ,afghanistan that it has become a proverb that a man is as great an enemy as a cousin1 the causes of such feuds being such as are more likely to arise between those who have some relationship4 ,the causes of #ij per cent4 of such feuds are described by the ,afghans as belonging to one of three heads--zan1 zar1 and zamin1 these being the three ,persian words meaning women1 money1 and land2 and disputes are more likely to arise between cousins than between strangers on such matters as these4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,afghan ,,traditions ,israelitish origin of the ,afghans--,jewish practices--,shepherd tradition of the ,wazirs--,afridis and their saint--,the zyarat or shrine--,graveyards--,custom of burial--,graves of holy men--,charms and amulets--,the medical practice of a faqir--,native remedies--,first aid to the wounded--,purges and blood-letting--,tooth extraction--,smallpox4 ,a controversy as to the origin of the ,afghans centres round the question as to whether they are the children of ,israel or not2 and there are two opposing camps1 one regarding it as an accepted historical fact that they are descended from the lost ten tribes of ,israel1 and the other repudiating all ,israelitish affinities except such as may have come to them through the ,muhammadan religion4 ,the ,afghans themselves--at least1 the more intelligent part of the community--will tell you that they are descended from the tribe of ,benjamin1 and will give you their genealogy through ,king ,saul up to ,abraham1 and they almost universally apply the term ,bani-,israil1 or children of ,israel1 to themselves4 ,wolff1 the traveller1 relates that an ,afghan1 ,mulla ,khodadad1 gave him the following history3 ,saul had a grandson called ,afghna1 the nephew of ,asaph1 the son of ,berachiah1 who built the ,temple of ,solomon4 ,one year and a half after ,solomon's death he was banished from ,jerusalem to ,damascus on account of misconduct4 ,in the time of ,nebuchadnezzar the ,jews were driven out of ,palestine and taken to ,babylon4 ,the descendants of ,afghna residing at ,damascus1 being ,jews1 were also carried to ,babylon1 from whence they removed1 or were removed1 to the mountain of ,ghor1 in ,afghanistan1 their present place of residence1 and in the time of ,muhammad they accepted his religion4 ,to most observers the ,afghan has a most remarkably ,jewish cast of features1 and often in looking round the visitors of our out-patient department one sees some old greybeard of pure ,afghan descent1 and involuntarily exclaims3 ,that man might for all the world be one of the old ,jewish patriarchs returned to us from ,bible history6 ,all ,muhammadan nations must1 from the origin of their religion1 have many customs and observances which appear ,jewish because they were adopted by ,muhammad himself from the ,jews around him2 but there are two1 at least1 met with among ,afghans which are not found among neighbouring ,muhammadan peoples1 and which strongly suggest a ,jewish origin4 ,the first1 which is very common1 is that of sacrificing an animal1 usually a sheep or a goat1 in case of illness1 after which the blood of the animal is sprinkled over the doorposts of the house of the sick person1 by means of which the angel of death is warded off4 ,the other1 which is much less common1 and appears to be dying out1 is that of taking a heifer and placing upon it the sins of the people1 whereby it becomes qurban1 or sacrifice1 and then it is driven out into the wilderness4 ,the ,afghan1 more than most ,muhammadans1 delights in ,biblical names1 and ,david1 ,solomon1 ,abraham1 ,job1 ,jacob1 and many other patriarchs1 are constant inmates of our hospital wards4 ,new ,testament names1 such as ,king ,jesus 7,mihtar ,esa7 and ,simon are occasionally met with4 ,the ceremonies enacted at the ,muhammadan ',id-i-bakr1 or ,feast of ,sacrifice1 have a most extraordinary similarity to the ,jewish ,passover2 but as these have a religious1 and not a racial1 origin and signification1 and can be read in any book on ,muhammadanism1 it is unnecessary to describe them here4 ,the strongest argument against their ,jewish origin is the almost entire disappearance of any ,hebrew words from their vocabulary2 but this may be partly1 at least1 explained by their admixture at first with ,chaldaic1 and subsequently with ,arab1 races4 ,the ,wazirs have a tradition as to their origin1 which1 although its ,biblical resemblance may be accidental1 is yet certainly remarkable when found among so wild and barbarous a race4 ,the tradition is that a certain ancestor had two sons1 ,issa and ,missa 7probably ,jesus and ,moses74 ,the latter was a shepherd1 and one day while tending his flocks on the hills a lamb strayed away and could not be found4 ,missa1 leaving his other sheep1 went in search of the lost one4 ,for three days and nights he wandered about the jungle without being able to find it4 ,on the morning of the fourth day he found it in some distant valley1 and1 instead of being wroth with it1 he took it up in his arms1 kissed it1 and brought it safely back to the flock4 ,for this humane act ,god greatly blessed him1 and made him the progenitor of the ,wazir tribe4 ,though it would seem to us more appropriate had this action been attributed to ,issa instead of to ,missa1 yet this tradition has often given me a text for explaining the ,gospel story to a crowd of these wild tribesmen4 ,though all ,afghans are fanatically zealous in the pursuit of their religion1 yet some are so ignorant of its teachings that more civilized ,muhammadans are hardly willing to admit their right to a place in the congregation of the faithful4 ,the ,wazirs1 for instance1 who would always be ready to take their share in a religious war1 are not only ignorant of all but the elementary truths of ,muhammadanism1 but the worship of saints and graves is the chief form that their religion takes4 ,the ,afridis are not far removed from them in this respect1 and it is related of a certain section of the ,afridis that1 having been taunted by another tribe for not possessing a shrine of any holy man1 they enticed a certain renowned ,seyyed to visit their country1 and at once despatched and buried him1 and boast to this day of their assiduity in worshipping at his sepulchre4 ,the frontier hills are often bare enough of fields or habitations1 but one cannot go far without coming across some zyarat1 or holy shrine1 where the faithful worship and make their vows4 ,it is very frequently situated on some mountain-top or inaccessible cliff1 reminding one of the high places of the ,israelites4 ,round the grave are some stunted trees of tamarisk or ber 7,zisyphus jujuba74 ,on the branches of these are hung innumerable bits of rag and pieces of coloured cloth1 because every votary who makes a petition at the shrine is bound to tie a piece of cloth on as the outward symbol of his vow4 ,in the accompanying photograph is seen a famous shrine on the ,suliman ,range4 ,despite its inaccessibility1 hundreds of pilgrims visit this yearly1 and sick people are carried up in their beds1 with the hope that the blessing of the saint may cure them4 ,sick people are often carried on beds1 either strapped on camels or on the shoulders of their friends1 for considerably more than a hundred miles to one or other of these zyarats4 ,in some cases it may reasonably be supposed that the change from a stuffy1 unventilated dark room to the open air1 and the stimulus of change of climate and scenery1 has its share in the cure which often undoubtedly results4 ,another feature of these shrines is that their sanctity is so universally acknowledged that articles of personal property may be safely left by the owners for long periods of time in perfect confidence of finding them untouched on their return4 ,this is the more remarkable1 remembering that these tribes are thieves by profession1 and scarcely look upon brigandage as a reprehensible act4 ,the inhabitants of a mountain village may be migrating to the plains for the winter months1 and they will leave their beds1 pots and pans1 and other household furniture1 under the trees of some neighbouring shrine1 and they will almost invariably find them on their return1 some months later1 exactly as they left them4 ,one distinct advantage of these shrines is that it is a sin to cut wood from any of the trees surrounding them4 ,thus it comes about that the shrines are the only green spots among the hills which the improvident vandalism of the tribes has denuded of all their trees and shrubs4 ,graves have a special sanctity in the eyes of the ,afghans1 more even than in the case of other ,muhammadans1 and you will generally see an ,afghan1 when passing by a graveyard1 dismount from his horse and1 turning towards some more prominent tomb1 which denotes the burial-place of some holy man1 hold up his hands in the attitude of ,muhammadan prayer1 and invoke the blessing of the holy man on his journey1 and then stroke his beard1 as is usually done by the ,muhammadans at the conclusion of their prayers4 ,there are few graveyards which do not boast some such holy man or faqir in their midst2 in fact1 as often as not1 the chance burial of some such holy man in an out-of-the-way part determines the site of a cemetery1 because all those in the country round desire to have their graves near his1 in the belief that at the ,resurrection ,day his sanctity will atone for any of their shortcomings1 and insure for them an unquestionable entry into bliss4 ,the graves always lie north and south1 and after digging down to a depth determined by the character of the soil1 a niche is hollowed out at one side1 usually the western1 and the corpse is laid in the niche1 with its face turned towards ,mecca4 ,some bricks or stones are then laid along the edge of the niche1 so that when the earth is thrown in none of it may fall on the corpse1 which is enveloped in a winding-sheet only1 coffins being never used4 ,the origin of the word coffin is possibly from the ,arabic word kafn1 which denotes the winding-sheet usually used by ,muhammadans4 #a ,great marvels are related about the graves of these holy men1 among the commonest being the belief that they go on increasing in length of their own accord1 the increase of length being a sign of the acceptance of the prayers of the deceased by the ,almighty4 ,near the mission house in ,peshawur was one such grave1 which went on lengthening at the rate of one foot a year4 ,when it had reached the length of twenty-seven feet it was seriously encroaching on the public highway1 and it was only after the promulgation of an official order from the district authorities that the further growth of the holy man should cease that the grave ceased to expand4 ,this shrine is still famous in the country round as the ,nine-,yard ,shrine1 which numbers of devotees visit every year1 in the expectation of obtaining some material benefit4 ,the use of charms or amulets is practically universal4 ,the children of the rich may be seen with strings of charms fastened up in little ornamented silver caskets hung round their neck1 while even the poorest labourer will not be without a charm sewn up in a bit of leather1 which he fastens round his arm or his neck4 ,these charms are most usually verses out of the ,quran1 transcribed by some ,mullah of repute and blessed by him2 others are cabalistic sentences or words1 while some are mere bits of paper or rag which have been blessed by a holy man4 ,on more than one occasion ,i have found my prescriptions made up into charms1 the patient believing that this would be more efficacious than drinking the hospital medicines2 in fact1 one patient assured me that he had never suffered from rheumatism1 to which he had previously been subject1 after he had tied round his arm a prescription in which ,i had ordered him some salicylate of soda1 although he had never touched the drug4 ,in one instance ,i found that a man who had been given some grey powders1 with directions how to use them1 had instead fastened them up1 paper and all1 into a little packet1 which he had sewn up in leather and fastened round his neck1 with1 he told me1 very beneficial result4 ,from this it can be readily understood that ,mullahs and faqirs who pretend to have the power of making charms for all known diseases1 and sell them to the people at large1 are often able to enrich themselves far more rapidly than a doctor who confines himself to the ordinary methods of treatment4 ,once1 when ,i was in camp1 ,i came across a mountebank who was making quite a large fortune in this way4 ,he had travelled over a large part of ,south-,western ,asia1 but did not stop long in any one place1 as no doubt his takings would soon begin to wear off after the first days of novelty4 ,one of his performances was to walk through fire1 professedly by the power of the ,muhammadan ,kalimah4 ,a trench was dug in the ground1 and filled with charcoal and wood1 which was set alight4 ,after the fire had somewhat died down1 the still glowing embers were beaten down with sticks1 and then the faqir1 reciting the ,kalimah with great zest1 proceeded to deliberately walk across1 after which he invited the more daring among the faithful to follow his example1 assuring them that if they recited the creed in the same way and with sincerity1 they would suffer no harm4 ,some went through the ordeal and showed no signs of having suffered from it2 others came out with blistered and sore feet4 ,these unfortunates were jeered at by the others as being no true ,muhammadans1 owing to which they had forfeited the immunity conferred upon them by the recitation of the creed4 ,one young ,sikh student1 calling out the ,sikh battle-cry1 ventured on the ordeal1 and came out apparently none the worse4 ,the ,muhammadans looked upon this as an insult to their religion1 because ,muhammadans oftener than not heard that cry when the ,sikhs had been engaged in mortal combat with them1 and this action of the young ,sikh appeared to them to be a challenge as to whether the ,muhammadan or the ,sikh cry had the greater magic power4 ,however1 some of the more responsible persons present checked the more hot-headed ones1 and the affair passed off with a little scoffing4 ,every morning and afternoon the faqir prepared for the reception of the patients1 who were collected in great numbers on hearing of his fame4 ,each applicant had to give #e pice to the assistant as his fee4 ,he was then sent before the faqir1 who remained seated on a mat4 ,the faqir asked him one or two questions as to the nature of the illness1 wrote out the necessary charm1 and passed on to the next4 ,three or four hundred people were often seen at one sitting4 ,this would give about #ej rupees 7#c4 #fs4 #h;d47 as a day's takings4 ,some days would1 no doubt1 be occupied in travelling1 and others less fruitful2 but his equipment and his method of travelling showed that it was a very profitable business4 ,he was stopping in the rest-house1 and invited me to dinner1 which was served in ,english fashion4 ,he entertained me with stories of his travels1 and made no secret of the fact that he took advantage of the credulity of the people to run a good business4 ,when dinner was nearly over an assistant came in to say that there were many people outside clamouring for charms4 ,with an apology to me for the interruption1 he took a piece of paper1 tore it up into squares1 quickly wrote off the required number1 and gave them to the assistant to go on with4 ,in some cases1 especially those suffering from rheumatism or old injuries or sprains1 he used rubbings and manipulations1 much as a so-called bone-setter does1 and these1 no doubt1 helped the charm to do its work4 ,the medical and surgical treatment of the faqirs is extremely crude4 ,sometimes ,jogis and herbalists from ,india travel about the country and practise a certain amount of yunani1 or ,hippocratic medicine2 but the native doctors of ,afghanistan have extremely little knowledge of medicine4 ,the two stock treatments of ,afghanistan are those known as dzan and dam4 ,dzan is a treatment habitually used in cases of fever1 whether acute or chronic1 and in a variety of chronic complaints1 which they do not attempt to diagnose4 ,it consists in stripping the patient to the skin and placing him on a bed4 ,a sheep or a goat is then killed and rapidly skinned4 ,the patient is then wrapped up in the skin1 with the raw surface next him and the wool outside4 ,he is then covered up with a number of quilts4 ,when successful1 this treatment acts by producing a profuse perspiration1 and when it is removed--on the second day in the summer and the third day in the winter--the patient is sometimes found to be free from fever1 though very worn and weak from the profuse sweating4 ,if the first application is not successful1 it may be repeated several times4 ,in a case of severe injury to one of the limbs1 the same treatment is often applied locally4 ,in the case of a fractured thigh1 for instance1 the sheepskin is tied on1 a rough splint applied externally1 and often left for a week or more4 ,where there has been an open wound1 and the patient has been brought several days' journey through the heat down to our hospital in ,bannu1 you can usually anticipate the character of the case by seeing the men who have carried the bed in carefully winding their pagaris round their noses and mouths before proceeding to unbandage it for your inspection1 and when it is at last opened all except the doctor and his assistant try to get as far away as possible4 ,a surgeon can scarcely be confronted with a more complete antithesis to his modern ideas of aseptic surgery than a case like this1 and many and prolonged applications of antiseptics and deodorants are required before the wound begins to assume a healthy aspect1 even if inflammation and gangrene have not rendered amputation a necessity4 ,in the case of a small wound1 the whole or a part of the skin of a fowl is used in the same way1 the flesh of the slaughtered animal being always a part of the fee of the doctor4 ,the other remedy1 or that known as the dam1 is akin to what is known in ,western surgery as a moxa4 ,a piece of cloth is rolled up in a pledget of the size of a shilling1 steeped in oil1 placed on the part selected by the doctor1 and set alight4 ,it burns down into the flesh1 and a hard slough is formed2 this gradually separates1 and leaves an ulcer1 which heals by degrees4 ,this remedy is used for every conceivable illness1 a particular part of the body being selected according to the disease or the diagnostic ability of the doctor who applies the remedy4 ,thus1 in people who have suffered from indigestion you will often see a line of scars down each side of the abdomen4 ,for neuralgia1 it is applied to the temples2 for headache1 to the scalp2 for rheumatism1 to the shoulders2 for lumbago1 to the loins2 for paralysis1 to the back2 for sciatica1 to the thighs2 and so on indefinitely4 ,i have counted as many as fifty scars1 each the size of a shilling1 on one patient as the result of repeated applications of this remedy4 ,the ,afghans have extraordinary faith in both these treatments1 and ,i have sometimes sat in a village listening to an argument in which some young fellow1 lately returned from a visit to a mission hospital1 recounted the wonderful things he had seen there1 to which some old conservative greybeard retorted3 ,what do we want with all these new-fangled things8 ,the dzan and the dam are sufficient for us4 ,as formerly in the ,west1 so still in ,afghanistan1 the village barber performs the ordinary surgical operations1 such as opening an abscess or lancing a gum4 ,the women all claim a greater or less knowledge of such surgery and medicine as they think necessary for them4 ,after one of the village frays1 when the warriors come back to their homes more or less cut and wounded1 the women of the household at once set about their treatment4 ,if there is severe hmorrhage some oil is quickly raised to boiling-point in a saucepan1 and either poured into the wound1 or if1 for instance1 a limb has been cut off1 the bloody stump is plunged into the oil4 ,this1 no doubt1 acts as an effective1 though somewhat barbarous1 hmostatic4 ,if the bleeding is only slight1 a certain plant gathered from the jungle is reduced to ashes1 and these ashes rubbed on the wound4 ,in the case of a clean cut the women draw out hairs from their own head1 and sew it up with their ordinary sewing-needles1 and ,i have sometimes seen flesh wounds which have been quite skilfully sewn up in this way4 ,they are less skilful in the application of splints4 ,in most neighbourhoods there is some village carpenter who prides himself on his skill in the application of splints to broken bones2 but in most cases he bandages them too tightly1 or with too little knowledge of the circulation of the limb1 so that not a year passes in which we do not get one or more cases of limbs which have become gangrenous after quite simple fractures through this kind of treatment4 ,almost the only drugs which are used to any extent in ,afghanistan are purgatives1 and especially those of a more violent and drastic nature4 ,nearly every ,afghan thinks it necessary to be purged or bled1 or both1 every spring1 and not unfrequently at the fall of the year too4 ,scarcely any illness is allowed to go to a week's duration without the trial of some violent purge4 ,sometimes the purge is given with so little regard to its quantity and the vitality of the patient that it results in rapid collapse and death4 ,in other cases a latent dysentery is excited1 which may result in an illness lasting many months1 and leaving the patient permanently weakened thereby4 ,the seasonal blood-lettings are performed1 as in the ,west1 from the bend of the arm1 this position having1 no doubt1 come down to the practitioners of both ,east and ,west from the ancient ,greeks2 but in the case of illness1 while the physicians of the ,west have had their practice revolutionized by modern ideas of anatomy and physiology1 those of the ,east still follow the humoral and hypothetical pathologies of ,hippocrates and his predecessors4 ,these practitioners know the particular vein in the particular limb or part of the body which has to be selected for venesection in any particular illness4 ,i have known a young doctor from ,england lose at once the confidence which the people might up to that time have had in his medical knowledge1 because in a case of illness to which he was called he recommended venesection1 and the patient's medical attendant who was to carry out the treatment made the1 to him1 very natural inquiry1 ,from what vein8 ,the ,english doctor said3 ,it does not matter4 ,both patient and medical attendant not unnaturally assumed that he was either a very careless doctor or an ignoramus1 and1 in either case1 that they had better call in a fresh opinion4 ,cataract is a very common complaint in ,afghanistan1 and from time immemorial there have been certain hakims1 or native practitioners1 who operate on this by means of the old process of couching4 ,these men usually itinerate about the country from village to village1 as in most cases the old men and the old women who are suffering from cataract are unable to undertake the journey to a town where one of these practitioners lives2 or it may be that their relations are not willing to take the trouble for someone whose working days are apparently over4 ,in some cases no doubt the operation results in good sight1 but in the majority other changes which take place in the eye as a result of the operation lead before long to total blindness4 ,as1 however1 the hakim seldom goes over the same ground again till after the lapse of several years1 his reputation does not lose by these failures1 as it would have done if he were always resident in one place4 ,the tooth extracting of the village is usually entrusted to the village blacksmith1 who has a ponderous pair of forceps1 a foot and a half to two feet long1 hung up in his shop for the purpose4 ,where the crown of the tooth is fairly strong and prominent the operation generally results in a short struggle1 and then the removal of the aching tooth2 but if the tooth is very carious1 or not prominent enough for a good grip1 the results are often disastrous1 even to fracture of the jaw1 and these ultimately come to the mission hospital for repair1 several often turning up in one day4 ,at one time smallpox was terribly rife in ,afghanistan1 and even now no village can be visited without seeing many who are permanently disfigured by it4 ,when an ,afghan comes to negotiate about the price of an eligible girl for marrying to his son1 one of the first questions asked is1 ,has she had the smallpox8 and if not1 either the settlement may be postponed until she is older1 or else some deduction is made for her possible disfigurement if attacked by the disease4 ,many times fathers have brought their daughters to the hospital with the scars left by smallpox in their eyes1 begging me to remove them1 not so much for the sake of the patient as because the market value of the daughter will be so much enhanced thereby4 ,the custom of inoculation was at one time almost universal in ,afghanistan4 ,a little of the crust of the sore of a smallpox patient was taken and rubbed into an incision made in the wrist of the person to be inoculated4 ,the smallpox resulting1 though usually mild1 was sometimes so severe as to cause the death of the patient1 and the people have not been slow to recognize the great advantages which vaccination has over inoculation4 ,only two circumstances deter the people from universally profiting by the facilities offered by the ,british ,government4 ,the first reason is that very often the vaccinators are underpaid officials1 who use their opportunities for taking bribes from the people1 and make the whole business odious to them4 ,the other is1 that they have a widespread superstition that the ,government are really seeking for a girl1 who is to be recognized by the fact that when the vaccinator scarifies her arm1 instead of blood1 milk will flow from the wound2 she is then to be taken over to ,england for sacrifice1 and the parents are afraid lest their girl should be the unlucky one4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,border ,,warriors ,peiwar ,kotal--,the ,kurram ,valley--,the ,bannu ,oasis--,independent tribes--,the ,durand line--,the indispensable ,hindu--,a lawsuit and its sequel--,a ,hindu outwits a ,muhammadan--,the scope of the missionary4 ,i was standing on a pine-clad spur of the ,sufed ,koh ,range1 which runs westwards towards ,kabul1 between the ,khaiber ,pass on the north and the ,kurram ,pass on the south4 ,the snow-clad peaks of ,sika ,ram1 which rise to a height of fifteen thousand feet1 tipped by fleecy white clouds1 were just behind me1 while in front was the green valley of the ,kurram ,river1 spread out like a panorama before me1 widening out into a large plain in its upper part1 where numerous villages1 partly hidden in groves of mulberry and walnuts1 nestled among the lower spurs of the mountains1 while farther down the hills on either side of it closed in and became more rugged and bare1 and the river wound its circuitous path through defile and gorge1 till it debouched on the plains of ,india4 ,immediately before me was the pine-covered ,pass of ,peiwar1 which will always be memorable as the scene of the great battle fought between the forces of the ,amir1 ,sher ,ali1 and the advancing column of ,sir ,frederick ,roberts4 ,there were the pines covering the crest where the ,afghan batteries were ensconced1 and one could trace without difficulty the circuitous path up the stony bed of the mountain torrent1 through a deep ravine1 and then winding up among the pine-woods1 by which the gallant regiments of the advancing army stormed and finally captured the ,afghan position4 ,westward of the pass was a fertile valley1 dotted over with villages here and there1 forming part of the territory of the ,amir of ,afghanistan4 ,a few miles below the top of the pass could be seen the fort where the soldiers of the ,amir guarded his frontier4 ,turning eastward1 some dozen miles off1 could be seen the cantonments of ,parachinar1 the westernmost cantonments of ,british occupation1 and the seat of administration of this trans-border valley4 ,there was a fort garrisoned by the local levies of the ,kurram ,militia--,afghans from the villages round1 who1 under the training and influence of three or four ,british officers1 have become part of the far-flung battle line of the defences of the ,empire4 ,i had been spending some weeks among the people of this district1 and the time had come for reluctantly leaving the shady groves and cool breezes of the ,upper ,kurram for the sweltering plains of ,bannu1 which even now ,i could see in the eastern distance covered by heat haze1 recalling the punkahs and restless nights which were soon to be my lot instead of the bracing air of the ,sufed ,koh4 ,our tents and baggage had been loaded up on some mules1 which we could see winding along the white road below us1 while we were lingering behind to take a last leave of the hearty ,afghans1 who had been both our hosts and our patients4 ,three times had we to pitch our nightly camp before we crossed the border of ,british ,india and entered the border town of ,thal1 which is the first town in ,british ,india which a traveller from ,afghanistan enters4 ,from the time of crossing the ,afghan frontier till now1 he has been going through what is known as an administrative area4 ,here was a fort1 occupied by troops of the ,indian ,army1 under command of a ,british officer4 ,thirty-four miles still remained in a direct line between us and our destination in ,bannu1 and before accomplishing this special arrangements had to be made with the tribes occupying it for our escort2 for this tongue of country running up between ,thal and ,bannu was not ,british ,india1 nor even an administrative area1 but independent1 and owned by the marauding ,wazir tribe1 who owed allegiance to neither ,amir nor ,viceroy4 ,a couple of ruffianly-looking ,wazirs arrived to escort us down4 ,their rifles were slung over their shoulders1 and well-filled cartridge belts strapped round their waists2 a couple of ,afghan daggers were ensconced in the folds of the dirty red pagaris which they had bound round their bodies1 and they carried their curved ,afghan swords in their hands4 ,we had now left the fertile valley of ,upper ,kurram behind us1 and wandered through a succession of rocky mountain defiles1 over precipitous spurs1 and along the stony bed of the river for more than thirty miles4 ,the lower mountain ranges separating ,afghanistan from ,india form by their intricacy and precipitate nature a succession of veritable chevaux de frise1 which by their natural difficulties maintain the parda or privacy of the wild tribes inhabiting them1 who value the independence of their mountain fastnesses more than life itself4 ,here and there is a patch of arable land in a bend of the ,kurram ,river1 overlooked by the walled and towered village of its possessors1 who have won it by force of arms1 and only keep it by their armed vigils1 even the men who are ploughing behind their oxen having their rifles hung over their shoulders1 and keeping their eyes open for a possible enemy4 ,in some places a channel from the river has been carried with infinite labour on to a flat piece of ground among the mountains1 where a scanty harvest is reaped4 ,for the rest the hill seems to be almost devoid of animal or vegetable life4 ,a few partridges starting up with a shrill cry from a tuft of dry grass in front of one are occasionally seen1 and stunted trees of ber and acacia supply a certain amount of firewood1 which some of the ,wazirs gather and take down to the ,friday ,fair in ,bannu4 ,the ,afghans will tell you that when ,god created the world there were a lot of stones and rocks and other lumber left over1 which were all dumped down on this frontier1 and that this accounts for its unattractive appearance4 ,there is one more range of hills to surmount before we reach the plains of ,india4 ,we have toiled up a rocky path1 from the bare stones of which the rays of the summer sun are reflected on all sides1 without any relief from tree or shrub1 or even a tuft of green grass1 till the ground beneath our feet seems to glow with as fierce a heat as that of the blazing orb above us4 ,we have reached the summit1 and the vista before us changes as if by magic4 ,five hundred feet below us is the broad plain of ,india1 irrigated in this part by the vivifying waters of the ,kurram ,river1 which1 liberated from the rock-bound defile through which they have wandered for the last thirty miles1 now dashing over their stony bed1 anon hemmed in by dark overhanging cliffs1 are at last free to break up into numberless channels1 which1 guided by the skill of the agriculturist1 form a labyrinth of silver streaks in the plain below us4 ,as far as the life-giving irrigation cuts of the ,kurram ,river extend are waving fields of corn1 sugar-cane1 maize1 rice1 turmeric1 and other crops1 spread in endless succession as far as the eye can reach4 ,scattered among the fields are the teeming villages of the ,bannuchies1 partly hidden in their groves of mulberries and figs and their vineyards1 as though ,cornucopia1 wearied by the barren hills above them in ,afghanistan1 had showered down all her gifts on the favoured tribes below4 ,such is ,india as it appears to the ,pathans inhabiting the hills on our ,north-,west ,frontier1 and when we see it thus after some time spent with them in their barren and rocky hills1 we can readily understand that two thoughts are dominant in their minds4 ,the one is3 ,those rich plains have been put there1 in contiguity to our mountains1 because ,god intended them to be our lawful prey1 that when we have no harvest we may go down and reap theirs2 and when we are hard up1 and have a big fine to pay to the ,british ,government1 we may lighten some of the wealthy ,hindus of the money that they have accumulated through usury and other ways which ,god hates4 ,the other thought is3 ,what possible reason has the ,british ,government1 the overlord of such rich lands1 for coming and interfering with us in our mountain homes1 which1 though nothing but rocks and stones1 are still our homes for all that1 where we resent the presence and interference of any stranger8 ,the reader will have observed that in the journey above described1 from ,peiwar down to ,bannu1 four different territories have been passed through4 ,the first and the last--viz41 ,afghanistan and ,british ,india--are two well-defined1 easily comprehensible geographical areas2 but it is seen that betwixt the two are various other tribal areas1 in varying relations with the ,indian ,government4 ,a few words must be said to familiarize the reader with the political conditions obtaining there4 ,the frontier of ,british ,india is well defined1 but that of ,afghanistan was more or less uncertain until the year #ahic1 when ,sir ,mortimer ,durand was deputed by the ,british ,government to meet the officers delegated by the ,amir ,abdurrahman1 in order that the frontier might be delimited4 ,this frontier is since known as the ,durand ,line4 ,the intervening area between the ,durand ,line and the ,british frontier is in varying relations to the ,indian ,government4 ,some parts of this1 such as ,tirah 7the country of the ,afridis and ,orakzais7 and ,waziristan 7the country of the ,wazirs and ,mahsuds71 are severely left alone1 provided the tribes do not compel attention and interference by the raids into ,british territory1 which are frequently perpetrated by their more lawless spirits4 ,these raids are no doubt disapproved of by the majority of the tribesmen1 who recognize the fact that they must stand to lose in any conflict with the ,british ,government2 but such is the democratic spirit of the people that every man considers himself as good as his neighbour1 and a step better if he has a more modern rifle4 ,as in the interregnums of the days of the ,israelitish ,judges1 each man does what seems good in his own eyes1 and bitterly resents any effort of his neighbour1 and even of the tribe1 to control his actions or curtail his liberty4 ,thus it happens that it is really very difficult for the tribal elders to prevent their bad characters from perpetrating these raids4 ,the raiders are usually men with nothing to lose1 owning no landed property within the confines of ,british ,india1 and guilty of previous murders or other crimes1 which make it impossible for them to enter the country1 except surreptitiously1 as they would certainly be imprisoned1 and perhaps hanged1 if caught4 ,a great number in the tribe own lands on both sides of the border1 and find it to their interest to take no overt part against the ,government2 while at the same time1 unless they give asylum to the desperadoes1 and conceal them on occasion1 they are liable to be themselves the victims4 ,thus it happens that in nearly every frontier expedition there are some sections of the tribe which desire to be on good terms with the ,british1 and are known as friendlies4 ,it is difficult for a military commander who has not previously known the people to appreciate this1 and when he finds his camp being sniped from a supposed friendly village1 he not unnaturally doubts the sincerity of the people4 ,as likely as not1 however1 the recalcitrant sections of the tribe have been at pains to snipe from such points as to implicate the friendly sections and force them into joining the standard of war4 ,on one occasion the exasperated ,general refused to believe the representations of the ,political ,officer that the villages from the neighbourhood of which the sniping came were friendly until he left the camp and went over to live in the 7supposed7 enemies' village himself6 ,the well-disposed clans would welcome an administration of the country by which these lawless spirits could be kept in check4 ,then1 there are certain semi-independent ,states1 such as ,chitral and ,dir1 where there are rulers of sufficient paramount power to govern their own country and to render it possible for the ,british to maintain that amount of control of their external relations which is considered desirable1 by means of a ,political ,agent attached to the court of the chief1 while still leaving the latter free to manage his own internal affairs in accordance with the customs of his tribe and the degree of his own supremacy over the often conflicting units composing it4 ,thirdly1 there are what are known as administered areas1 such as the ,upper ,kurram ,valley1 above mentioned4 ,these are inhabited by tribes over whom no one chief has been able to gain paramount authority for himself1 where1 as is so often the case among ,afghans1 the tribe is eaten up by a number of rival factions1 none of which are willing to acknowledge the rule of a man from a faction not their own4 ,the ,government official1 therefore1 is unable to treat with one ruler1 but has to hear all the members of the contending factions4 ,so great is the democratic spirit that any petty landowner thinks he has as much right to push his views of public policy as the representative of an hereditary line of chiefs4 ,this naturally greatly complicates official relations1 and the ,political ,officer1 however much he would like to refrain from interference in tribal home policy1 finds that1 amid a host of conflicting units1 he is the only possible court of appeal4 ,this results in an intermediate form of government3 the ,indian ,penal ,code does not obtain2 tribal laws and customs are the recognized judicial guides1 and there is a minimum of interference with the people2 yet the ,political ,officer is the supreme authority1 and combines in himself the executive and judicial administration of the area4 ,notwithstanding the exclusiveness of the religion that these people profess1 they find it impossible to do their business or live comfortably without the help of the ubiquitous and obsequious ,hindu4 ,just as much as the great ,mughal ,emperors of old found it best to have ,hindus for the posts of treasurer1 accountant1 adviser1 etc41 so the frontier chief of to-day has his ,hindu vassal always with him1 to keep his accounts1 write his petitions1 and transact most of his written and judicial business4 ,the majority of the shopkeepers also are ,hindus4 ,even under the settled administration of ,british ,india the ,muhammadan has never become such an adept at bargaining1 petty trade1 and shopkeeping as the more thrifty and quick-witted ,hindu4 ,thus in every village of any pretension there are the ,hindus1 with their shops1 who make their journeys to the big market-towns on the frontier--,peshawur1 ,bannu1 and ,dera ,ismail ,khan--and return with piece-goods1 matches1 looking-glasses1 and a variety of ,western trinkets1 as well as the food-stuffs which the ,afghan covets1 but cannot produce himself1 such as white sugar and tea4 ,these ,hindus are regarded as vassals by the ,muhammadan community they supply1 and each ,hindu trader or shopkeeper has his own particular overlord or ,muhammadan malik1 who in return for these services guarantees his safety1 is ready to protect him--by force of arms1 if necessary--from rival ,muhammadan sections1 and to revenge any injury done to him as if it were a personal one to himself4 ,the ,hindu supplies the brains and the ,muhammadan the valour4 ,the ,hindu is ever ready to outwit his overbearing but often obtuse masters1 and under ,british rule avails himself of the protection the law affords to do things he would not venture on across the border4 ,once when travelling across the border my guide was an outlaw1 who had been obliged to fly from ,british territory after committing a murder4 ,he told me that he had gone into partnership with a ,hindu for an extensive contract for road-making3 the ,hindu was to supply the capital and keep accounts1 and he was to recruit the coolies and do the supervision of the work4 ,while ,i1 he said1 was broiling and sweating in the summer sun1 that pig of a ,hindu was comfortably seated in his office falsifying the accounts1 and ,i never got an anna for all my labours4 ,i thought ,i should get justice from the ,sarkar1 so ,i brought a civil action against him2 but ,i was a plain man1 and he learnt all about the ways of the law from some pleader friend of his1 and ,i lost the case4 ,then ,i paid another pleader a big sum to take my appeal to the ,sessions ,judge1 but he had manipulated the accounts and paid the witnesses1 so that ,i lost that too4 ,allahu ,akbar6 ,the ,judge gave his verdict before the shadow had turned before midday1 and before the time of afternoon prayers had arrived that son of a pig was as dead as a post4 ,but then ,i had to come over here1 and ,i can only pay an occasional night visit to my village now4 ,a story which he told me to illustrate the mercantile genius of the ,hindu will bear repeating4 ,a ,muhammadan and a ,hindu resolved to go into partnership4 ,the ,muhammadan1 being the predominant partner1 stipulated that he was to have the first half of everything1 and the ,hindu the remainder4 ,the ,hindu obsequiously consented4 ,the first day the ,hindu brought back a cow from market4 ,he milked it1 got the butter and cream1 made the dung into fuel-cakes for his fire1 and then went to call the ,muhammadan because the cow was hungry and wanted grass and grain4 ,the ,muhammadan said he was ready to do his share if the ,hindu did his4 ,the ,hindu blandly replied that he had already done his1 while the stipulated first half of the cow included the animal's mouth and stomach1 and fell clearly to the lot of the ,muhammadan4 ,now let us see what is the position of the missionary in each of these areas4 ,in ,british ,india he has a free hand so long as he keeps within the four corners of the law4 ,in ,afghanistan there is an absolute veto against even his entry into the country1 and there is no prospect of this changing under the present rgime4 ,a convert from ,muhammadanism to ,christianity is regarded within the realms of the ,amir as having committed a capital offence1 and both law and popular opinion would decree his destruction4 ,in the intervening tribal areas there is no reason why a cautious missionary1 well acquainted with the language and customs of the people1 should not work with considerable success4 ,a medical missionary who did not attack their religion with a mistaken zeal would undoubtedly be welcomed by the greater number of the people1 though the ,mullahs1 or priests1 would be an uncertain element1 and certainly hostile at the beginning4 ,the local political authorities have the final say as to how far the missionaries may extend their operations4 ,i shall revert to this subject in the concluding chapter 7,chapter ,,xxv471 where ,i shall show that in no part of the country are medical missions more obviously indicated1 not only for ,christianizing the people1 but equally so for pacifying them and familiarizing them with the more peaceful aspects of ,british rule4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,a ,,frontier ,,valley ,description of the ,kurram ,valley--,shiahs and ,sunnis--,favourable reception of ,christianity--,independent areas--,a candid reply--,proverbial disunion of the ,afghans--,the two policies--,sir ,robert ,sandeman--,lord ,curzon creates the ,north-,west ,frontier ,province--,frontier wars--,the vicious circle--,two flaws the natives see in ,british rule3 the usurer1 delayed justice--,personal influence4 ,among the various tracts of border territory that have recently been opened up and brought under the influence of civilization by the frontier policy of the ,indian ,government1 none is fairer or more promising than the ,upper ,kurram ,valley1 on the lower waters of which river ,bannu1 the headquarters of the ,afghan ,medical ,mission1 is situate4 ,the ,river ,kurram rises on the western slopes of ,sikaram1 the highest point of the ,sufed ,koh ,range 7#ae1fjj feet71 and for twenty-five miles makes a dtour to the south and east through the ,aryab ,valley1 which is inhabited by the tribe of ,zazis1 who are still under the government of the ,amir1 and form his frontier in this part4 ,the river then suddenly emerges into a wider basin1 the true valley of ,upper ,kurram1 stretching from the base of the ,sufed ,koh ,range to the base of a lower range on the right bank1 a breadth of fifteen miles1 the river running close to the latter range1 and the north-western corner of this basin being separated from the head-waters of the ,kurram by the ridge of the ,peiwar ,kotal1 where was fought the memorable action of ,december #b1 #ahgi1 by which the road to ,kabul was opened4 ,this wide valley runs down as far as ,sadr1 thirty miles lower down towards the south-east1 being narrower1 however1 below4 ,here the valley narrows down to from two to four miles1 and runs south-east for thirty-five miles to ,thal1 where it ceases to be in ,british territory1 but winds for thirty miles among the ,waziri ,hills1 until it emerges into the ,bannu ,plain1 and flows through the ,bannu and ,marwat districts into the ,indus at ,isa ,khel4 ,thus1 with the exception of the head-waters and some thirty miles just above ,bannu1 the territory is all now subject to ,british rule1 and is steadily becoming more peaceful and civilized4 ,below the ,zazis the valley down as far as ,waziristan was originally possessed by the ,bangash1 a ,sunni tribe of ,pathans1 who came themselves from the direction of ,kohat4 ,the ,turis were a ,shiah tribe inhabiting some districts on the eastern bank of the ,indus near ,kalabagh1 who1 being ardent traders and nomads1 were accustomed to visit the cool regions of ,upper ,kurram every summer for trade1 health1 and pasturage4 ,one summer1 some two hundred years ago1 a quarrel arose between them and the ,bangash of a village called ,burkha1 and resulted in a battle1 in which the ,turis came off victorious1 and1 destroying or driving away the inhabitants of ,burkha1 made it their first settlement in the valley4 ,soon after this they attacked and possessed themselves of two of the most important villages of the valley1 ,peiwar and ,milana1 and to this day every ,turi with aspirations to importance claims land in one of these three villages1 though it may be only the fiftieth part of a field1 as proof of his true lineage4 ,year by year the ,turis gradually strengthened their position1 driving the ,bangash farther down the valley1 except in some cases1 such as the inhabitants of the large and beautiful village of ,shlozan1 the ,bangash of which1 all becoming ,shiahs1 amalgamated with the ,turis1 and retained their lands4 ,finally1 having made their position secure1 and realizing the charms of the valley1 the ,turis ceased to return to the plain1 and remained in the valley all the year round4 ,hence to-day we find the upper part of the valley inhabited only by ,turis1 while below this1 as far as the ,alizai1 the ,turis and ,bangash are mingled1 their villages being often side by side2 and further down still the ,bangash have the land all to themselves4 ,since the people have realized the peace resulting from ,english rule1 and have begun to beat their swords into ploughshares1 many of the hill tribes bordering the valley have taken every opportunity of settling in allotments in the valley1 and enjoying the larger produce of its richer soil4 ,these are the ,mangals and ,makbals above1 and the ,zaimukhts below1 thus introducing a fresh element into the population4 ,over and above these any worker in the valley has to count on dealings with the neighbouring tribes1 who still cling to their mountain fastnesses1 and sometimes still show their old disposition to loot the more peaceable inhabitants4 ,these are the ,ningrahars1 ,spinwars1 and ,paris on the north1 and the ,zazi-i-,maidan on the south2 while the ,afghan country of ,khost being in close proximity1 its people also would be easily reached4 ,to make the enumeration of the inhabitants complete1 it only remains to mention the ,hindus1 who1 mostly of the ,arora caste1 are in large numbers in the valley1 and retain most of the trade1 and do much clerical and business work for the ,muhammadans4 ,in the time of the ,hindu ,rajahs of ,kabul they were probably in the ascendant here1 and the little archology which the valley presents is all of ,hindu origin4 ,apart from the variety of tribes who are thus brought into close proximity in the valley1 it has a special interest and importance from its being one of the two routes from ,kabul to ,india 7the other being the ,khaiber74 ,hence many nomads from ,afghanistan frequently visit and temporarily inhabit the valley4 ,prominent at present among these are the ,hazaras1 numbers of whom have been driven out from their own lands by the ,amir1 and have come here to labour on the roads4 ,the ,khorotis and ,ghilzais also frequent the valley4 ,it is owing to this peculiarly central and cosmopolitan position1 and partly to the character of the people themselves1 that this district presents so many advantages as a centre of mission work and influence4 ,there is a great opportunity for mission work among the ,turis4 ,these1 as above mentioned1 are ,shiahs1 while all the tribes round belong to the orthodox sect of ,sunnis2 consequently1 previously to the ,english occupation in #ahia they were subjected to persistent1 relentless persecution at the hands of the ,amir1 and to frequent inroads from their ,sunni neighbours4 ,they naturally1 therefore1 look on the ,christians as deliverers from the throes of ,sunni rule and persecution1 and are ipso facto inclined to look on ,christianity favourably1 since it has brought them so much peace and freedom from oppression4 ,and still1 as a wordy warfare is carried on by their respective ,mullahs1 both sides endeavour to find in ,christianity points of resemblance by which they can magnify their own sect1 rather than1 like the ,muhammadans of ,bannu1 to be constantly cavilling at every word from a ,christian tongue or a ,christian book4 ,this has resulted in a wonderful 7wonderful1 at any rate1 to a missionary from bigoted ,bannu7 openness to conversation about the ,christian ,scriptures1 and readiness to receive ,christian teaching4 ,for instance1 in ,bannu a well-inclined ,mullah dare not read a ,bible except in secrecy1 while in ,kurram ,i have frequently seen ,mullahs publicly reading and commenting on the ,holy ,word to large groups of ,khans and other men4 ,again1 in ,bannu mention of such doctrines as the ,sonhood1 the ,crucifixion1 or the ,sinlessness of ,christ1 or the ,fatherhood of ,god1 is as often as not the signal for an uproar2 while here the same doctrines1 even if not partially accepted1 may yet be freely talked about1 with the certainty of nearly always getting a fair hearing4 ,the first summer during which ,i spent some time among these people ,i nearly everywhere had a hospitable1 not to say cordial1 reception4 ,this1 of course1 was partly attributable to the medical benefits they received1 but it was markedly different from the reception often accorded to the bearer of ,gospel tidings in ,hindustan4 ,at no place was there any open opposition from the ,mullahs1 and most of them came to see me1 and had long talks about the ,injil 7,gospel71 and asked for and gratefully accepted copies of it1 which ,i have reason to believe they preserved carefully and read regularly2 while the people often besought us to partake longer of their hospitality or to visit them again next year1 or1 better still1 to start a dispensary in their midst4 ,a reference to the map shows how intimate are the relations of this valley with ,afghanistan1 and relics of ,afghan rule frequently present themselves to the doctor when going about their villages--men who have been crippled for life as a punishment for some crime1 or it may be merely because they incurred the displeasure of someone of influence1 who manufactured a case against them4 ,i have seen men who have had their right hand cut off for robbery1 and others whose feet were completely crippled by long-continued incarceration in the stocks1 or by a torture often inflicted to extract evidence1 in which the foot is tied with cords to a piece of wood like a magnified tent-peg fixed in the ground4 ,this peg has a cleft in it1 and a wedge is then hammered slowly into this cleft1 thus gradually tightening the cords till they cut into the foot and cause its mortification4 ,in every village there are one or more matamkhanas1 where the ,shiahs hold their annual mournings for the martyrs of ,kerbela 7,hasan and ,husen7 at every ,muharram4 ,under ,afghan 7,sunni7 rule these ceremonies were often interdicted1 or at least restricted2 but now they are able to carry them on unhindered1 and pray for the continuance of ,british rule in consequence4 ,these places form convenient centres for the men to gather together and talk1 and in them many of my religious discussions have been held4 ,they are all the more ready to accept the ,christian account of the ,crucifixion and its meaning 7which is such a stumbling-block to the ,sunnis71 because they look on the martyrdom of the two brothers at ,kerbela as having a vicarious efficacy for those who perform the memorial rites1 and regard ',ali1 the fourth ,khalifa from ,muhammad1 as being indeed a saviour4 ,if we could have visited this valley in the days long before the ,christian era1 when the first ,aryan immigrants were passing down from ,central ,asia into the ,panjab1 we should have seen it covered with their settlements1 and seen them engaged in the simple ,nature-worship depicted in the ,vedas1 which record this stage of ,aryan civilization4 ,this region was probably much better watered and more fertile in those days than it is now4 ,not only does geological evidence point to a greater rainfall and vegetation1 but as these early immigrations were mostly of large bands of pastoral people1 moving with their flocks and herds1 their families and household possessions1 and as they probably only gradually moved down the valley into the plains below1 they must have found more pasturage than the desolate frontier ranges would now afford4 ,the ,kurram ,valley above described serves as a good example of an administered area fairly well advanced in the civilizing effects of a settled and just ,government4 ,the independent tribes1 on the other hand1 go down the scale till you find tribes1 such as some sections of the ,wazirs and ,afridis1 who are utter barbarians1 entirely devoted to a nomadic life of systematic highway robbery4 ,a ,political ,officer was once seated1 with a number of the head men of some of these independent tribes1 on the top of one of their rugged mountains1 from which you look down on ,afghanistan to the west and ,india to the east4 ,they had been touring with him as his escort for some days4 ,he had fed them well1 and could chat familiarly with them in their own lingo1 so that they had learnt to talk with him without reserve about even their tribal secrets4 ,now1 tell me1 said the officer1 if there were to be war--which ,god forbid--between ,russia and ,england1 what part would you and your people take8 whom would you side with8 ,do you wish us to tell you what would please you1 or to tell you the real truth8 was their nave reply4 ,i adjure you only tell me what is the 'white word' 7meaning the true statement74 ,then1 said an old greybeard among them1 voicing the feelings of all present1 we would just sit here up on our mountain-tops watching you both fight1 until we saw one or other of you utterly defeated2 then we would come down and loot the vanquished till the last mule6 ,god is great6 ,what a time that would be for us6 ,no doubt he spake truly1 but such is the discord of the ,afghan tribes that no doubt the spoil would scarcely be gathered in before they would begin to fight among themselves over the division of it4 ,these tribal jealousies and petty wars are inherent among the ,afghans1 and greatly diminish their formidableness as foes4 ,if you ask them about it they will acknowledge this defect in their character1 and tell you how that one of their ancestors displeased the ,almighty1 who1 to punish him1 wove the strands of discord in the web of their nature from that time onwards4 ,hence the saying1 ,the ,afghans of the frontier are never at peace except when they are at war6 ,for when some enemy from without threatens their independence1 then1 for the time being1 are their feuds and jealousies thrown aside1 and they fight shoulder to shoulder1 to resume them again when the common danger is averted4 ,even when they are all desirous of joining in some jihad1 they remain suspicious of each other1 and are apt to fail one another at critical moments2 or else one tribe will wait to see how it fares with those already in it before unsheathing their own swords4 ,thus it was in the frontier rising of #ahig that the difficulty of quelling the rising would have been immensely greater had it not been that the tribes rose seriatim instead of simultaneously1 and the rising in one part of the frontier had been put down before another broke out4 ,two policies have at various times been advocated with equal warmth by their respective partisans4 ,the earlier policy1 which was supported by ,lord ,lawrence in the days of his ,viceroyalty1 was generally known as the policy of masterly inactivity4 ,later on the forward policy received more general approbation1 its chief exponent being ,sir ,robert ,sandeman4 ,those who advocate the former point out the great expenditure involved in all interference with the internal tribes across our border1 and that almost inevitably we become sooner or later involved in wars with them4 ,they would therefore have the ,british ,government strictly abstain from all trans-frontier politics1 and leave the tribes severely alone1 so long as they give no trouble to us on our side of the border4 ,the forward party1 on the other hand1 point out the danger of having this extensive area on the most vulnerable part of our ,indian ,empire outside our own control1 and they advocate a system of controlling all the political affairs of the trans-border tribes1 while leaving their internal policy in the hands of their own chiefs1 who1 though guided by our political officers1 would be free to maintain the ancient tribal customs4 ,sir ,robert ,sandeman is1 perhaps1 the most remarkable instance of the power which a single officer has been able to exercise over these border tribes1 and it was through him that the large tract on the border between ,quetta and the ,deras was organized under our ,political ,officers1 working through the tribal chiefs4 ,allowances are made to the tribes1 in return for which they guarantee the safety of the ,british posts on the highroads1 and become responsible for any misdemeanours on the part of other members of their tribe4 ,tribal levies are organized under young officers of the ,british ,army1 who train them in military discipline1 drill1 and marksmanship4 ,the pay received by these soldiers becomes a valuable asset to the tribe1 and a strong inducement to give up their more predatory habits1 in favour of the pax ,britannica4 ,still1 it was found necessary to place regular troops of the ,indian ,army in some of the more important and critical situations4 ,the frontier is1 for the most part1 composed of intricate1 and in many parts inaccessible1 mountain ranges1 which form an absolute barrier to the passage of troops2 but piercing through these are the passes1 of which the best known are the ,khaiber and the ,bolan1 which from time immemorial have formed the highways through which hostile armies have invaded ,india1 and it would be through them that any enemy of the future would endeavour to bring its forces4 ,it is therefore a paramount necessity to the ,british ,government that these passes should be securely guarded1 and therefore each one of them forms part of one of the areas administered by ,british officers1 and guarded either by native troops or tribal levies4 ,it is through these passes1 too1 that the great merchant caravans pass down from ,afghanistan and ,central ,asia into ,british ,india4 ,in former times the merchants had to subsidize the tribes through which they passed1 who would otherwise have blocked the passes and stolen their goods2 and it is partly to make up to the tribes for the loss of this income that the tribal subsidies were arranged4 ,near where each of these passes debouches on to the trans-,indus plain is a city1 which forms an emporium for the merchandise brought down1 and a military station for the protection of the pass4 ,while ,peshawur serves this purpose for the ,khaiber1 ,kohat commands the ,kurram1 ,bannu the ,tochi1 and ,dera ,ismail ,khan the ,gumal4 ,when ,lord ,curzon assumed the ,viceroyalty1 the frontier districts formed part of the ,panjab1 and the ,lieutenant-,governor of that province was in administrative control of them4 ,lord ,curzon wished to bring them more directly under his own control1 so in #aija a new province1 composed of five frontier districts of the ,panjab1 was constituted1 and called the ,north-,west ,frontier ,province4 ,the five districts composing this province are ,hazara1 ,peshawur1 ,kohat1 ,bannu1 and ,dera ,ismail ,khan4 ,these are all beyond the ,indus1 except ,hazara1 which is to the east of that river4 ,a ,chief ,commissioner was appointed over the whole province1 directly responsible to the ,viceroy1 and he had his headquarters and the centre of government at ,peshawur4 ,lord ,curzon's next move was to advance the railway systems of the ,panjab along the frontier1 bringing their termini to the mouths of the ,khaiber and ,kurram ,passes4 ,as this enabled a rapid concentration of troops at any point along the frontier1 he was able to withdraw the regiments of the ,indian ,army which garrisoned the more outlying districts1 and to replace them by tribal levies4 ,no doubt it is the desire of the ,government not to make any further annexations of this barren1 mountainous1 and uninviting border region2 but it is not always equally easy to avoid doing so1 and it is a universal experience of history that when there are a number of disorganized and ill-governed units on the borders of a great power1 they become inevitably1 though it may be gradually and piece by piece1 absorbed into the latter4 ,there are1 however1 financial considerations which induce the ,government to refrain from annexing a country which has few natural resources1 can pay little in taxes1 and must cost a great deal to administer4 ,but these frontier tribes form some of the finest fighting material from which the ,indian ,army is recruited1 and it may be that years of regular and peaceful administration will destroy the military qualities of these people1 as has been the case in ,south ,india4 ,the many opportunities afforded by the frontier to the ,indian ,army for active service1 and the training that they get in the little frontier expeditions1 may also be looked upon by some as a valuable asset4 ,the usual sequence of events is as follows3 ,first1 the more unruly sections of the tribes carry on a series of raids on the frontier villages of ,india1 as has been their custom from time immemorial4 ,sometimes the miscreants are captured and meet their fate2 more often they escape1 and1 in accordance with the system of tribal responsibility1 a fine is put on the tribe from which they come4 ,these fines go on accumulating1 the tribe running up an account with the ,government for its misdeeds4 ,thus we come to the second stage1 when the patience of the ,government is exhausted4 ,the tribal heads are called in1 and an ultimatum offered to them4 ,they must pay so much in fines and deliver the criminals demanded1 or an expedition will be organized4 ,much time--it may be many months--is occupied in councils1 while the tribe is endeavouring to gain time or to make the terms more favourable4 ,the third stage is when the tribe fail to meet the ,government's conditions1 and a punitive expedition is organized against them4 ,this expedition enters their hills1 raises their parda1 burns their villages1 fights a few actions--usually of the nature of ambuscades or rearguard actions--realizes more or less of the fine1 confiscates a number of rifles1 and comes back again4 ,the tribe is now free to commence its depredations afresh with a clean sheet1 and to begin to run up a new account1 and1 in order more effectually to prevent this and keep a greater control over them1 the ,government find themselves compelled to enter on the fourth stage1 which is that of annexing some points of vantage where military posts can be erected1 which will overawe and control them4 ,it is thus that a gradual1 though it may be reluctant1 annexation of territory becomes inevitable4 ,then1 it must be remembered that there is always a section of the tribe1 and often a majority1 who are favourable to annexation1 for the more settled and peaceful rule of the ,british brings many advantages in its train4 ,while before they were not able to cultivate their crops at any distance from the village1 and even then only when fully armed1 now they are able to till the ground in peace even miles away from their habitations1 and land which was before unculturable becomes of great value4 ,they are able to trade and carry on the ordinary avocations of life with a security to which they have been hitherto strangers4 ,they learn the value of money1 and begin to amass wealth4 ,there are always1 however1 two parties in the tribe who are opposed tooth and nail to ,british rule1 and as they have got power far in excess of their more peacefully disposed brethren1 they are usually able to terrorize the more peace-loving majority into a false acquiescence in their own opposition4 ,these two parties are the outlaws and the ,mullahs4 ,the outlaws have made their living by raiding and robbery for generations1 and have no inclination to give up their profession for more peaceable but less exciting and less profitable employment4 ,not only have the ,mullahs an antipathy to those whom they consider kafirs1 or infidels1 but they know that under the changed conditions of life1 their influence1 their power1 and their wealth must all suffer4 ,besides this1 there are two elements in our rule which are equally repugnant to all4 ,one is the protection which we give to the money-lender1 and the other is the dilatory nature of our justice4 ,usury is unlawful to the ,muhammadans1 but as they are spendthrift and improvident1 the ,hindus are able to make a living among them by lending them money in times of necessity4 ,the ,hindu was formerly prevented from charging too high a rate of interest or running up too long an account1 by the fact that if he did so1 his ,muhammadan masters1 who held the sword1 would come one night and burn his house over his head1 and let him start afresh4 ,under ,british rgime1 however1 the usurer is protected4 ,he is able to recover his debts from the impecunious ,muhammadan by a civil action1 and may get the latter thrown into prison if he does not pay2 while if the ,muhammadan tries to burn his account-books1 he will find himself an inmate of ,his ,majesty's gaol4 ,the justice which the ,muhammadan of the frontier appreciates is a rapid and appropriate justice1 such as used to be meted out by officers in the days of ,nicholson1 when the offender might find himself accused1 arrested1 judged1 and visited with some punishment appropriate to the crime all within the course of a few days4 ,at the present time he can1 if rich enough1 call in a pleader1 and get any number of false witnesses1 and his case is inevitably dragged out by the magistrate by successive postponements for getting the attendance of these witnesses1 or through some technicality of the law2 and even when he does--it may be after the lapse of some months--get a judgment1 the losing party in the suit is at liberty to bring an appeal to the ,sessions ,judge1 and from him another appeal can be lodged at the ,high ,court of ,lahore1 which has so many cases on its lists that it may be his case will not be taken till after the lapse of two or three years4 ,the real strength of our administration on the frontier is the personnel of our officers1 for it has always been the man1 and not the system1 that governs the country2 and there are names of officers now dead and gone which are still a living power along that frontier1 because they were men who thoroughly knew the people with whom they had to deal1 and whose dauntless and strong characters moulded the tribes to their will1 and exerted such a mesmeric influence over those wild ,afghans that they were ready to follow their feringi masters through fire and sword with the most unswerving loyalty1 even though they were of an alien faith4 ,as an example of this1 it is related that on a certain frontier expedition the regiments were passing up a defile on a height1 above which some of the enemy had ensconced themselves in ambush behind their sangars4 ,the ,afghans had been soldiers in the ,indian ,army1 who had now completed their service and retired to their hills1 and were1 as is often the case1 using the skill which they had learnt in their regiments against us4 ,they were about to fire1 when one of them recognized the officer riding at the head of the regiment as his own ,colonel4 ,he stopped the others1 and said3 ,that is our own ,karnal ,sahib4 ,we must not fire on him or his regiment4 ,that regiment was allowed to pass in safety1 but they opened fire on the one which succeeded4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,christian',s ,,revenge ,police posts versus dispensaries--,the poisoning scare--,a native doctor's influence--,wazir marauders spare the mission hospital--,a terrible revenge--,the ,conolly bed--,a political mission--,a treacherous ,king--,imprisonment in ,bukhara--,the ,prayer-,book--,martyrdom--,the sequel--,influence of the mission hospital--,the medical missionary's passport4 ,i was once urging on a certain official the need of a ,government dispensary in a certain frontier district4 ,there is no need there1 he replied2 the people are quiet and law-abiding4 ,now ,a---1 that is a disturbed area3 there we ought to have medical work--an unintentional testimony to one result of the doctor's work1 though rather hard on the law-abiding section of the populace that they should have no hope of a hospital unless they can organize a few raids1 or get a reputation for truculence4 ,which will be better--a punitive police post or a civil dispensary8 ,this seems a not very logical conundrum1 yet it is based on sound reasoning1 and a well-managed establishment of the latter kind will often remove the necessity of setting up the former4 ,the doctor is a confidant in more matters than one1 and the right man will often smooth down little frictions and mollify sorenesses which bid fair to cause widespread conflagrations4 ,a medical mission is a pacific1 as well as an essentially pioneer1 agency4 ,there was a little missionary dispensary on the frontier1 in charge of a native doctor1 a convert from ,muhammadanism1 who had gone in and out among the people till he was a household friend all down the country-side4 ,one day he was sitting in his dispensary seeing out-patients1 when he heard the following conversation3 ,abdultalib4 ,the ,sarkar has sent out agents to kill the ,mussulmans by poisoning their drinking-water4 ,balyamin4 ,mauzbillah6 how do you know that8 ,a4 ,mullah ,d4 arrived last night1 and1 sitting in the chauk1 he told how he had seen a man throwing pills into the well at ,dabb village4 ,he went after him1 but as soon as the man saw him he ran away4 ,b4 ,what is to be done8 ,a4 ,first we must tell the women not to draw water from the wells--they have certainly been poisoned in the night--but they can take their pitchers to the tank in the big mosque2 no one would interfere with that4 ,b4 ,if we can catch the miscreant1 we will show him plainly enough who is the ,mussulman and who the infidel4 ,as the news spread through the village1 the excitement grew2 women who had already filled their pitchers from the wells hurriedly emptied them and started off afresh to the mosque tank4 ,guards were placed at the well1 both to warn the faithful and to give short shrift to any hapless stranger on whom suspicion might fall4 ,the men about the bazaar had procured thick sticks1 and seemed only waiting for the opportunity of using them1 and things looked black all round4 ,news was brought to the police-station1 and1 without waiting to don his uniform1 the inspector buckled on a revolver1 and1 taking a constable with him1 hurried off to the most disturbed portion of the village4 ,the men there were sullen1 and would give no information1 and two or three of the more truculent seemed inclined to hustle the police-officer4 ,just then the native doctor appeared on the scene1 and recognized the gravity of the situation at once4 ,one rash act1 and the police might have to use their firearms in self-defence4 ,the people1 however1 trusted the doctor4 ,had he not often championed them when subjected to little police tyrannies1 and had they not often sought counsel from him in their village quarrels1 and always found his advice had helped them to come to an amicable settlement8 ,so now1 when he quietly slipped his arm into that of the inspector1 and led him out of the dangerous quarter1 chatting the while1 till he got him safely into a house without loss of official dignity1 not even the most truculent tried to resist his passage4 ,then he returned and reasoned with them on the groundlessness of their suspicions4 ,had any of them ever seen anyone throw anything into the wells8 ,had anyone even got a stomach-ache from drinking the water8 ,did any ,king ever want to kill off all his own subjects8 ,if so1 whom would he rule1 and where would be his kingdom8 ,finally1 he bantered them out of their warlike intentions3 the sticks were returned home1 business resumed1 the inspector came back as though his authority had never been questioned1 and a very ugly situation was successfully negotiated4 ,in the year #ahgi the tribe of the ,wazirs had been incited by their ,mullahs to rise1 and they came down suddenly with their lashkar on the little frontier town of ,tank4 ,there was a mission hospital there1 in charge of an ,indian doctor1 the ,rev4 ,john ,williams4 ,before the authorities could summon the troops the ,wazir warriors had overrun town and bazaar1 and were burning and looting4 ,some young bloods went for the mission hospital1 but they were at once restrained by the tribal elders1 who forbade them to meddle with the property of our own ,daktar ,sahib1 as they called him4 ,had they not often been inmates of his hospital and partakers of his hospitality8 ,not a hair of his head was to be injured4 ,they at once set a guard of their own men on the mission hospital1 who warned off any excited tribesmen who might have done it injury1 and that was the only place in the bazaar that escaped fire and sword and pillage4 ,some of his surgical instruments had been carried off before the posting of the guard2 but upon this being made known1 search was made through ,waziristan1 and the friends of the doctor were not satisfied until all were returned to him4 ,revenge is a word sweet to the ,afghan ear1 and even a revenge satisfied by the culminating murder is the sweeter if the fatal blow1 preferably on some dark night1 is so managed that the murdered man has a few minutes of life in which to realize that he has been outwitted1 and to hear the words of exultation with which his enemy gluts his hatred4 ,in one case that came to my knowledge1 after strangling his victim1 but before he was quite gone1 the murderer dealt his victim a terrific blow on his jaw1 shattering the bone1 with the taunt3 ,do you remember the day when ,i told you ,i would knock out your teeth for you8 ,in the autumn of #aijg a fine stalwart ,wazir was brought to the ,bannu ,mission ,hospital in a pitiable state3 both of his eyes had been slashed about and utterly blinded with a knife4 ,his story was that his enemies came on him unexpectedly in his cottage one day1 beat his wife into insensibility1 tied him to a bed1 and then deliberately destroyed his eyes with a knife4 ,his wife came to hospital with him1 suffering from severe contusions and some broken ribs1 and we put them both into one of our small family wards--so called because father1 mother1 and children1 if there be any1 can all stop together for treatment4 ,it was painful to have to tell him that he would never see again1 and still more painful to hear him as he piteously said3 ,oh1 ,sahib1 if you can give me some sight only just long enough to go and shoot my enemy1 then ,i shall be satisfied to be blind all the rest of my life4 ,it could not be4 ,his lot would probably become that of the numerous blind beggars that throng ,eastern bazaars2 for who would plough his land now or speak for him in the village council8 ,yet of pure pity we kept him a few weeks1 that he might hear the story of the ,gospel of goodwill and forgiveness2 but he would shake his head and sigh4 ,no1 that teaching is not for us4 ,what ,i want is revenge--revenge6 ,then1 because a concrete case will sometimes accomplish what a mere statement cannot effect1 ,i told him the story of the ,conolly bed4 ,over each bed is a little framed card denoting the benefactor or supporter of that bed and the person commemorated thereby1 and over this particular bed is written3 ,conolly ,bed4 ,in ,memory of ,captain ,conolly1 beheaded at ,bukhara4 ,as long ago as #ahda this brave ,english officer was sent on a political mission to ,bukhara1 which was then an independent ,state1 and not under the rule of ,russia1 as now4 ,the ,muhammadan ruler1 ,bahadur ,khan1 affected to be suspicious of his intentions1 and threw him into prison1 where another ,english officer1 ,colonel ,stoddart1 had already been incarcerated4 ,it was in vain for them to protest and to claim the consideration due to a representative of the ,british ,government2 they were met by the answer that no letter had come from the ,queen in reply to one sent by the ,amir1 and that therefore they had certainly come to stir up ,khiva and ,khokand to war against the ,amir of ,bukhara4 ,their effects were confiscated2 even their very clothes were taken from them1 till they only had their shirts and drawers left1 when a filthy sheepskin was given to ,captain ,conolly as some protection against the winter cold of ,bukhara4 ,their servants were thrown into a horrible dungeon called the ,black ,well1 into which each man had to be lowered by a rope from the aperture at the top1 and was then left to rot in the filth below4 ,captain ,conolly managed to secrete a small ,english ,prayer-,book about his person1 and this was a daily source of comfort to him and his companion in prison1 and he marked verses in the ,psalms and passages in the prayers from which they derived comfort4 ,on the fly-leaves and the margins he wrote a diary of their sufferings2 month succeeded month1 and their hearts grew sick with hope deferred1 and their bodies worn with fever1 wasting and wounds4 ,on ,february #aj1 #ahdb1 he writes3 ,we have now been fifty-three days and nights without means of changing or washing our linen4 ,this book will probably not leave me1 so ,i now will1 as opportunity serves1 write in it the last blessing of my best affection to all my friends4 ,again1 on ,march #aa1 he writes3 ,at first we had viewed the ,amir's conduct as perhaps dictated by mad caprice1 but now1 looking back upon the whole1 we saw indeed that it had been the deliberate malice of a demon1 questioning and raising our hopes and ascertaining our condition1 only to see how our hearts were going on in the process of breaking4 ,i did not think to shed one more tear among such cold-blooded men1 but yesterday evening1 as ,i looked upon ,stoddart's half-naked and much lacerated body1 conceiving that ,i was the especial object of the ,king's hatred1 because of my having come to him after visiting ,khiva and ,khok1 and told him that the ,british ,government was too great to stir up secret enmity against any of its enemies1 ,i wept on1 entreating one of our keepers to have conveyed to the chief my humble request that he would direct his anger upon me1 and not further destroy by it my poor broken ,stoddart1 who had suffered so much and so meekly here for three years4 ,my earnest words were answered by a ',don't cry and distress yourself4' ,he1 alas6 would do nothing1 so we turned and kissed each other and prayed together1 and we have risen again from our knees with hearts comforted1 as if an angel had spoken to us1 resolved1 please ,god1 to wear our ,english honesty and dignity to the last1 within all the misery and filth that this monster may try to degrade us with4 ,again1 on ,march #bh3 ,we have been ninety-nine days and nights without a change of clothes4 ,one of the native agents of the mission1 ,salih ,muhammad by name1 subsequently escaped to ,india1 and thus relates the closing scene of the tragedy4 ,on ,tuesday night 7,june #ad1 #ahdb7 their quarters were entered by several men1 who stripped them and carried them off1 but ,i do not know whether it was to the ,black ,well or to some other prison4 ,in stripping ,colonel ,stoddart a lead pencil was found in the lining of his coat and some papers in his waist4 ,these were taken to the ,amir1 who gave orders that he should be beaten with heavy sticks till he disclosed who brought the papers1 and to whom he wrote4 ,he was most violently beaten1 but he revealed nothing4 ,he was beaten repeatedly for two or three days4 ,on ,friday the ,amir gave orders that ,colonel ,stoddart should be killed in the presence of ,captain ,conolly1 who should be offered his life if he would become a ,muhammadan4 ,in the afternoon they were taken outside the prison into the street1 which is a kind of small square4 ,their hands were tied across in front4 ,many people assembled to behold the spectacle4 ,their graves were dug before their eyes4 ,colonel ,stoddart's head was then cut off with a knife4 ,the chief executioner then turned to ,captain ,conolly and said3 ',the ,amir spares your life if you will become a ,mussulman4' ,captain ,conolly answered3 ',i will not be a ,mussulman1 and ,i am ready to die6' saying which he stretched forth his neck1 and his head was then struck off4 ,their bodies were then interred in the graves which had been dug4 ,for a long time the fate of these two officers was unknown in ,england1 and1 indeed1 overshadowed by the greater disaster in ,kabul4 ,then a missionary1 the ,rev4 ,joseph ,wolff1 undertook a journey to ,bukhara1 and after many sufferings and dangers1 ascertained that they had been murdered two years before4 ,he did not1 however1 come across the little ,prayer-,book1 which appears to have been lying about in some shop in ,bukhara for seven years after the officers' death1 when a ,russian officer1 passing through the bazaar1 happened to light on it4 ,he picked it up1 and1 observing its interesting nature1 purchased it from the shopkeeper4 ,for another fourteen years the little book was lying on his table at ,st4 ,petersburg1 when a visitor who knew ,captain ,conolly's relations saw it1 and obtained leave to take the precious relic and place it in the hands of the relatives of the deceased2 and thus1 twenty-one years after her brother's death1 ,miss ,conolly obtained the full account of his sufferings1 written with his own hand4 ,so far no vengeance had been exacted for the ,amir's atrocity2 now the murdered man's sister thought she would like to have her revenge1 so when the ,bannu ,mission ,hospital was inaugurated1 she wrote out to the medical missionary1 expressing her desire to support a bed in memory of her brother1 and that bed has been supported in his name ever since1 and we tell the ,afghans in it that that is the ,christian's ,revenge4 ,when ,i sit by the bedside of some sick or wounded ,afghan in that bed1 and tell him and the others round him that it was their co-religionists who killed this officer because he would not forsake ,christianity for ,islam1 and that now his sister is paying for them to be nursed and tended1 and praying for them that they may learn of the ,saviour who bid us forgive our enemies1 and do good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us1 then it is easy to see that the story has set them thinking4 ,and when it is further brought home by their experiences in the mission hospital1 where they have been lovingly tended by the very native converts whom they have abused and perhaps maltreated in the bazaar1 they return to their ,afghan homes with very different feelings towards ,christians4 ,it is thus that the medical missionary gets his passport to all their villages1 not only in ,british ,india1 but across the border among the independent tribes4 ,while visiting a ,wazir chief once in his border fort1 he said to me3 ,you can do what we cannot possibly do4 ,i cannot go into that village over there1 because ,i have enmity with the people there4 ,the chief of that tribe across the river a few miles off has a blood-feud with me1 and ,i have always to go armed and with a guard lest he should waylay me2 at night ,i cannot leave my fort1 but have to sleep ready armed in my tower4 ,and ,i am like most of us in this country3 we all have our enemies1 and never know when we may meet them4 ,but you can go into any of our villages and among all the tribes1 although you have not even got a revolver with you1 and1 more than that1 you get a welcome1 too4 ,in some parts of the country across the border it is necessary to take a fresh guide every few miles1 as the various villages are on bad terms1 and might injure the traveller on the lands of the opposing village merely in order to get their enemies involved in a feud1 or into trouble with the ,government4 ,these guides are called badragga1 and within the tribal boundary any member of the clan1 even a child1 is often sufficient protection1 as that is sufficient to show that the traveller has received the sanction of the tribe to move about within their boundaries4 ,if1 however1 marauding bands are known to be about1 or if the tribe is at feud with a neighbouring one1 then they will send a fully-armed badragga of several men with you4 ,i have1 however1 seen a traveller consigned to the care of a boy of nine years or so1 and1 no doubt1 with perfect security4 ,on one occasion when it had been arranged that the badragga of a certain clan was to meet me at a prearranged rendezvous1 ,i arrived at the appointed time and place under the care of the badragga of the clan through whose territories ,i had just passed1 but no one was forthcoming4 ,we waited an hour or so1 but still no one came2 my badragga then accompanied us a little way forward till we came in view of the first village of the next clan4 ,here they stopped and said3 ,we can go no farther4 ,if we were to go into that village1 there would very likely be bloodshed1 as there is enmity between us and them2 but we will sit at the top of this knoll here and watch you while you go on to the village1 and if anyone interferes with you on the way we will shoot4 ,i went on with an ,indian hospital assistant who was with me1 and when nearing the village a man came up and shook hands with great heartiness1 saying3 ,don't you remember me8 ,i brought my brother to your hospital when he was shot and his leg broken1 and we were with you for two months4 ,he brought me to the village and to his brother1 who hobbled out on a crutch to meet us1 and was very pleased4 ,they insisted on our stopping while they called some of the other villagers1 who were anxious to see the doctor1 and finally sent us forward on our journey with a fresh escort and a hearty ,god-speed4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,a ,,day ,,in ,,the ,,wards ,the truce of suffering--,a patient's request--,typical cases--,a painful journey--,the biter bit--,the conditions of amputation--,i am a better shot than he is--,the son's life or revenge--,the hunter's adventure--,a nephew's devotion--,a miserly patient--,an enemy converted into a friend--,the doctor's welcome4 ,as ,i have already said1 the ,afghans never forget their tribal feuds except in the presence of foes from without4 ,then they may put them aside for a while1 especially if their foe be not ,mussulman in faith1 but only for a while4 ,the feuds begin again as soon as the danger is past4 ,but in the wards of the mission hospital all this is changed1 and here may be seen representatives of all the frontier tribes chatting fraternally together1 who as likely as not would be lying in ambush for one another if they were a few miles off across the frontier4 ,but it is generally recognized among them that feuds are to be forgotten in hospital2 and accordingly the doctor gets an audience from half a dozen different tribes in one ward when he is drawing out the conversation from the land of feuds to the ,prince of ,peace1 and when he contrasts the ,gospel of loving your neighbour with their rule of shoot your neighbour and get his rifle4 ,they say in a half-apologetic tone3 ,true2 but ,god has decreed that there shall always be discord among the ,afghans1 so what can we do8 ,sometimes a patient will say3 ,i want to be in a ward that has no windows1 because ,i am afraid that one of my enemies may come at night when the lamp is burning in the ward and shoot me through the window by its light4 ,great as is the variety of physiognomy1 of dress1 and of dialect1 even more diverse are the complaints for which they come4 ,eye diseases form more than a quarter of the whole1 and few cases give so much satisfaction both to surgeon and patient as these1 in many of which the surgeon is able to restore sight that has been lost for years1 and to send the patient back to his home rejoicing and full of gratitude4 ,here is a ,bannuchi malik suffering from consumption1 a not uncommon complaint in their crowded villages2 next him is a ,wazir lad from the hills1 ,muhammad ,payo by name1 suffering from chronic malarial poisoning4 ,he is an old acquaintance1 as he returns to his home when he feels strong enough1 and then1 what with coarse fare and exposure 7for he is a poor lad71 soon relapses and comes back to us at death's door1 as white as a sheet1 and has to be nursed back again to vigour4 ,just now he is convalescent1 and is going about the ward doing little services for the other patients1 and telling them what to do and what not to do1 as though he had been in the hospital all his life4 ,poor fellow6 he has lost both his parents in a village raid1 and would have been dead long ago himself but for the open door of the mission hospital4 ,in another bed is a fair-haired1 blue-eyed boy of twelve from ,khost1 suffering from disease of the bones of his right leg1 which he has not been able to put to the ground for two years4 ,his home is eighty miles away across the mountains1 and he had no one to bring him to ,bannu1 though he had begged some of the traders to let him sit on one of their baggage camels2 but who was going to inconvenience himself with a friendless boy like that8 ,he had heard such wonderful stories of the cures effected in the ,bannu ,hospital from a man in his village who had been an inmate for six weeks for an ulcer of the leg1 that he determined to get there by hook or by crook1 and he had accomplished the greater part of the journey crawling on his hands and knees1 with an occasional lift from some friendly horseman1 and had been six weeks on the road1 begging a dinner here and a night's lodging there from the villages through which he passed4 ,when he arrived1 his state can be better imagined than described3 the weary1 suffering look of his face2 the few dirty rags that covered him2 the malodorous wound on his leg1 full of maggots1 bound round with the last remains of his pagari2 while now there is no brighter1 happier boy in the hospital1 with his white hospital shirt and pyjamas1 clean1 gentle face and pleasant smile1 as he moves about from bed to bed with his crutch1 chatting with the other patients4 ,passing on1 we see a big swarthy ,afghan1 with fine martial features1 in which suffering is gradually wearing out the old truculent air4 ,he had gone armed with a friend one night to a village where there was a ,militia guard4 ,he maintains that they had merely gone to visit a friend1 and had been delayed on the road till night overtook them2 but to be out armed at night is of itself sufficient to raise a prima-facie case against a man on the border1 and when the ,militia soldiers challenged him1 and instead of replying he and his friend took cover1 it was so clear to the former that they must be marauders1 that they opened fire4 ,the friend escaped1 but our patient received a bullet through the left thigh1 which shattered the bone4 ,he was not brought to the mission hospital for some time1 and when we first saw him it was obvious that unless the limb were speedily removed1 his days were numbered4 ,he1 like all ,afghans1 had an innate repugnance to amputation1 but finally consented on condition that the amputated limb should be given to him to take back to his home1 that it might ultimately be interred in his grave2 only thus1 he thought1 would he be safe from being a limb short in the next world4 ,once ,i tried to argue an ,afghan out of this illogical idea1 and when other arguments failed1 ,i suggested that the unsavoury object might be buried in a spot in the mission compound1 and he might leave a note in his grave specifying where it might be found4 ,he answered at once3 ,do you suppose the angels will have nothing better to do on the ,resurrection ,day than going about looking for my leg8 ,and even if they would take the trouble1 they would not come into this heretic place for it4 ,so the limb was removed and carefully wrapped up and stored away somewhere1 so that he might on recovery take it back with him to his village4 ,his wound is nearly healed now1 and he has sent off his sister1 who was in hospital to nurse him1 to his home to fetch a horse on which to ride back the forty miles to his village1 where he will wile away many a long winter's night with stories of his experiences in the ,bannu ,mission ,hospital1 and how kind the feringis were to him4 ,among ,afghans a man's nearest relations are often his deadliest enemies1 and he hates like a cousin is a common expression4 ,thus it came to pass that one day a wounded ,afghan was brought to the mission hospital on a bed borne of four1 and examination showed a serious condition4 ,he had been shot at close quarters the night before while returning to his house from the mosque after evening prayers4 ,the bullet had passed completely through the left side of the chest1 the left lung was collapsed1 and the patient was blanched and faint from the severe bleeding that had occurred4 ,a compress of charred cloth and yolk of egg had been applied1 through which the red stream was slowly trickling4 ,he believed he had been shot by his uncle1 with whom he had a dispute about the possession of a field1 but had not seen his face clearly4 ,a room was got ready1 the patient's blood-saturated garments were replaced by hospital linen1 and the wound was cleansed and dressed4 ,for a long time he hovered between life and death1 constantly attended by two brothers1 who1 if they had been as instructed as they were assiduous1 would have made two very excellent nurses4 ,gradually1 however1 he recovered strength1 and the wound healed2 and one day when visiting his ward ,i found him sitting up with a smile on his face1 and after the usual greetings1 he said3 ,please come to me1 ,sahib2 ,i have a request to make4 ,i sat by his bedside1 and asked what ,i could do for him4 ,he drew me closely to him1 and said in a subdued voice3 ,sahib1 ,i want you to get me some cartridges2 see1 here are four rupees ,i have brought for them4 ,why1 what do you want them for8 said ,i4 ,look here1 said he1 pointing to the wound in his chest2 here is this score to pay off4 ,i am stronger now1 and in a few days ,i can go home and have my revenge4 ,i said to him deprecatingly3 ,cannot you forego your revenge after all the good counsels you have been hearing while in hospital8 ,we have1 after so much trouble and nursing1 cured you1 and now1 ,i suppose1 in a few days we shall be having your uncle brought here on a bed likewise1 and have to take the same trouble over him4 ,don't fear that1 ,sahib1 was the prompt reply2 ,i am a better shot than he is4 ,well1 we never did have to deal with that uncle1 though ,i never gave him the cartridges2 probably he got them elsewhere4 ,another day a similar cortge came to the hospital4 ,this time the man on the bed was a fine young ,pathan of about twenty summers1 and his father--a greybeard1 with handsome but stern features1 and one arm stiffened from an old sword-cut on the shoulder--accompanied the bearers1 carefully shielding his son's face from the sun with an old umbrella4 ,his was a long-standing feud with the malik of a village hard by1 and he had been shot through the thigh at long range while tending his flocks on the mountain-side4 ,it had happened four days ago1 but the journey being a difficult one1 they had delayed bringing him2 and meanwhile they had slain a goat1 and1 stripping the skin off the carcass1 had bound it round the injured limb with the raw side against the flesh4 ,under the influence of the hot weather the discharges from the wound and the reeking skin had brought about a condition of affairs which made bearers and bystanders1 all except the father and the doctor1 wind their turbans over their mouths and noses as soon as the hospital dresser began to unfold and cut through the long folds of greasy pagari which bound the limb to an improvised splint and that to the bed4 ,it was a severe compound fracture of the thigh-bone1 with collateral injuries1 and ,i called the father aside and said3 ,the only hope of your son's life is immediate amputation4 ,if ,i delay1 the limb will mortify1 and he will certainly die4 ,the old man1 visibly restraining his emotion1 said3 ,if you amputate the leg1 can you promise me that he will recover8 ,no1 ,i said2 even then he might die1 for the injury is severe1 and he is weak from loss of blood2 but without amputation there is no hope4 ,then1 said the father1 let it be as ,god wills3 let him die1 for1 by our tribal custom1 if he dies as he is ,i can go and shoot my enemy2 but if he dies from your operation then ,i could not1 and ,i want my revenge4 ,after this they would not even accept my offer of keeping the wounded lad in the hospital to nurse1 but bore him away as they had brought him1 so that he might die at home among his people1 and then--well1 the mind pictured the stealthy form crouching behind the rock2 the hapless tribesman of the other village with his rifle loaded and slung on his shoulder right enough1 but who was to warn him of his lurking enemy8 ,and then the shot1 the cry1 and exultation4 ,a man of the ,khattak tribe was out on the hills with a friend after mountain goats2 he tracked one1 but in following it up passed over into the hills of a section of the ,wazir tribe4 ,he was passing along one of those deep gorges which the mountain torrents have worn through the maze of sandstone ridges1 where the stunted acacia and tufted grass afford pasturage to little else than the mountain goats1 when his practised eye descried two heads looking over the ridge four hundred feet above him4 ,seeing they were observed1 the two ,wazirs stood up and challenged them4 ,who called you to come poaching in our country8 ,i shall come when ,i choose1 without asking your permission1 retorted the ,khattak4 ,swine6 has your father turned you out because there was no maize in your corn-bin8 ,the ,khattak retorted with something stronger1 and each proceeded to impugn the character of the other's female relations1 till the ,wazir1 thinking he had excited the ,khattak to give him sufficient provocation1 sent a bullet whistling past his head4 ,the ,khattak made a jump for the cover of a neighbouring rock1 but before he had time to gain shelter a second bullet had struck him in the leg1 bringing him headlong to earth4 ,his companion had got the shelter of a rock and opened fire on the ,wazirs2 but the latter1 thinking they had sufficiently vindicated the privacy of their stony hills1 made off another way4 ,the ,khattak could do no more than lift his friend into the shelter of a cliff1 stanch the bleeding with a piece torn from his pagari1 and make off in hot haste for his village to sound a chigah and bring a bed on which the wounded man might be carried home4 ,the chigah1 of course1 came too late to track the ,wazirs1 but they bore the wounded man home1 and next morning brought him to the mission hospital4 ,he lay there for three months1 carefully tended by his father and a brother1 and there all three were attentive listeners to the daily exposition of the ,gospel by the doctor or catechist2 but the wounded man got weaker and weaker1 and when it became clear to all that his recovery could not be hoped for1 they took him off to his home to die4 ,the next day a ,wazir of the same tribe that had shot him was brought in suffering from an almost identical gunshot wound1 and we thought at first it had been the work of an avenger1 but it proved to have been received in another feud about the possession of a few ber-trees 7,zizyphus jujuba74 ,this ,wazir submitted to amputation1 and is now going about the hills the proud possessor of an artificial limb from ,england1 which his father sold a rifle to buy1 and which is the wonder and admiration of his neighbours4 ,the devotion shown in some cases by relations who have accompanied some sick or wounded man to hospital is very touching1 and in pleasing contrast to their frequent enmity4 ,one case that imprinted itself on my memory was that of a man from ,kabul1 who had been a sufferer for several years from severe fistula2 his nearest relation was a nephew1 and he was a talib 7student74 ,both were poor1 but the man sold up some little household belongings and hired a camel-driver to bring him down on his camel4 ,the journey to ,bannu occupied fourteen days1 and the sick man suffered much from the constraint and jolting of the camel-ride4 ,an operation was performed1 but it was some months before the patient was cured and discharged1 and during all that time he was assiduously nursed by the talib1 who sat day and night by his bedside1 attending to his wants and reading to him either the ,suras of the ,quran or some ,persian poet1 only leaving him to go into some mosque in ,bannu1 or in a village near1 where some charitable ,muhammadans would give him his morning and evening meal4 ,to save the patients from the danger of having their money stolen by other patients or visitors1 we advise them on admission to give up their money into our charge1 to be kept safely until they get their discharge1 when it is returned to them4 ,usually they readily agree to this1 but sometimes we have some wary characters1 usually ,kabulis or ,peshawuris1 whose experience of the world has led them to trust no one1 and these refuse to let their possessions out of their own keeping1 usually securing their money in a bag purse tied round their waist under their clothes4 ,one such ,kabuli came into the hospital terribly ill with dysentery4 ,fearing1 ,i suppose1 we might take his money by force1 he swore1 in answer to the usual question1 that he had not a single anna on him1 and all through his illness he begged a few pice from us or from other patients to buy some little delicacy he fancied to supplement the regular hospital diet4 ,he said he had no relations or friends living2 all had died1 and certainly none ever came to inquire after him4 ,his disease resisted all our efforts to cure it--he had been worn out with exposure and hard living--and at last1 one morning1 we found him dead in his bed2 he had passed away quietly in the night1 without even the patient in the bed next him knowing of it4 ,we then found a bag containing eighty rupees bound round his waist2 he had kept it carefully concealed from everyone throughout1 and now died leaving behind him what might have purchased him so many little delicacies4 ,there being no claimant for the money1 we made it into a fund for helping indigent patients to get back to their more distant homes4 ,there was once a ,mullah in ,bannu who was particularly virulent in his public denunciations of the mission and everything connected with it4 ,he would frequently give public lectures which were tirades against all ,christians1 and missionaries in particular1 telling the people that if they died in the mission hospital they would assuredly go to hell1 and all the mission medicine they drank would be turned into so much lead1 which would drag them relentlessly down1 down to the bottomless pit--and very much more in that strain4 ,we were therefore somewhat surprised when one fine morning we beheld four white-robed talibs bringing a bed to the hospital1 on which was a form covered by a white sheet1 and on lifting the sheet1 there was this very ,mullah6 ,we did not ask him awkward questions1 but admitted him at once1 and ,i think our ,christian assistants throughout his long and dangerous illness showed him particular attentions1 and nursed him with special care4 ,they never taunted him with his former attitude to us1 but strove1 by the exhibition of ,christian forbearance and sympathy1 to give him a practical exposition of what ,christianity is4 ,when he left the hospital he thanked us in the presence of his disciples1 offered a prayer for blessing on the hospital1 and is now one of our staunchest friends4 ,here is a very sad case in ,bed #ah1 called the ,gleaners' ,bed1 because it is supported by the ,gleaners' ,union of ,lambeth3 ,a young man of twenty-five or thirty1 blind from his birth1 and yet brought to the hospital cruelly slashed in several places with sword and knife2 one cut on the right shoulder went through the muscle down to the bone4 ,and this was done only to rob him of the few things he possessed4 ,had the culprit known that the man was blind1 let us hope he would not have been so brutal1 but poor ,mirzada was on the ground asleep1 covered up with a sheet1 as is the custom with the natives1 and had been attacked in this way before he could escape or beg them to spare him4 ,it was so sad to see him stretched moaning on his bed1 with eyes that had never seen the light or the beauty of ,god's creation1 heart that had never felt1 ear that had never heard of the ,light of ,life or the glory that shall be revealed4 ,our ,christian assistants sat beside him day by day1 and told him of ,christ and ,his love2 but he never1 so far as we could judge1 seemed to grasp the truth for himself1 and1 when his wounds were healed1 left us to beg by the wayside4 ,we pray for ,mirzada1 who sitteth by the wayside begging1 that he may yet find the ,light6 ,he at least has learnt to bless the mission hospital and the ,christian friends in ,england1 through whose charity he can say3 ,i was a stranger1 and ye took me in2 sick1 and ye visited me4 ,the doctor or his assistants may go a long journey up and down the frontier and both sides of the border without coming to a village where they will not get a hearty welcome from some old patient4 ,he will be made to sit down for a little good cheer in the village chauk1 that the grateful patient may call his acquaintances round to shake hands with the ,daktar ,sahib1 whose patient he was while in the mission hospital1 and with stories about whom he has so often regaled them in the winter evenings4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,from ,,morning ,,to ,,night ,first duties--,calls for the doctor--,some of the out-patients--,importunate blind--,school classes--,operation cases--,untimely visitors--,recreation--,cases to decide4 ,an ,eastern day begins early4 ,as the first streak of dawn lightens the ,eastern sky the slumberers are awakened by the long-drawn-out chant of the ,muezzin calling to prayer from all the mosques in the city4 ,god is great1 ,god is great4 ,i give witness there is no ,god but ,god4 ,i give witness that ,muhammad is the prophet of ,god4 ,come to prayer2 prayer is better than sleep4 ,and forthwith every pious ,muslim hastily rises1 performs the necessary ablutions1 and commences the day with ascription of praise to the ,creator4 ,the ,hindus follow suit3 little bells tinkle in their temples as their priests rouse the slumbering ,gods1 or as the ,puritanical ,arya ,samajist offers his early sacrifice of ,hawan1 or incense4 ,meanwhile1 the church bell calls the little ,christian community together for early morning worship1 and they unite in prayer and praise before separating1 each to his or her own sphere of work for the day4 ,if the missionary desires a morning quiet time he must get up early enough to get it in before this1 as after morning service the busy round of duties leaves him little leisure till the evening shades close in4 ,darya ,khan1 the ,lord of the ,rivers1 the hospital cook1 is waiting for the day's supplies1 and reports fifty patients on full diet1 twenty on middle1 and fifteen on milk diet4 ,so many cases have left the hospital1 so many admitted2 such a one died last night4 ,and so the supplies for the day are measured out and weighed1 and orders given for the purchase of fresh goods as needed4 ,then come the ward clerks1 with their tale of soiled linen and case sheets to be checked1 and clean towels1 bandages1 bed-linen1 and clothes for the in-patients have to be dealt out according to the needs of each one4 ,this over1 the head gardener1 ',alam ,khan1 or the ,lord of the ,world1 is standing by with the day's supply of vegetables and flowers1 and these have to be apportioned to the patients in the hospital and to the various members of the staff whose families reside on the premises4 ,he follows with a string of questions1 each of which requires due consideration1 such as1 ,are the mulberries to be shaken yet8 ,where are the young ,pipul tree saplings to be planted8 ,some oranges were stolen in the night2 would ,i come and see the footmarks8 ,a hostel boy 7',light of ,religion'7 was caught among the plum-trees with some fruit in his pocket4 ,would ,i punish him8 ,and so on1 as long as one has leisure to listen and adjudicate4 ,the clock strikes eight1 leaving just half an hour to visit the wards before out-patients begin4 ,there is the abdominal section operation of yesterday to examine2 the house-surgeon has come to report that the case of tubercular glands has had a hmorrhage during the night4 ,we are just hurrying over to see them1 when up comes ',alam ,gul1 the ,flower of the ,earth1 to say his brother was coming down from the roof that morning1 when his foot slipped on the ladder2 he fell on his head1 and was lying unconscious4 ,would ,i go and see him8 ,the serious cases seen1 and ',alam ,gul's brother visited1 the out-patient department is demanding our attention4 ,the verandahs are full of patients1 the men in one and the women and children in another1 and while the catechist is preaching to the former1 a ,bible-woman is similarly engaged with the latter4 ,outside are some patients lying on the native beds1 or charpais1 and a variety of other equipages which have all brought patients--palanquins1 camels1 oxen1 asses1 and so on4 ,let us see some of these4 ,here is a ,wazir shepherd from the mountains4 ,he has been shot through the thigh while tending his flocks1 and eight rough-looking tribesmen of his have bound him securely on a bed and carried him down1 journeying all night through1 and they have left their rifles1 without which they could not have ventured out1 at the police post on the frontier4 ,another of those on the beds is a man of about fifty years1 suffering from dropsy4 ,he has been carried sixty miles on this bed from ,khost1 a district in ,afghanistan4 ,a third1 who has been brought from another transfrontier village on an ox1 is suffering from a tumour of his leg1 which will require amputation4 ,and so on with some half-dozen others4 ,after this brief examination1 saying a word of welcome to the travel-stained ,afghans who have borne their precious burdens in with so much labour1 and even danger1 and with a word of comfort and reassurance to the sick ones themselves1 the doctor enters his consulting-room1 and the patients are brought in one by one to be examined4 ,those requiring in-patient treatment are sent off to the wards1 and the remainder get the required medicines1 or have their wounds dressed and leave for their homes4 ,a great number of the out-patients are cases of eye disease1 and sometimes four or five blind men will come in a line1 holding on to each other1 and led by one who is not yet quite blind4 ,very likely they have trudged painfully upwards of a hundred miles1 stumbling over the stones in the mountain roads1 and arriving with wounded feet and bruised bodies4 ,they sit together1 listening1 perhaps for the first time in their lives1 to the ,gospel address1 and eagerly awaiting the interview with the doctor1 when they will hear if they are to receive their sight there and then1 or to undergo an operation1 or what4 ,for the stories they have heard of the power of ,western skill lead them to believe that if the doctor does not cure them on the spot it must be that he is too busy or they are too poor4 ,when1 therefore1 as sometimes happens1 the doctor sees at the first glance that the case is a hopeless one1 and that the sight is gone never to be brought back1 it is a painful duty to have to explain the fact to the patient1 and often the doctor needlessly prolongs the examination of the eye lest the man should think that it was want of interest in his case that makes the doctor say he can do nothing4 ,and then the beseeching1 ,oh1 sahib1 just a little sight6 ,see1 ,i can tell light from darkness2 ,i can see the light from that window there4 ,i have come all the way from ,kabul because they said the feringi doctor could cure everything4 ,why do you not cure me8 ,one man refused to budge till ,i had taken him to see my mother2 she might be able to do something--she must have more skill than ,i1 for from whom had ,i learnt8 ,another went to her to beg her to intercede with me for him1 because he was sure it was want of will1 not want of power1 that prevented him gaining his end4 ,at last1 when they are convinced that nothing can be done1 it is touching to see them as they resignedly say1 often with tears rolling down their cheeks3 ,it is ,god's will4 ,i will be patient4 ,then they may begin their weary trudge home again1 or stop in the ,bannu bazaar for a few days to beg some money to get them a lift on a camel for part of the long journey4 ,a commotion at the door1 and a ,bannuchi boy of about seven is carried in on the shoulders of his father1 with his hand tied up in the folds of a turban4 ,we were crushing sugar-cane in our press1 when my beloved ,mir ,jahan got his hand in the cogs of the wheel1 and it was all crushed before we could stop the buffalo4 ,oh6 do see him quick--he is my only son1 a piece of my liver6 ,and the father bursts into tears4 ,mir ,jahan is chloroformed at once1 the bandages unbound1 and a terrible sight we see2 the hand has been crushed into a pulp1 but the thumb is only a little cut4 ,that will enable him to pull the trigger of a rifle when he grows up1 and that is what his father and he consider of great importance4 ,so the thumb is saved1 and the mangled remains of the other fingers removed1 and a shapely stump fashioned4 ,it is fortunate that the ,bannuchis have not much machinery4 ,this sugar-press is almost the only piece they have1 and we get several crushed hands every year as a result1 usually because they let their children play in dangerous proximity to the wheels1 and then leave them to ,qismet 7,fate74 ,meanwhile1 perhaps1 some big chief has come in with several attendants4 ,he wants to have a special consultation with the doctor1 and has to be treated with as many of the formalities of ,oriental courtesy as the doctor can find time for4 ,he gives some fee for the hospital1 or perhaps may send one or two ox-burdens of wheat or ,indian corn as his contribution to the hospital stores4 ,the patients are still coming1 when a schoolboy comes to say that it is time for the doctor to take his classes in school4 ,it is not every mission station that can provide a distinct ,european missionary for the school1 and ,bannu is one of those where the supervision of the school is one of the duties of the medical missionary1 who takes the senior classes in ,scripture1 ,english1 and ,science4 ,so the consulting-room is changed for the class-room1 and the missionary finds himself surrounded by a class of twenty to twenty-five intelligent young fellows preparing for the matriculation at the ,panjab ,university1 and waiting to be initiated into the mysteries of optics1 or chemistry1 or mechanics1 or to practise ,english composition1 or he may have them attentively listening while he goes with them through the ever-fresh stories from the life of our ,lord1 hearing and asking them questions as its inimitable teachings are brought home to them by precept and by illustration4 ,class-work over1 a visit of inspection is paid to the other class-rooms1 where the remainder of the school staff are at their work1 which the school principal must criticize and supervise1 giving some advice here1 some correction there1 and seeing generally that everything is kept up to the mark4 ,now we must go to see what progress has been made with the new ward which is being built in the hospital4 ,the beams must be selected and tested4 ,here a carpenter has been putting some bad work into a lintel1 thinking it will not be noticed2 there the bricklayers have been idle1 and have not finished the stipulated number of layers4 ,the foreman has a complaint to make of some of the coolies1 who went away from work without his permission4 ,we only went to say our prayers4 ,surely you would not have us miss them8 they plausibly urge4 ,put them on piecework1 and their prayers are got over very quickly2 but pay them by the day1 and even the ablutions seem interminable6 ,but such is human nature1 and they have such an air of injured innocence it is difficult to be angry with them4 ,they are ,mahsud ,wazirs from over the border1 and work hard when well managed1 so are let off with a warning this time4 ,this done1 a visit must be paid to the mission press4 ,here not only is printing in vernacular and in ,english carried on for the mission's own requirements1 but work is executed for the various offices and merchants in the city4 ,accounts have to be checked1 bills have to be made out1 proofs have to be corrected1 and directions given for the day's work4 ,now it is time to visit the hospital wards1 and perform the day's operations4 ,usually1 patients are operated on the same day that they are admitted4 ,if this were not done1 not only would the wards become hopelessly congested1 but in many cases the courage of the patients would ooze out of their fingers' ends1 and1 instead of finding them ready for the ordeal1 one would be greeted by ,i have just heard that my father has been taken seriously ill4 ,if ,i do not go home at once1 ,i shall never see him again4 ,another3 ,i quite forgot to arrange for my donkey to get hay during my absence4 ,i will go home and make arrangements for it1 and return in two days4 ,of course1 one knows that these stories are pure fabrications1 but it would be useless to tell them so1 or to argue2 one can only return them their own clothes1 take back the hospital linen1 and let them go4 ,sometimes they come back later on1 and tell more fibs about their father or their donkey in justification of themselves2 more often they are not seen again4 ,while the operation cases are being prepared by the house-surgeon1 the doctor goes the round of the wards1 examining1 prescribing1 and saying words of cheer from bed to bed4 ,this done1 he is just about to commence operations1 when a man comes running up to say that his brother was out shooting when his gun exploded1 blowing off his hand2 would the doctor see him at once lest he bled to death8 and close behind him is the wounded man brought up on a bed4 ,the doctor examines him1 sets a dresser to apply a temporary dressing1 and perhaps a tourniquet1 so that the case may safely wait till the conclusion of the other operations4 ,the operation cases to-day are representative of an average day in the busy time of the year3 they begin with five old men and three women suffering from cataract1 then two cases of incurved lids1 then an amputation1 the removal of a tumour1 and two cases of bone disease4 ,these over1 the man with the injured hand is chloroformed and the wound stitched up1 except for two fingers1 which were so damaged that they had to be removed altogether4 ,the schoolboys are out now in the field playing football1 and the doctor1 after refreshing himself with a cup of tea1 thinks that nothing would be more invigorating than a good hour's exercise with them2 but he has scarcely got his togs on before the servant comes to announce that a certain big malik1 or chief1 has come to make a call4 ,one would like to put him off with an excuse for a more convenient time2 but then it was he who gave us lodging and hospitality when itinerating in his neighbourhood six months ago1 and this would be a poor return for his courtesy2 so he is ushered in1 with four or five of his retainers1 and some minutes are spent in formal courtesies and talking about nothing in particular4 ,then1 just as one is going to suggest that as one has something to do the interview might terminate1 he comes to the point and object of his interview4 ,he has got a lawsuit on in one of the local courts against a neighbouring malik4 ,his case is an absolutely just one2 but as the other party have some relationship with the head-clerk of the ,judge's office1 he fears he will not get justice1 unless--unless--- ,would ,i just write a few lines to the ,judge1 asking him to give his case full consideration8 ,it would be no trouble to me1 and would confer a benefit on him which he will remember to his dying day4 ,one launches into an explanation1 which is wearying because one has so often given it in similar cases before1 that the ,judge would be very angry if ,i adopted such a method of influencing his case1 that if his case is a just one there is no need of such measures1 that he must rely on the integrity of his witnesses1 and so on2 no1 he cannot or will not understand why you profess friendship with him1 and yet refuse so very humble a request as the writing of a note4 ,by the time the visitor has departed only half an hour is left for the game of football1 and there is a man waiting to take you to a case of pneumonia at the other side of the bazaar1 and two other calls have to be made on medical cases in the city4 ,it is evening now1 and once more the church-bell collects the little ,christian community together for the evening hymn of praise and worship1 and the pastor gives some words of instruction and encouragement1 specially intended for the catechumens and inquirers who are present4 ,at last1 however1 these duties accomplished1 dinner is negotiated1 and then the doctor can sit down to his newspaper and his correspondence4 ,he is not1 however1 long left free from interruption4 ,the first to come is the superintendent of the boarding-house2 he reports that some of the ,hindu boarders have been cooking meat in the school saucepan1 and now the vegetarian party refuse to eat food cooked in that vessel1 which has ipso facto become unclean4 ,the arguments of both sides are heard1 and the case decided1 that the meat party are to provide their own saucepan4 ,then the house-surgeon comes in with his nightly report of the wards1 stating the condition of the operation cases or of any other serious cases1 and taking the orders for the night4 ,following on him comes a catechumen who has a quarter of an hour's instruction every night2 then three of the senior boarders1 to ask some questions about the ,english composition for the morrow1 and get some hints for their essays4 ,lastly1 the night-watchman comes to report that1 as there is a gang of ,wazir marauders about1 special precautions must be taken for the security of the compound2 but he thinks that if ,i get him a new pistol and some cartridges all will be safe4 ,a day such as ,i have described is not at all above the average during the busy months of the year1 and the doctor may consider himself lucky if the soundness of his slumbers is not disturbed by any calls during the night4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,itinerant ,,missionary ,the medical missionary's advantage--,how to know the people--,the real ,india--,god's guest-house--,the reception of the guest--,oriental customs--,pitfalls for the unwary--,the ,mullah and the ,padre--,afghan logic--,a patient's welcome--,the ,mullah conciliated--,a rough journey--,among thieves--,a swimming adventure--,friends or enemies8--,work in camp--,rest at last4 ,there is this difference between the medical missionary and the preacher pure and simple3 that while the latter has to seek his congregation1 the former will have his congregation come to him1 and often in such numbers that1 like our ,lord and ,his disciples1 he will not have leisure even so much as to eat4 ,but even a doctor1 who finds his time at headquarters fully and profitably occupied1 will be committing a great mistake if he never itinerates4 ,for it is in camp and in village life that the missionary gets to know and understand the people1 and by travelling from village to village1 and living with them as their guest1 he gets to know their real inner life in a way that otherwise he never would1 and for a missionary1 at least1 such an experience is indispensable4 ,there are two methods of itineration4 ,on the one hand1 he may carry tents and a full camp equipment1 and pitch his camp near some large village1 or in the midst of several small ones1 and may receive his patients and do his daily work there1 while visiting the villages after his day's work is done4 ,by this plan he is independent1 and can work at his own time1 and can stay or move as his fancy dictates4 ,on the other hand1 he may become the guest of one of the chief men of the village1 who will put his guest-house at his disposal and give him hospitality4 ,by this plan he is brought into much closer contact with the people and will see more of them1 but he will forfeit his independence1 will be obliged to consult his host in all his plans1 and must be prepared to put himself and his time at the disposal of his host and the villagers1 both by day and night4 ,both methods have their advantages4 ,for a new district1 and where the people are suspicious1 the latter plan1 though more exacting1 is probably the better2 when the missionary has become well known and has much work to do1 the former is preferable4 ,the traveller who has spent a winter in touring ,india1 but has only visited the large towns and show places1 and has never lived in an ,indian village1 remains altogether a stranger to the deep inner life of the ,indian4 ,the real ,india is not seen in the ,westernized bazaars of the large cities1 but in the myriads of villages1 wherein more than #hj per cent4 of the population of ,india dwell4 ,moreover1 a much better and more attractive side of ,indian life is seen in the villages than in the towns1 and it is among their less sophisticated population that the missionary spends his happiest hours4 ,when travelling without camp equipment1 we generally follow the ,bible precept4 ,we arrive at a village1 and1 inquiring who within it is worthy1 abide there till we depart thence4 ,this is usually some malik1 or head man1 who possesses that great institution of ,afghanistan1 a hujra1 or guest-house4 ,we are shown to this house1 usually a mud building with a low door and a few small apertures in the walls in the place of windows1 and a clean-swept earthen floor1 which may be covered by a few palm-mats4 ,hearing of our arrival1 the owner of the guest-house comes to receive us in the ,oriental fashion so familiar to readers of the ,old ,testament4 ,thus1 on one occasion ,i came rather late at night to one such guest-house4 ,the host had already retired1 but rose from his bed to receive me4 ,i inquired if that was his hujra4 ,he answered3 ,no2 it is ,god's1 but ,i am in charge of it4 ,such expressions are not mere form1 as was shown by the cheerful and unostentatious way in which the owner put himself out in order to insure my comfort4 ,once ,i arrived about midnight at a village1 the head man of which ,i did not know personally1 though it appears he knew me well4 ,he was not satisfied until ,i consented to occupy his bed1 which he had just vacated for me1 while he went off to make himself a shift elsewhere4 ,the acceptance of such an offer might not always prove very attractive among those ,afghans whose ideas of cleanliness are not the same as ours1 but to refuse it would--at least1 on the part of a missionary--be an act so discourteous as to injure the attainment of those relations with the people which he should desire4 ,the head man will at once call for some of his attendants1 who1 except at the busy time of sowing and harvest1 are probably lounging about the chauk1 and they at once bring a number of the plain wooden bedsteads of the country1 which are almost universally used1 even by the richer classes1 in preference to chairs4 ,rugs and pillows are brought1 and perhaps a carpet may be spread on the floor4 ,tea is then ordered1 and an attendant brings in a tray on which is a very large teapot and a number of very small saucerless cups1 called in these parts balghami1 and used all over ,central ,asia for tea-drinking4 ,the whole is covered by an embroidered cloth1 which is removed by the attendant4 ,sugar is added to the teapot to a degree which to many ,western palates appears nauseating4 ,cardamoms1 and sometimes other spices1 are also added4 ,the milk1 too1 is usually added to the teapot1 although some hosts1 who have learnt by experience the peculiarity of ,western taste1 leave the milk and the sugar to be added by the guests themselves4 ,tea is poured out and handed round1 and drunk usually very hot2 and if the guests drink it with very loud smackings of the lips1 it is supposed to indicate that they particularly appreciate it4 ,the cups are filled repeatedly1 and when the guest wishes to indicate that he has had enough he turns the cup upside down4 ,by this time the news of our arrival has spread through the village4 ,there are probably a number of old patients there1 who have once or oftener been inmates of the base hospital1 and they help to collect all the blind1 the halt1 the maimed1 and the sick of the village1 and we proceed to unpack our medicines and commence prescribing and physicking4 ,then will come the ,mullah of the village1 with his ,quran under his arm and his rosary in his hand1 and with a very sanctimonious and superior kind of air4 ,he has come to see that the faith of the flock is not endangered1 and is followed by a number of his talibs1 or students1 whose great desire is to hear a wordy battle between the ,padre and the ,mullah1 and to see the former ignominiously defeated4 ,eastern ideas are cast in such a very different mould to ,western1 and their system of logic and habit of mind are so unlike ours1 that the young missionary may consider himself fortunate if he is not frequently held up to ridicule by some ignorant ,mullah1 who on such an occasion as this1 before an audience who are naturally inclined to side with him1 and can appreciate his language and arguments very much better than ours1 has all the advantage on his side4 ,it is no doubt better to avoid such discussions as far as possible4 ,but this cannot always be done1 as the refusal to answer questions would be assumed to imply inability to do so1 and would be taken by the audience to indicate defeat4 ,what really impresses the people would not usually be our arguments1 but the patience and courtesy with which we meet1 or ought to meet1 the endeavours of our opponent to make us lose our temper4 ,according to ,eastern ideas1 the mere stroking of the beard is supposed to indicate irritation arising from the inability to answer the questions1 and if the inexperienced disputant incautiously puts his hand to his beard1 his opponent will most probably show off his advantage by pretending to apologize to him for having made him lose his temper4 ,on one occasion1 while touring among the frontier villages1 ,i was spending the night at a hujra1 and after dark a ,mullah had come in for discussion1 and a great number of the men of the village1 attracted by the hope of an interesting conflict between their champion and the ,padre ,sahib1 had collected to listen4 ,it was winter1 and there was a fire of twigs burning in the middle of the room1 which was filling the place with its smoke1 as there was only one quite inadequate aperture in the centre of the room by which it could find its exit4 ,round all four sides were a number of the native beds1 on which both disputants and audience were seated cross-legged or reclining at their ease4 ,as the fire burnt low a boy would bring in some crackling thorns and branches which were piled outside the room1 and throw some on the fire1 which would blaze up and illuminate the faces of all around2 for the only other light was the little earthen oil lamp in a niche in one corner1 which only served to make the darkness visible4 ,the ,mullah was evidently bent on making a display of his own dialectic skill at my expense1 and began in a rather condescending tone to ask if ,i knew anything about theology2 and on my replying that ,i had come to the country in order to teach the ,christian religion1 he turned to the audience1 and said somewhat contemptuously3 ,i do not suppose these ,padres know much1 but we will see4 ,he then turned to me and said3 ,can you tell me the colour of faith8 ,rather puzzled by the question1 ,i asked what he meant4 ,he said3 ,why1 is it white1 or green1 or red1 or what colour8 ,i replied that1 as an abstract idea1 it did not possess the quality of colour4 ,mullah3 ,then can you tell me what shape it is8 ,is it round1 or square1 or what8 ,i3 ,neither has it any shape4 ,it is only an abstract quality4 ,mullah3 ,it is evident that he does not know much about theology1 seeing he cannot answer such simple questions as the colour and shape of faith4 ,at this time ,i did not know that the ,muhammadans ascribed such concrete qualities to all their abstract religious ideas4 ,mullah3 ,do you know anything about astronomy8 ,i thought that here at least my knowledge might not be far inferior to that of this ,mullah1 and said3 ,yes1 ,i think ,i can answer you any questions on that subject4 ,mullah3 ,tell me1 then1 what becomes of the sun when it sinks below the horizon every evening8 ,i then proceeded to as simple and lucid an explanation as ,i could of the revolutions of the earth on its axis1 but could see from the looks and ejaculations of the audience that they thought the idea rather a mad one4 ,the ,mullah himself made no effort to conceal his contempt1 and said3 ,that1 then1 is all you know about it8 ,a little nettled1 ,i said3 ,well1 what explanation do you give8 ,we all know that the fires of hell are under the earth4 ,the sun passes down there every night1 and therefore comes up blazing hot in the morning4 ,i rather had my breath taken away by this explanation1 which met with ejaculations of approbation from the men around me1 and ,i incautiously asked the ,mullah if he could explain the seasons4 ,mullah 7turning to the people73 ,it is evident that ,i shall have to teach him everything from the beginning4 ,to me3 ,it is in the spring that the devil makes up his fires1 and piles on the firewood4 ,therefore the fires get very hot in the summer1 and cool down later on4 ,that is why the summer sun is so hot4 ,needless to say1 the explanations of the ,mullah appeared to the audience as rational and lucid as mine were far-fetched and incomprehensible1 and they had no doubt as to which of the disputants had won the day4 ,from this it can be seen that if a young missionary thinks that a mere knowledge of ,western learning and ,western logic will enable him to cope with the very limited learning of the ,afghan ,mullahs on their own ground1 he is vastly mistaken1 and will before long be put to ridicule1 as ,i was on the above occasion1 which was one of my earliest experiences on the frontier4 ,since then ,i have learnt how to argue with ,afghan logic1 and from the ,afghan point of view4 ,if it happens that the ,mullah1 or some friend of his1 is in need of medical or surgical advice1 his attitude to you will undergo a great change1 and you will have much greater facilities for carrying on your work among the people4 ,sometimes1 when he sees the benefits accruing to the poor people who had no other prospect of getting medical relief1 his attitude becomes unexpectedly friendly1 as his better feelings prevail over his religious animosity4 ,once1 having set out on an itineration1 some ,pathans came to tell me ,i might as well save myself the trouble of going in that direction because a certain ,mullah1 who had much influence in those parts1 had gone before us1 warning the people not to accept our treatment1 listen to our preaching1 or even come near us4 ,i answered by the remark which appeals to the ,muhammadan mind under almost every conceivable circumstance3 ,whatever ,god's will has ordained will be1 and told him we should adhere to our original plan4 ,on the first two days the people certainly seemed suspicious1 and very few came near us4 ,while we were on the march on the third day1 passing not very far from a village1 a man who had apparently noticed us from the village1 which was situated on an eminence above the road1 came running down to us1 and1 after the usual salutations1 said3 ,there is an old patient of yours here who is very anxious to see you2 please turn aside and come to the house4 ,on arrival we found that it was a woman who1 a year before1 had been an inmate of the ,bannu ,hospital for malignant tumour on the leg1 which had required amputation4 ,before she left the hospital we had made her a rough wooden pin leg1 on which she now appeared hobbling along to greet us4 ,she showed great delight at unexpectedly meeting us1 and had apparently been telling her fellow-villagers wonderful stories of what she had seen and heard in the mission hospital1 and of the unaccountable love and sympathy which had been shown her there1 for others of her neighbours came crowding into her little courtyard1 and among them1 though unknown to us1 the ,mullah who was supposed to be preaching a crusade against us4 ,he had apparently come in on the quiet to see for himself what we and our work were like1 and was greatly struck at the undisguised delight with which we were greeted by our old patients2 for when the woman of the house begged us to stop while she prepared us a meal1 he came forward and disclosed himself1 saying3 ,no2 my house is in the next village1 and it is my prerogative to entertain the ,padre ,sahib4 ,he must come on to my house4 ,at the same time he took up some ,pashtu ,gospels which we had been giving away1 but which the people1 for fear of theological displeasure1 had been afraid to take openly1 and said3 ,this is ,kalam ,ullah ,word of ,god1 and is a good book4 ,thus1 in a moment1 by this providential presence of the ,mullah1 the whole attitude of our reception was changed4 ,word was passed on from village to village that we had become the guests and eaten the bread of the ,mullah himself1 and that he had pronounced in favour of our books1 telling the people that we were ,ahl-el-,kitab1 or people of the ,book1 the term which ,muhammadan theologians apply to ,christians and ,jews when they wish to speak of them in a friendly spirit4 ,we were not always equally fortunate1 especially in our earlier years on the frontier4 ,about two years after ,i first went to ,bannu ,i went out on a short itineration with my assistant ,jahan ,khan1 an account of whom is given in ,chapter ,,xvi4 ,we came to one village where the ,mullahs had been exciting the feelings of the people against us1 and telling them that any food or vessel we touched was thereby defiled4 ,we found it difficult to get food or drinking-vessel even on payment1 and some of the patients who came to us were induced to go away1 and in some cases to throw away the medicine they had already received4 ,with some difficulty we got a lodging for the night1 and early next morning we started off to look for a village where we might get a more hospitable reception4 ,but the minds of the people had already been poisoned against us4 ,we went into the courtyard of the ,patwar-,khana 7village bailiff71 and sat down and opened our medicines4 ,some ,hindus came for treatment1 and we got one of them to bring us some food2 but the ,muhammadans were universally hostile1 and stationed one of their number at the gate to prevent any ,muhammadan communicating with us4 ,they then apparently became annoyed with the ,hindus1 that they should be participating in benefits from which they had excluded themselves1 and stones began to fall into the courtyard where we were seated2 and as the ,hindus in these villages are not only in a small minority1 but live in dread of the fiercer ,muhammadans1 even they who had already come to us disappeared1 and we were left alone4 ,it seemed useless to stop in a village where we were not welcomed1 so we saddled our animals and departed4 ,many years have passed since this experience4 ,patients from both these villages frequently come to the ,bannu ,hospital1 and now ,i and my assistants get a welcome and hospitality whenever we visit them4 ,at other times the difficulties of itineration are not so much from the people as from the hardships of travelling among the frontier mountains1 where the roads are nil1 and the bridle-tracks such that it is often impossible to get a loaded camel through4 ,i will therefore give a short account of a journey from ,bannu across the ,wazir ,hills to ,thal1 which we made in the summer of #aijd4 ,as our route lay chiefly through independent territory1 it was difficult to procure camel-men for so trying a journey4 ,the men with the first camels we hired ran away when they found we were going into the hills1 as not only is the road very difficult for laden animals1 but they are afraid of being attacked by ,wazir robbers1 the ,wazirs having the worst reputation of all the tribes of ,afghans who live on the border4 ,with some difficulty we got four more camels1 and as their owners were themselves ,wazirs1 we prevailed on them to accompany us4 ,we loaded up our tents1 medicines1 and bedding1 and about #i a4 m41 when the sun was already very hot1 we finally started4 ,besides the two camel-men1 there were a hospital assistant1 two servants1 a ,muhammadan inquirer1 whom ,i was taking along for the sake of instructing him1 and one of the schoolboys1 who had persuaded me to let him accompany us1 so that we were quite a large party4 ,after toiling for some hours along a mountain defile we came to ,gumatti ,post1 one of those frontier forts that line the ,north-,west ,border4 ,this was built close to an old ,wazir fort1 in capturing which1 two years ago1 ,colonel ,tonnochy and ,captain ,white lost their lives1 as described in ,chapter ,i4 ,we passed through the wire entanglement1 and spent the heat of the day talking to the native officer and soldiers in charge4 ,in the afternoon we set out again1 and marched along the bed of the ,kurram ,river1 which we had to ford six times1 so that before we reached our night camp it had become quite dark4 ,taking advantage of the dark1 some light-fingered ,wazir thieves managed to steal the tent carpet off the back of a camel without our catching sight of them4 ,our camp was in a ,wazir village1 built on a cliff overhanging the river4 ,the people were rather excited1 as another ,wazir clan had been up during the day and made off with twenty head of cattle4 ,however1 there were some old patients among the people1 so we got a hearty welcome4 ,they made us some tea1 and set some of their number to watch round our beds with their ,martini-,henrys ready loaded in case enemies should come during the night4 ,the ,mullah of the place came and had a talk with us1 and then we were soon all fast asleep4 ,next morning we were up betimes1 and ,i found my bed surrounded by a number of women with squalling babies4 ,one mother wanted me to see her baby's eyes1 another the stomach of hers1 another the ears2 in fact1 all the babies seemed to have made common cause to delay my departure as long as possible4 ,however1 after doling out various lotions and pills1 and giving the mothers many instructions1 which1 ,i fear1 were only heard to be forgotten1 we managed to get the camels loaded and started4 ,now1 however1 a new difficulty confronted us4 ,during the night there must have been heavy rain higher up the valley1 for the river was in flood and unfordable4 ,i knew by experience how strong yet deceptive the currents of the river are when it is in flood1 for a few weeks before ,i had been out on a bathing excursion with some of our schoolboys in another part of the same river4 ,i had dived into a deep pool1 when ,i found myself in a return current1 which was carrying me back under a small waterfall1 where the water was sweeping over an obstruction like a mill-race1 with a fall of about four feet4 ,as soon as ,i got to the fall ,i went down1 down1 down1 till ,i thought ,i was never coming up again4 ,however1 ,i did come up1 only1 however1 to be pulled back at once under the waterfall and down into the depths again4 ,the third time ,i came up ,i got a momentary glimpse of two of the boys trying to throw me the end of a pagari4 ,they were1 however1 much too far away for me to reach it1 and ,i was pulled under again before ,i had time to get even one good breath4 ,as ,i went down ,i wondered if ,i should ever see the boys again1 and how many times ,i should come up before it was all over4 ,then all at once it struck me that ,i was very foolish trying to get out at the surface1 where the current was beyond my strength1 and ,i must change my tactics2 so ,i turned over and dived down till ,i felt the boulders at the bottom1 and then crept along the bottom with the aid of the current--which there1 of course1 was flowing downstream--as long as ,i could4 ,when ,i could do so no more1 and had to strike upwards1 ,i found1 to my delight and thankfulness1 that ,i was out of the eddy and going downstream4 ,so it was clearly impossible to keep along the river1 even if we had not had laden animals with us4 ,we were obliged1 therefore1 to make a long dtour through the hills1 which took us nearly all day4 ,so rough and precipitous was the path that we had the greatest difficulty in getting the camels along1 and had several times to unload them in order to get them over bad places4 ,during the afternoon we saw a party of fifteen or sixteen armed ,wazirs hastening towards us4 ,at first we thought they were coming to loot us1 and one of the ,wazirs with us told us to stop1 while he went forward and called out1 ,are you friends or enemies8 ,when they replied ,friends he went up to them1 and then called us on to join him1 when ,i found that they were a party of outlaws who had fallen foul of the ,government1 and1 therefore1 had made their escape across the frontier4 ,they got me to sit down with them in the shade of a rock and write down a list of their grievances for them1 so that they might propitiate the ,political ,officer and obtain permission to return to ,british ,india4 ,i was very happy to render them this service1 and we parted good friends4 ,i noticed1 however1 that the ,wazirs with us seemed uncomfortable1 and kept their rifles ready cocked till they had disappeared behind a turn in the defile4 ,i make it a principle never to carry any arms myself1 and think ,i am much safer on that account1 but the villagers who accompany me always go well armed2 in fact1 across the border few ,afghans can go out of their houses without their rifles on their shoulders ready for use1 so terribly prevalent are the blood-feuds and village quarrels4 ,we spent that night in a ,wazir village1 where we saw a number of patients and made fresh friends4 ,the head man of the village apologized next morning for not accompanying us more than half a mile4 ,he said that he had blood-feuds with most of the villages round1 and could not1 therefore1 venture farther4 ,the fame of the ,bannu ,mission ,hospital1 however1 was our best escort1 and passport too1 and we got a welcome at almost every village we passed1 through the mediation of numerous old patients1 who had recounted in all the villages the kind treatment they had received at the hands of the feringis 7,europeans7 in ,bannu4 ,progress was somewhat delayed by frequent calls to visit a sick person in one or another village1 but openings for the ,gospel were at the same time secured1 and the lessons of the parable of the ,good ,samaritan imparted4 ,by midday we reached ,thal1 which was for some days to be our field hospital4 ,here we pitched our tents1 under the shade of some willows1 by a small stream outside the town1 and early the next morning started work4 ,a large crowd of sick and their friends had collected from ,thal itself and the villages round4 ,i first read a passage out of the ,pashtu ,testament1 and explained it to them in that language4 ,the ,gospel address over1 ,i wrote out prescriptions for each one in order1 which my assistant dispensed to them4 ,after a minor operation or two1 a fresh crowd had collected1 another address was given1 and they1 too1 were seen and attended to4 ,in this way five lots of patients were treated1 and about #bjj or #cjj people heard the ,gospel story in their own language4 ,then1 as evening was drawing on1 we shut up our books and our boxes1 washed off the dust of the day's work in the brook hard by1 and proceeded to interest ourselves in the operations which the cook was conducting over an improvised fireplace1 made of a couple of bricks placed on either side of a small hole in the ground4 ,dinner over1 we had family prayers1 and then fell soundly asleep4 ,an interesting town where we have sometimes stopped in our itinerations is that of ,kalabagh4 ,it is situated on the right bank of the ,river ,indus where it finally breaks forth from the rocky gorge that has hemmed it in with high1 often precipitous1 sides1 which rise at ,dimdot to a sheer height of four hundred feet above the surging river1 on to the boundless alluvial plain of the ,panjab4 ,in some of the bends between ,attock and ,kalabagh1 it rushes at a great speed over rapids1 where the boatmen warily guide their heavy river boats1 lest they be drawn into some whirlpool1 or dashed against the precipitous sides2 at others there are deep1 silent reaches where the bottom is two hundred feet from the surface4 ,during the hot weather1 when the river is in flood1 it is an exciting experience to be ferried across its dark grey surging stream4 ,at ,kalabagh there are extensive quarries of salt of a beautiful pink and white colour and great purity2 these bring in a considerable revenue to the ,government4 ,the town itself is built on the side of a hill of red salt marl1 some of the houses being quarried out of the salt itself1 so that the owner has only to chip off a bit of his own wall in order to season his cooking-pot4 ,it is a standing grievance with the inhabitants that their own walls are ,government contraband1 and they are subject to a fine if they sell a brick from their wall without paying duty on it4 ,the streets are narrow and winding1 and being1 many of them1 roofed and even built over1 are very dark1 and in the hot summer nights insufferably close and hot1 and at all times distinctly insanitary and malodorous4 ,the people are pale and anmic1 and nearly all suffer from goitre in a greater or less degree4 ,they form a great contrast to the hardy mountaineers of the ,bangi ,khel ,khattak tribe on the hills behind them4 ,these form one of the great recruiting grounds of the ,pathan regiments of the frontier1 while from ,kalabagh itself it would be hard to find a score of men who could pass the recruiting officer4 ,in the sultry summer weather the inhabitants spend the day under a number of large banyan-trees 7,ficus ,indica7 which are scattered along the edge of the river4 ,here1 too1 the civil officers of the district hold their courts1 and ,i was encamped under a spacious banyan4 ,its spreading branches not only sheltered me and all the sick and visitors who thronged around me1 but also the ,deputy ,commissioner of the district and his court1 together with the crowd of suitors and applicants that always followed in his train2 and the ,district ,judge1 with his court1 and a crowd of litigants1 pleaders and witnesses--and this all without incommoding one another4 ,the land away from the river is pulsating with the fervid heat of the summer sun1 and the town itself is like an oven2 but there is nearly always a cool breeze blowing on the bank of the river1 and1 when heated and dusty with the day's work1 one can throw off one's clothes and cool oneself with a swim in the river1 where the young men of the place are disporting themselves all their leisure time4 ,they use the inflated skin of a goat or of a cow1 and1 supporting themselves on this1 can rest on the deep1 cool bosom of the river as long as they like without fatigue4 ,the river is too rapid for them to travel upstream1 but when business takes them downstream1 they simply fasten their clothes in a bundle on their heads1 lie across their inflated skin1 and quietly drift downstream at about four miles an hour as far as they desire4 ,on returning1 they simply deflate their skin1 and sling it over their shoulders4 ,we were usually thronged with patients here from morning to evening1 and ,i have seen as many as three hundred in one day1 the work including a number of operations4 ,one day a noted ,muhammadan ,sheikh visited the place4 ,he was a convert from ,hinduism1 and was travelling about the country preaching ,islam and decrying the ,christian and ,hindu religions4 ,he sent us a challenge to meet him in a public discussion on the respective merits of the ,cross and the ,crescent4 ,i was reluctant1 as such discussions are seldom conducted fairly or sincerely2 but1 finding my reluctance was being misunderstood1 ,i consented1 and we met one evening1 a ,muhammadan gentleman of the place being appointed chairman4 ,it was arranged that we were each in turn to ask a question1 which the other was to answer4 ,he was given the first question1 and asked how it was that we had not miraculous powers1 seeing that the ,bible said that those who believed in ,christ should be able to take poison or be bitten of snakes without suffering injury4 ,the catechist with me gave so lucid and categorical a reply that the ,muhammadan disputant and chairman changed their tone1 and said that1 as the time was getting late1 it would be better to postpone my question till another time4 ,needless to say1 that more convenient time never came1 and we were not again challenged to a discussion at ,kalabagh1 and the ,sheikh left for fresh pastures a few days later4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,afghan ,,mullahs ,no priesthood in ,islam--,yet the ,mullahs ubiquitous--,their great influence--,theological refinements--,the power of a charm--,bazaar disputations--,a friend in need--,a frontier ,pope--,in a ,militia post--,a long ride--,a local ,canterbury--,an enemy becomes a friend--,the ghazi fanatic--,an outrage on an ,english officer4 ,here we are met by an apparent paradox4 ,there is no section of the people of ,afghanistan which has a greater influence on the life of the people than the ,mullahs1 yet it has been truly said that there is no priesthood in ,islam4 ,according to the tenets of ,islam1 there is no act of worship and no religious rite which may not1 in the absence of a ,mullah1 be equally well performed by any pious layman2 yet1 on the other hand1 circumstances have enabled the ,mullahs of ,afghanistan to wield a power over the populations which is sometimes1 it appears1 greater than the power of the throne itself4 ,for one thing1 knowledge has been almost limited to the priestly class1 and in a village where the ,mullahs are almost the only men who can lay claim to anything more than the most rudimentary learning it is only natural that they should have the people of the village entirely in their own control4 ,then1 the ,afghan is a ,muhammadan to the backbone1 and prides himself on his religious zeal1 so that the ,mullah becomes to him the embodiment of what is most national and sacred4 ,the ,mullahs are1 too1 the ultimate dispensers of justice1 for there are only two legal appeals in ,afghanistan--one to the theological law1 as laid down by ,muhammad and interpreted by the ,mullahs2 the other to the autocracy of the throne--and even the absolute ,amir would hesitate to give an order at variance with ,muhammadan law1 as laid down by the leading ,mullahs4 ,his religion enters into the minutest detail of an ,afghan's everyday life1 so that there is no affair1 however trivial1 in which it may not become necessary to make an appeal to the ,mullah4 ,birth1 betrothal1 marriage1 sickness1 death--all require his presence1 and as often as not the ,afghan thinks that if he has called in a ,mullah to a sick relation there is no further necessity of calling in a doctor4 ,thus the ,mullah becomes an integral part of ,afghan life1 and as he naturally feels that the advance of mission work and of education must mean the steady diminishing of his influence1 he leaves no stone unturned to withstand the teaching of missionaries and to prejudice the minds of the people against them4 ,the great religious fervour of the ,afghans must be evident to anyone who has had even a cursory acquaintance with them1 whether in their mountain homes or as travellers through ,india4 ,i remember once sitting in a village chauk while a religious discussion was going on which threatened to launch the two opponent parties into making bodily attacks on each other1 and the whole of the matter under discussion was whether prayers said by a worshipper on the skin of a jackal were efficacious or not4 ,according to the tenets of ,islam1 if a worshipper were to perform his genuflections on the bare ground they would be of no effect1 because the ground might certainly be assumed to be ceremonially polluted4 ,ordinarily1 the worshipper will spread a piece of clean cloth1 or mat1 or skin on the ground1 and1 removing his shoes beforehand1 will perform his prayers thereon4 ,it might be contended1 however1 that even though the skin of the jackal were absolutely clean1 yet the unclean nature of the animal still attached to it1 and rendered the prayers ineffective4 ,the matter in this case was referred to a renowned ,mullah who lived some way off1 and to whom both parties had to send deputations several days' journey4 ,then1 in the mission hospital the question has frequently been raised by the ,afghan patients as to whether it was lawful to say prayers in the clothes provided by the mission for the patients1 even though these may have come direct from the washing2 and we have been unable to persuade patients to put on clothes1 however clean1 which might possibly prevent them from saying their prayers until they have brought the case before some ,mullah who was willing to give an ex cathedr pronouncement in our favour4 ,mullahs sometimes use the power and influence they possess to rouse the tribes to concerted warfare against the infidels1 as they tell them that the ,english are2 and often a prelude to one of the little frontier wars has been some ardent ,mullah going up and down on the frontier1 like ,peter the ,hermit1 rousing the tribes to come down and fight4 ,often they lay claim to magical powers whereby those who submit themselves to their incantations become invulnerable1 so that they are able to stand up before the bullets of the ,english troops unscathed4 ,before the war of #ahig1 a ,mullah1 known as the ,mullah ,povindah1 was reputed to have this power2 and many of the ,afghans ,i met maintained that they had put it to the test1 and seen with their own eyes the bullets fall harmless off the people to whom he had extended his protection4 ,it was useless to say that they were trying to impose upon them1 for they thoroughly believed it themselves1 as was shown in many cases by the reckless daring with which they charged down on the ,british troops4 ,even those who may be supposed to be free from the superstition of the ignorant believe with equal fervour in this power of the ,mullahs and holy men4 ,an instance of this occurs in the ,memoirs of the late ,amir ,abdurrahman1 who relates that once during a military review a soldier deliberately shot at him as he was sitting in a chair4 ,the bullet passed through the back of the chair1 and wounded a page-boy standing behind4 ,he attributes his escape entirely to a charm written on a piece of paper which a holy man had given to him when a boy4 ,he says3 ,at first ,i did not believe in its power to protect2 ,i therefore tried it by tying it round the neck of a sheep1 and though ,i tried hard to shoot the animal1 no bullet injured her4 ,one of the commonest experiences of the open-air preacher on the borders of ,afghanistan is the wordy warfare in which he is obliged to engage with some bellicose ,mullah4 ,the ,mullah has heard that the missionary has begun to preach1 and he regards it as his duty to come down and champion ,islam4 ,he brings a big volume of the ,quran ostentatiously under his arm1 and is followed by four or five students1 or talibs1 ready to applaud all his thrusts1 while ridiculing in a very forcible way the replies of the preacher4 ,such arguments can hardly be expected to bear any reasonable fruit1 because the object of the ,mullah is not to ascertain what your views on any doctrine really are1 but only to gain a strategical victory and hold you up to ridicule2 but it is equally impossible to refuse the challenge1 for then not only would the audience conclude that you had no answer to give1 but the ,mullah would take care that no one remained to listen to you4 ,frequently the object of the ,mullah is to egg the people on to acts of open violence1 and then1 when they see that the row is well started1 they suddenly make themselves scarce1 and leave their flock to take the risk of any subsequent police investigations which may result4 ,on one occasion ,i had a providential deliverance from an unpleasant incident4 ,on proceeding to the place in the market where ,i usually preached1 ,i found a ,mullah in possession preaching to a scowling crowd of townsmen4 ,as we had always preached in that particular place for years1 ,i saw it was only a ruse to oust us from preaching first there and then anywhere else where we might go1 so ,i promptly took my place by the ,mullah's side1 and commenced preaching to the same audience4 ,the ,mullah vociferated1 and the audience scowled more and more1 and then the ,mullah1 turning to me1 said3 ,look here1 you had better get out of this1 as these people here are up to mischief1 and it may go hard with you4 ,i felt much like ,micah when the ,danites said to him3 ,let not thy voice be heard among us1 lest angry fellows run upon thee4 ,but ,i told the ,mullah that ,i held him responsible for the acts of his followers1 and ,i did not intend to forsake the place to which long custom had given us a right4 ,just as the storm seemed about to break1 and ,i momentarily expected to be pitched across the street1 a stalwart smith1 a well-known ,muhammadan1 himself respected by the people1 pushed through the crowd1 and1 taking the ,mullah by the arm1 said3 ,now1 ,mullah ,sahib1 you know the ,padre ,sahib never interferes with you in your place1 and that this is not your proper preaching-place4 ,why do you want to make a row and injure him8 ,so saying1 he took the rather unwilling ,mullah off to his usual place1 and the more unruly portion of the crowd1 after hurling a few imprecations at me1 followed him1 too4 ,our friend the smith was an old hospital patient1 so this1 too1 may be set down1 under the overruling providence of ,god1 to the mollifying influence of a medical mission4 ,one of the most influential ,mullahs on the ,british side of the ,afghan border is the ,mullah ,karbogha1 so called from the village which forms his ,canterbury4 ,in some respects his influence was directed towards the moral improvement of the people1 while in others his religious schools became hotbeds of fanaticism4 ,thus he set his face steadily against the evil practice1 which is so prevalent among the frontier ,afghans1 of selling their daughters in marriage to the highest bidder4 ,not long ago a ,mullah of considerable power1 who had himself sold his daughter in marriage1 had to make the most abject profession of repentance lest the ,mullah ,karbogha should excommunicate him1 and he should have to fly the country4 ,he regards the smoking of tobacco as one of the works of the devil1 and when the ,mullah makes his visitation to some village there is a general scramble to hide away all the pipes2 for not only would any that he found be publicly broken1 but the owner would incur his displeasure4 ,as the ,afghans do not confine themselves to the soothing weed1 but mix it up with a number of intoxicating and injurious substances1 such as ,indian hemp or charras1 this attitude of the ,mullah may be regarded in the light of a reform4 ,unfortunately1 he regards it as a heinous sin for any ,muhammadan to take service with1 or to receive pay from1 the ,british ,government4 ,often on the frontier a grave crisis has threatened to result from the refusal of one of his underlings1 or ,sheikhs1 as they are called1 to grant the rites of marriage or burial to some unfortunate ,pathan who has enlisted in one of the regiments of the ,indian ,army4 ,the missionaries1 of course1 are regarded by him and his ,sheikhs as the embodiment of the heresies of an infidel ,government4 ,for many years the ,mullah ,karbogha apparently ignored me1 but finally ,i had information that his attitude was going to become more distinctly hostile4 ,i thought it better1 therefore1 to act on the ,biblical adage to agree with thine adversary quickly1 whilst thou art in the way with him1 and to seek to modify his attitude by a personal interview4 ,it was one hot ,august day that found me and an ,indian medical assistant riding to this frontier ,mecca4 ,it was a part of the district notorious for deeds of violence1 and after riding some ten miles1 when the hot summer sun made us feel the need of some refreshment1 we came to one of those villages where is posted a guard of some twenty ,militia ,sepoys1 who represent the army of the ,government in their midst4 ,it was only a roughly-built house1 loopholed and strengthened in some parts to simulate a fort1 and the soldiers themselves were only removed by a few months' military training1 a simple uniform1 and the salt of the ,sarkar1 which they had eaten1 from the families of brigands and highwaymen from which they had been enlisted4 ,there had been a double murder that morning in a village a few miles off1 and most of the soldiers were scouring the country round in quest of the marauders2 but1 as usually happens1 the murderers had got a good start1 and were already probably well across the frontier4 ,when the soldiers who remained in charge found that it was the ,bannu ,daktar ,sahib who had come so suddenly upon them1 they were all attention4 ,tea was brewed1 and milk and unleavened cakes were fetched from the village1 while men suffering from ague and women bringing their children suffering from various ailments to which ,afghan children are liable soon came crowding in1 and a little store of medicines that we had carried on our saddles was in great request4 ,after refreshing ourselves with their simple hospitality1 and chatting with them on the various subjects which come most naturally to travellers and to missionaries1 we tightened our saddle-girths1 which had been loosened to give the horses a feed1 mounted1 and rode on4 ,the road lay through a wide and picturesque valley4 ,a small river was dashing into silver spray over the boulders on some steep descent1 and elsewhere deepening into some pool overshadowed by acacias and oleanders1 where the fish could be seen disporting themselves on the shingly bottom4 ,the sides of the valley rose up to right and left in rough escarpments1 where the olive and the gurguri-berry gave a clothing of green to the bare rocks1 while here and there the hills receded sufficiently to enable the thrifty husbandman to clear a little piece of land from stones and to plant it with millet1 which in good seasons would supply his household with bread through the winter months4 ,after a couple of hours of such riding1 we approached the watershed of the valley1 northward of which the streams flowed in the opposite direction towards the ,miranzai and the ,kurram4 ,it was one of those wide stony plains called in ,afghanistan raghzas1 covered for the most part with stones stained black by oxides of iron and manganese1 and called by the people dozakhi kanrai1 or hell-stones1 from their tradition that they were thrown there in some ancient conflict between the devils and the angels4 ,the coarse grass springs up in tufts between the stones1 and affords a pasturage to the flocks of hardy goats and sheep4 ,shepherds may be seen here and there guarding and attending them1 while in parts there may be sufficient soil to give in a rainy season a fair crop of millet or of barley4 ,before long we descried four tall minarets rising up beyond an undulation of the plain4 ,this was our first view of the famed cathedral of this ,canterbury of the frontier where the ,mullah ,karbogha held his court and issued his decrees and excommunications1 which carried dismay into any hapless chief's home or village against whom they had been fulminated4 ,as we drew near we met various other travellers1 who had come1 it may be1 to bear the ,mullah their respects and some votive offerings1 or it may be to bring some long-standing dispute for settlement4 ,we wondered within ourselves what the result of our pilgrimage would be4 ,as we drew near we got a fine view of the really beautiful and artistic mosque which the offerings of the faithful had enabled the ,mullah to build at no little cost in this wild region1 where both skilled labour and building material were at a premium4 ,there was a beautiful tank of clear limpid water1 supplied by a fountain in the hill above1 and here the faithful performed their ablutions before worship4 ,some of the talibs and ,sheikhs were sitting round the tank and in the courtyard of the mosque1 and appeared not a little surprised to see the ,bannu ,daktar ,sahib come to their own ,mecca4 ,we were informed that the ,mullah himself had gone to a neighbouring village to decide some dispute1 but two of the sons came out to receive us1 and led us into a verandah1 where we were soon surrounded by the curious of the place4 ,they led our horses away with the promise to look after their needs1 and inquired as to the reason of our unexpected arrival4 ,we told them how the fame of the ,mullah ,karbogha had reached ,bannu1 and how we had long been desirous of ourselves making his personal acquaintance4 ,after some hesitation1 the ,mullah's eldest son1 who was the chief in authority during his absence1 asked if he should bring us refreshments4 ,this was what we wished1 not so much because the hot ,august sun had made us both tired and thirsty1 but because it had a deeper signification2 for1 after having once offered us hospitality and broken bread with us1 we should be recognized as guests of the ,mullah1 and any opposition which he might have been contemplating against us would be seen at once by the observant ,afghans around to have been laid aside in favour of the reception due to an honoured guest4 ,we therefore accepted the offer without demur1 and tea sweetened with plenty of sugar and flavoured with cardamoms was brought1 with biscuits1 for our refection4 ,our repast over1 and various questions asked and answered1 we were left for a time to ourselves1 for in the hot summer days of ,india the noonday hours are as sacred to retirement and repose as those of midnight4 ,after a few hours' interval1 wherein we were left to rest ourselves1 the ,mullahs returned and commenced conversation somewhat more affably4 ,they had no doubt found themselves between the horns of a dilemma1 for their outward rejection of our advances might have led to acts of open violence on the part of the fanatical inhabitants of the town1 the responsibility for which would ultimately have come home to themselves in a way far from pleasant2 while1 on the other hand1 our reception as guests broke down their attitude of hostility1 as at once it would be noised all down the countryside that the great ,mullah had broken the bread of friendship with the ,daktar ,sahib from ,bannu1 and among the ,afghans the relationship between host and guest is inviolable4 ,thus1 it came about that on our host making inquiries as to where we intended to spend the night1 and finding that we had no other plans1 he insisted on our stopping as his guests1 and there and then sent his servants for the preparation of our lodging and our evening repast4 ,the ice thus broken1 we were able to proceed from general topics to the more abstruse theological speculations1 in which his reverence excelled1 and1 like a summer shower1 this friendly interchange of ideas washed away the dust of many old prejudices and misunderstandings1 and as the evening hours drew on our talk continued under the starlit canopy of the glorious ,eastern night1 and we were vowing mutual friendship1 and he promising on his own behalf and on that of his father himself to become our guests on the next occasion of a visit to ,bannu4 ,when at last we lay down to rest1 we first thanked ,god1 who had so prospered our journey1 and broken down the great barrier of prejudice1 and opened a way for us to carry on our work in the villages round4 ,many of the people still looked askance at us1 and spoke of us as infidels and blasphemers1 and would1 no doubt1 have been led to proceed further at a hint from the ,mullahs2 but our mission had been accepted1 and we knew it was only a matter of time that we should be actually welcomed4 ,even now1 grown bolder by the attitude of the ,mullah1 some old patients appeared1 and insisted on our accompanying them to various houses in the village where there were patients in need of medical help and advice4 ,one cannot overestimate the religious influences emanating from a place like ,karbogha4 ,numbers of religious students are attracted there by the fame of the ,mullah even from distant places on both sides of the border1 and the offerings of the faithful enable the ,mullah to give a free-handed hospitality to one and all1 and in ,afghanistan there is no quicker road to influence than the ability to do this4 ,it was a tradition in the villages round that when the ,mullah daily prepared his saucepans of rice and cakes of unleavened bread in his kitchens1 the amount was always found to be sufficient for the pilgrims of that day1 even though hundreds might come in before night1 unexpected and unprepared for4 ,after imbibing not only his theological teaching1 but his religious and political ideals1 these students are scattered far and wide from ,kabul to ,peshawur1 and from ,zwat to ,waziristan1 where they become his staunch adherents against rival ,mullahs or against a materialistic ,government4 ,the more fanatical of these ,mullahs do not hesitate to incite their pupils to acts of religious fanaticism1 or ghaza1 as it is called4 ,the ghazi is a man who has taken an oath to kill some non-,muhammadan1 preferably a ,european1 as representing the ruling race2 but1 failing that1 a ,hindu or a ,sikh is a lawful object of his fanaticism4 ,the ,mullah instils into him the idea that if in so doing he loses his own life1 he goes at once to ,paradise1 and enjoys the special delights of the houris and the gardens which are set apart for religious martyrs4 ,when such a disciple has been worked up to the requisite degree of religious excitement1 he is usually further fortified by copious draughts of bhang1 or ,indian hemp1 which produces a kind of intoxication in which one sees everything red1 and the bullet and the bayonet have no longer any terror for him4 ,not a year passes on the frontier but some young officer falls a victim to one of these ghazi fanatics4 ,probably the ghazi has never seen him before in his life1 and can have no grudge against him as a man2 but he is a dog and a heretic1 and his death a sure road to ,paradise4 ,one summer afternoon in ,bannu ,i went out with some of our schoolboys who were training for the mile race in the coming school tournament4 ,i was accompanying them on my bicycle as they were running round the polo-ground1 where some officers of the garrison were enjoying a game of golf4 ,suddenly a young ,afghan of some eighteen summers1 who had been able to arm himself with no more formidable weapon than a sharp axe1 rushed up to one of the officers1 and1 before he could realize what was coming1 dealt him a violent blow across the neck4 ,the officer partly shielded himself with his golf-club1 and probably thereby saved his life1 for the axe came within a hair-breadth of severing the main arteries1 and before the fanatic could deal another stroke he was felled to the ground by a blow from another officer with his golf-club4 ,he was only a village youth1 with little knowledge of the world1 but had been incited to this act of suicidal fanaticism by a ,mullah1 who1 without the grit to become a martyr himself1 thought it an act of piety to incite the ignorant boy to the murder of an innocent fellow-creature at the sacrifice of his own life4 ,in this case it became known who the ,mullah in question was1 and which was the mosque in which he had given this teaching1 and while the boy himself suffered the extreme penalty of the law1 the ,mullah and the mosque were not exempted from its operation4 ,the former was transported to the ,andamans and the latter dismantled4 ,still1 it is well known that other ,mullahs are daily engaged in the same teaching on both sides of the frontier1 and other young bloods are equally desirous of obtaining the sweets of martyrdom4 ,,chapter ,x ,a ,,tale ,,of ,a ,,talib ,early days--,the theological curriculum--,visit to ,bannu--,a public discussion--,new ideas--,the forbearance of a native ,christian--,first acquaintance with ,christians--,first confession--,a lost love--,a stern chase--,the lost sheep recovered--,bringing his teacher--,the ,mullah converted--,excommunication--,faithful unto death--,fresh temptations--,a vain search--,a night quest--,the ,mullahs circumvented--,dark days--,hope ever4 ,muhammad ,taib was born in the village of ,thandkoi1 in the ,peshawur district4 ,his father was a small farmer1 a good example of the better sort of ,muhammadan of the ,yusufzai tribe1 thoroughly religious1 yet not fanatical1 and honest withal4 ,he was careful not only to bring up ,muhammad ,taib in a knowledge of his religion1 but to preserve him from the vices which are rife among the youth of the ,pathan villages4 ,taib's inclinations were towards study1 and he showed a great aptitude for books4 ,his father1 however1 was of the old school1 which looked with suspicion on the education of the feringis2 so it happened with him as with most young men in ,afghanistan who desire to cultivate their minds3 he became a religious student1 or talib4 ,there happened to be a ,mullah in the village known as the ,khani ,mullah1 who took a great fancy to young ,taib1 so he was placed under his tutelage1 and passed his days studying ,arabic and ,persian in the village mosque1 while at the same time all the tenets and rites of the religion of ,islam were inculcated and explained4 ,a talib could1 however1 never attain the knowledge and experience expected of a ,mullah if he were to remain in his own town2 he must travel and sit at the feet of several at least of the ,mullahs most renowned for their sanctity and learning4 ,so1 when young ,taib was fifteen years of age1 he tied up his few books in a shawl1 and set out from home to sit at the feet of the renowned ,manki ,mullah4 ,the learned man himself would not condescend to teach so immature a pupil1 but he was surrounded by his ,sheikhs1 who acted as his staff1 and taught the talibs who flocked there from all parts of the country4 ,besides1 here ,taib met with ,mullahs from ,delhi1 ,lucknow1 ,bukhara1 ,kabul1 and other far-famed seats of learning1 contact with whom could not fail to widen the horizon and enlarge the experience of the pupils who sat around them1 and listened to their arguments and dissertations on the various schools of thought1 and engaged in wordy polemics1 which practised the budding ,mullahs in the art of drawing fine theological distinctions on the interpretation of a ,hadis or the difference of a vowel point in the ,quran4 ,of a night the talibs would wile the hours away by telling tales of their respective countries or capping verses from the ,persian poets4 ,but ,taib must travel and visit other ,mullahs1 too2 so it happened that1 when seventeen years old1 he visited ,bannu1 and lodged in the mosque of a noted ,mullah near the bazaar4 ,one day1 when passing down the ,bannu bazaar1 he saw a crowd1 and1 going up1 he found an animated discussion going on between two ,afghans4 ,while one was obviously a ,mullah1 the other seemed not to be2 but with him was a companion dressed as a ,mullah1 whose face struck ,taib as not quite that of any of the ,afghan tribes he knew4 ,he began to listen to see if the enigma would be solved1 but was still more surprised to find that the argument was as to whether the ,ingil 7,gospel7 and ,tauret 7,pentateuch7 should be read by ,muhammadans or not4 ,the ,mullah was arguing that the books had been abrogated by the mission of ,muhammad and the descent of the ,quran on that ,prophet1 saying that1 though it was right to read them till ,muhammad came1 since then it was only lawful to read the ,quran4 ,the stranger1 on the other hand1 pointed out that ,muhammad himself expressly referred his followers to the perusal and study of the former ,scriptures1 and clinched his argument by quotations from the ,quran itself4 ,finally1 the ,mullah1 finding himself getting into a dilemma1 obtained a release by the artifice with which we are very familiar by now4 ,it is time for afternoon prayers4 ,i must hurry off1 or my prayers will lapse by default1 he said2 and1 folding up his ,quran in his shawl1 hurried off4 ,finding their champion gone1 another in the crowd called out3 ,all who are ,mussalmans go away2 he is no true ,mussalman who stops to listen to these kafirs4 ,there is no ,god but ,god1 and ,muhammad is the ,prophet of ,god4 ,and then with one voice all the crowd took up the last sentence and shouted in unison3 ,la ilaha ilia 'llahu1 ,muhammadun rasulu 'llah6 till the bazaar echoed with the sound2 and then1 with jeers and curses at the two preachers1 in which ,taib thought it the proper thing to join1 the crowd dispersed4 ,who were those two kafirs8 said ,taib to a ,bannuchi talib who was walking away with him4 ,the one in the dress of a ,mullah is a feringi whom we call the ,padre ,sahib4 ,he has built a hospital here1 where he preaches to the people about ,hazrat ',esa1 and he has1 indeed1 misled many2 in fact1 the other kafir who was with him was led astray by him3 he is an ,afghan from ,laghman1 and has brought disgrace on the ,prophet4 ,may ,god destroy them both6 ,taib thought here would be good opportunities for acquiring the art of theological polemics1 so he came regularly every day with other talibs to support the ,muslim champion and jeer at the ,christians if they appeared at all discomfited4 ,he could not help1 however1 being struck by the forbearance of the ,laghmani1 who preserved an equable temper1 though the talibs tried to excite him by all the opprobrious epithets with which their repertory is so well supplied4 ,he saw1 too1 that the more difficult their champions found it to answer his arguments1 the more they resorted to the expedient of crying him down with derisive shouts and jeers1 and he began to have a feeling of sympathy1 if not admiration1 for him4 ,then one day he waited behind till the talibs with him had gone1 and the ,afghan preacher1 seeing him lingering1 took him by the arm and entered into conversation with him4 ,they went on talking till they reached the mission compound1 and ,taib accepted the invitation of the preacher to stop the night with him4 ,instead of finding him a reviler of the ,prophet and a miscreant1 as he expected1 he found that all he said was quite reasonable and free from the rancour which his talib friends always introduced into their theological arguments4 ,then the peace and comfort of a ,christian home1 where the wife1 instead of being a chattel or a drudge1 was a real helpmate1 opened up new trains of thought in his mind4 ,the ,laghmani1 too1 was a ,pathan1 like himself1 with the same ,afghan prejudices and predilections1 and yet there was an undefinable something in him1 a spirit of self-control and self-abnegation and inward peace of mind1 that he did not remember having met with in any ,pathan before4 ,in short1 ,taib1 instead of being the guest of one night1 as he had at first1 not without misgiving1 consented to be1 stopped on to learn more of the new doctrine and discover the secret of the change that had been effected in the ,afghan preacher4 ,taib proved an apt pupil1 and the natural gentleness and fairness of his character made ,christianity all the more attractive to him1 and he applied himself with assiduity to the study of the ,christian ,scriptures1 and attended the ,christian worship4 ,there were struggles without and doubts within to contend against4 ,his former talib companions came in a body to see whether the ,padre ,sahib had kidnapped him1 and when they found him stopping in the mission compound of his own freewill abused him and threatened him1 but did not succeed in getting him away4 ,one of the chief ,bannu ,mullahs came and argued with him for hours1 telling him he was guilty of mortal sin in even allowing himself to entertain doubts about the truth of ,islam4 ,but ,taib had become fascinated with the ,scriptures1 and especially with the teaching of the ,gospels1 as is often the case with those who have never read them till adult life1 and he had no intention of forsaking his host till quite decided one way or the other4 ,ultimately he decided that the ,prophet ,christ must indeed be the ,son of ,god1 the very ,saviour that ,he claimed to be1 and he asked for baptism4 ,it was thought better to let him wait a few months till he had a maturer knowledge of the doctrines of ,christianity1 and had shown his sincerity by standing some of the fire of persecution4 ,there was no lack of the latter4 ,when he accompanied us to the bazaar preaching1 the foulest abuse was showered on him1 and sometimes stones were thrown1 and on one occasion1 when he was caught alone1 he received a beating from some talibs and others4 ,the ,bishop of ,lahore visited the station about that time1 and ,muhammad ,taib was baptized under the new name of ,taib ,khan1 and was radiant with delight at having been at last admitted to the ,christian ,church4 ,i was going on a long medical itineration about that time1 and he accompanied me1 and was zealous in his new-found faith1 taking every opportunity of drawing ,mullahs and others into conversation about the claims of ,christ and the witness of the ,quran to ,him4 ,those were perhaps the happiest days he ever experienced4 ,then came a new trial4 ,taib had been betrothed to a girl in his village1 and his relations1 having heard of his baptism1 came to ,bannu4 ,in nothing is the honour and sharm of the ,pathan more nearly touched than in his marital relation1 and the taunt that he had lost the sharm which every ,pathan so dearly loves1 came nearer home to him than persecution or loss of land and patrimony4 ,one morning ,i found that ,taib had disappeared4 ,no one knew exactly when or how1 but he had been seen with the people from his village the night before1 and nothing more was known4 ,i assumed that by inducement or force they had taken him away to his village1 and therefore would have gone by the ,kohat road2 but they had already had at least eight hours' start1 and the sun was now declining4 ,however1 no time was to be lost1 so ,i got an ekka1 or native pony-cart1 and1 taking with me a young ,bannuchi convert1 ,sahib ,khan by name1 started off in pursuit4 ,for a long time we could get no news of the fugitives2 then1 at a village thirty-five miles from ,bannu1 ,i was told that some ,pathans answering to the description of ,taib and his captors had said their afternoon prayers in the mosque there and then gone on4 ,our pony was too tired to go farther2 it was already midnight2 the next stage was eleven miles on1 and they would certainly leave there before daybreak4 ,what was to be done8 ,while we were debating this1 we heard the bugle of the tonga with the mails4 ,this runs between ,bannu and ,kohat every day in the winter and every night in the summer1 and accommodates three passengers4 ,if the seats had not been taken1 we might go on in this4 ,it so happened that two seats were vacant1 so we got in1 and soon arrived at the next stage1 a village called ,banda4 ,here we alighted4 ,it was #a a4m4 ,the village was silent and dark except for the light of the half-moon4 ,on the side of the hill above the village was the village mosque1 and we knew that was the most likely place for travellers to lodge2 so we passed through the silent village1 and1 removing our shoes1 entered the courtyard of the mosque4 ,thirteen men were stretched on the ground fast asleep and covered with their chadars1 the sheet or shawl which an ,afghan always carries about him and uses as a girdle or shawl during the day1 and wraps himself up in cap--pie at night4 ,as ,afghans always sleep with their heads covered in their sheet or quilt1 we could not recognize the object of our search1 and to wake all would mean certain defeat4 ,but the ,bannuchies are at home in any night-work requiring stealth1 so by the light of the setting moon my companion lifted the corner of the sheet from off the faces of the sleepers without waking any of them1 and the last one was ,taib himself4 ,a touch on his shoulder and he was roused1 and recognized us4 ,i merely said to him3 ,will you come back with me to ,bannu8 ,he answered1 ,yes1 ,sahib1 and got up1 wound on his turban1 and left with us without another word4 ,we had to walk back to ,khurram1 the village where we had left our pony-cart1 and1 finding it still there1 drove back to ,bannu with the lost sheep1 found none too soon4 ,months now passed in study and in learning the work of a ward assistant in the mission hospital1 so that he might be able to earn his own living1 and use the opportunities of the mission hospital in working among the ,afghans attending it4 ,there was a ,mullah in a village not far from ,bannu1 where he acted as the imam and village schoolmaster4 ,at one time ,taib had himself been his pupil1 and was much attached to him4 ,he had long been desirous of getting this ,mullah1 his quondam teacher1 or ustad1 to study the claims of ,christ1 and one day he had visited him with this object4 ,when the ,mullah mentioned that he had been suffering from some deafness for some months past1 ,come to the mission hospital1 said ,taib2 the ,padre ,sahib there will certainly cure you4 ,the ,mullah hesitated at first when he heard that every day an address on ,christian doctrine was given to the assembled out-patients before they were treated4 ,he thought it hardly seemly that he1 a ,mullah and an ustad1 should sit and listen to heretical teaching without being able to protest4 ,however1 tales of others who had been under treatment and recovered won the day1 and he decided to go4 ,after all1 he said1 ,i need not listen1 and ,i can say extra prayers to atone for any sin there may be in my going4 ,he came regularly till the cure was complete1 but he did not keep up his intention of not listening to the preacher2 in fact1 some things that were said riveted his attention1 and made him go home and search his ,quran1 and his curiosity was aroused1 and he talked over many things with ,taib ,khan1 and finally came to me to ask me if ,i would read the ,gospels with him4 ,he was careful to say that he had not any intention of becoming a ,christian1 but merely desired to read them because every ,muhammadan regarded them with veneration as the word of ,god4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount entranced him1 and he used to kiss the book and place it on his head1 as ,muhammadans do with their ,quran4 ,he would read by the hour1 but as ,i had not much time to devote to him1 he used to betake himself to the room of ,taib ,khan1 and sit there half the day studying the ,scriptures4 ,this could not go on1 of course2 the people of the village heard of it1 and said that they must have an imam who was free from the suspicion of heresy2 he lost his pupils1 and at last a ,synod of the chief ,mullahs of ,bannu formally excommunicated him4 ,he then came to live in the mission compound1 and spent some happy months in study1 while supporting himself as custodian of the mission bookshop4 ,seldom have ,i seen so remarkable a growth of the ,christian graces in the character of any of our converts as in this man1 and it was a great delight to see him admitted to ,christian baptism1 already more mature in ,christian character than many who had been in the visible ,church for years4 ,he bore the most scurrilous abuse with exemplary forbearance1 and even when struck1 as happened several times when going through the bazaar1 forbore to retaliate1 which for an ,afghan is the acme of self-control4 ,he was a ,seyyid--that is1 one who claims descent from ,muhammad--and when he came with us to the bazaar preachings1 and stood by our side1 the people were furious with him1 saying that it was bad enough that he1 a ,mullah and a ,seyyid1 should have become a ,christian1 but to parade it there in the bazaar in that shameless way was too much1 and if he did not desist they would certainly kill him4 ,i recommended him to abstain from accompanying us to the bazaar preachings1 because ,i feared that the people would indeed put their threat into execution1 but he would not hear of it4 ,he had read1 he said1 that our ,lord said ,he would be ashamed of those who were ashamed of ,him before the world1 so how could he refrain from showing publicly that he had become a ,christian8 ,he would think it an honour if he could obtain the crown of martyrdom for the sake of the ,saviour in whom he had believed4 ,one morning he found an ,afghan dagger lying outside his door4 ,we thought perhaps his enemy had come in the night1 but had been startled by the night watchman and escaped1 dropping his weapon2 or it might be that it had been left there to scare him1 as much as to say1 ,that is what is waiting for you if you do not desist4 ,as a precaution ,i told him not to sleep there any more1 but gave him a bed in the house of a native ,christian near where ,i slept myself2 for it was summer1 and we were all sleeping in the open4 ,three nights later ,i was awakened about one o'clock in the morning by the report of a gun1 and1 running over instinctively to ,seyyid ,badshah1 found the enemy had indeed come and shot him through the stomach4 ,everything possible was done for him1 but the wound was mortal1 and that evening he passed away1 his last words being3 ,o ,lord ,jesus1 ,i am ,thy servant6 ,there were many moist eyes as we carried ,seyyid ,badshah to his last resting-place in the little cemetery at ,bannu4 ,his had been a very lovable character1 and in his short ,christian life he had been the means of influencing more than one ,afghan towards ,christ4 ,one in particular was a ,mullah from the ,yusufzai country1 ,abdullah by name2 and we sometimes spoke of the four generations1 as in these few years ,taib had been brought by the ,afghan preacher from ,laghman1 whose story is given in ,chapter ,,xvi42 then ,taib had been the instrument in bringing ,seyyid ,badshah2 and through ,seyyid ,badshah's influence this other ,mullah believed4 ,taib ,khan continued in the work of the mission hospital1 but fresh trials were about to test and sift him more severely than ever4 ,the old friend of his boyhood1 the ,khani ,mullah1 and some relations came down to ,bannu1 and while pretending at first to acquiesce in his having become a ,christian1 recalled to him the memories and associations of his boyhood4 ,he became violently homesick4 ,the old village scenes1 his patrimony there only waiting for him to claim1 the girl to whom he had been engaged1 and whom her parents were1 they said1 still keeping unmarried in hopes that ,taib would recant and claim her--all these old scenes and ideas came to him with such irresistible force that he came to me one day and asked for a month's leave1 that he might revisit his village4 ,i well knew the dangers to which he would be exposed1 but ,i sympathized with his homesick state of mind1 and knew it would be futile to expect him to stifle it1 so ,i gave him leave1 and1 warning him of the specious nature of the suggestions and temptations which would be offered to him there1 reluctantly parted from him4 ,at the same time ,i told him that if he did not return at the expiration of the month1 ,i should conclude that something was wrong1 and go in search of him4 ,the month passed1 and ,taib did not appear1 so ,i started for ,peshawur1 and thence to ,thandkoi1 to get news of him4 ,i took as my companion ,azizuddin1 an ,afghan1 who but for his conversion to ,christianity would have been a distinguished ,mullah1 but now was a simple mission catechist4 ,it was a long walk of about seventeen miles from the station to the village1 and we were caught in a tropical thunderstorm4 ,watercourses that had been all but dry an hour before were now surging up to our armpits1 and could only be forded with difficulty4 ,we reached the village like drowned rats1 and the people were kind to us and dried our clothes and gave us breakfast2 but all inquiries as to ,taib ,khan were fruitless1 though someone indeed told us that he had gone to the ,akhund of ,swat in company with the ,khani ,mullah4 ,we had to return to ,peshawur after a bootless search4 ,a fortnight later1 while on tour in the ,kohat district1 news was brought me that ,taib was again in his village4 ,this time ,i took a convert from ,islam with the very ,muhammadan name of ,muhammad ,hosen4 ,though children born of ,christian parents are never given names distinctive of ,islam1 yet when converts have such names1 and are not desirous of changing them1 we do not advocate a change of name1 because we wish them to feel that the change is a spiritual and not a material one4 ,so ,muhammad ,hosen and ,i set off1 but resolved to proceed more warily than in my previous visit2 so1 instead of going straight into the village1 we sat down by a well outside the neighbouring town of ,zaida1 and my companion1 leaving me there1 went into the town to make inquiries4 ,zaida is a larger and more important place than ,thandkoi1 and contains many mosques1 while the overlord is a well-educated ,muhammadan nobleman1 an alumnus of the ,peshawur mission school4 ,he was led to believe that ,taib was secreted in one of the mosques there1 but would not be allowed to appear except perhaps at night4 ,he returned to me at the well1 and by this time it had become known who we were1 so there was less hope than ever of ,taib being allowed to show himself4 ,as evening drew on we made as though we would return to ,peshawur1 but on reaching the first village on the ,peshawur road ,i let my friend go on alone1 while ,i returned for a night quest4 ,at the same time ,i told him to wait for me till morning at the ferry over the ,kabul ,river1 fifteen miles distant4 ,i bound my turban over my face1 as is the custom with ,pathans when they wish to be incognito1 and1 throwing my lungi1 or shawl1 over all1 returned to ,zaida4 ,i entered the mosques one by one1 and finally discovered ,taib seated with some ,mullahs in one of them4 ,i was still far from the attainment of my object1 as to have made myself known to ,taib under such conditions would1 of course1 have been fatal2 so ,i betook myself to the chief of the village above mentioned4 ,he1 being in ,government service1 was away1 but his brother received me1 and ,i told him that ,i had reason to believe that ,taib ,khan was being kept there against his will1 and wished him to call the young man and inquire from him whether he wished to return to ,bannu with me or no4 ,the chief1 who had received me with the greatest good-nature1 even though he had been roused from his sleep for the purpose1 acceded to my request and sent a messenger to have ,taib and the other ,mullahs called4 ,taib was much astonished1 and apparently ashamed too1 when he saw me2 but when the chief addressed him1 saying1 ,do you wish to stop here as a ,muhammadan or return with the ,padre ,sahib8 he at once replied3 ,i will go with the ,padre ,sahib4 ,there was a great clamour from the ,mullahs1 on the one hand urging ,taib not to leave1 and reviling him when he persisted1 and on the other insisting to the chief that ,taib was really a true ,muhammadan1 and did not want to go1 but the eye of the ,padre ,sahib had a mesmeric influence on him1 and he should not1 as a true ,mussulman himself1 allow ,taib to go away with me4 ,both ,taib and the chief1 however1 stood firm1 and the chief1 turning to me1 said3 ,now take him away with you1 and look better after him in the future2 but make haste1 and do not loiter on the way4 ,i will see that no one leaves the village for half an hour2 after that you must look out for yourselves4 ,i thanked him for his courtesy1 and ,taib and ,i wasted no time on the road1 and reached the ,kabul ,river at dawn1 just as ,muhammad ,hosen was about to cross over4 ,some years passed1 and ,taib ,khan became one of our valued mission workers1 and ,i hoped that he was mature and strong enough to stand any vicissitudes2 but often one finds that1 while a convert in his first enthusiasm will suffer much for the ,gospel's sake1 afterwards an inordinate idea of his own power and importance grows upon him1 and he falls a victim to the blandishments of false friends who seek his downfall4 ,so it turned out with ,taib ,khan3 he1 like most of the ,afghan converts1 would not have shrunk from martyrdom1 and1 in fact1 he had already undergone great hardships and sufferings for the ,gospel's sake4 ,he was put in joint charge with another ,indian ,christian of a rather remote dispensary4 ,the ,muhammadans of the place became very friendly1 and pointed out how needless it was for him to forsake his village1 his relations1 and the graves of his forefathers just because he wished to be a ,christian2 let him be a ,christian if he liked--it was no doubt written in his fate that he should be so--but let him go and live in his village4 ,with the knowledge that he had acquired of medicine he could easily earn enough to support himself and his wife and child1 and besides that he could claim the piece of land that was his by right1 if he took the trouble to prove his title to it4 ,then followed a spiritual decline4 ,hypercritical objections to ,christianity1 which had never troubled him before1 were made into excuses for returning more and more to his original ,muhammadan position4 ,finally he went to live in his village1 conforming himself outwardly at least to the ,muhammadan standard1 though1 no doubt1 professing in some respects still to have an attachment to the ,christian religion4 ,who is to judge8 ,even through perverts ,christian doctrine continues to permeate the great mass of ,islam1 and ,god will undoubtedly bring back ,his own at the last4 ,so1 undeterred by seeming failure1 we work and pray on1 leaving the result with ,him who knows the hearts of men4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,school-,,work ,different views of educational work--,the changed attitude of the ,mullahs--,his ,majesty the ,amir and education--,dangers of secular education--,the mission hostel--,india emphatically religious--,indian schoolboys contrasted with ,english schoolboys--,school and marriage--,advantage of personal contact--,uses of a swimming-tank--,an unpromising scholar--,unwelcome discipline--,a ward of court--,morning prayers--,an ,afghan ,university--,a cricket-match--,an exciting finish--,a sad sequel--,an officer's funeral--,a contrast--,just in time4 ,there are four attitudes towards educational work3 that of the people at large1 who desire learning1 not usually for learning's sake1 but because that is the portal of ,government preferment and commercial success2 that of the priests and religious-conservative element1 who oppose it tooth and nail as subversive of the old religious ideas and priestly power2 that of the missionary1 who finds therein his vantage-ground for familiarizing the intelligent and influential section of the people with the doctrines and ideals of the ,christian religion2 and that of the ,government1 which1 indifferent alike to the motives of the missionary and the opposition of the ,mullahs1 requires educated young men for administrative posts1 and believes that education eclipses fanaticism4 ,any parent sending his son to the mission school will be excommunicated was the fatwa of the ,mullahs at ,bannu when the mission school was inaugurated2 the delinquent would be unable to get priestly assistance for marriage1 for burial1 or for the other rites so essential to a ,muhammadan's religious safety4 ,but parents and boys alike were desirous of availing themselves of the advantages of the school1 so the ,mullahs relented1 and said3 ,let the boys go to school1 but beware lest they learn ,english1 for ,english is the language of infidelity1 and will certainly destroy their souls4 ,but without ,english all the best ,government appointments were unattainable1 and their boys would have to be content with inferior posts and inferior pay2 so pressure was again brought to bear on the ,mullahs1 and the fiat went forth3 ,let the boys read ,english1 so long as they do not read the ,christian ,scriptures1 for the ,christians have tampered with those books1 and it is no longer lawful for true ,muhammadans to read them4 ,again a little patience and a little gaining of confidence1 and the ,mullahs tacitly retracted this restriction too1 and now many of the most prominent ,mullahs themselves send their sons to the mission school4 ,the ,muhammadan lads compete zealously with the others for the ,scripture prizes1 and in #aijg two ,muhammadan officials gave prizes to be awarded to the boys who were most proficient in ,scripture in the matriculation class4 ,sic tempora mutantur6 ,a significant occurrence was the visit of ,his ,majesty the ,amir of ,afghanistan to the ,islamic ,college at ,lahore1 when he made a speech1 in which he reiterated the advice3 ,acquire knowledge6 acquire knowledge6 acquire knowledge6 and went on to say that if they had been previously well grounded in their religion they need not fear lest the study of ,western science might overthrow their beliefs or undermine their faith4 ,thus most of the ,muhammadan boys in our school have already studied the ,quran in a mosque1 and many continue to receive religious teaching from their ,mullah while studying in school4 ,thus they enter school at an older age than the ,hindu students1 who1 except in family life1 take little count of their religion1 and slight their priests4 ,the danger is obvious3 faith in the old order is lost1 and there is nothing but a conceited and bumptious materialism to take its place4 ,here it is that the mission school holds the advantage of the ,government institution4 ,the latter1 in the endeavour to be impartial1 excludes all religious teaching1 and therewith loses the most valuable means of moral training4 ,the mission school1 on the other hand1 gives special prominence to religious and moral training1 which go hand-in-hand4 ,i prefer sending my son to the mission school1 said a ,muhammadan father to me once1 because he will be taught the religious incentives to moral conduct there1 and ,i shall not be afraid of his character losing its moral balance4 ,and this was said by a man thoroughly orthodox and zealous in his own religion4 ,there can be no doubt that a far smaller proportion of the students in mission schools and colleges lose the religious instinct of their forefathers1 and it is often the loss of this which results in moral instability and ruin4 ,i never took an interest in studying my own religion till ,i was taught ,scripture in the mission school1 said a pupil to me2 and1 of course1 we encourage the boys not only to perform the religious duties inculcated by their own religion1 but to study it thoughtfully1 and see how far it satisfies the aspirations of their souls4 ,a visitor to our school hostel of an early morning would find the ,muhammadans saying their prayers and the ,hindus their devotions1 and we encourage this1 and give facilities for it by setting apart places for its performance1 because it is a terrible thing to take away a boy's faith1 even though it be a faith in a mistaken creed1 and ,i think the man who has argued or bantered a young fellow out of his faith without bringing him to a higher faith has incurred a grave responsibility4 ,the real enemy of the ,christian faith is not so much ,islam or ,hinduism1 but infidelity and a gross materialism4 ,it is not education that is to blame for the unrest1 sedition1 and materialism which threatens to engulf ,india1 but the ,government system of education has undoubtedly much to answer for4 ,god is ignored in ,government schools1 prayer is proscribed1 and the teachings of ,english socialistic and materialistic philosophers are poured into the capacious but untrained minds of the students4 ,the result is mental intoxication and libertinism4 ,india has always been religious to the core1 and learning and religion have gone hand-in-hand4 ,the result of their divorce is destructive to moral stability1 and the ,nemesis of the policy will pursue the country for years1 even if1 as is to be hoped1 the policy itself be discontinued4 ,when ,i first went to ,india ,i had a prejudice against mission schools1 and protested against a medical missionary having to superintend one2 but ,i have become convinced that the hope of ,india is in her mission colleges and schools1 for it is in their alumni that we find young men who have been able to acquire ,western knowledge without losing the religious spirit1 learning without moral atrophy1 mental nobility without a conceited mien and disrespect for their parents1 and breadth of view without disloyalty and sedition4 ,i should like to see the ,government close all their schools and colleges except those for primary and technical education1 and devote the money saved to the encouragement of private effort on lines more germane to the spirit of the country4 ,the ,indian student is an attractive personality and well worth sympathetic study1 for he is the future of the country in embryo4 ,the schoolboy has not yet lost the ancient ,indian respect1 even love1 of the pupil to the master1 and is therefore much more readily subjected to discipline than his ,english counterpart4 ,his chief failing is his incorrigible propensity to what is known in ,english schools as sneaking2 schoolboy honour and esprit de corps are being developed in mission schools1 but have very little basis on which to build4 ,please1 sir1 ,mahtab ,din has been pinching me4 ,shuja'at ',ali has stolen my book4 ,ram ,chand has spilt the ink on my copy-book4 ,if the master is willing to listen to tales of this kind1 he will get a continuous supply of them all day long4 ,there are few boys who are not ready1 by fair means or foul1 to use a master for paying off a grudge against a fellow-student1 and as the schemes are often deeply laid and the schemers very plausible1 the master has to be very much all there1 or1 on the plea of maintaining discipline1 he will be merely a tool in a personal quarrel4 ,once two or three of the senior students came to bring to me serious charges against the moral character of one of the junior masters4 ,they were prima facie well substantiated by witnesses1 but on further investigation it turned out that the whole affair had been engineered merely because the master had broken up an undesirable clique of theirs4 ,such habits have1 of course1 to be sternly repressed4 ,there is much greater diversity in the social status of the boys in an ,indian school than in ,english schools4 ,in the ,bannu ,mission ,school every class of the community is represented--from the son of the rich landowner to that of the labourer1 from the ,brahmin to the outcast--and not only do they get on well together1 without the poor boy having to feel by taunt or treatment that he is unwelcome or despised1 but ,i have often come across genuine acts of charity which have been done quite naturally and without any ostentation2 in fact1 they tried to keep it secret in more cases than one4 ,thus1 a poor boy1 unable to buy his books1 has had them supplied to him by the richer boys in the class4 ,in one case a poor boy was left quite destitute by the death of his father1 and some of the boys arranged a small subscription month by month to enable him to remain at school4 ,the ,bannu school course commences in the infant class1 where little toddles of five summers sit on grass-mats and learn their alphabet1 to the big lads of eighteen in the fifth form1 who are preparing for the matriculation of the ,punjab ,university4 ,visitors are sometimes surprised to be told that many of the boys in this class are married and have children1 but such is unfortunately still the case4 ,at one time even much younger boys married1 but a school law was passed that any pupil marrying under the age of sixteen would be expelled4 ,since then some twenty or more boys have had to leave because their parents1 usually much against the boys' will1 insisted on getting them married below this age4 ,but many marriages have been postponed1 and there is a healthier public feeling against early marriage1 and we hope that before long there will be no married boys in the school at all4 ,i place great importance on the influence of the school hostels4 ,these are the boarding-houses where those students whose homes are in the remoter parts of the district reside1 and the contrast between our raw material1 the uncouth1 prejudiced village lad1 and the finished product1 the gentlemanly1 affectionate student who is about to leave us1 is an object-lesson in itself4 ,the boarders1 though comparatively few in number1 are really the nucleus of the school1 and take a prominent part in matches and in school life in general quite out of proportion to their numbers4 ,the missionary is constantly in contact with them1 and they come to him at all seasons1 till the relationship is more like that of a father to his family than of a master to his students4 ,such students leave the hostel with friendly feelings towards ,christians and ,englishmen1 which show themselves in after-years in the hospitable and hearty reception which they accord not only to the missionary1 but to others who may be visiting their village4 ,there is a swimming-tank attached to the hostel1 and the boys bathe every morning except in the coldest winter months1 when they bathe at the well1 where the water is several degrees warmer4 ,woe betide the boy who is found asleep after sunrise6 for should the manager come round and find him so1 he is hauled out by two of the monitors1 who1 seizing him by hands and feet1 toss him far into the swimming-tank before he quite knows whether he is dreaming or awake4 ,a similar punishment is inflicted on a boy using foul language1 who is thrown in1 clothes and all1 for purification from its stain4 ,at one time visitors often got opportunities of seeing the punishment inflicted1 but it is getting rarer now as the standard rises4 ,a strange fragment of frontier boyhood was ,amal ,khan4 ,he was brought down to us from ,afghanistan by a friendly ,sardar1 who had taken an interest in him4 ,he was only about eleven years old1 but his father and most of his family had been killed in vendettas1 and his ruling passion was to grow big and strong1 buy a rifle1 and go in quest of the murderers or their relatives4 ,his gentle little face and winsome manner seemed so out of keeping with the cold bloodthirstiness of the remarks he used to make with the greatest navet that he was looked on as a kind of curiosity4 ,later on1 when he had made some acquaintance with ,scripture1 he used to like to hear the ,gospel stories of the gentleness of ,jesus--the ,good ,shepherd1 the miracles of compassion1 the parable of the ,good ,samaritan1 and such like2 but even then the passion for revenge seemed to dominate his little breast1 and he finally went back to his village across the ,afghan border in order to apply himself more seriously to the object of his fate4 ,once a well-to-do ,afghan brought down his three sons to place them in our hostel1 and told me ,i might use any means ,i liked to discipline them1 short of shooting them4 ,he had evidently found them too much of a handful himself4 ,they had been accustomed to run wild in a wild country1 and any idea of sitting still in a classroom to learn lessons seemed to have never entered their heads4 ,they seemed so accustomed to the use of knife and revolver that the other boys1 ,afghans though they were1 came to ask me to take precautions for their safety4 ,finally1 when ,i had to discipline them1 and that was not before very long1 they all three disappeared1 and ,i never saw them till1 some years later1 ,i visited their village4 ,once a ,government civilian wrote asking me to take a young ward of court into my hostel4 ,the account of him was not promising1 as1 though only sixteen1 he had been turned out of two schools for misconduct4 ,his family was of noble ,afghan descent1 but had been bereft of most of its male members owing to the wretched blood-feuds1 and this boy was now the head of the family4 ,hoping to be able yet to save him and to make him a power for good instead of for evil1 as he must by his position become one or other1 ,i consented1 and a day was appointed for his admission4 ,the day passed1 but the boy did not appear4 ,i then got a letter from the officer responsible for him1 saying that as he had just murdered his younger brother1 the hope of his schooling must be abandoned4 ,some of the masters of the little ,government primary schools in the more remote parts lead very unenviable lives1 especially if they happen to be ,hindus4 ,their pupils often defy their authority1 and they are afraid to chastise them4 ,i have myself seen a boy allowed to sit in class with a loaded revolver in his belt4 ,the unwillingness of the master to enforce his authority is excusable1 yet1 had he complained1 he would merely have lost his place and his pittance4 ,on another occasion ,i came upon a poor ,hindu schoolmaster in a certain village who was about to send in his resignation4 ,he had punished a boy for playing truant1 and the father had just been round with a loaded rifle and dared him to touch his son again4 ,in the mission school the work of the day commences with roll-call1 at which a portion of ,scripture is read by the headmaster1 and the ,lord's ,prayer repeated4 ,during the latter the boys have to stand4 ,they do not object to this1 but ,i remember once a ,hindu boy being accused of having become a ,christian because he had shut his eyes and folded his hands during the prayer4 ,he told me that many of the boys really joined in the prayer1 and certainly they have got to value and appreciate prayer4 ,on a ,sunday evening the boarders come to my house to sing hymns from ,sacred ,songs and ,solos and vernacular collections1 and if ,i omit to offer the usual prayer at the close1 they remind me of the omission2 they do not wish to go away without it4 ,once1 at a cricket-match with a rival school1 when the issue of the game was hanging in the balance1 and depended on the last man1 who had just gone in1 making four runs1 a ,muhammadan ,afghan1 one of the eleven1 retired to a corner of the field and repeated the ,lord's ,prayer1 closing it with a petition for the victory of the school1 and returned to find the winning run just made6 ,at meetings of the schoolboys among themselves it is not uncommon for prayer to be offered by one of the number1 and at a farewell dinner given me in #aijh by some pupils a very beautiful and touching prayer was offered by an old ,hindu student1 now reading in the ,lahore ,medical ,college1 and all the other ,muhammadans1 ,hindus1 and ,christians stood up for it4 ,missionaries were the first to open schools on modern lines1 but at the present time ,muhammadans1 ,hindus1 and ,sikhs are endowing their own schools and colleges on the most lavish scale1 and teaching their own religions therein1 just as the mission schools teach ,christianity4 ,this certainly has many advantages over the ,government system1 where religion is ignored4 ,his ,majesty the ,amir of ,afghanistan is alive to the necessity of keeping up with the times1 and is founding a college on modern lines at ,kabul1 which will be the first step towards the foundation of an ,afghan ,university4 ,during his recent visit to ,india he selected a number of trained ,muhammadan graduates from ,lahore and elsewhere1 who are to inaugurate the new scheme4 ,he will1 no doubt1 encounter the opposition of some of the more fanatical ,mullahs1 who already look upon him as having been contaminated with many ,western and heretical ideas2 but the ultimate result will be good1 and the attempt shows that even for ,afghanistan a new era is approaching4 ,perhaps it may not be long before a mission school at ,kabul will receive the royal sanction4 ,the following episode ,i relate in this place because it shows the striking contrast between the uneducated ghazi fanatic of the hills and young men of the same race and antecedents who have passed through the humanizing and civilizing influences of a mission school4 ,it is a lovely autumn afternoon in the little frontier town of ,bannu4 ,the trees round the recreation-ground between the city and cantonments are becoming sere and showing variegated tints of yellow and brown4 ,there is an unusual crowd round the greensward which forms the station cricket-pitch1 and as it is ,friday1 the ,bannu market-day1 a number of ,wazirs and other hillmen who are coming to and from market stop for a few minutes to gaze on the scene that lies before them1 and probably to wonder in their minds what mysterious ultimate object the ,feringis have in the evolutions they are watching enacted1 or whether it is some preliminary to military operations on their own hill fastnesses4 ,turning to the recreation-ground itself1 we find that it is a cricket-match between the garrison officers and the ,mission ,high ,school students4 ,the boys have been stealing a number of runs1 and their score is beginning to draw on towards a century1 when the officers put on a new slow bowler1 and a succession of unwary batsmen fall victims to his wiles1 and soon the innings is over with a score of eighty-eight4 ,the officers begin to bat1 and the score rises rapidly2 then some good catches send several players back to the pavilion 7here represented by some shady shisham-trees74 ,the score reaches eighty-eight1 and the last player goes in1 a young fair-haired boy1 the son of the slow bowler2 the winning run is made1 and the boy caught at point next ball1 and the innings is over4 ,just one week has passed4 ,again it is market-day1 but no tribesmen can be seen anywhere near the recreation-ground2 instead we see long lines of khaki-dressed native infantry1 while sentries and patrols guard all the roads leading thereto1 and all is silent as the grave4 ,then we see a long procession slowly1 silently moving out of the fort1 long ranks of native infantry--,sikh1 ,pathan1 and ,punjabi ,mussulmans--with slow1 measured tread and arms reversed2 then a gun-carriage surmounted by a coffin covered with the ,union ,jack and wreaths1 the masterless steed1 the mourners2 a group of sunburnt officers of the ,frontier ,force and some more troops bring up the rear4 ,it is the funeral of a distinguished frontier officer1 and the slow bowler of last ,friday1 now borne to his last resting-place1 the victim of a dastardly ghazi outrage the day before4 ,just facing the cricket-ground is a shady and flowery patch of ground1 enclosed by a simple brick wall and containing a number of white tombstones4 ,here lie many gallant officers1 military and civil--some killed in action2 others1 like the present ,captain ,donaldson1 killed by religious fanatics in ,bannu and the neighbourhood while in the execution of their duties2 others1 again1 carried off by pestilence and disease4 ,here1 too1 in lowlier grass-grown graves1 lie a number of the native ,christian community4 ,east and ,west1 high and low1 all gathered in one small plot1 covered with the same ,mother ,earth to await their common resurrection--so glorious in its expectations for some1 so dread in its possibilities for others4 ,here1 just facing the now deserted cricket-ground1 the long procession halts2 the chaplain1 just arrived after a hasty drive of ninety miles from ,dera ,ismal ,khan1 begins to recite the solemn verses of the ,burial ,service1 and the booted and spurred officers do their last brotherly service and shoulder their comrade's coffin from the gun-carriage to the grave4 ,the strains of the ,last ,post sound forth--a shrill call to the sombre mountains round as the last rays of the setting sun fall slanting through the foliage on the faces of the mourners2 some sharp words of command ring forth from a native officer2 the troops wheel about1 and all is solitude and silence4 ,only the day before a new regiment was to arrive in ,bannu1 and1 as the custom is1 the station regiments were marching out with their band to welcome them in4 ,at the head of the regiment a group of officers were riding1 including the officer commanding the district1 ,colonel ,aylmer1 ,v4 ,c41 and his ,brigade-,major1 ,captain ,donaldson4 ,just beyond the fort the road narrows a little to pass over a culvert1 and the officer on the outside of ,captain ,donaldson fell back a little to make room for him4 ,behind that culvert a ,mahsud ,wazir was in hiding1 determined to kill an infidel and gain a martyrdom in the most sensational manner possible1 so that for many an evening in years to come the tribal bards might sing his praises round the camp-fires and in the village chauks4 ,just as ,captain ,donaldson1 now on the outside rank1 came abreast of him1 he sprang out2 a pistol shot rang through the air1 and the officer fell mortally wounded4 ,there was1 of course1 no escape for the ,mahsud2 bullet and bayonet at once disabled him1 though he lived long enough to be hanged that afternoon4 ,our first feelings are those of horror at the enormity of the act--killing a stranger who has never seen or injured him--but who is worthy of our severer judgment1 this young and ignorant soldier 7for he had recently served in the ,border ,militia71 thirsting for religious fame by a deed of daring1 or the ,muhammadan priest who had assiduously taught him that all ,feringis were kafirs1 and that to kill one of them1 in no matter how dastardly a manner1 was a sure passport to ,paradise1 and that eternal joys were awaiting him as the reward of the valour and righteousness of his deed8 ,here1 at any rate1 we see the two extremes--the gentlemanly ,afghan from the mission school1 entering with zest and sport into the game of cricket with the officers1 and1 so far from feeling any resentment towards them1 ready1 if need be1 to fight with them shoulder to shoulder in the common cause of humanity1 under the same flag1 and defend them with their own blood from the fanaticism of their fellow-countrymen2 on the other hand1 the fanatical tool of the ,mullah1 who quails before his ex-cathedr denunciations1 but is ready at his suggestion to meet a bloody death as a martyr in the cause of his religion4 ,as an example of the former1 ,i might mention ,muzaffar ,khan1 an old student of the ,bannu ,mission ,school1 who risked his life to save that of the ,political ,officer of the ,tochi ,valley1 with whom he was on tour4 ,while that officer was viewing a ,muhammadan shrine a fanatic rushed out and ran a dagger into his body2 but1 quick as thought1 ,muzaffar ,khan threw himself on the would-be murderer and dragged him back before he had been able to inflict a fatal wound4 ,the ghazi was secured and hanged soon after1 while the officer recovered1 the stab having just missed a vital part1 although it had pierced right through his body4 ,yet1 but for the mission school1 ,muzaffar ,khan might have been the ghazi himself4 ,race and religion were the same1 but their environments had been different4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,an ,,afghan ,,football ,,team ,native sport--,tent-pegging--,a novel game--,a football tournament--,a victory for ,bannu--,increasing popularity of ,english games--,a tour through ,india--,football under difficulties--,welcome at ,hyderabad--,an unexpected defeat--,matches at ,bombay and ,karachi--,riots in ,calcutta--,an unprovoked assault--,the ,calcutta police-court--,reparation--,home again4 ,the reader must imagine himself on a flat open piece of ground covered by the hard alluvial earth known in the ,panjab as pat4 ,this kind of earth is somewhat saline1 and has a universally smooth surface1 unbroken by grass or shrub1 which is utilized by the villagers for their games and fairs1 and by the ,british for the evolutions of their troops4 ,around are a number of ,bannu villages1 but the men and children have all collected round this piece of ground in their gala-day attire1 for it is the ,day of the ,feast1 ',id-el-fitr1 or the ,breaking of the ,fast1 following the month of ,ramazan1 and is to be celebrated as usual by sports and merry-making4 ,all the men who own or can borrow a horse are mounted upon steeds of all descriptions1 more or less richly caparisoned1 according to the ability of the owner4 ,saddles are of the high-backed pattern universally used in ,afghanistan1 with a long wooden croup1 which helps the rider to retain his seat4 ,they are all carrying the long bamboo iron-tipped lance for their national sport of tent-pegging1 or nezabazi1 as the ,afghans call it4 ,some of the boys who are there as spectators are mounted two or even three on a horse1 and others1 mounted on riding camels1 are able to get a good view of the games over the heads of the others4 ,the pegs1 cut out of the wood of the date-palm1 are fixed in the ground1 three or four abreast1 so that an equal number of horsemen may be able to compete simultaneously4 ,the competitors1 with their embroidered turbans and gay1 many-coloured coats and shawls1 form a brave show at one end of the course1 as they pass the intervening time in showing off feats of horsemanship on their prancing chargers4 ,then1 at a given word1 three or four strike their heels into the horses' sides--for they wear no spurs--and as often as not rousing their own excitement and that of their horses by shouting out the ,muhammadan ,kalimah 7,la ilaha illa 'llahu1 ,muhammadun rasulu 'llah71 career wildly down on the pegs1 and1 if successful1 gallop on triumphantly1 waving the peg at the end of their lances4 ,this goes on till men and horses are weary1 and then a new game commences4 ,this is known as tod or kari4 ,the people form a large circle2 then some young athlete1 stripped except for his loin-cloth1 tied tightly round1 or secured by a leather waistband1 jumps lightly out into the arena1 his muscular frame showing to advantage as he contracts his muscles under his glossy1 well-oiled skin4 ,two other athletes1 similar in attire and appearance1 answer his challenge from the party on the opposite side4 ,the endeavour of the challenger is to avoid capture1 while yet allowing the pursuers to come near enough for him to give them at least three slaps with the open hand2 while the pursuers in their turn try to seize him and throw him on to the ground1 in which case they are adjudged the winners1 and a fresh challenger comes forth4 ,both sides are apt to get very excited1 and the throws are often so violent that bones are broken1 or other injuries received2 and if that side believes this to be due to malice prepense1 the game not unfrequently terminates in a free fight4 ,these amusements and games go on until nightfall1 when they may be followed by some fireworks1 and competitors and spectators1 both equally wearied1 go home to their feast of pulao and halwa4 ,such scenes have no doubt been common in ,afghanistan for centuries past1 but the reader must now come with me to a different scene1 and he will see how ,western influences are changing even the sports of the people4 ,this time we are in a large grassy sward between ,bannu city and the cantonments4 ,there is a crowd1 as before1 of some thousands of spectators1 but the football goal-posts and flags show that the game is something different4 ,it is the day of the provincial tournament of all the schools of the province1 and teams of the various frontier schools from ,peshawur1 ,kohat1 ,dera ,ismal ,khan1 as well as those of ,bannu1 have collected here to pit their skill and prowess against one another in games and athletics4 ,the referee1 an ,english officer from the garrison1 has blown his whistle1 and the youthful champions come out1 amid the cheers of their supporters1 from the opposite sides of the ground4 ,the ,bannu team are somewhat smaller in stature1 and are wearing a uniform of the school colours--pink shorts and light blue shirts4 ,the ,peshawur team are heavier in build1 and are wearing their blue-and-black uniform4 ,the referee blows his whistle again1 and both sides are exerting all their powers to reach their adversaries' goal4 ,as the ball travels up and down1 and the chances of one or other side appear in the ascendant1 the cheers from their supporters redouble1 and as goals are attempted and gained or lost the excitement of all the spectators is not less than may be witnessed at a similar match in ,england4 ,the captain of the ,bannu side is a native ,christian1 whose father is a convert from ,muhammadanism2 but the other ,muhammadans and ,hindus in his team are loyal to him to the backbone1 and carry out his every order with that alacrity which displays the new esprit de corps which has developed in our mission schools4 ,on his outside left is a young ,hindu1 who carries the ball past the opposing half-backs and backs right up to the corner1 from which he centres with great skill to the captain4 ,the captain is1 however1 being marked by the other opposing back1 so he passes to a ,muhammadan lad on his inside right1 and then the whole line of forwards--,muhammadan1 ,hindu1 and ,christian--rush the ball through the goal1 amid the triumphant cheers of their side4 ,the game is restarted1 and ,peshawur makes a number of desperate rallies and skilful rushes1 which1 however1 are all foiled by the vigilance of the ,bannu backs and the agility of the goal-keeper1 a tall ,muhammadan lad1 whose weight and height both tell in his favour4 ,once one of the ,peshawur forwards brought the ball right up to the mouth of the goal4 ,the ,bannu custodian seized it1 but the ,peshawari was upon him4 ,the goal-keeper held the ball securely1 awaited the charge of the ,peshawari1 who bounded back off him as from a wall1 and then cleared the ball with his fist far up the field to the ,bannu left half4 ,the whistle for time is sounded1 and the ,bannu boys rush into the field and carry off their victorious schoolfellows shoulder high1 amid great clapping and cheering4 ,the next day the final cricket-match is held4 ,in this the ,dera ,ismal ,khan boys are pitted against one of the ,peshawur teams4 ,peshawur has already defeated ,bannu and ,kohat1 and the ,dera ,ismal ,khan boys have disposed of the other ,peshawur team4 ,all the technicalities of the game are observed with as much punctiliousness as in ,england1 and their white flannels show off well under the bright ,indian sun1 and but for their dark faces and bare feet one might imagine that he was watching a public school match in ,england4 ,to-day the laurels rest with ,dera ,ismal ,khan1 and they triumphantly bear off a belt with silver shields awarded annually to the winning team4 ,the old order changes and gives place to the new4 ,tent-pegging will always retain its charm1 with its brave show and splendid opportunities for the display of manly courage and dextrous horsemanship1 so dear to a militant nation like the ,afghans1 and will always remain their favourite pastime4 ,but the simpler native games are gradually giving place to the superior attractions of cricket and football1 and the tournaments which of recent years have been organized between the various native regiments and between the different tribes inhabiting each district and between the schools of the provinces are doing much to create a spirit of friendly rivalry1 and to develop among these frontier people a fascination for those sports which have done so much to make ,england what she is4 ,some tribes among the ,afghans1 such as the ,marwats1 are very stay-at-home1 and soon become homesick if they enlist in a regiment or undertake a journey4 ,others1 like the ,povindahs1 are perhaps the greatest overland merchants of the ,east4 ,they travel down from their mountains in ,khorasan1 through the passes in the ,north-,west ,frontier1 and traverse with their merchandise the length and breadth of ,india1 and numbers of them engaged in the trade in camels cross over the seas to ,australia and take service there4 ,with the idea of developing the esprit de corps of the school1 and gratifying their love of travel1 while at the same time conferring on them the benefits of a well-planned educational tour through the chief cities of ,india1 ,i arranged in the summer of #aijf to take the football team of the ,mission ,high ,school at ,bannu on a tour through a great part of ,northern ,india4 ,a number of colleges and schools from ,calcutta to ,karachi not only accepted our challenge for football matches1 but offered us hospitality for such time as we should be in their town4 ,our team represented all classes--,muhammadans1 ,hindus1 native ,christians1 and ,sikhs4 ,the captain of the team was an ,afghan lad of the ,khattak tribe1 ,shah ,jahan ,khan by name1 while the vice-captain was a native ,christian1 ,james ,benjamin4 ,various difficulties presented themselves1 but all were eventually successfully surmounted4 ,stress of work and school duties compelled us to make the tour in the slacker time of the year--viz41 in ,july1 ,august1 and ,september4 ,this was also the hottest time in most of the places we visited1 and some of the matches were played in a temperature bordering on #ajj ,f41 while the spectators were sitting under punkahs4 ,at this time of year the ,river ,indus is in full flood1 and presents a remarkable sight as1 bursting forth from its rocky defile at ,kalabagh1 it spreads out over the flat alluvial plain of the ,western ,panjab4 ,in the winter it may be confined to one1 two1 or three channels1 each about one to four hundred yards wide2 but in the early summer1 swollen by the melting snows of the ,himalayas1 it overflows its banks1 and not infrequently forms a wide expanse of water ten miles broad from bank to bank4 ,at such a time the villages1 which are built on the more raised areas of its bed1 appear as little islands scattered here and there1 the people of which get to and from the mainland in their boats4 ,it is then that the tonga1 or cart1 has often to be dragged over miles of submerged road1 with water from one to three feet deep1 before it reaches the place where it is able to transfer its passengers and burden to the ferry-boats1 which are waiting to carry them across the deeper portions of the river1 and it may be that several changes from boat to cart and cart to boat have to be made before the traveller attains the farther shore1 where is the railway-station and the train waiting to carry him down to ,karachi or up to ,lahore4 ,in our case1 after getting across the main stream in the ferry-boat1 we put our luggage into two carts1 and1 removing our superfluous clothing1 started to trudge through the inundated country to the station of ,darya ,khan1 on the eastern bank4 ,sometimes there was a quarter of a mile or so of fields not yet submerged2 sometimes the water was up to our knees or hips for miles together1 and in one place there was a deep channel about one hundred yards wide1 where a ferry-boat was in readiness for the luggage1 but we enjoyed having a swim across4 ,two of the team1 who were less practised swimmers1 and had miscalculated the strength of the current1 found themselves being carried rapidly down the stream2 but just as some of those who had already gained the opposite bank were about to return to the rescue1 they found their feet on a sandbank1 and were able to struggle across4 ,the thirteen miles across the swollen river took us from nine in the morning till four in the afternoon1 though it must be admitted we loitered several times to enjoy a swim in the cool waters of the deeper channels4 ,we found1 too1 that the football season differs in various places4 ,while ,calcutta plays football in ,july and ,august1 ,karachi plays from ,december to ,march1 and ,bombay in the spring4 ,however1 even those colleges which were not in their actual football season sportingly agreed to get up matches during our visit4 ,in no place did we find greater enthusiasm among the colleges and schools for football and a more open-handed hospitality than in ,hyderabad1 the capital of the ,nizam's ,government1 and here our team experienced their first defeat in this tour4 ,we had had thirty hours' travelling from ,ahmadnagar1 in the ,north1 and the stations on this line were so ill supplied with refreshments that we had been unable to get anything except some biscuits and sweets1 and1 arriving at ,hyderabad at midday1 we found the match had been fixed for #d p4m41 so that the team had only time for a hastily-prepared meal before the match4 ,the college of the ,nizam put a strong team against us1 and for the first time in the tour the ,bannu boys were distinctly outmatched4 ,it was1 however1 nice to see what good feeling was evinced by both teams in this and nearly all the matches of the tour1 both sides fraternizing with the greatest bonhomie both before and after the matches1 and friendships were made which continued long after our team got back to ,bannu4 ,tours such as this undoubtedly tend to promote that feeling of friendship and union between the races of various parts of ,india which has hitherto been so little in evidence4 ,it also tends to widen sympathies and to lessen religious prejudices4 ,not only did the members of our team sink the prejudices which might have arisen from diversity of religious opinion1 but our hosts1 too1 represented all classes and faiths4 ,thus1 in ,hyderabad the organizer of hospitality was a ,christian missionary1 the ,rev4 ,canon ,goldsmith4 ,a house was lent us for residence by a ,parsi gentleman1 and dinners were given us by the ,muhammadans of the place4 ,further south the ,hindus were more in evidence1 and entertained us royally at ,bezwada and ,masulipatam4 ,in the latter place we were the guests of the staff of the ,noble ,college1 belonging to the ,church ,missionary ,society1 and here an amusing incident took place4 ,the boys in these parts are accustomed to play football with bare feet1 and are light1 lithe1 and wiry1 while our ,northerners were heavy1 big-boned1 and wore the usual football boots2 so it came about that when they saw our team arrive1 their hearts melted within them for fear1 and they refused to play unless our boys consented to play barefooted2 and this they refused to do1 as they had had no practice in playing like that4 ,it seemed as though we should have to go away without a match1 but a missionary there had a boarding-house of ,christian lads of the district1 and these sportingly declared that they were ready to play4 ,both teams appeared at the appointed time amid a great concourse of spectators4 ,the ,bannu boys1 with their football boots1 looked much the heavier team2 but the ,telegu boys proved themselves much the more nimble1 and outran and ran round our boys time after time1 and as the ,bannu boys played very cleanly and were careful not to hack1 they did not suffer from want of boots2 but1 on the other hand1 several of our boys took off theirs at half-time1 hoping thereby to become as nimble as their antagonists4 ,they1 however1 lost by one goal to love1 amid the greatest excitement4 ,the teams which had refused to play were now most importunate in begging us to stop for other matches1 but as we were engaged for a match next day at ,guntur it could not be done4 ,with one exception1 our ,afghans had never seen the sea1 and they were all greatly desirous of making its acquaintance4 ,i accordingly arranged for the journey from ,karachi to ,bombay to be on one of the ,british ,india steamers which ply between those two ports4 ,it was the height of the ,july monsoon1 and they had not realized what their request entailed4 ,there was a strong wind on our beam the whole of our forty hours' journey1 and the little steamer ,kassara rolled continuously the whole time1 the billows sometimes breaking over her fore-deck4 ,all but three of them suffered the terrors of mal-de-mer in its worst form1 and earnestly wished that they had never been so rash as to dare the terrors of the ocean at such a time4 ,we arrived at ,bombay amid a torrential rain--a bedraggled1 dispirited1 and staggering crew4 ,it was pitch dark1 and it was only with some difficulty that we found our way to the ,money ,school of the ,church ,missionary ,society1 where we were to receive hospitality4 ,the shops were closed and the watchman asleep1 but after some delay we aroused him1 got some tea at a belated coffee-shop1 and lay down on the boards to wish for the morrow4 ,it rained almost continuously during our stay at ,bombay1 but we managed one match with the ,city ,club1 of which the following account appeared in the ,bombay ,gazette3 ,match between the ,bannu ,football ,team and the ,city ,club4 ,the visitors opened the attack last evening from the southern end of the ,oval1 and although the ,city ,club at times were pressed1 the game was more or less of an even nature4 ,the ,bannu combination was the first to score1 and soon after followed up with their second goal4 ,pulling themselves together1 the ,city ,club then made several good rushes1 and eventually succeeded in scoring4 ,soon after they annexed their second goal1 and equalized matters4 ,in the second half the game was intensely exciting1 as either side tried to get the winning goal4 ,the visitors had a warm time of it1 but eventually succeeded in getting their third goal4 ,a minute before the close of time1 however1 the ,city men equalized by a well-judged shot1 and the match thus ended in a draw of three goals each4 ,one of the best matches of the tour was with the ,y4,m4,c4,a4 of ,karachi1 which was thus described by the ,sindh ,gazette3 ,an interesting football match was played on ,tuesday evening last on the ,howard ,institute ground1 between the team of the ,y4,m4,c4,a4 and ,dr4 ,pennell's team of ,pathan boys from the ,c4,m4,s4 ,high ,school1 ,bannu4 ,the first goal was scored soon after the match began1 by a soft drive1 and was in favour of ,bannu4 ,almost immediately the ,y4,m4,c4,a4 equalized by ,bannu heading into their own goal during a mle from a corner kick4 ,soon afterwards the ,y4,m4,c4,a4 took the lead through a clever run up by ,wolfe1 who passed neatly to ,morton1 who netted with a neat shot4 ,on the whole play was very even till half-time1 when the ,y4,m4,c4,a4 led by two goals to one4 ,at half-time the ,y4,m4,c4,a4 lost the services of their outside right1 who retired on account of a weak knee4 ,bannu generally took the lead in attacking1 and scored twice again1 the last time from a stinging shot well up the field4 ,the ,bannu team played consistently1 and altogether without roughness4 ,we are glad to have seen them in ,karachi1 and wish them all success in the remainder of their tour4 ,from ,guntur we travelled north to ,calcutta1 where a series of matches had been arranged1 after which we had arranged a number of matches with the schools and colleges of the ,united ,provinces of ,agra and ,oudh1 and those of the ,panjab2 but an unforeseen and unaccountable misadventure brought our tour to a premature conclusion a few hours before the time fixed for our departure from ,calcutta4 ,it was the outcome of one of those waves of unrest which followed the outburst of the storm with which the ,bengalis exhibited their resentment at the partition of ,bengal4 ,the ,bengalis had organized a boycott of ,european goods1 and in the fervour of their campaign had placed a number of boy sentinels at the doors of the shops of those merchants who dealt in articles of ,western manufacture4 ,these were largely ,marwari merchants from the ,bombay ,presidency1 and they thought to relieve themselves of this wasp-like horde of boy sentinels by circulating the rumour that a number of ,panjabis and ,afghans had come down from the ,north to kidnap boys and children whom they could lay hands on4 ,this rumour was widely believed by the credulous mob of ,calcutta1 and1 all unknown to us1 who were ignorant even of the existence of the rumours1 our team had been pointed out as some of the probable kidnappers4 ,we had returned on the morning of ,august #bc1 #aijf1 from playing a number of matches in ,krishnagar1 and were to leave ,calcutta the same afternoon to play a match the following day at ,bhagalpur4 ,the team had broken up into two parties to get their breakfast in one of those eating shops which abound in the ,calcutta ,bazaar1 and ,i had gone along to ,howrah ,station to purchase the tickets4 ,it was a hot day1 and on my return ,i stopped at a refreshment shop in the ,harrison ,road1 near the ,church ,mission ,boarding-,house1 where we were stopping1 to get a glass of lemonade4 ,i was sitting quietly drinking it in the shop front1 when ,i noticed the whole bazaar was in an uproar4 ,the crowd was rushing to and fro1 and the shopkeepers were hurriedly putting up their shutters4 ,all ignorant of the fact that it was my own boys who were being attacked1 ,i quietly finished my glass and strolled back to our hostel1 thinking there was no reason why ,i should trouble myself about affairs of ,calcutta which did not concern me4 ,no sooner had ,i entered the gates of the compound when ,i saw one of our team--,rahim ,bakhsh--his face covered with blood1 and another one injured4 ,do you not know1 cried one1 that our boys have been murderously assaulted1 and perhaps killed8 ,where are they8 ,i hurriedly asked4 ,they are probably in the hospital by this time4 ,a cab was passing at the moment1 and ,i jumped in1 and drove off to the hospital4 ,running up into the casualty room1 ,i was horrified to find six of the team lying about with their clothes all torn and covered with blood and mud4 ,their heads had been shaved by the casualty dressers1 and were so cut and swollen that ,i could not recognize them all until ,i had spoken to them1 and then for the first time ,i learnt what had happened4 ,a party of nine had gone in a refreshment room1 and were having their breakfast4 ,meanwhile they noticed that a crowd of many hundreds had collected outside4 ,scarcely realizing that they were the cause of the crowd1 after finishing their meal1 they came out to return to the ,mission ,boarding-,house1 but were met by cries on all sides3 ,these are the kidnappers6 ,kill them6 kill them6 ,even now they did not understand the cause of the excitement1 but when they asked what it was all about1 and what was wanted from them1 they were only answered by derisive shouts and a shower of stones and brickbats4 ,before they had time to organize any resistance they were separated one from another1 in the midst of a raging mob1 who belaboured them with stones and sticks until they fell senseless in the street4 ,two only managed to escape--,rahim ,bakhsh1 whom ,i had met in the hostel1 and one other1 who had managed to get into a passing carriage4 ,five of them1 having been reduced to a state of insensibility1 were taken by the mob and thrown into a back alley1 where the blood from their wounds continued to flow and trickle down in a red stream into the street gutter4 ,one of them--,ganpat ,rai--was rescued by a friendly ,bengal gentleman1 who bundled him into his house and attended to his wounds1 and afterwards sent him under escort to the hospital4 ,another--,gurmukh ,das--was being belaboured by some ruffians while lying in the middle of the road1 when an ,english gentleman passed in his carriage4 ,naturally indignant at what he saw1 he jumped down and asked them what they thought themselves to be1 beating a senseless man in that way2 and if he had committed a crime1 why did they not take him to the police-station8 ,someone in the crowd called out1 ,this ,englishman is their officer3 let us kill him6 and1 leaving the boy1 they all set on him4 ,he defended himself for some time1 when some ruffian1 coming up behind1 turned a basket over his head1 and it would have gone hard with him had not some friendly natives pulled him into the ,ripon ,college1 which was close at hand4 ,we would fain have got away from ,calcutta as soon as the condition of the wounded enabled us to travel1 for the unaccustomed diet and climate was affecting the health of all of us2 but we found ourselves prisoners to the will of the ,government1 who required us to remain in ,calcutta as witnesses in the prosecution which the ,government was instituting1 and we had to spend day after day of weary waiting1 hanging about the police-courts of ,bow ,street ,bazaar4 ,the police had secured a number of men who had been shown to have taken part in the riot1 and most of these had secured barristers and pleaders for their defence2 consequently1 there was a formidable array of advocates on the side of the defence1 each one of whom thought it his duty to cross-examine each member of the team at tedious length1 and regardless of some of the questions having been asked us time after time by his brothers of the law4 ,the brow-beating and cross-examining which we had to undergo could not have been worse had we been the aggressors instead of the victims1 while the irrelevancy of the questions and the needless waste of time1 entailing constant postponement from day to day1 was exceedingly trying to us in our wounded and feeble condition1 only anxious to get back to our homes on the frontier4 ,the barristers and pleaders of the defence professed notwithstanding to be very sympathetic with us in our troubles1 and one and another would come up and say something like this3 ,we people of ,calcutta are most sorry for this very unfortunate occurrence4 ,no doubt most of the men in the dock are guilty1 and should be punished for so unwarranted an attack on innocent travellers1 but there is one man who has been arrested by some mistake of the police4 ,he had nothing to do with it1 and should be released1 because he is quite innocent4 ,as in each case the man arrested by mistake proved to be the one for which the barrister was holding a brief1 their protestations lost something of their force4 ,a more pleasant feature was the genuine sympathy shown by a certain section of the ,bengalis1 a sympathy which was voiced by the ,hon4 ,surendra ,nath ,bannerji1 who convened a public meeting1 in which he expressed the regrets of the ,calcutta citizens in an address which was presented to us in a silver casket4 ,at last the court1 taking pity on our uncomfortable condition1 consented to take our examination and cross-examination previous to that of the hundred and more witnesses which the defence were going to bring1 and which would have entailed some months' stay in ,calcutta1 had we been kept back to the end of the trial4 ,when we reached ,bannu we were honoured with a civic reception1 which went far to make up to the members of the team for the discomforts that they had undergone4 ,the ,civil ,officer of the district1 the ,municipal ,commissioners1 and a great number of the citizens1 met us with a band some few miles before reaching ,bannu1 and we were escorted in amid great rejoicings4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ',,alam ,,gul',s ,,choice ,a farmer and his two sons--,learning the ,quran--,a village school--,at work and at play--,the visit of the ,inspector--,pros and cons of the mission school from a native standpoint--,admission to ,bannu ,school--,new associations--,in danger of losing heaven--,first night in the boarding-house--,a boy's dilemma4 ,pir ,badshah was a well-to-do farmer of the ,bangash tribe1 not far from ,kohat1 and he had married a woman of the ,afridi tribe from over the border1 called ,margilarri1 or the ,pearl4 ,he had not to pay for her1 because it was arranged that his sister was to marry her brother1 and in cases where an exchange like this is made nothing further is required4 ,they had two sons1 ',alam ,gul and ,abdul ,majid4 ,the father intended that the elder should be educated1 and one day he hoped would become a great man1 perhaps ,tahsildar 7meaning ,revenue ,officer7 of the ,british ,government1 so he was going to give him the best education he could afford2 while ,abdul ,majid was to look after the lands and become a farmer1 for which it is not supposed that any education is necessary4 ,pir ,badshah was very orthodox and punctilious in all the observances of his religion1 so the two boys were not to learn anything else until they had sat at the feet of the village ,mullah1 and learnt to read the ,quran4 ,the mosque was a little building on the hillside4 ,it was built of stones cemented together with mud1 and in the centre was a little niche towards the setting sun1 where the ,mullah1 with his face towards ,mecca1 led the congregation in their prayers4 ,there was a wooden verandah1 the corners of which were ornamented with the horns of the markhor1 or mountain goat4 ,beyond this was the open court1 in which prayers were said when the weather was fine1 and either in this verandah or the courtyard ',alam ,gul and his brother used to sit at the feet of the old ,mullah1 reciting verses from the ,quran in a drawling monotone1 and swaying their bodies backwards and forwards in the way that all ,easterns learn to do from the cradle when reciting or singing4 ,when they had finished the ,quran and learnt the prayers and other essentials of the ,muhammadan religion1 ',alam ,gul was sent to the village school1 while ,abdul ,majid began to make himself useful on the farm4 ,he used to go out with his father's buffaloes to take them to pasture1 and sometimes he used to take his brother out for a ride on one of these ungainly animals4 ,then1 when the harvest was ripening1 a bed was fastened up at the top of four high poles1 and he had to sit all day on this to protect the crops from the birds4 ,for this purpose cords are fastened across the field up to the bed1 and oil-cans or other pieces of tin are fastened to them here and there1 so that as ,abdul ,majid had all the ends of the cords in his hands1 he could make a din in any part of the field where he wished to frighten away the birds1 and sometimes was able to take half a dozen home for the evening meal4 ',alam ,gul1 on the other hand1 was being initiated into the mysteries of the ,hindustani language and of arithmetic4 ,the school was a little mud building in the centre of the village1 and the schoolmaster was a ,muhammadan from the ,panjab1 who found himself rather uncomfortable in the midst of these frontier ,pathans1 whose language seemed to him so uncouth and their habits so barbarous4 ,his meagre salary of ten rupees 7#acs4 #d;d47 a month was somewhat augmented by his holding the additional post of village postmaster2 but it had this disadvantage--that when one of the villagers came in to buy an envelope1 and get the postmaster to address it1 as probably he did not know how to write himself1 teaching had to be dropped for a season3 for it must be remembered that for a ,pathan villager to send off a letter is quite an event1 and he may well afford to spend a quarter of an hour or so1 and give the postmaster a few annas extra to get it properly addressed and despatched to his satisfaction4 ,meantime1 ',alam ,gul and his companions would take the opportunity of drawing figures on the sand of the floor1 or of playing with a tame bullfinch or a quail1 which they were fond of bringing into the school4 ,to make up for these little interruptions1 the schoolmaster used to sit from morning to night1 and expect his pupils to be there almost as long1 only giving them an interval of about an hour or so in the middle of the day to go home and get their morning meal4 ,friday used to be a whole holiday1 for it was on that day that all the men of the village had to assemble in the mosque for the morning prayers1 and when these were over ',alam ,gul used to go out with some of the elder village boys to catch quails in the fields4 ,this they did by means of a long net spread across about thirty or forty feet of the field4 ,the quails were driven up into this1 and the meshes of it were of such a size that1 though they could get their heads through1 their wings became hopelessly entangled1 and they fell an easy prey to the fowlers4 ,the male quails were then kept in little string or wicker baskets for the great quail fights1 which were one of the chief excitements and pastimes of the village4 ,this pastime is one of the most universal in ,afghanistan1 and even well-to-do men think there is no shame in spending a great part of the day toying with their favourite quails1 and backing the more redoubtable ones against some quail belonging to a friend1 while all the men of the neighbourhood will be collected round to see the two champions fight4 ',alam ,gul had to spend five years in this school4 ,at the end of this time the ,government ,inspector came round to examine the pupils for the ,government primary examination4 ,this was an eventful day for the schoolmaster1 for on the report of the ,inspector his promotion to some more congenial sphere and the increase of his salary would depend4 ,the boys1 too1 were all excitement1 for if they passed this examination1 they would be allowed to go to the big school at ,hangu or ,kohat4 ,the schoolmaster would spend days drilling them how they were to answer the questions of the ,inspector2 how they were to salaam him2 how they were to bring him a hookah if he required one1 bring him tea1 or do him any other service which it might be supposed would put him in a better mood for making a good report of the school4 ,the ,inspector was a ,peshawuri ,pathan of portly presence 7it is commonly believed that among the upper ranks of native ,government officials a man's salary may be gauged by the girth of his body7 and of supercilious manners1 as though his chief aim in life were to criticize everyone and everything4 ,all the boys had put on their best clothes for the occasion1 and ',alam ,gul had borrowed the turban which his father was accustomed to wear on feast days4 ,on the arrival of the ,inspector1 the boys hurriedly got into line4 ,the schoolmaster called out3 ,right-hand salute6 for though not a boy in the school knew a word of ,english1 it is the custom to give all the class orders in that language4 ,then one boy was hurried off to hold his horse1 another to go and get it some hay1 a third to get a chair for the great man1 while the schoolmaster himself was obsequious in obeying his every sign4 ,the boys were examined in ,urdu1 writing and reading1 arithmetic1 geography1 and ,persian4 ,there were five boys altogether in the top class1 and of these1 to the delight of the schoolmaster1 the ,inspector declared four to have passed1 among them being ',alam ,gul4 ,his father wanted to send ',alam ,gul to the ,government school at ,kohat1 but ',alam ,gul had a friend who had been reading in the ,bannu ,mission ,school1 and the tales that he had heard from him had given him a great desire to be allowed to go there to study4 ,his father1 however1 was opposed to the idea1 because the ,mullah told him that people who went to mission schools must become infidels1 because they were taught by ,feringis1 who were all infidels1 and that if he sent his son there he would excommunicate him4 ,there would have been no hope of ',alam ,gul attaining his wish had it not been that just at that time the ,subadar 7native officer71 an uncle of ',alam ,gul's1 came to the village on leave from his regiment1 which was stationed at ,bannu1 and it so happened that he had made the acquaintance of the missionary in charge of the ,bannu ,school1 and had been very favourably impressed with what he had seen of the institution1 and he offered to take ',alam ,gul back with him to the regiment1 and let him live with him4 ,the father had now to propitiate the ,mullah1 so he killed a sheep1 and made some luscious dishes with the meat1 and some halwa1 or sweet pudding1 which is supposed to be a delicacy to which the ,mullahs are very partial1 and called his reverence in to partake of the feast2 and when his heart was merry1 he propounded the scheme to him4 ,after he had heard the arguments of the ,subadar1 the ,mullah relented1 and said that he knew how to make a charm which1 if it were always worn round the boy's neck1 would effectually prevent him from being contaminated by any heretical teaching which he might have in the school2 and if ',alam ,gul were admonished to be careful always to wear this charm1 he might safely be allowed to go with his uncle4 ,so when the leave of the latter expired1 ',alam ,gul was put into his charge1 and went off with great excitement1 filled with hopes of what he would do in the great school of which he had heard so much4 ,the day after his arrival in ,bannu the ,subadar sent ',alam ,gul down to the school in charge of a soldier of his regiment4 ,the soldier and ',alam ,gul came into the mission compound1 and1 seeing some boys standing about1 told them their errand4 ,one of the boys offered to take them to the head-master4 ,they were taken to the school office1 and here they found the head-master4 ,he was an old gentleman with a grey beard and a kindly face1 ,mr4 ,benjamin by name4 ,when a young man he had himself been converted from ,muhammadanism to ,christianity1 so that he was able to sympathize with the religious difficulties of the boys under his charge1 and he had been for thirty years head-master in this school1 and was looked up to by the boys as their father4 ',alam ,gul's certificates were examined1 and he was told what books he must obtain1 and that if he came the next morning he would be enrolled as a scholar of the ,bannu ,mission ,school4 ,this being an ,anglo-vernacular school1 where ,english is taught in all but the very lowest classes1 boys who come from the village schools have to spend one whole year in learning ,english1 in order that the following year they may be able to take their place with the other boys in the class to which they are entitled2 so ',alam ,gul was enrolled in this1 which is called the ,special ,class4 ,the next day the soldier again brought him1 and left him alone in the school4 ,here he was surrounded by a greater number of boys than he had ever seen before in his life--boys of all ages1 all sorts1 all sizes1 and all religions4 ,there were some ,muhammadans from his district1 but none from his village1 or that he knew1 so he felt very nervous1 and wished himself back again in the little village school on the mountain-side among his old playmates4 ,then the letters of the ,english language seemed so uncouth and different from the euphonious sounds of the ,arabic and ,persian alphabet1 to which he had been accustomed4 ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 said the master1 and ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 repeated the other boys in the class2 but he found he could not shape his mouth to these unfamiliar sounds1 and tears began to flow at the apparent hopelessness of the task which he had undertaken with so much enthusiasm4 ,however1 day by day the work grew easier1 and new friends and acquaintances began to be made among his class-mates4 ,every day there was some fresh astonishment for him4 ,in the village school he had played what they called ,balli-ball1 a village imitation of cricket1 played with rough imitations of bats and wickets2 but here he found that every class had its own cricket team1 which played with real polished bats and balls brought all the way from ,lahore4 ,and above all was the ,school ,eleven1 composed of boys who were looked up to by young hopefuls of the lower classes1 much as we might regard a ,county ,eleven in ,england--boys who played in real wilayiti flannels1 and had matches with the ,english officers of the garrison1 and saw that the other boys in the school treated them with the respect due to their position4 ',alam ,gul wondered if ever the day would come when he would find himself numbered among this favoured throng4 ,it was not long before the captain of his class told him that he must come and practise1 to see if they could make him one of their class cricket team4 ,he would have accepted with alacrity had it not been for one circumstance1 which gave his unformed religious ideas a rude shock4 ,the captain of the party was a ,hindu6 ,it seemed to him ignominious1 if not subversive of his religion1 that he should subject himself to the orders of a ,hindu class-fellow1 and he would have refused had not a ,muhammadan from his district1 reading in the class above him1 to whom he confided his scruples1 laughed at him1 and said3 ,you silly fellow6 we do not trouble about that here2 everyone has his religion ordained by ,fate4 ,what does it matter1 be he ,muhammadan1 ,hindu1 or ,christian1 if he play cricket well8 ,when his fears had been thus allayed1 ',alam ,gul joined his party1 and soon became as enthusiastic a member of it as any4 ,a year passed1 and he was promoted to the first middle class1 where he took up the full curriculum of subjects1 learning not only ,english1 but arithmetic1 ,urdu1 ,persian1 ,arabic1 geography1 ,indian history1 and elementary science4 ,before he had been many months in this class he was attacked by malarial fever1 which is so virulent in the ,bannu ,valley in the autumn months4 ,his uncle sent a soldier to say that he had sent him back to his village in charge of a man of his regiment1 and that he would come back after recovering2 so his name was entered on the roll of those absent for sick-leave4 ,about three weeks later his father himself appeared at the school one day1 and requested to interview the head-master4 ,after the usual salutations were over1 the father began3 ,sir1 ,i have a request to make4 ,what is it8 ,i wish you to strike the name of my son off the roll-call of your school4 ,why so8 ,what has happened8 ,he is ill--very ill4 ,but ,i have given him sick-leave4 ,he can stop at home as long as he is ill1 and then come back to school4 ,his name can remain on the register1 and he return when he is quite well4 ,certainly1 he will come back if he recovers2 but1 then1 he is very ill4 ,supposing he were to die8 ,if he were to die1 then what matter whether his name be on our register or not8 ,sir1 the ,mullah tells me that if he die with his name still on the register of the mission school1 he could never go to heaven4 ,arguments were useless1 and the head-master had perforce to satisfy the father by giving the boy a leaving certificate4 ,ultimately1 however1 ',alam ,gul recovered1 and was allowed to go back to the mission school2 but a few months later the regiment in which his uncle the ,subadar was was transferred to another station1 and the uncle wished to take his nephew with him there4 ,but the boy had by this time formed a great attachment to the school1 and begged to be allowed to remain1 so it was arranged that he should be entered in the school boarding-house4 ,this hostel accommodated a number of those pupils whose homes were too far from ,bannu for them to attend as day scholars1 and who had no relations in the town with whom they might lodge4 ,each boy is provided with a bedstead and a mat1 and he brings his own bedding1 books and utensils4 ,the first night ',alam ,gul felt very strange4 ,instead of the small crowded room of his house was a large airy dormitory1 shared by some twenty of his schoolfellows4 ,at one end of the dormitory was the room of the ,superintendent1 so that he could supervise the boys both by day and night4 ,the ,superintendent was a ,hindu1 but ',alam ,gul had got used by this time to respect his masters1 even though they were not ,muhammadan1 and had overcome some of his old prejudice4 ,as the ,superintendent treated him kindly1 and there was a ,muhammadan friend of his in the next bed1 he was soon very happy there4 ,attached to the hostel was a pond of water supplied daily from the ,kurram ,river1 in which it was the duty of every boarder to bathe regularly4 ,this tank served other purposes too1 as ',alam ,gul found to his cost4 ,it was the rule that all boarders were to be up and have their bedding tidily folded by sunrise4 ,the ,principal of the school every now and again paid surprise visits to the boarding-house about that time1 and woe betide the luckless boy who was found still asleep in bed6 ,two of the monitors were told to take him by the head and heels and swing him far into the middle of the tank4 ',alam ,gul had not been many weeks in the boarding-house before one morning he overslept himself1 and before he had time to rub his eyes or change his clothes he found himself plunged in the water1 which at that time--the early spring--was cold enough to become a real incentive to early rising4 ,schoolboys freshly joined were often found to have the bad habit of freely abusing each other1 and using foul language4 ,the swimming-tank formed an excellent corrective for this too1 because the boy found guilty was treated in the same way1 being pitched in with all his clothes on1 and allowed to creep out and dry himself at leisure4 ,once1 indeed1 ',alam ,gul felt very much like leaving the school altogether4 ,every day in each class a period is set apart for the ,scripture lesson4 ,at first ',alam ,gul did not wish to be present at this1 but when he found that all the other boys attended it without demur1 and remembered the power of the charm which the ,mullah had given him1 he thought it did not1 after all1 matter2 he need not pay attention to what was taught1 and so he went4 ,but this day a verse came to his turn to read in which were the words1 ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,god4 ,he remained silent4 ,the catechist who was teaching him said3 ,why do you not read8 ,i cannot read that4 ,why1 what is wrong8 ,read it4 ,that is blasphemy4 ,god had no son4 ,i cannot read that4 ,it is written in the ,book1 and you must read it4 ,i will not read it6 ,the catechist was not willing1 however1 to grant him exemption1 and gave him some punishment4 ',alam ,gul had a fit of ,pathan temper then1 and there was a serious breach of discipline1 which could not be overlooked4 ,before1 however1 he had time to arrange with his father for leaving the school1 he had cooled down sufficiently to take a less prejudiced view of the case1 and decided to undergo the discipline1 and stay on with us4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ',,alam ,,gul',s ,,choice 7,,continued7 ,the cricket captain--,a conscientious schoolboy--,the ,scripture lesson--,first awakenings--,the ,mullah's wrath--,the crisis--,standing fire--,schoolboy justice--,blessed are ye when men shall persecute you for ,my ,name's sake--,escape from poisoning--,escape from home--,baptism--,disinherited--,new friends4 ,about this time three circumstances occurred which brought about a change in ',alam ,gul's ideas4 ,the first happened in this way4 ,the captain of the cricket eleven chanced to be a ,christian boy1 and as two or three of the members of the cricket eleven had left1 he was in need of some fresh talent to fill their places2 so a match had been arranged with a number of the boys of the school who were aspirants to places in the coveted eleven4 ',alam ,gul by this time had developed into a very steady player1 who could be relied upon to keep his wicket up at times when his side was going to pieces2 and on this particular occasion he was one of those selected for trial1 and it so happened that he made one of the best scores of the match4 ,this was the commencement of the friendship with the cricket captain1 which went a long way to mould his ideas4 ,hitherto he had rather fought shy of making friends with the ,christian boys1 for fear anything should be said repellent to his religious ideas2 but as his friendship with the cricket captain increased1 they had many a chat--not only on cricket and school matters1 but on deeper things that concerned the faith in their hearts4 ,the second circumstance arose in this wise3 ,on the occasion of a paper-chase the track had led through an orchard1 and some of the boys were not proof against the temptation of helping themselves to the fruit1 and the next day the owner of the garden came in high dudgeon to the ,principal of the school to complain that some of the fruit had been stolen4 ,you call yourself a mission school1 and here are your boys coming into my orchard and taking my fruit6 ,the next day the ,principal had a roll-call of the school1 and made a short speech to them1 saying that he much regretted that some of the boys had brought a bad name on the school by stealing plums4 ,he then ordered that the boys who had taken any should fall out and stand in a row in front4 ,after much exchange of glances and hesitation1 twenty or so of the boys fell out4 ,these were ranged up in line1 facing the rest of the school1 while the ,principal told them that he intended to make an example of them as a warning to others not to sully the fair name of the school4 ,one of the printers from the mission press was then called1 with his printing-roller well inked1 and this was rolled three times down the face of each boy1 leaving one long black streak down the forehead and nose and one down each cheek1 which they were not allowed to wash off for the rest of the day4 ',alam ,gul was rather surprised to see that one of these boys was a member of the cricket eleven1 who evidently felt the indignity very acutely4 ',alam ,gul had been by his side during the paper-chase1 and he had noticed that he had passed by the fruit without taking any2 so he went up afterwards to console him1 and ask him why he had fallen out with those who had taken the fruit4 ,he told him that when he saw the other boys plucking the plums1 he had himself taken one2 but then he thought how they had been told in the ,scripture lessons that that was a wrong thing to do1 and so he had thrown the plum away4 ',alam ,gul had hitherto never looked on the ,scripture lesson as a time for moral improvement1 but rather as a time when fidelity to his religion required him to shut his ears2 so when he found his schoolmate with a conscience that had become so tender through listening to the ,scripture teaching that he even thought it necessary to confess to having plucked a single plum which he had not eaten1 his mind was filled with an inrush of new conflicting ideas4 ,the third influence came to him through the ,scripture lesson itself4 ,the ,indian pastor was teaching them from that chapter of the greatest pathos in all history--the ,crucifixion of our ,lord4 ,when it came to his turn he read the verse3 ,father1 forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ,not very long before he would have resented even having to read a verse addressing the ,almighty as ,father1 but now his heart was full of new emotions4 ,how could the ,prophet ,christ pray for the forgiveness of enemies8 ,he remembered how an uncle of his1 on his death-bed1 in making his last testament to his sons1 had enumerated his enemies and what evil they had done him1 and impressed upon them that revenge for those wrongs was the heirloom which he had bequeathed to them1 and which they must regard as their bounden duty to perform4 ,he remembered1 too1 how many of his own family had been killed in blood-feuds1 and even now his uncle1 the ,subadar in the regiment1 took precautions against somebody whom he suspected of being his enemy4 ,if ,christ was able to die in this way and ,his teaching had still such moral power1 how was it that ,muhammad1 who professed that his teaching had superseded that of ,christ1 had not been able to give his followers an equal power8 ,why were there ,muhammadan tribes always torn with discord and feud and bloodshed on every side1 and by those who professed to do such deeds in his name8 ',alam ,gul now began to study the ,gospels for himself1 and an interest was awakened in his heart which surprised him2 and instead of trying to shirk the ,scripture lessons1 he began always to look forward to them1 and asked many questions which showed the greater insight that he was gaining into their meaning4 ,the next vacation1 when he went home1 he took an early opportunity of visiting the old ,mullah who had given him the charm when first he joined the school five years before1 and asked him about some of his difficulties4 ,he wanted to know why the ,muhammadans always spoke of the ,book of the ,law and of the ,gospels with respect1 and yet would not allow people to read them1 and why the ,gospels spoke of ,christ as the ,son of ,god1 which he had been taught to consider blasphemy4 ,the ,mullah1 however1 did not deign to try to solve his difficulties1 but became very angry1 and abused him roundly1 and that evening went to his father to tell him to take his son away before he became utterly corrupted4 ',alam ,gul got a great beating that night1 and ran away to the house of a relation1 and did not come back for three days1 and asked no further questions4 ,his father1 no doubt1 thought that the beating had had its effect1 and1 when the time arrived for rejoining school1 allowed him to go back4 ,the crisis came on the day of a school picnic4 ,it was a ,may morning1 and the masters and boys were going to a shady spot on the banks of the ,kurram ,river1 where the day would be spent in aquatic sports and merry-making4 ',alam ,gul sought counsel of the missionary in a quiet spot under the trees1 where he might unburden his heart without being disturbed4 ,does ,christ demand that ,i should confess ,him openly8 ,should ,i not wait till my parents are dead8--because it will be a great trouble to them when they hear that ,i have become a ,christian1 and they will never want to see me again4 ,cannot ,i be a secret follower1 and continue to live as a ,muhammadan1 and attend the prayers in the mosque8 ,if any man confess ,me not before men1 neither will ,i confess him before ,my ,father4 ,if any man love father or mother more than ,me1 he is not worthy of ,me4 ,let the dead bury their dead1 but follow thou ,me4 ,how pulsating with the deepest verities of life these sayings seem1 when we put them forward to such an inquirer in answer to such questions6 ,how charged with the magnetism which draws the seeking soul almost in spite of itself--a two-edged sword dividing asunder the bones and the marrow6 ,no2 you must go home and tell your father what your intention is4 ,persecution must come1 sooner or later1 and unless you are willing to bear it for ,christ's sake now1 how can you be received into the company of ,his soldiers8 ,you have a duty to your parents1 from which you cannot absolve yourself1 and no blessing of ,god will rest on your actions when you are deceiving them1 and till you are of full age you are bound to obey them4 ',alam ,gul was awake a long time that night after the lights were out and all the other boys in the dormitory were fast asleep under their quilts4 ,at last he got up1 and1 with his pocket-knife1 cut the cord that still bound the charm that the old ,mullah had made for him1 and stuffed it away among his books4 ,he then knelt down by his bedside for a few minutes1 and when he got into bed again he had made his choice1 and his mind was made up2 but there were to be many vicissitudes before the goal was reached4 ',alam ,gul was in the matriculation class now1 and a member of the coveted cricket eleven4 ,he still performed his ,muhammadan prayers1 and kept the fast of ,ramazan2 but the moments which gave him most satisfaction in the day were those in which he took his little ,english ,testament into a quiet corner on the roof of the school-house1 and read the words of our ,lord1 calling the weary and sin-laden to ,himself1 and1 after set portions of the ,muhammadan prayers were over1 in the part reserved for the munajat1 or private petitions1 he would pray earnestly in the name of ,christ that ,god would make the way clear to him to become ,his disciple1 and to incline the hearts of his relations thereto as well4 ,he had to stand fire1 too1 among his school-fellows1 now that it had become known that he was an inquirer2 but his position in the school1 and the fact that he was nearly the best bat in the cricket team1 and therefore of value to the honour of the school in the inter-school tournaments1 prevented them from carrying the persecution very far1 and it was more banter and sneers than anything worse4 ,a few irreconcilables1 however1 tried to injure his reputation by spreading lying rumours about him1 even going to the head-master with some concocted evidence against his moral character1 which1 had that official been less conversant with the wiles of the backbiters1 might have resulted in his expulsion from school1 but actually resulted in their utter discomfiture4 ,one ,muhammadan youth1 who professed great zeal for his religion1 was always starting some recriminating religious discussion1 till the other boarders passed a resolution that any of their number starting such a discussion was to be fined one rupee4 ,before the lapse of many days there were the two at it again1 hammer and tongs1 in the middle of the dinner-hour4 ,a schoolboy court was appointed to name the culprit responsible for starting the discussion1 and it is a pleasing tribute to the schoolboys' love of fair play that1 though the judges chosen were one ,muhammadan and one ,hindu1 they both decided that the ,muhammadan was guilty1 and should be fined4 ,the latter declared that he was going to pay no fine6 ,they then held a fresh council1 to settle how they were to bring the pressure required for the carrying out of their law4 ,at last one boy said3 ,i have it4 ,till he pays the fine1 not one of us is to speak to him or have anything to do with him1 on the pain of a fine of one anna4 ,this bright idea was passed unanimously1 and1 after a few anna fines had been levied1 the recalcitrant member gave in4 ,sweets were bought with the proceeds1 there was a general merry-making1 and no more disturbances of the peace on ',alam ,gul's account1 who was tacitly allowed to have what opinions and fads he liked without further interference4 ,he had not so easy a time1 however1 when the vacation came round and he went home1 and in much fear and trembling made his longings known to his father4 ,first they resorted to blandishments1 reminded him of his good family and noble ancestors1 and of the bright future which lay before so clever and well educated a boy4 ,his brother was about to be married2 even then they were preparing for the wedding-guests4 ,this would have to be all stopped1 for the family of the bride would refuse to give her into a family disgraced1 and then his brother would die of shame1 and no one would be able to wipe the stain away for ever4 ,when these tactics failed1 the old ,mullah was called4 ,he was too wroth to argue when he found that ',alam ,gul no longer wore the charm1 and abused him with all the epithets that he could think of1 and left the house threatening to excommunicate the whole family4 ,later on he came back in a calmer mood with two older ,mullahs from a neighbouring village1 who were much revered for their learning and sanctity1 and these surrounded ',alam ,gul1 and argued for hours to show him the error of his ways and the corruption of the ,christian ,scriptures4 ',alam ,gul had one argument1 to which they had no answer to give3 ,if you say these ,scriptures are corrupted by the ,christians1 then where have you genuine copies by comparison with which we can see the proof of it8 ,had the ,muhammadans themselves no copies of the ,scriptures which they were able to preserve from those wicked people who wanted to corrupt them8 ,finding their arguments of no avail1 they formally cursed him with all the anathemas of the ,quran1 both for this life and the next4 ,the next trial was to be the most heart-searching and trying of all1 and ',alam ,gul felt he would ten times rather have had the anathemas of the ,mullahs or the beatings of his enemies4 ,it was when he went into the zenana4 ,his mother was there with other women1 and as soon as they saw him they began weeping and loudly lamenting4 ,his mother came with her hair dishevelled1 and1 falling down before him1 beat her breast1 and bewailed with loud cries and frantic gesticulations that she had borne a son who was going to disgrace the family and bring down her grey hairs with sorrow to the grave4 ',alam ,gul burst into tears1 and besought his mother to be comforted2 saying that she had been misinformed as to what he was going to do1 and who the ,christians were4 ,he was not going to forsake her1 but would serve her to the day of his death4 ,i adjure thee1 she said1 swear to me that you will never go near those ,christians again or read their books4 ,no1 mother1 ,i cannot do that2 for their book is the ,kalam ,ullah the ,word of ,god1 and ,god is with them of very truth4 ,the women were still weeping1 and ',alam ,gul persuading1 when his father came in1 and1 seizing ',alam ,gul1 pulled him outside1 and1 getting a thick stick1 beat him till he was black and blue all over1 and then left him with a kick and a curse4 ,that night ',alam ,gul found that all his clothes had been taken away1 and he was left with only a loin-cloth4 ,this had been done lest he should run away and escape1 they thinking that in a few days1 finding the hopelessness of his position1 he would relent and submit4 ,six days he remained thus1 being given nothing more than a bit of stale bread once a day and a little water4 ,still he remained firm1 and refused to go to the mosque or repeat the ,kalimah2 and when he found himself alone for a time1 he knelt down and prayed for help and deliverance4 ,on the seventh morning an uncle came1 and sat down by his side1 and began to commiserate him and profess his sympathy for the hardships he was undergoing4 ,he then untied the corner of his shawl1 and got out some sweetmeats and gave them to ',alam ,gul1 as some amends for the privations he had been undergoing4 ,something1 however1 in his demeanour made ',alam ,gul suspicious1 and he excused himself for not eating the sweetmeats at once1 and put them in a handkerchief by his side4 ,when his uncle had departed1 he gave some of the sweetmeats to one of the dogs in the house4 ,very shortly afterwards the dog began to vomit and show signs of pain4 ,he was now sure that the plan had been to poison him in such a way that his death might be reported as due to some ordinary sickness1 and he made up his mind to escape at all costs4 ,it was midday1 and nearly everyone was enjoying a sleep during the oppressive noon of a summer day4 ,searching about1 he found a shirt and an old turban1 and1 donning these1 he slipped out1 and was soon through the deserted village street out in the fields beyond4 ,he dared not take the direct route to ,bannu1 for he knew that pursuit would be made1 and the pursuers would probably take that direction2 so he turned northwards towards ,kohat1 and came to the village of a schoolmate1 who gave him shelter and food for that night in his house and a pair of shoes for his feet1 which had become blistered on the hot rocks over which he had been travelling4 ,the next night he slept in a mosque1 and then reached the highroad from ,kohat to ,bannu1 and got a lift on a bullock-waggon travelling to the salt-mines of ,bahadur ,khel4 ,on the fifth day after leaving his village1 very footsore1 tired1 and ragged1 he appeared in the mission compound at ,bannu4 ,he was now nineteen years of age1 so nothing stood in the way of his being admitted as a catechumen1 of which he was greatly desirous1 and the following ,easter he was baptized into the ,christian ,church4 ,he had1 of course1 been publicly disowned and disinherited by his family1 who now regarded him as one dead2 but he was supremely happy in his faith1 and was always seeking opportunities of leading1 not only his schoolmates1 but also ,mullahs and others whom he encountered in the bazaar or elsewhere1 into conversation concerning the claims of ,jesus ,christ4 ,his original acquaintance with the ,quran and ,islam had been deepened and extended by the study of books of controversy and his knowledge of ,christianity by daily ,bible study1 so that even the ,mullahs found they had to deal with one who could not be silenced by the threadbare arguments and trite sophisms which were all that most of them knew how to use4 ,there was a great crowd of students and others both inside and outside the native church on the day when1 arrayed in clean white clothes1 he came to receive the rite of baptism1 and the deepest silence was upon all when he answered a clear1 unfaltering ,i do to each of the questions of the native clergyman who was officiating4 ,his reception afterwards by his ,muhammadan acquaintances was not altogether a hostile one4 ,students form a remarkable contrast to the ignorant portion of the population in the comparative absence of religious fanaticism and their ability to recognize and honour sincerity of motive1 even in those who are to them apostates1 and many of his ,muhammadan schoolmates maintained their friendship with him1 and others who at first had joined in the opposition and abuse of the crowd came round before long and resumed their old relations as though nothing had happened4 ,judging by other cases1 even his own relations will probably resume friendly relations after the lapse of time has enabled them to do so without incurring a fresh stigma among the villagers1 and they will be all the more ready to do this if he has won for himself a good position in ,government service1 and is able to help them to meet the dunnings of the money-lender in a bad season4 ,when ',alam ,gul had to find some way of earning his own living1 he found many avenues closed to him4 ,the ,muhammadans would not give him work1 and even in ,government offices1 if his immediate superior was at all a bigoted ,muhammadan1 he would find it impossible to stop there without getting involved in traps that had been laid for him almost every day1 and which would ultimately and inevitably result in his dismissal in disgrace4 ,finally he obtained a post in the ,government ,telegraph ,office1 and1 by his industry and punctuality1 rapidly made progress and attained a position which was a universal silencer to the common taunt1 ,he has only become a ,christian for the sake of bread1 with which young converts are assailed1 even when the charge is palpably untrue4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,afghan ,,women ,their inferior position--,hard labour--,on the march--,suffering in silence--,a heartless husband--,buying a wife--,punishment for immorality--,patching up an injured wife--,a streaky nose--,evils of divorce--,a domestic tragedy--,ignorance and superstition--,beautiful ,pearl--,a tragic case--,a crying need--,lady doctors--,the mother's influence4 ,in all ,muhammadan countries women hold a very inferior1 almost humiliating1 position1 being regarded as very distinctly existing for the requirements of the stronger sex4 ,in ,afghanistan they labour under this additional hardship1 that the men are nearly all cruel and jealous to a degree in their disposition1 and among the lower sections of the community the severe conditions of life compel the women to labour very hard and continuously--labour which the men think it beneath their dignity to lighten or share4 ,the wife has to grind the corn1 fetch the water1 cook the food1 tend the children1 keep the house clean--in fact1 do everything except shopping1 from which she is strictly debarred4 ,the husband will not only buy the articles of food required for the daily household consumption1 but he will buy her dresses too--or1 at least1 the material for them--and the lady must be content with his selection1 and make up her dresses at home with what her lord is pleased to bring her4 ,how would their sisters in ,england approve of that8 ,the fetching of the water is often no sinecure4 ,if the well is in the village precincts it may be pleasant enough1 as it no doubt affords excellent opportunity for retailing all the village gossip2 but in some places1 as1 for instance1 during summer in ,marwat1 the nearest water is six or seven1 or even ten1 miles away1 and the journey there and back has to be made at least every other day4 ,in ,marwat the women saddle up their asses with the leathern bottles made from goatskins long before daybreak1 and the nocturnal traveller sometimes meets long strings of these animals going to or returning from the watering-place under the care of a number of the village women and girls4 ,the animals in these cases have to be satisfied with what they drink while at the source of the water-supply4 ,when the women get back to their houses it will be still scarcely dawn1 but they have a busy time before them1 which will occupy them till midday4 ,first the grain has to be ground in the hand-mills2 then yesterday's milk churned2 then the cows and goats milked2 then the food cooked1 the house cleaned1 and a hundred and one other duties attended to which only a woman could describe4 ,when on the march the women are heavily loaded4 ,they can often be seen not only carrying the children and household utensils1 but driving the pack animals too1 while the lordly men are content to carry only their rifle1 or at most give a lift to one of the children4 ,yet it is not because the men are callous1 but because it is the custom4 ,their fathers and forefathers did the same1 and the women would be the first to rebuke a young wife who ventured to complain or object4 ,some of the women of the ,povindah tribe are splendid specimens of robust womanhood4 ,these people travel hundreds of miles from ,khorasan to ,india1 carrying their families and household goods with them1 and the women can load and manage the camels almost as well as the men1 and carry burdens better4 ,the outdoor1 vigorous1 active life has made them healthy1 muscular1 and strong1 and buxom and good-looking withal1 though their good looks do not last so long as they would were their life less rough4 ,but when a baby is born1 then comes the suffering4 ,the caravan cannot halt1 and there is seldom a camel or ox available for the woman to ride4 ,she usually has to march on the next day1 with the baby in her arms or slung over her shoulder1 as though nothing had happened4 ,then it is that they endure sufferings which bring them to our hospital1 often injured for life4 ,if there is no hospital1 well1 they just suffer in silence1 or--they die4 ,the ,afghan noblemen maintain the strictest parda1 or seclusion1 of their women1 who pass their days monotonously behind the curtains and lattices of their palace prison-houses1 with little to do except criticize their clothes and jewels and retail slander2 and ,afghan boys of good family suffer much moral injury from being brought up in the effeminate and voluptuous surroundings of these zenanas4 ,the poorer classes cannot afford to seclude their women1 so they try to safeguard their virtue by the most barbarous punishments1 not only for actual immorality1 but for any fancied breach of decorum4 ,a certain trans-frontier chief that ,i know1 on coming to his house unexpectedly one day1 saw his wife speaking to a neighbour over the wall of his compound4 ,drawing his sword in a fit of jealousy1 he struck off her head and threw it over the wall1 and said to the man3 ,there6 you are so enamoured of her1 you can have her4 ,the man concerned discreetly moved house to a neighbouring village4 ,the recognized punishment in such a case of undue familiarity would have been to have cut off the nose of the woman and1 if possible1 of the man too4 ,this chief1 in his anger1 exceeded his right1 and if he had been a lesser man and the woman had had powerful relations1 he might have been brought to regret it4 ,but as a rule a woman has no redress2 she is the man's property1 and a man can do what he likes with his own4 ,this is the general feeling1 and no one would take the trouble or run the risk of interfering in another man's domestic arrangements4 ,a man practically buys his wife1 bargaining with her father1 or1 if he is dead1 with her brother2 and so she becomes his property1 and the father has little power of interfering for her protection afterwards1 seeing he has received her price4 ,the chief exception is marriage by exchange4 ,suppose in each of two families there is an unmarried son and an unmarried daughter2 then they frequently arrange a mutual double marriage without any payments4 ,in such cases the condition of the wives is a little1 but only a little1 better than in the marriage by purchase4 ,if a man and a woman are detected in immorality1 then the husband is at liberty to kill both2 but if he lets the man escape1 he is not allowed to kill him subsequently in cold blood4 ,if he does1 then a blood-feud will be started1 and the relations of the murdered man legitimately retaliate1 or he must pay up the difference in the price between that of a man's life and that of a woman's honour4 ,in practice1 one often finds that a man has been murdered where1 by tribal custom1 he should only have had his nose cut off2 as it is obviously easier for the aggrieved husband to ambush and shoot him unawares than to overpower him sufficiently to cut off his nose4 ,every year in the mission hospital we get a number of cases1 many more women than men1 where the sufferer has had the nose cut off by a clean cut with a knife1 which sometimes cuts away a portion of the upper lip as well4 ,this being a very old mutilation in ,india1 the people centuries ago elaborated an operation for the removal of the deformity1 whereby a portion of skin is brought down from the forehead and stitched on the raw surface where the nose had been cut off1 and we still use this operation1 with certain modifications1 for the cases that come to us4 ,two years ago a forbidding-looking ,afghan brought down his wife to the ,bannu ,mission ,hospital4 ,in a fit of jealousy he had cut off her nose1 but when he reflected in a cooler moment that he had paid a good sum for her1 and had only injured his own property and his domestic happiness1 he was sorry for it1 and brought her for us to restore to her as far as possible her pristine beauty4 ,she had a low forehead1 unsuitable for the usual operation1 so ,i said to the husband that ,i did not think the result of the operation would be very satisfactory2 but if he would pay the price ,i would purchase him an artificial nose from ,england1 which1 if it did not make her as handsome as before1 would at any rate conceal the deformity4 ,how much will it cost8 said the ,afghan4 ,about thirty rupees4 ,there was a silence3 he was evidently racked by conflicting sentiments4 ,well1 my man1 what are you thinking about8 ,will you have it or no8 ,i was thinking this1 sir1 he replied1 you say it costs thirty rupees1 and ,i could get a new wife for eighty rupees4 ,and this was said before the poor woman herself1 without anything to show that he felt he had said anything out of the common6 ,i am glad to say1 however1 that he ultimately decided to have the original wife patched up1 paid the money1 and ,i procured him the article from ,england1 which gave1 ,i believe1 entire satisfaction1 and the last time ,i heard of them they were living happily together4 ,perhaps he is able to hold out the threat of locking up her nose should she annoy him1 and knows he can remove it as often as he likes now without having to pay up another thirty rupees4 ,in a case where ,i procured a false nose for a man1 the shop in ,england sent out a pale flesh-coloured nose1 while his skin was dark olive6 ,obviously this had to be remedied1 so ,i procured some walnut stain1 and gave him something not very different from the colour of the rest of his face4 ,unfortunately1 he started off home before it was dry1 and was caught in a rainstorm4 ,he was annoyed to find himself the centre of merriment on his arrival at his village1 and came back to me to complain4 ,the nose was all streaky6 ,the fine physique and good health of the hill ,afghans and nomadic tribes is largely due to the fact that their girls do not marry till full grown1 not usually till over twenty1 and till then they lead healthy1 vigorous1 outdoor lives4 ,they form a great contrast to the puny ,hindu weaklings1 the offspring of the marriage of couples scarcely in their teens4 ,the two greatest social evils from which the ,afghan women suffer are the purchase of wives and the facility of divorce4 ,i might add a third--namely1 plurality of wives2 but though admittedly an evil where it exists1 it is not universally prevalent1 like the other two--in fact1 only men who are well-to-do can afford to have more than one wife4 ,the ,muhammadans themselves are beginning to stem the evil and explain away the verses in the ,quran which permit it1 by saying that there is the proviso that a man may only marry a plurality of wives if he can be quite impartial to all of them2 and as that is not possible1 monogamy must be considered the law for ordinary mortals4 ,the following1 which was enacted under my eyes1 shows the evil that results from divorce and polygamy4 ,there were three brothers1 whom we will call ,abraham1 ,sandullah1 and ,fath1 all happily married to one wife each4 ,abraham1 the eldest brother1 died4 ,the second brother was now entitled to marry the widow2 but she did not like him1 while she had a decided liking for the youngest brother1 ,fath4 ,she had1 however1 a hatred for ,fath's wife1 and was determined not to be junior wife to her4 ,fath1 carried away by the charms and cajolings of the widow1 consented to divorce his own wife on condition of the widow marrying him4 ,she agreed1 vowing she would never marry ,sandullah1 and then ,fath divorced his wife4 ,but meanwhile ,sandullah insisted on his rights1 and forced the widow to marry him4 ,she perforce submitted1 but ,i think he got some lively times at home1 and the woman took opportunities of meeting ,fath4 ,then what does the insatiable and foolish ,sandullah do but marry the divorced wife of his younger brother4 ,the widow was now furious3 she had refused to marry the man she fancied unless he divorced that woman1 and now she is married to the man she did not want1 and has got the hated woman as co-wife into the bargain4 ,there was a man of desperate character in the village who had been captivated by the widow's charms4 ,she had so far refused his advances1 but now1 to have her way1 she told him that if he desired to gain his end he must first dispose of her present husband4 ,that was no obstacle to the lover1 and1 with the collusion of the woman1 he enticed the man out into his cornfield one day1 and there strangled him4 ,the murder eventually was brought home to the unscrupulous lover1 and he got penal servitude1 while the foul enchantress was left free to marry the youngest brother1 ,fath1 whom she originally desired4 ,very few of the ,afghan women can read the ,quran2 for the rest they are absolutely ignorant of all learning1 and often when we are trying to explain some directions for treatment in the hospital1 they excuse their denseness by saying3 ,we are only cattle3 how can we understand8 ,they know very little of their own religion beyond the prayers and a variety of charms and superstitions4 ,some time ago we had a strange case in the women's 7,holtby7 ward4 ,she was a feeble old ,hindu woman who felt she had not long to live1 and who had such a horror of her body being burnt to ashes after death1 as is the custom with ,hindus1 that to escape from her relatives she came into the hospital1 saying1 she wished to become a ,muhammadan1 so that she might be buried4 ,we began to explain to her the ,gospel of ,christ1 but she appeared too old to take in something so novel1 and finding we were not the ,muhammadans she took us for1 she sent word to a ,muhammadan anjuman to have her taken away4 ,we assured her that we would nurse and care for her1 and not burn her body2 but no6 perhaps we might only be some kind of ,hindus in disguise6 ,so she went off with her ,muhammadan friends1 and in due time was buried4 ,unlike this old lady1 some of the cases that come into our women's ward are tragic beyond words4 ,let me give one story as told us by the poor sufferer herself1 and she is only one of many who are suffering1 unknown and uncared for1 in ,afghanistan at the present time4 ,for1 indeed--for the women especially--it is a country full of the habitations of cruelty4 ,her name was ,dur ,jamala1 or ,beautiful ,pearl4 ,she and her husband were both suffering from cataract1 and lived near ,kabul4 ,they were trying to resign themselves to lives of blindness and beggary when someone visited their village who told them of a doctor in ,bannu who cured all kinds of eye diseases4 ,so1 getting together all they could1 which only came to about eighteen rupees1 they started out on foot on their long and weary journey to ,bannu--one hundred and fifty miles of rough road1 with two mountain passes to cross on the way6 ,they took with them their only child1 a girl of about ten1 and travelled slowly1 stage by stage1 towards ,bannu4 ,but before they had got far on their way1 in a lonely part of the road1 some cruel brigands robbed them of all their savings1 beat her husband to death before her eyes1 and tore away the weeping child1 whom they would sell for a good price into some harim4 ,poor ,dur ,jamala was left alone and helpless1 crushed with grief4 ,from that time it took her just ten months to get to ,bannu1 having been helped first by one and then by another on the way4 ,she reached ,bannu very worn and weary1 and in rags1 and was very grateful indeed to us for a comfortable bed and a good meal4 ,the operation was successful1 and resulted in her obtaining good sight in that eye4 ,but meanwhile someone had frightened her1 telling her that hell would be her punishment for listening to our teaching4 ,she wept very much1 and refused to allow us to operate on the other eye or listen to any more of our wicked religion4 ,we saw no more of her for about four months1 when she appeared one day in our out-patient department in great pain from suppuration of the second eye4 ,she had been to some charlatan1 who1 in operating on it1 had completely destroyed the vision of that eye1 and she had suffered so much that she was only too glad to put herself again under our treatment4 ,the second eye had to be removed1 but she is able to work1 as the sight of the first is good1 and she often comes to us now and listens to the teaching1 although she still says3 ,your medicine is very good1 but your religion is wicked4 ,yet in listening to the ,gospel story she finds some solace in the great sorrow which has so clouded the life of poor ,beautiful ,pearl4 ,if some of our medical ladies and nurses in ,england saw how their poor ,afghan sisters suffered1 often in silence and hopelessness1 would not some of them come out to do the work of ,christ and bear ,his name among them8 ,i was sick1 and ye visited me4 ,though till now we have only had a man doctor in ,bannu1 yet forty or fifty women attend the out-patients' department nearly every day1 and many of these have undertaken long and wearisome journeys to reach us4 ,there are the ,hindu women from ,bannu city collected together in one corner of the verandah1 lest they should be polluted by contact with the ,muhammadan women from the villages4 ,for the women are much greater sticklers for the observance of all the niceties of ,hindu ceremonial than their more ,westernized husbands1 and would have to undergo the trouble of a complete bath on returning home if they had been in contact with anything ceremonially impure4 ,one can recognize the ,hindu women at once by their clothes4 ,they wear the same three garments winter and summer--a skirt reaching down to their ankles2 a curious upper garment1 like a waistcoat with no back to it2 and a veil1 which falls over and covers their otherwise bare back1 and which they hurriedly pull over their faces when they see a man4 ,the ,muhammadan women have indeed the veil1 but the other garments are quite different4 ,the upper garment is a full dress1 coming down at least to the knees1 and full of pleats and puckers1 and ornamented by rows of silver and brass coins across the breast1 while the nether garment is a pair of loose1 baggy pyjamas of some dark-coloured material1 usually blue or red1 with very remarkable funnel-like extremities below the knees4 ,at this point the baggy portion is succeeded by a tightly-fitting trouser1 the piece about twice the length of the leg1 and which is1 therefore1 crowded up above the ankle into a number of folds1 which accumulate the dust and dirt1 if nothing worse4 ,the ,povindah women--strong1 robust1 and rosy from the bracing highlands of ,khorasan--are dressed almost entirely in black1 the ,marwat women in blue veils and red-and-blue pyjamas1 the ,bannuchi women in black veils and red pyjamas1 and the women of other tribes each in their own characteristic dress4 ,even the style in which the hair is plaited and worn is sufficient not only to indicate what tribe the woman belongs to1 but also whether she is married or unmarried4 ,the ,povindah women are very fond of blue tattoo marks over their foreheads1 while all alike are proud of the row of silver coins which is worn hanging over the forehead4 ,the ,hindu women plaster the hair of the forehead and temples with a vermilion paste1 not merely for cosmetic reasons1 but because it is sacred to their god ,vishnu4 ,then1 the sturdy1 sunburnt faces of the ,wazir women tell tales of the hard1 rough outdoor life they perforce lead1 and contrast with the more delicate and gentler faces of the ,hindus4 ,notwithstanding the careful way in which all except the hill women veil their faces from masculine gaze1 they are very sensitive as to what is being thought of them1 and sometimes an impudent man meets a woman who at once closely veils herself1 and remarks to his companion3 ,ah6 her nose has been cut off6 ,this imputation1 not only on her looks1 but on her character1 is usually too much for her1 and she indignantly unveils her face1 to cover it up again at once in shame when she finds it was only a ruse6 ,the hill women rarely1 if ever1 wash either their bodies or their clothes1 and suffer much in the hot weather from skin troubles as a result4 ,the ,hindu women1 on the other hand1 who appear to aim at doing in everything the exact opposite to their ,muhammadan sisters1 bathe on the slightest pretext1 summer and winter1 and often women who carefully veil their faces when passing down the street bathe in the river and streams in a state of nudity1 regardless of passers-by4 ,most of the women have a great aversion to telling their own name1 because it is considered a very indelicate thing for a married woman to mention her own name4 ,it would be very difficult to make the necessary entries in the register were it not that there is usually some other woman with her1 and etiquette does not prevent her friend telling what her name is4 ,otherwise she will usually mention the name of her eldest son1 who may be a baby in arms1 or may be a grown man--never1 of course1 of a daughter3 she must only be mentioned in a whisper1 and with an apology1 if at all--saying3 ,i am the mother of ,paira ,lai1 or ,i am the mother of ,muhammad ,ismal4 ,notwithstanding the state of servitude in which the women are kept and their crass ignorance and superstition1 they have great power in their home circles1 and mould the characters of the rising generations more even than the fathers4 ,this fact was brought home very forcibly to me one day in school4 ,a subject had to be fixed on for the next meeting of the school debating society4 ,various subjects had been proposed and negatived4 ,i suggested3 ,who has most influence in moulding our characters--our fathers or our mothers8 ,how could we have so one-sided a debate8 responded half a dozen boys at once4 ,who could be found to argue for the fathers8 ,of course1 our mothers have all the influence4 ,how important1 then1 for the future of the nation that something should be done to raise1 and elevate1 and purify the mothers of the nation6 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,the ,,story ,,of ,a ,,convert ,a trans-frontier merchant--,left an orphan--,takes service--,first contact with ,christians--,interest aroused in an unexpected way--,assaulted--,baptism--,a dangerous journey--,taken for a spy--,a mother's love--,falls among thieves--,choosing a wife--,an ,afghan becomes a foreign missionary--,a responsible post--,saved by a grateful patient4 ,in the highlands between ,kabul and ,jelalabad is a secluded valley1 girt with pine-clad hills1 and down which a tributary of the ,kabul ,river flows1 fertilizing the rice crops which rise terrace above terrace on the slopes of the hills1 and meandering in sparkling rivulets through the villages which lie nestling among orchards of peaches and apples1 interspersed with fine walnut and plane trees4 ,this is the ,valley of ,laghman1 and1 like the ,kabulis1 the men are great merchants1 and travel about between ,central ,asia and ,hindustan4 ,one of these merchants took his young son1 ,jahan ,khan1 down with him to ,india on one of his journeys1 in order that he might serve his apprenticeship in the trade of his father and see something of the wealthy cities and beautiful buildings of ,india1 the fame of which had so often roused the boyish imaginations of the youth of ,laghman1 and made it the desire of their lives to travel down once to ,india and see for themselves its glories and its wealth4 ,father and son travelled about for two years1 buying and selling and taking contracts for road-making1 at which the ,afghans are great adepts1 till one summer the father was stricken down with dysentery4 ,the boy took him to a mission hospital1 where for the first time he heard the story of the ,gospel2 but he had been always taught to look upon the ,english as infidels1 and he used to stop his ears1 lest any of the words spoken by the mission doctor might defile his faith4 ,the disease grew worse1 and the father paid some men to carry him to the shrine of a noted saint in the neighbourhood1 called ,sakhi ,sarwar1 which was renowned for its power in healing diseases4 ,he made a votive offering1 but still the malady grew worse1 and at last one morning ,jahan ,khan found himself an orphan hundreds of miles away from home and relations1 with no friends and no money to help him home4 ,it is the great desire of an ,afghan who dies away from his country to have his body embalmed and carried back1 it may be1 hundreds of miles on a camel1 to be interred in his ancestral graveyard2 but how could the poor boy1 without money or friends1 perform this duty8 ,he had to be content with burying his father near the tomb of the famous saint1 whose benign influence might be expected to serve him in good stead on the ,day of the ,resurrection4 ,jahan ,khan then took service with some ,muhammadans of the country1 and it was in this way that ,i first met him4 ,soon after my arrival in ,india ,i wanted a body-servant who knew no language but ,pashtu1 in order that ,i might the more easily gain proficiency in that language4 ,the ,muhammadan gentleman to whom ,i applied recommended me ,jahan ,khan2 but ,jahan ,khan himself resented the idea of becoming servant to a ,feringi and an infidel1 which he thought would jeopardize his faith and his salvation4 ,his ,muhammadan patron laughed at his scruples1 and quoted the ,pashtu proverb1 ,the ,feringis in their religion1 and we in ours1 saying3 ,so long as you say your prayers regularly1 and read the ,quran1 and keep the fast1 and do not eat their food1 lest by any chance there should be swine's flesh in it1 you have no reason to fear4 ,for some time ,jahan ,khan served me well1 but was evidently chary of too dangerous an intimacy4 ,i had at that time an educated ,afghan who was teaching me ,pashtu1 and he sometimes twitted ,jahan ,khan with his inability to read4 ,this made the boy desirous of learning1 and he persuaded the munshi to give him a lesson every day4 ,when the alphabet had been mastered1 the munshi was looking about for some simple book for reading-lessons1 and he happened to take up a ,pashtu ,gospel which had been given him and laid aside1 and from this ,jahan ,khan got his first reading-lessons4 ,before long the teaching of the book he was reading riveted his attention4 ,it was so different from the old ,muhammadan ideas with which he had been brought up4 ,instead of the law of ,eye for eye and tooth for tooth1 was the almost incredible command to forgive your enemies4 ,his reading-lesson became the event of the day for him1 not merely on account of the advance in learning1 but because of the new ideas which were stirring in his mind4 ,when the munshi observed that a change had come over him1 he became alarmed1 and told ,jahan ,khan that he must have no more reading-lessons at all1 and that he had better give up all idea of learning to read4 ,the seed was1 however1 already sown1 and despite the adjurations of the munshi1 ,jahan ,khan astonished me one day by coming to ask that ,i should continue the reading-lessons with him4 ,it was a delight to notice week by week the growth of the ,spirit in the boy's heart1 but with all that there were many storms to brave and many seasons of darkness and unbelief1 which threatened to crush the young seedling before it was yet able to weather the storm4 ,the ,afghan nature is hot-tempered and reckless1 and he found it difficult to curb his spirit under the taunts of those around him4 ,one afternoon1 as ,i was sitting in my room1 ,i heard shouts from outside--,o ,daktar ,sahib6 ,o ,daktar ,sahib6--and on running out found that two ,muhammadans had seized him and were beating him1 while they were trying to stifle his cries by twisting his turban round his neck4 ,this was only the first of many times that the young convert was to bear the reproach of the ,cross1 and he had not yet learnt to take the vindictiveness of his ,muhammadan compatriots with the forbearance which was a later growth of the ,spirit4 ,this assault1 however1 resulted in a parting of the ways1 and from that time ,jahan ,khan publicly avowed himself a ,christian4 ,he had many a battle yet to fight--not so much with outward enemies as with his own ,pathan nature--but the ,spirit was to conquer4 ,some time after his baptism ,jahan ,khan conceived a burning desire to revisit his childhood's home4 ,his widowed mother was still living there with his brothers and cousins1 and he wanted to tell them of his new-found faith4 ,we pointed out to him the great dangers that attended his enterprise4 ,in that country1 to become a pervert from ,muhammadanism was a capital offence1 and even the nearest relation could not be depended on to incur the odium and danger of protecting a relative who had brought disgrace on ,islam4 ,jahan ,khan could not1 however1 be dissuaded1 and at last the preparations were made4 ,some copies of the ,gospels in the ,persian and ,pashtu languages were sewn inside his trousers1 a baggy ,afghan garment1 lending itself appropriately to this kind of secretion4 ,on reaching ,jelalabad1 some of the ,afghan police arrested him on suspicion of being a spy of the ex-,amir1 ,y'akub ,khan1 and he was in imminent danger of discovery4 ,a few rupees in the hands of the not too conscientious officials saved the situation1 and after sundry other vicissitudes he reached his home4 ,his mother and brothers received him with every token of delight1 and for some days there were great rejoicings4 ,then came the time when he had to make known his change of faith4 ,at first1 when the villagers missed him from the public prayers in the mosque1 they thought it was merely the weariness of the journey2 but as the days passed by1 and he still did not appear1 it became necessary to give explanations4 ,no sooner was it known that he was a ,christian than the villagers clamoured for his life4 ,an uncle of his1 however1 who was himself a ,mullah1 managed to appease them on condition that he should leave the country at once2 and that night there were great weepings in his house1 for his mother felt that she was not only going to lose her newly returned son1 but that he had sold his soul to the devil and disgraced her whole family4 ,still1 however1 mother's love conquered1 and she prepared him his food for the journey1 and parted with many embraces4 ,o that you should have become a ,feringi6 ,woe is me1 but still you are my son6 ,he left the books with some ,mullahs there1 who1 though they would have been afraid to accept them openly1 or let it be known that they were in the possession of such heretical literature1 were nevertheless actuated by curiosity to hide the books away1 that they might see1 at some quiet opportunity1 what the teaching of the book of the ,christians was4 ,jahan ,khan's dangers were not yet1 however1 over4 ,travellers from ,kabul to ,india could not venture through the passes in small parties1 but joined one of those enormous caravans which pass twice weekly through the ,khaiber ,pass4 ,in these caravans1 besides the honest trader and bona-fide traveller1 there are usually some unscrupulous robbers1 who try by trickery or by force to get the property of their fellow-travellers4 ,a common method with them is some evening1 after the day's journey is over1 to propose a convivial party4 ,we have just slain a kid1 they will say to the unsuspecting traveller1 and we have cooked the most delicious soup4 ,will you come and share it8 ,but in the soup they have mixed a quantity of a poisonous herb1 which causes insensibility1 or it may be madness1 in those who partake of it4 ,whether they knew of ,jahan ,khan's secret1 or whether they thought that he might be carrying money with him1 ,i cannot say2 but he1 all unsuspectingly1 joined in one of these evening feasts1 and remembered nothing more until1 some days later1 the caravan entered ,peshawur4 ,with a great effort he struggled up to the mission bungalow1 but it was some days before he was able to undertake the journey to ,bannu1 and still longer before he regained his previous health4 ,his visit to his home had not been without fruit1 and about a year later a brother and two cousins journeyed down from ,laghman to ,bannu1 and while there one at least was brought to ask for ,christian baptism1 and is to this day working in one of our frontier medical missions4 ,the others placed themselves under instruction1 but they could not stand the heat of the ,indian summer1 and became so homesick for their mountain village that they returned there4 ,among the thousand and one duties that fall to the lot of a frontier missionary is that of becoming a matchmaker to some of the converts4 ,it may be that in one station a number of young men are brought into the ,christian fold where there is no corresponding women's work1 whereby they might be enabled to set up house for themselves1 while it would be courting many dangers to expect them to live for an indefinite period in a state of single blessedness4 ,thus it came about that ,i undertook a journey with ,jahan ,khan down to ,india1 and in one of the zenana missions there we found a girl who was to become his helpmeet through life4 ,she came of one of those ,afghan families which had long been domiciled in ,british ,india1 and had been brought to the ,christian faith through the devoted efforts of some lady missionary4 ,she had also received the training of a compounder and midwife from the lady doctor where she had been converted1 and so was able to be1 not only a light to his home1 but also an efficient helper in the work of the mission4 ,some time after the happy pair had made their home in ,bannu1 and after on three successive occasions the arrival of a young ,afghan had brought still more happiness into their married life1 a letter came from a devoted missionary working in a difficult outpost in the ,persian ,gulf4 ,the letter set forth how the missionary had been left almost without a helper in one of the most difficult and fanatical fields of missionary effort among ,muhammadans1 and ended by an appeal for some native worker to come out and help4 ,it was difficult to resist such an appeal1 and though loth to lose the services of ,jahan ,khan even for a time1 one felt that one had no worker more eminently suited for stepping into the breach4 ,the ,afghan makes an excellent pioneer4 ,his pride of race and self-reliance enable him to work in an isolated and difficult field1 where a convert from the plains of ,india would quickly lose heart4 ,so it came about1 in a few weeks' time1 that we had a farewell meeting in ,bannu for bidding ,god-speed to ,jahan ,khan and family in their new sphere of missionary labour2 and we felt what a privilege it was1 for not only had we seen the first-fruits of the harvest of ,afghanistan1 but had also seen an ,afghan convert going out as a missionary to what was as much a foreign country for him as ,india is for us4 ,for some time he shared with the devoted ,american missionaries the vicissitudes of work among the fanatical ,arabs of ,bahrain1 and here his eldest daughter was taken from him and laid to rest in the little ,christian cemetery4 ,when some time later he could be spared to return to ,bannu1 we put him to work in the mission hospital1 where he was not only able to influence the numerous ,afghans who every week came from over the border as patients1 but was able also to acquire great proficiency in medical and surgical practice4 ,some years after this we had occasion to open fresh work in a village--,kharrak--in the midst of the ,pathan population of the ,kohat district1 and when we were in need of a thoroughly reliable man to place in this isolated outpost1 we found no one better suited than ,jahan ,khan4 ,kharrak is a chief salt mart in the ,kohat districts1 and in the centre of a fertile valley1 which1 from the amount of grain it produces1 has been called the ,granary of the ,khattaks4 ,hard by are salt-quarries1 which employ a good number of labourers1 and attract merchants with their caravans from distant parts4 ,i first visited this town in #ahie1 in company with ,jahan ,khan1 and found a rough and fanatical population1 who refused to listen to our message1 and even rejected our medical aid4 ,as years passed by many of them had occasion to become patients in the ,bannu ,mission ,hospital1 and they carried back good accounts to their fellow-townsmen of the benefits they had received and the sympathy that had been displayed towards them1 with the result that before long our visits were welcomed1 we were able to preach in their bazaars1 and eventually they asked us to open permanent work there1 gave us a suitable site close to the town1 and raised subscriptions to help in the building4 ,when first ,jahan ,khan and his devoted wife started work at ,kharrak1 they had a great deal of prejudice and antagonism to overcome1 owing to their being converts from ,muhammadanism2 but1 by patience and consistency of life1 by uniform kindness to all the sick and needy who came for their aid1 they gradually lived it down4 ,i have now no greater pleasure in my work than to visit ,kharrak1 and to see these two faithful workers in their hospital1 surrounded by the sick and needy1 telling them of the precious sacrifice of ,christ--the very ,muhammadans who were once1 in their fanaticism1 thirsting for his blood1 now quietly sitting round and listening attentively while he recounts1 day by day1 the story of the ,cross4 ,i will give an instance to show how a consistent ,christian life can influence even such wild1 ferocious ,pathans as those of ,kharrak4 ,some fanatical ,muhammadans1 irritated at the preaching of the ,gospel in their town1 hired a professional assassin to come to shoot ,jahan ,khan2 but the man happened to be one who had been indebted to the young doctor for recovery from a severe illness1 in which he had1 by his unremitting attention1 been the means of saving his life4 ,when he found who it was he was required to kill1 he returned the money and informed ,jahan ,khan1 that he might be on his guard4 ,jahan ,khan called for the men who had hired the assassin1 expostulated with them for their ingratitude for the benefits they had received in the hospital1 and1 when they expressed their contrition1 freely forgave them1 and now they are his staunch partisans4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,the ,,hindu ,,ascetics ,the ,hindu ,sadhus more than two thousand years ago much as to-day--,muhammadan faqirs much more recent--,the ,indian ideal--,this presents a difficulty to the missionary--,becoming a ,sadhu--,an ,afghan disciple--,initiation and equipment--,hardwar the ,holy--,a religious settlement--,natural beauties of the locality--,only man is vile--,individualism versus altruism--,the ,water ,god--,wanton monkeys--,tendency to make anything unusual an object of worship--,a ,brahman fellow-traveller--,a night in a temple--,waking the gods--,a ,hindu sacrament--,a religious ,bedlam--,a ward for imbeciles--,religious delusions--,all humbugs--,yogis and hypnotism--,voluntary maniacs--,the daily meal--,feeding1 flesh1 fish1 and fowl4 ,all the travellers and tourists who have recorded their experiences of ,india mention the strange1 fantastic1 ochre-habited ascetics who are met with in town and village1 by the roadside and at fairs--nay1 even in the modern railway-station1 where they seem strangely out of place4 ,but few have cared to cultivate their more intimate acquaintance2 they have little in them that is attractive to the ,western eye1 and often appear absolutely repulsive4 ,yet1 to a missionary at least1 there is a fascination about them4 ,they embody the religious ideals of the ,east1 and carry one back to the hoary past1 long before ,alexander marched into ,india1 when the same enigmas of life were puzzling the mystical mind of the ,east1 and the same ,sadhus were seeking their solution in her trackless jungles and beside her mighty rivers4 ,sadhus1 ,i say1 because then there were no faqirs4 ,faqirs are of comparatively recent origin1 dating from the time of the ,muhammadan invasions1 about the tenth century of our era4 ,now the distinction is often lost sight of4 ,the word faqir is an ,arabic one1 and denotes a ,muhammadan ascetic2 while the word ,sadhu is ,sanskrit1 and is best retained for the ,hindu ascetic4 ,the ,muhammadan faqir is altogether different from the ,hindu ,sadhu in his motives1 his ideals1 his habits1 his dress--in fact1 in nearly everything2 yet contact with the ,hindu ,sadhus has had a profound effect upon him1 and their philosophies have coloured his religious ideas4 ,the ,hindus have1 on their part too1 not been unaffected by the influx of ,muhammadans1 bringing their new monotheistic ideas1 and some of the ,hindu orders appear to be attempts to graft the ,muslim monotheism on to the mystical ,hindu pantheism4 ,this is seen most developed in the ,kabir ,panthis and the various orders originating from ,guru ,nanak4 ,a desire to propitiate and attract their ,muhammadan conquerors was probably not wanting in the moulding of these new orders2 indeed1 ,kabir and ,guru ,nanak seem to have had visions of elaborating a creed in which ,muhammadan and ,hindu could unite together4 ,the ,indian religious ideal has always been ascetic and despondent3 ascetic1 perhaps1 because life seemed sad and hopeless4 ,on the other hand1 the ,western ideal is an altruistic and optimistic one4 ,the young missionary1 who very likely appeared to his sympathetic friends in ,england to be making great sacrifices in order to go to preach the ,gospel to the heathen1 sometimes ignorantly imagines that the people round him in ,india will recognize what he has denied himself in order to come among them1 and will respect him in due proportion4 ,poor deluded man6 ,the modern ,christian in ,england has not even learnt the alphabet of austerities and self-denials practised in the name of religion1 of which the ,indians are past masters4 ,he appears to them as one of the ruling race1 surrounded by the comforts and luxuries of a house1 many servants1 books1 flowers1 photographs1 pictures1 and the various little creations of civilization1 which custom has made the ,western no longer to look on as superfluous articles of luxury6 ,their ideal has been nearer that of the ,swami1 who had so overcome the bonds of the flesh that he required neither clothes nor viands1 but sat nude and impassive1 maintaining his vitality on an occasional banana or mango6 ,should the missionary try to accommodate himself to the ,eastern ideal1 and forego many things that are lawful to him in order to gain more influence with the people for his message8 ,every ,indian missionary has probably asked himself this question at some period of his career4 ,at one time such questionings forced themselves on me with great importunity4 ,there seemed such a gulf between myself1 in my comfortable house1 surrounded by so many conveniences1 and the poor people1 around me4 ,the multitudinous administrative duties of the missionary in charge of a station seemed to leave so little time for spiritual dealings with inquirers1 and at the end of a long day weariness made it difficult to maintain that very essential equipment of every missionary--a heart at leisure from itself to soothe and sympathize4 ,then ,i had a desire to learn more about these men1 who might be supposed to represent the embodiment of the religious ideals of the ,east4 ,the best way seemed to be to adopt their dress and habits1 and travel about among them for a time4 ,a young ,afghan1 who was a pupil of mine and a ,muhammadan student in the school1 begged to be allowed to accompany me as a chela1 or disciple4 ,as the time at my disposal was limited1 it would not have been possible to visit many of the places where ,sadhus most do congregate had we confined ourselves to the more orthodox method of progression on foot1 so we decided to ride our bicycles4 ,this did not seem to affect the reception we met with from the fraternity--in fact1 it is not at all uncommon to see ,sadhus riding2 often pious ,hindus seek to gain merit for themselves by providing them with the means for doing so4 ,when we left ,bannu1 we took no money with us2 but we seldom were in want1 as we received ungrudging hospitality from ,hindus1 ,muhammadans1 and ,christians alike4 ,the ochre-coloured garments are sufficient passport all over ,india1 and people give alms and offer hospitality without requiring further evidence of the genuineness of the claims of the applicant on their charity4 ,in fact1 unless the ,sadhu is of known bad character1 the ,hindu would gain his end--that of acquiring merit by almsgiving--as much by giving to one as another2 and he would be very unhappy were he not afforded these opportunities of keeping up the credit side of his account1 all the more if his gains are ill-gotten1 or he is conscious of some underhand dealings which require corresponding acts of merit to balance them4 ,one of the most interesting places we visited was ,hardwar1 the holy bathing-place on the ,ganges1 which is visited by tens of thousands of ,hindu pilgrims from every part of ,india every year1 and the neighbouring ,sadhu colony of ,rishikes4 ,the latter is a village inhabited only by the ,sanzasis and other ,sadhus1 who have built themselves grass huts in a very picturesque spot1 where the ,ganges ,river emerges from the ,himalaya ,mountains1 and commences its long course through the densely-populated plains of ,india4 ,it is at ,hardwar that the great ,ganges ,canal1 one of the great engineering feats of the ,british rule1 has been taken from the river to vivify thousands of acres of good land in the ,united ,provinces to the south1 and supply their teeming populations with bread4 ,a little above the town of ,rurki a massive aqueduct carries the whole volume of the canal high above a river flowing beneath1 and yet higher up two river-beds are conducted over the canal1 which passes beneath them4 ,the uniqueness of this piece of engineering is dependent on two other factors--the crystalline limpidity of the blue water and the glorious scenery which forms a setting to all4 ,i no longer needed to inquire why the common consent of countless generations of ,hindus had made this neighbourhood their ,holy ,land2 the appropriateness of it flashed on my mind the moment the glorious vista opened before me4 ,there beyond me were the majestic ,himalayas1 the higher ranges clothed in the purest dazzling white1 emblem of the ,great ,eternal ,purity1 looking down impassive on all the vicissitudes of puny man1 enacting his drama of life with a selfish meanness so sordid in contrast with that spotless purity2 and yet not unmoved1 for is there not a stream of life-giving water ever issuing from those silent solitudes1 without which the very springs of man's existence would dry up and wither8 ,and then1 in the nearer distance1 the lower ranges clothed in the richest verdure of the primeval forest1 vast tracts not yet subdued by the plough of man1 where the religious devotee can strive to rise from ,nature to ,nature's ,god1 amid those solitudes and recesses where no handiwork of man distracts the soul from the contemplation of the illimitable and mysterious ,first ,cause4 ,while looking down from the elevation of the canal1 there was spread out at our feet a bucolic scene of peace and plenty1 where villages and hamlets1 surrounded by green fields and cultivation1 lay scattered among sylvan glades1 drinking in vivifying streams which had journeyed down by chasm and defile1 through valley and meadow1 from those distant solitudes4 ,how natural it seemed that in those early ,vedic ages1 when the reverence for the forces of ,nature was still unsullied by the man-worship engendered by the development of his inventive genius1 this vast cathedral of ,god's own architecture should have been made the chosen place of worship of the race1 where the more devout spirits strove not only to worship and adore1 but to shake off the trammels of a mere mundane corporal existence1 till the spirit was as free as the birds in the air around1 as clear from earthly dross as the limpid waters below1 and as integral a part of the great eternal whole as ,nature around1 so diverse in its manifestations1 yet knitted together in one congruous whole by a pervading and uniform natural law4 ,but facilis descensus ,averni6 ,how often the most glorious inspirations are dragged down and down till they subserve the basest instincts of man6 ,so here a little farther on--at ,hardwar--we were to have the spiritual elation engendered by the natural scene cruelly shattered by a sight of the vileness and sordidness of the most repulsive aspects of humanity1 and by realizing how the most ,divine conceptions can be dragged down and abased to pander to all that is brutal and evil in man4 ,not1 of course1 that all the ,sadhus at ,hardwar and ,rishikes have debased their holy profession4 ,many among them1 as ,i shall shortly describe1 are as earnest seekers after ,divine illumination as could be met with in any country2 but1 by one of those strange paradoxes so common in the ,east1 they live side by side with the basest charlatans and the most immoral caricatures of their own ideals without evincing any consciousness of the impropriety of it1 or resentment at their profession being thus debased before the public eye4 ,the individualistic idea eclipses that of the public weal1 and each is so intent on perfecting his own salvation1 and drawing himself nearer1 step by step1 to his goal of absorption in the ,eternal ,spirit1 that he has come to forget that man has a duty to those around him from which he cannot absolve himself4 ,st4 ,paul tells us1 ,no man liveth to himself1 and no man dieth to himself4 ,the ,sadhu says each unit is only concerned in building up its own karma1 or balance of good and evil actions1 whereby it must work out its own destiny regardless of the weal and woe of those around4 ,the ,hindu idea connects the soul with those other souls before and behind it in a long concatenation of births2 the ,christian idea connects the soul with the other souls around it1 contemporaneous with its own corporeal existence1 and linked with it by the good and evil vibrations of its own vitality4 ,thus the vista of the ,sadhu is always introspective1 even to a vesting of the natural vital functions of the body with spiritual significations1 which require the most laborious practisings and purifications to make them all subserve his great ideal of absolute subjection of the body to the spirit4 ,the vista of the ,christian missionary and philanthropist is extraspective1 seeking to make his own life a means for elevating spiritually and materially the lives of those around him1 and disciplining his own body and soul rather1 that he may thereby more effectually further this end4 ,for their sakes ,i sanctify myself1 that they also may be sanctified4 ,a constant stream of pilgrims is ever passing through the bazaar of ,hardwar to and from that particular part of the river1 the water of which is supposed to possess a superlative sanctity4 ,here they bring the calcined bones and ashes of their dead relations1 and there is ever a stream of pious ,hindus bringing these doleful relics for consignment to the sacred stream4 ,as ,i looked down into the crystal waters ,i could see the fragments of white bones lying about on the pebbles beneath1 with the fish playing in and out among them4 ,strange commingling of life and death6 ,and this has been going on at this spot for three thousand years1 for woe to the ,hindu who has no son to perform his funeral rites1 no relative to bring his ashes to the cleansing waters of the mighty ,ganges6 ,his soul will wander about restlessly1 and the sequence of its reincarnations leading to its ultimate absorption in the ,eternal ,spirit1 will be hampered and retarded6 ,there they fill the glass bottles of all sizes1 which they have brought for the purpose1 and then place them in wicker baskets on the two ends of a bamboo pole1 which is balanced over the shoulder1 and with which they will often travel hundreds of miles on foot till they reach their destination4 ,if the ,hindu for whom the water is being obtained is well-to-do1 he will have the water fetched with great pomp and ceremony1 ringing of bells1 playing of instruments1 and chanting of mantras1 while the baskets containing the water are gorgeously decorated1 and a servant is deputed to fan the aqueous god as he is borne along4 ,probably the ,hindu would grudge a tenth part of the cost to purify or amplify the water-supply of his own village6 ,naturally the town drives a thriving trade in the bamboo rods1 baskets1 bottles1 and all appurtenances of the mighty pilgrimage4 ,the bazaar is crowded with monkeys1 the feeding of which affords boundless opportunities to pious ,hindus for accumulating merit4 ,these favours the monkeys repay by surreptitiously snatching sweetmeats and fruits from the open shop-fronts and darting off with the booty to the roofs of the shops opposite1 where they devour them in quiet with sly winks and leers at the luckless shopkeeper4 ,though inwardly wrathful1 he cannot retaliate on the sacred animals1 lest he be dubbed a heretic and his trade depart4 ,here1 too1 we see everywhere exemplified the irrepressible faculty of the ,hindu for worshipping anything which can possibly be made into an object of veneration4 ,probably all the world through1 no race is to be found so bent on turning all the events and circumstances of life into religious acts of worship4 ,if anything or anyone is pre-eminently good or pre-eminently bad1 or has any particular quality1 good or evil1 developed to excess1 or is a monstrosity in any way1 then he or it is sure to become an object of worship4 ,a ,hindu addicted to wine-bibbing will sometimes turn his drinking orgy into an act of religious worship1 in which the wine-bottle is set up on a pedestal and duly garlanded1 apostrophized1 and adored4 ,a ,sadhu may be a notoriously bad man1 but if his vices have given him a preeminence over his fellow-men1 he will find multitudes of ,hindus1 men and women1 who will regard them only as so many proofs of his divinity1 and worship him accordingly4 ,it is not that the ,hindu does not recognize or reprobate vice--he does both2 but1 then1 he holds the idea that spirit is eternally pure and good1 and matter eternally gross and evil1 and that if a ,sadhu attains the stage where spirit has triumphed over body1 his actions become divorced from ethics1 and are no longer to be judged as though his spirit was capable of contamination from the acts of its earthly tabernacle4 ,hence it is that the stories of the ,hindu divinities1 which seem to us distinctly immoral1 do not strike the pantheistic ,hindu mind as such1 for ethics have ceased to be a concern to one whose austerities have won for him union with the ,divine ,essence4 ,here in ,hardwar was a weird collection of bovine monstrosities--cows with three horns1 one eye1 or a hideous tumour2 calves with two heads or two bodies4 ,these were paraded forth by their fortunate possessors1 who reaped a good harvest of coins from the devout visitors1 who worshipped them as illustrations of the vagaries of divinity1 and hoped1 by offering them alms1 to propitiate their destinies4 ,rishikes1 the city of the ,sadhus1 is eighteen miles higher up the river from ,hardwar1 and the road lies through a dense forest4 ,the road is only a rough track1 but pious ,hindus have erected temples and rest-houses at short intervals1 where travellers can spend the night and get refreshment4 ,after proceeding some distance through the forest ,i met a ,brahman journeying the same way with a heavily-laden pony4 ,the pony was obstreperous1 and the luggage kept falling off1 so the ,brahman gladly accepted the offer of my assistance1 and after repacking the luggage in a securer manner we got along very well4 ,the ,brahman beguiled the time by telling me histories of the past glories of the ,rishis of the ,himalayas1 and how the spread of infidelity and cow-killing was undermining the fabric of ,hinduism4 ,false ,sadhus and ,sanyasis from the lower non-,brahman castes were crowding into their ranks for the sake of an easier living1 till it was almost impossible to distinguish the true from the false1 and a bad name was brought upon all4 ,any ,hindu of the three upper castes may become a ,sadhu1 and should1 according to ,manu's code1 become a ,sanyasi in his later years4 ,but he does not thereby attain to the sanctity of a ,brahman1 and the ,brahmans have many stories to relate to show how many have undergone extreme austerities and bodily afflictions in order to obtain spiritual power1 and have thereby gained great gifts from the gods1 but without attaining the coveted sanctity of the born ,brahman4 ,the sun had already set1 and the forest path was becoming difficult to follow in the gathering gloom when we reached a clearing with a temple and a few cottages built round it1 so we decided to spend the night there4 ,through the kind offices of the ,brahman1 ,i was given a small room adjoining the temple1 on the stone floor of which ,i spread my blanket1 and prepared to make myself comfortable for the night4 ,i had consumed my supper of bread and pulse1 and given the remnants to the temple cow1 and settled myself to sleep1 when ,i was roused by a fearful din4 ,the temple in which ,i had found refuge was dedicated to ,vishnu and ,lakshmi1 and their full-size images1 dressed up in gaudy tinsel1 were within4 ,the time for their evening meal had arrived1 but the gods were asleep1 and the violent tomtoming and clashing of cymbals which awoke me so suddenly was really intended to make the drowsy gods bestir themselves to partake of the supper which their worshippers had reverently brought them4 ,when the gods were thoroughly roused1 and the dainty food had been set before them1 the priest proceeded to fan them with some peacocks' feathers while the meal might be imagined to be in course of consumption1 and meanwhile the worshippers bowed themselves on the floor before them1 prostrating themselves with arms and legs extended on the stones and foreheads in the dust1 the more zealous continuing their prostrations as long as the meal lasted4 ,in these prostrations eight parts of the body have to touch the ground--the forehead1 breast1 hands1 knees1 and insteps--and ,i have seen pilgrims travelling towards a holy place some hundreds of miles distant by continuous prostrations of this kind1 the feet being brought up to where the hands were1 and the prostration repeated1 and thus the whole distance measured out by interminable prostrations4 ,this formidable austerity may take years1 but will gain the performer great sanctity and power with the gods whose shrine he thus visits4 ,the meal over1 the worshippers knelt reverently in line1 and received a few drops each of the water left over1 and a few grains of corn that had been sanctified by being part of the meal of the gods1 taking them from the priest in their open palm1 and drinking the water and eating the corn with raptures of pleasure and renewed prostrations4 ,one could not but be forcibly reminded of a somewhat ceremonious celebration of the ,christian ,eucharist4 ,this over1 the worshippers departed1 the gods were gently fanned to sleep1 the priest and the most substantial part of the dinner were left alone1 and ,i became oblivious4 ,the next morning the ,brahman and ,i were up betimes1 and girded ourselves for the accomplishment of the nine miles of forest which still lay between us and our destination1 before reaching which we had to ford several small rivers4 ,however1 the rays of the sun had scarcely become pleasantly warm when we found ourselves elbowing our way through the ,sadhus and pilgrims who were crowding the small but striking bazaar of ,rishikes4 ,this place has so little in common with the world in general1 is so diverse from all one's preconceived notions and ideas1 its mental atmosphere departs so far from the ordinary human standard1 that it is hard to know whether to describe it in the ordinary terms of human experience1 or whether to look on it as a weird dream of the bygone ages of another world4 ,as for myself1 ,i had not been wandering among its ochre-habited devotees for a quarter of an hour before my mind involuntarily reverted to a time1 many years past1 when ,i was a student of mental disease in ,bethlem ,hospital1 and to a dream ,i had had at that time1 when ,i imagined ,i found myself an inmate1 no longer as a psychological student1 but with the indescribably uncanny feeling1 ,i am one of them myself4 ,now these madmen around me are only counterparts of myself4 ,so now1 as some of these forms of voluntary self-torture and eccentricity1 nudity1 or ash-besmeared bodies1 aroused feelings of abhorrence1 ,i had to check myself with the thought3 ,but you yourself are one of them too3 these weird ,sadhus are your accepted brothers in uniform4 ,and so the illusion continued so long as ,i moved among them1 and when finally ,i left ,rishikes behind me1 it was like waking from some nightmare4 ,accompany me round the imaginary wards1 and we will first visit that for imbeciles4 ,we find most of them sitting out in the jungle under trees or mats1 avoiding the proximity of their fellow-creatures1 recoiling from any intrusion on their privacy1 preserving a vacuous expression and an unbroken silence1 resenting any effort to draw them into conversation or to break into the impassivity of their abstraction4 ,they do not look up as you approach2 they offer you no sign of recognition2 whether you seat yourself or remain standing1 they show no consciousness of your presence4 ,flies may alight on their faces1 but still their eyes remain fixed on the tip of their noses1 and their hands remain clasping their crossed legs4 ,they have sought to obtain fusion with the ,eternal ,spirit by cultivating an ecstatic vacuity of mind1 and have fallen into the error of imagining that the material part of their nature can be etherealized by merely ignoring it1 until the process of atrophy from disuse often proceeds so far that there is no mind left to be etherealized at all1 and there is little left to distinguish them from one of those demented unfortunates who have been deprived by disease of that highest ornament of humanity4 ,leaving these1 let us proceed to the ward set apart for delusional insanity4 ,the first ,sadhu tells you that he is possessed by a spirit which forbids him to eat except every third day4 ,another avers that he is in reality a cow in human form1 and therefore must eat nothing but grass and roots4 ,a third ,i found sitting in nudity and arrogance on his grass mat1 and repeating sententiously time after time3 ,i am ,god1 ,i am ,god6 ,i remember a patient at ,bethlem whose delusion was that he was himself the superintendent of the asylum1 the one sane man among all the mad1 and he went round the ward pointing out to me each patient with the remark3 ,he is mad--quite mad4 ,he1 too1 he also is mad1 and so on4 ,but ,i was much surprised to meet the same gentleman here4 ,he was in the form of a ,bengali ,babu1 a ,b4,a4 of the ,calcutta ,university1 and had held high posts under ,government2 but now1 in later life1 in dissatisfaction with the world at large1 had thrown it all up and sought in the garb of a ,sanyasi recluse at ,rishikes for that peace which an office and ,babudom can never afford4 ,recognizing me as a novice1 he took me by the arm1 saying in ,english 7which in itself seemed strange and out of place amid these surroundings73 ,come along2 ,i explain to you jolly well all the show4 ,we strolled in and out among the various groups of ,sadhus1 and at each new form of ,sadhuism he would deliver himself after this manner3 ,see this man--he is a humbug1 pure humbug4 ,see that man lying on all the sharp stones--he is a humbug4 ,look at these here--humbugs6 ,there1 that man1 reciting the mantras--he pure humbug4 ,all these humbugs6 and so on4 ,here is the section for the study and practice of hypnotism4 ,these yogis maintain that by a knowledge of the spiritual states engendered by various samadhs or contorted positions of the body and legs1 and by elaborate breathing exercises1 they are able to subdue the unruly and material currents of the bodily senses and the brain1 and tap that inner source of spiritual knowledge and divinity which makes them ipso facto masters of all knowledge1 able to commune at will with the ,deity ,himself4 ,the contortions into which they are able to thrust their limbs1 and the length of time that they are able to sit impassive and imperturbable in what appear to be the most painfully constrained postures1 show that years of practice1 commenced when the joints and sinews are supple1 must be required for the attainment of this ecstatic state4 ,there can be no doubt1 ,i think1 that masters do exercise the power of hypnotism on their chelas1 and are thereby able to perform painful operations on them 7such as piercing various parts of their anatomy with iron skewers7 without their wincing or showing visible signs of pain4 ,other practices which these yogis have been carrying on for centuries in their haunts in the ,himalayas remind one forcibly of the modus operandi of the ,western hypnotist1 and no doubt both attain success through a knowledge1 empirical though it may be1 of the same psycho-physiological laws4 ,leaving these1 let us examine some of the cases of mania--a few of them acute1 others more or less chronic1 or passing on into a drivelling dementia4 ,here is a man quite naked1 except for the white ashes rubbed over his dusky body1 who1 with long dishevelled locks and wild expression1 hurries up and down the bazaar barking like a dog1 and making it his boast never to use intelligible language4 ,another1 after painting his naked body partly white and partly black1 has tied all the little bits of rag he has picked up in the road to various parts of his person4 ,a third has adorned his filthy1 mud-covered body with wild-flowers1 whose varying beauty1 now withering in the noonday sun1 seems a picture of how his mind and conscience1 once the glory of his manhood1 have now faded into a shadow4 ,another is lying by choice in the mud by the roadside1 to be fouled by the dust of the passers-by1 and almost trampled on by the cows1 hoping by this abject affectation of humility to be thought the greater saint4 ,for1 by a curious paradox1 it is often those who make the greatest display of humility and subjection of the passions who show the greatest sensitiveness to public opinion of their sanctity1 and quite fail in concealing their jealousy when some other ,sadhu outdoes them1 and gains the greater meed of public admiration4 ,there is another man to be seen wandering aimlessly about and picking up bits of filth and ordure1 and putting them in his mouth and chewing them4 ,but to give a further account of these caricatures of humanity would be loathsome to the reader1 as their contemplation became to me--the more so as the thought kept recurring to my mind1 ,and you are one of them1 too1 now2 and who knows to what point the imitative faculty of man1 that contagion of the mind1 may not raise or lower him8 ,by this time1 however1 the long fast and the fresh1 keen air from the ,ganges made me begin to wonder how ,i was going to satisfy a call from within4 ,it was now close on midday1 and ,i saw the ,sadhus collecting round certain houses with bowls1 gourds1 and other receptacles4 ,these were the kitchens established by pious ,hindus of various parts of ,india with the object of acquiring sufficient merit to counterpoise their demerits--the bribery1 chicanery1 and lying of their offices1 or the more covert sins of their private life4 ,a rich ,hindu may establish a kitchen in his own name alone1 but more often a number unite together to form a guild to keep the kitchen going1 and the merit is portioned out like the dividends of a joint-stock company to its shareholders4 ,there were some twenty or more of such kitchens here1 in each of which three chapattis and a modicum of dal1 potatoes1 greens1 or some other vegetable were given2 and there was nothing to debar a ,sadhu from going to as many kitchens as he desired--in fact1 he knew he was conferring a benefit on the shareholders by consuming their victuals and supplying them thereby with merit4 ,the gnawing pangs of hunger made me mingle with the shoving1 jostling throng1 and hurry from kitchen to kitchen till ,i had accumulated nine chapattis1 and vegetables in proportion4 ,modesty then made me withdraw1 but not so most of my companions4 ,one of these who rejoined me a little later had been to eight kitchens1 and brought a supply of twenty-four chapattis1 and a large bowl of dal1 potatoes1 and other vegetables4 ,the custom of the place then required me to descend to the margin of the ,ganges1 and1 squatting on a stone which was lapped by its pellucid waters1 to consume my portion with draughts of the holy water4 ,but not without a preliminary ceremony1 for while the ,sadhus had been collecting round the kitchens1 the cows and bulls had been collecting on the banks of the river1 and it was de rigueur first to set aside three portions1 and give one to these holy animals1 a second portion to the birds in the air1 and a third to the fish in the river1 after which the remainder1 whether one chapatti or twenty1 might be consumed with an easy conscience and a courageous digestion4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,sadhus ,,and ,,faqirs ,buried gold--,power of sympathy--,a neglected field--,a ,sadhu converted to ,christianity--,his experiences--,causes of the development of the ascetic idea in ,india--,more unworthy motives common at the present time--,the ,prime ,minister of a ,state becomes a recluse--,a cavalry officer ,sadhu--,dedicated from birth--,experiences of a young ,sadhu--,an unpleasant bed-fellow--,honest toil--,orders of ,muhammadan ascetics--,their characteristics--,a faqir's curse--,women and faqirs--,muhammadan faqirs usually unorthodox--,sufistic tendencies--,habits of inebriation--,the sanctity and powers of a faqir's grave4 ,there were1 however1 some bright spots even in ,rishikes1 gems among the rubble1 lumps of gold concealed among the mass of baser metals--minds earnestly seeking a higher spiritual life1 losing themselves1 wearying themselves in the quest after truth1 intensely conscious of the vanity of this world and its pursuits and pleasures1 and striving to obtain in a contemplation of the ,one only ,pure1 the only ,unchangeable1 the only ,true1 that peace of mind which they instinctively felt and experimentally found was not to be realized in the pursuit of material objects4 ,the painful mistake which made their quest so hopeless was the endeavour to divest themselves of the bonds of their bodily material tabernacle1 which1 if subjugated to the spirit1 forms the basis on which that spirit can work healthily and naturally to its divinest development1 but which1 if altogether ignored and contemned1 reduces that same spirit to a morbid fantasy4 ,with regard to the learning of many of the ,sanyasis there is not a shadow of doubt4 ,there are men there fit to be ,sanskrit professors in the ,universities1 and who are deep in the lore of the ancient and voluminous literature of ,hinduism4 ,yet who benefits by all their learning8 ,they may transmit it to a few disciples1 or it may live and die with them2 they make no attempt to methodize it1 to draw conclusions1 to contrast the old order with the new1 to summarize or to classify1 but cultivate it purely as a mental exercise or religious duty1 without apparently even the desire to benefit the world at large thereby4 ,this self-centred individualism1 each mind self-satisfied1 self-contained1 with the springs of sympathy and altruism hard frozen1 ever revolving on itself1 and evolving a maze of mysticism1 at length becomes so entangled in its own introspection that other minds and the world outside cease to have any practical existence for it4 ,this is at once the most salient and the saddest feature of the learned and meditative ,sadhu4 ,but there they are--men who might have shone academically1 who might have enriched the world with thought1 research1 and criticism1 but who have chosen to live for and within themselves1 careless whether others live or die1 are instructed or remain ignorant4 ,though they have categorically rejected altruism1 and denied that they have a duty towards their neighbour1 and done their best to shut up the doors of sympathy1 yet even with them human nature refuses to be utterly crushed1 and will assert itself4 ,one can often discern a suppressed1 yet insuppressible1 hunger after sympathy1 and one has no doubt but that the sympathy which finds its highest expression in the love of ,christ1 whether acted or recounted1 will penetrate their hearts1 and find a response4 ,unused1 any organ will atrophy1 and so their capacity for sympathy may be latent and not easily roused4 ,let someone1 however1 go to them as a fellow-creature1 full of love and sympathy--not to despise and to fault-find1 but to take hand in hand and bring soul to soul--and he will find that the ,sadhus of ,rishikes are human1 very human1 with the same spiritual hungerings and thirstings1 and able to realize and rejoice in the same salvation4 ,it is a pity that more missionaries have not devoted themselves to working among these people4 ,they would need to be men of great devotion and self-abnegation1 but there have been many such in other spheres4 ,they would be repelled and disappointed by the callousness and fraud of the majority1 but there are the gems to be sought out1 and how much hard granite is the miner willing laboriously to crush when he is sure of finding nuggets of gold here and there6 ,and among these ,sadhus are men who1 converted to ,christianity1 would be apostolic in their zeal and devotion1 and might1 by travelling up and down ,india1 not now in the vain accumulation of merit1 but as heralds of the ,gospel of goodwill1 become the ,wesleys and ,whitefields of a mighty mass movement of the people towards ,christ4 ,as an example of such a one and the way in which he was converted from the life of a ,sadhu to that of a ,christian preacher1 ,i will quote here the account that ,rev4 ,b4 ,b4 ,roy gives of his conversion4 ,it shows how strong a hold the ascetic ,sadhu idea has on a religiously-minded ,hindu1 and how spontaneously his heart seeks in austerity and retirement for the peace which a growing sense of sin and of the evil of the world has taken away4 ,at the same time it shows that1 as in the case of ,buddha1 asceticism fails to afford any lasting comfort or peace to the weary storm-tossed soul4 ,he says3 ,constant starvation and exposure to all sorts of weather reduced my body to a living skeleton4 ,after a few months' travel ,i came to ,hardwar1 and then proceeded to a place called ,rishikes1 celebrated for its ,sadhus and ,sanyasis4 ,my intention was to stay there and practise yoga a kind of meditative asceticism1 to attain to final beatitude2 but a strange event took place1 which entirely changed my purpose4 ,the rainy season had already set in2 the jungle path was muddy1 and at places full of water1 so when ,i reached ,rishikes ,i was almost covered with mud4 ,leaving my things in a dharmsala1 ,i was going to bring water from the ,ganges when ,i smelt a very bad odour4 ,as ,i turned round ,i saw a dead body in the street1 rotting in the mud4 ,around the corpse were the huts of the ,sanyasis1 who were performing tap-jap almost the whole day2 but none of them had even enough of compassion to dispose of the body of the poor man who had died helpless on the street4 ,i thought that if this was religion1 then what was irreligion8 ,my spirit revolted against these ,sadhus4 ,i perceived in my heart of hearts that yog-sadhan cannot create that love in man which makes a man feel for a fellow-man4 ,where there is no such love there can be no religion from ,god4 ,and then he goes on to relate how1 leaving ,rishikes1 he fell in with a ,christian preacher1 and eventually found in ,christ that peace which all his voluntary hardship had failed to afford1 and how he had been led on and on in his pilgrim walk1 till he had now the blessed and responsible work of teaching others of his fellow-countrymen how best to bring the good news of the eternal love to all the hungry and thirsty souls around4 7,he was then ,principal of a theological seminary47 ,there have already been many such cases of ,sadhus and faqirs converted to ,christianity1 and these men and women have1 as might be expected1 exerted an immense influence on their fellow-countrymen4 ,they have presented them with a ,christianity in an ,eastern dress which they can recognize as congenial to the sentiments of their country1 and exemplified in their own self-denying lives1 full of the spirit of that austerity which the ,indian has long believed to be inseparable from religious zeal4 ,devotion1 austerity1 and asceticism in the cause of religion have been characteristic of ,india as far back as history records4 ,life has always been precarious for the majority of the population in the ,east1 and plagues1 famines and wars have familiarized them with the tragic spectacles of multitudes of young and old being suddenly carried off in the midst of business or enjoyment4 ,consequently1 their sages dwelt much on the uncertainty of life1 and developed the doctrine that the world and its gay shows were only an illusion of the senses1 and the goal of the spirit was to divest itself of this illusion and rise superior to the limitations of matter4 ,by the practice of austerities1 the grossness of the flesh1 the demands of the body1 and the storms of the passions1 would be subdued1 and the spirit gain freedom from the endless round of reincarnation1 and ultimately join the illimitable sea whence it came1 as the drop on the lotus-leaf falls back into the water and is lost therein4 ,then1 it is universally believed that by these austerities the ascetic gains power with the gods1 and can bring down blessings from above for himself and his votaries4 ,he can1 in fact1 extort favours from the unwilling gods if he only carry his self-torture and privations to the requisite extreme4 ,we find much the same idea in the ascetic saints of the early ,christian era4 ,thus ,tennyson1 in his poem ,st4 ,simeon ,stylites1 puts the following words into the mouth of the saint4 ,he is addressing a crowd of people who have come to worship him1 and who believe that1 owing to his great austerities1 he has the power of granting their requests4 ,speak6 is there any of you halt or maim'd8 ,i think you know ,i have some power with ,heaven ,from my long penance2 let him speak his wish4 ,the idea of merit is ever present to the ,hindu4 ,by practising austerity himself1 or by paying another to practise it for him1 he can accumulate merit1 which will render each succeeding birth more propitious1 and bring him nearer his ideal of bliss1 when his soul will be finally freed from the endless chain of reincarnations4 ,it must1 sad to say1 be admitted that with the great majority of the ,sadhus of the present day the motives which actuate them are much more mundane and sordid than what ,i have described above4 ,lazy good-for-nothings1 too indolent to work1 find that in the garb of a ,sadhu they can be assured of a living which1 though it may not be a luxurious one1 is yet one free from anxiety and toil4 ,fraudulent scamps enrich themselves on the credulity of the people by counterfeiting austerities and miraculous powers1 which successfully deceive the simple-minded1 who1 without even a desire to examine their claims and reputed performances too critically1 freely bestow gifts of money and kind on them1 in the hopes of gaining their favour for the attainment of some benefit or cure1 or other object4 ,then1 there are the political faqirs1 who use their position to disseminate political propaganda1 usually of a seditious nature4 ,from their habit of travelling all over the country they have special opportunities of becoming the channels for the transmission of news1 and before the days of telegraph and post-office the people would get most of their news of the rest of the country through these pilgrims and ascetics2 and even at the present day they are able to disseminate secret intelligence and transmit the orders of the organizing authorities in such a way as to be very difficult of detection4 ,when ,i travelled as a faqir ,i was frequently shadowed by the police1 and sometimes a talkative and inquisitive companion would join me who eventually proved to be a detective in his disguise4 ,as examples of the superior ,sadhu--the man who from high aspirations has voluntarily given up position1 honour1 and wealth in the world for the life of a recluse--,i will give the two following instances4 ,i met a man at ,rishikes who had been the ,prime ,minister of a ,native ,state4 ,while in that capacity he had to deal with bands of robbers who infested the highways1 and had committed some cold-blooded murders for the sake of the money and goods of the travellers4 ,when a number of these men had been caught and participation in murders proved against them1 he found it his duty to condemn them to death by hanging4 ,the sentence was duly executed1 but from that day he got no rest at nights4 ,visions of the culprits would rise before him as soon as he lay down on his couch1 and they would appear to be pointing their fingers at him as the cause of their death4 ,this so unnerved him that he could not get a night's rest1 and dreaded going to sleep4 ,want of rest and nervous perturbation prevented him from duly carrying on the work of the ,state1 and he asked for leave1 nominally to attend the funeral of his mother1 but really to expiate his sin1 and gain repose of mind by a pilgrimage to a noted holy place4 ,but he failed to get ease of mind there1 and had it impressed on him that only by leaving the world and spending the rest of his days in seclusion1 meditating on ,god1 would he find rest from the blood-guiltiness that was tormenting him4 ,he forthwith resigned his position in the ,state1 divided his property amongst his family1 put on the garb of a ,sanyasi1 and was spending the rest of his days in contemplation and religious exercises4 ,the other case ,i met in a village on the ,pir ,pangal ,range1 where he had built himself a cottage with a garden1 in which he spent his days in religious studies and contemplation1 and receiving the many people who used to come to him for advice1 or to derive advantage from contact with his superior sanctity and wisdom4 ,he had been ,risaldar-,major in one of the regiments of ,bengal ,cavalry1 and had fought under the ,british flag in several campaigns1 and won wounds and medals4 ,on retirement he forsook his home and relations and all worldly pursuits1 and spent his time in the contemplation of the ,deity and such works of charity as came in his way4 ,both these men were truly devout1 unostentatious spirits1 who had found that the delights of ,divine communion exceeded the pleasures of this transitory world4 ,some ,sadhus are set aside from birth for this life by their parents1 and as a good example of such a one ,i will tell the story of a man who joined company with me on the road near ,ludhiana4 ,i will relate it in his own words3 ,my father is a small ,hindu farmer in the ,state of ,patiala1 and when three sons had been born to him1 he made a vow that he would consecrate the fourth to the service of ,god4 ,when ,i was born he allowed me to stop with my mother only till ,i was four years old1 and then he took me to a certain large city1 where there is a famous shrine1 and a very holy man who is renowned for his piety and deep learning4 ,at first ,i wept much at being taken away from my brothers and sisters1 but the ,swami treated me kindly and gave me sweetmeats1 and ,i used to fetch his mat and books and put oil in his lamp and do other little services for him4 ,then1 as ,i got older1 he taught me to read1 first in ,bhasha and then in ,sanskrit1 and he taught me all the laws of worship and guides to bhagti 7devotion74 ,when ,i became a lusty young man1 he told me to make pilgrimages to various sacred places and to visit other sages and holy men1 and ,i went forth on my first journey1 taking with me only a staff1 a gourd for drinking-water1 a blanket1 and a couple of shasters 7holy books74 ,i had never been out in the world before1 and at first ,i was very timid of asking people for food in new places that ,i had never hitherto seen2 but people were nearly always kind to me and gave me food to eat and shelter at night1 and so ,i got bolder1 and ,i would recite to them verses out of the holy books in return for their kindness1 for ,i had no money or anything else to give them4 ,in this way ,i have travelled many hundreds of miles on foot1 and seen many sacred places and holy men4 ,after each journey ,i return to my preceptor1 and tell him my experiences1 receive fresh counsel and instruction from him1 and now ,i am just starting on a fresh journey to ,dwarka4 ,looking down at my bicycle1 ,i felt quite a luxurious traveller compared with this brave fellow1 starting off with no hesitation and no misgivings on a journey of hundreds of miles1 with not a pice in his wallet1 and a kit even more slender than my own4 ,he had little idea as to where ,dwarka was1 but was content to ask his way day by day1 and trust to ,god and the hospitality of his co-religionists on the way for sustenance4 ,yes1 he said1 sometimes ,i do want to see my family4 ,my brothers are all gryasthas 7married householders7 now1 and ,i sometimes take a few days' leave from my master to visit them and my parents4 ,i am quite happy in this life1 and do not desire money or service or children2 for when my heart is lonely ,i read in my copy of the ,bhagvad ,gita and get consolation1 and ,i like that better than any other book because it makes my heart glad4 ,no1 ,i have never met anyone who has spoken to me of ,christ1 and ,i do not know anything about ,him2 but ,i am quite happy because ,i am sure that if ,i continue a life of penury and celibacy and pilgrimage ,i shall attain salvation4 ,to resume my own experiences at ,rishikes4 ,when night came on ,i was given shelter in one of the monasteries1 and though the floor was stone1 and a chill wind blew through the cloisters1 ,i should have slept soundly had not my next bed-fellow--or rather floor-fellow1 for there were no beds--thought it incumbent on him to spend the night shouting out in varying cadence1 ,ram1 ,ram1 ,jai ,sita ,ram1 ,ram1 ,ram6 ,i suggested that keeping a weary fellow-pilgrim awake all night would detract from the merit he was acquiring1 but only received the consolation that if he kept me awake ,i was thereby sharing1 though in a minor degree1 in that merit2 so it perforce went on till1 in the early morning hours1 my ears grew duller to the ,ram1 ,ram1 and my mind gradually shaped itself into an uneasy dream of ash-covered faqirs1 chapattis1 cows1 and squatting ,sadhus4 ,next day1 in the forest road near ,rishikes1 ,i came across a string of hillmen bowed down under heavy loads of firewood1 which they had been cutting in the hills near to sell for a few pice in the bazaar4 ,this was their daily lot1 earning just sufficient by continuous hard labour to find for themselves and their families sufficient coarse food for a meagre sustenance4 ,the question rose in my mind1 ,who approached nearer the ideal8--the idle ,sadhu1 who makes religion an excuse for living in greasy plenty on the hard-won earnings of others1 while doing next to nothing himself1 or these woodmen of the forest1 and all the dusty toilers in the ranks of honest labour8 ,and an answer came1 clear and sure3 ,honest toil is holy service2 faithful work is praise and prayer4 ,they who tread the path of labour follow where ,my feet have trod2 ,they that work without complaining do the holy will of ,god4 ,where the many toil together1 there am ,i among ,my own2 ,where the tired labourer sleepeth1 there am ,i with him alone4 ,the ascetics of ,afghanistan are almost all ,muhammadans1 and ,i shall therefore speak of them as faqirs1 that being the counterpart of the ,hindu ,sadhu4 ,these faqirs have started from an entirely different religious standpoint1 and travelled along a very different experimental road to those of their ,hindu brethren2 but the ultimate result is strikingly similar in many salient features1 and ,hindu asceticism and pantheistic thought have deeply coloured their ideas and habits4 ,there are endless different orders of ,muhammadan faqirs1 most of which had their origin in ,central ,asia1 ,bukhara and ,baghdad having contributed perhaps the largest share4 ,each of these orders has its own method of initiation1 its own habit of dress1 set phrases and formul1 and other characteristics4 ,except in a few cases in ,india1 none of these orders of faqirs or dervishes adopt the ochre garments of the ,sadhus4 ,the most characteristic garment of the faqir is known as the dilaq1 which is a patchwork1 particoloured cloak4 ,the owner goes on adding patches of pieces of coloured cloth which take his fancy1 but ,i have never seen him washing it1 and as it gets old he stitches and patches it till very little of the original is left4 ,the older and more patched it is1 the greater is the pride he takes in it1 and he would not part with it for love or money4 ,the order which is most commonly seen in ,afghanistan is that known as ,malang1 or wandering dervish4 ,these men have a dilaq1 a staff1 and a begging-bowl1 and travel all about the country begging4 ,they are nearly all illiterate1 and their knowledge of their own religion does not usually extend beyond certain chapters from the ,quran and stock formul4 ,but they have a wonderful vocabulary of words of abuse and curses1 and the people are in great fear of being visited by some calamity if they offend one of them and incur his wrath1 as they believe in their being able to blast the life of a child or the offspring of a pregnant woman1 or to bring other calamities down from heaven on the heads of those with whom they are wroth4 ,once while ,i was stopping in a village on the border one of these gentlemen came to say his prayers in the mosque1 and had left his shoes at the entrance1 as is the custom4 ,after he had said his prayers with great sanctimoniousness he went to resume his foot-gear1 but found1 to his dismay1 that some thief had gone off with them4 ,then followed a torrent of curses on whoever the thief might be1 in which all imaginable calamities and diseases were invoked on him and his relations1 accompanied by every epithet of abuse in the ,pashtu vocabulary1 and that is pretty rich in them6 ,the very volubility and eloquence of his anathemas would have dismayed any ordinary thief had he been within earshot1 but whether he ever got back his shoes or not ,i cannot say4 ,women who are childless will visit various faqirs1 whose prayers have a reputation for being efficacious for the removal of sterility4 ,they write charms1 and dictate elaborate instructions for the behaviour of the woman till her wish be fulfilled1 and they take the gifts which the suppliant has brought with her4 ,were this nothing more than a fraud dictated by avarice1 it would be reprehensible1 but worse things happen2 and when a child is born after due time1 the husband of the woman cannot always claim paternity4 ,it is a strange thing that in a country where husbands so jealously guard their women from strangers they allow them so much freedom in their dealings with faqirs1 whom they know to be morally corrupt4 ,it recalls the ,hindu ,sadhu and divinity1 who is popularly supposed to have attained an elevation where ethics are no longer taken account of4 ,in a religion such as ,islam it is scarcely possible for an order of dervishes to be orthodox1 and1 as a matter of fact1 most of them are extremely unorthodox1 and there is often considerable disputing between them and the priesthood on this account4 ,but the faqirs have such a hold over the people at large1 and in many ways are so useful to the propagation of ,islam1 that the ,mullah find it more politic to overlook their heresies and use them in the promotion of religious zeal and fanaticism4 ,it will be found that the underlying current of religious thought in nearly all these orders is that of ,sufism1 and ,sufism is the product of the aspiration of the ,mussalman soul1 wearied with the endless repetition of forms and ceremonies1 after something more spiritual2 and in its search after this spirituality it has drawn most on the pantheistic philosophies of ,hinduism4 ,pantheism is1 of course1 the antithesis of the ,judaic theocracy of ,islam1 and we read of a faqir who went about calling out1 ,ana hu1 ana el haqq 7,i am ,he1 ,i am the ,truth71 being put to death for blasphemy2 but all the same1 these ,muhammadans1 who feel most the aspirations of the soul for ,divine communion1 find it in a greater or less assimilation of pantheistic doctrine4 ,most of the faqirs one meets with in ,afghanistan are lazy fellows1 who abhor hard work1 and find they can make an easy living by begging1 and acquire at the same time1 what is so dear to many natures1 the homage and respect of the credulous and superstitious4 ,when one does meet with one who is willing and able to converse on spiritual topics1 one usually finds that he is a disciple of ,hafiz1 the great ,sufi poet of the ,persians4 ,like the ,hindu ,sadhus1 they are much addicted to the use of intoxicants 7though rarely alcohol71 and charras and bhang 7,indian hemp7 are constantly smoked with tobacco in their chilams4 ,when thus intoxicated they are known as mast1 and are believed by the populace to be possessed by divinity1 and to have miraculous powers of gaining favours from heaven for those who propitiate them4 ,when such a faqir dies he is buried in some prominent place1 often at the crossing of roads1 and his tomb has even greater efficacy than he himself had when living2 and those who wish to obtain his intercession with the ,almighty for themselves bring little earthen cups full of oil1 with little cotton wicks1 which they burn at his grave1 as a ,roman ,catholic burns candles at the shrine of a saint4 ,the most propitious time for doing this is on ,thursday night1 and at such times one can see the tombs of most renowned sanctity a veritable illumination with the numbers of little lamps burning far into the night4 ,at the same time offerings are given to the custodian of the shrine1 who is himself a faqir1 by preference a disciple of the one whose grave he tends4 ,in one such shrine that ,i visited there were the remains of what must once have been a fine sycamore-tree1 but which was then1 with the exception of one branch1 a mere withered shell1 which had to be propped up to prevent its falling to the ground4 ,the one green branch was said to be miraculously kept alive by the shadow of the tomb falling on it2 and if any childless pilgrim would take home a few leaves and give a decoction of them to his wife1 he would assuredly before long be the happy father of a son2 while for the relief of the other ills to which flesh is heir there was a masonry tank outside1 in which the sick1 the halt1 and the blind bathed1 and were said to receive the healing they came for4 ,many of our hospital patients have already been to this and similar faith-healing establishments1 so they are not always efficacious4 ,,chapter ,,xix ,,my ,,life ,,as ,a ,,mendicant ,dependent on the charitable--,an incident on the bridge over the ,jhelum ,river--,a rebuff on the feast-day--,an ,indian railway-station--,a churlish ,muhammadan--,helped by a soldier--,a partner in the concern--,a friendly native ,christian--,the prophet of ,qadian--,a new ,muhammadan development--,crossing the ,beas ,river--,reception in a ,sikh village--,recognized by ,his ,highness ,yakub ,khan1 late ,amir--,allahabad--,encounter with a ,brahman at ,bombay--,landing at ,karachi--,value of native dress--,relation to natives--,need of sympathy--,the effect of clothes--,disabilities in railway travelling--,english manners--,reception of visitors4 ,in this chapter ,i shall recount a few of the more interesting incidents that befell me and my disciple when on our pilgrimage as ,sadhus4 ,as we were travelling without money1 we were dependent on the offerings of the charitable not only for our daily food1 but for such little items as the toll required for crossing the bridges over the five great rivers of the ,panjab4 ,the first river we came to was the ,indus1 and there being no bridge over that part of the river1 it is crossed in ferry-boats4 ,we had no difficulty here1 for we were known2 and one of my pupils was on duty at the ferry and assisted us over4 ,it was not so easy1 however1 at the ,jhelum ,river4 ,when we reached the western end of the bridge1 the toll-keeper stopped us for payment4 ,i told him that ,i was a ,christian ,sadhu journeying to ,hindustan1 and that we had no money of any kind with us4 ,he may have believed us1 he may not2 but from the way he eyed the bicycles1 probably he did not4 ,anyway1 he told us plainly--no pice1 no path2 and no setting forth of the peculiar privileges of a ,sadhu could make him budge from the practical financial view of the question1 so we had nothing for it but to sit quietly down by the roadside and await events4 ,shortly afterwards a party of ,hindus1 on their way to their morning ablutions in the river1 sauntered up1 and stopped to gaze at the novel combination of bicycles and ,sadhus4 ,this soon led to conversation1 in the course of which we told them the object of our journey and the cause of our detention4 ,they then tried with no little earnestness to get us to relinquish the preaching of the ,gospel for the promulgation of the ,vedas1 and even offered to pay the two annas required for our toll if we would accede to their plan4 ,this gave me an opportunity for pointing out the attraction of ,christ1 which made it impossible for one who had once tasted the sweets of following in ,his footsteps to desert ,him for another master4 ,they clothed their contempt for the message of the ,cross in their compassion for our hopeless predicament1 as they considered it2 for1 they said1 there are no ,christians here to help you over1 and it is not likely that ,hindus or ,mussulmans would help you on such a mission4 ,i replied that ,i was content to wait by the roadside till help came1 and that ,i felt sure we should not have long to wait4 ,go back into the town--there are ,christian missionaries there who will help you2 but no one will be coming this way if you wait all day4 ,i replied that if it was the will of ,allah that we should cross1 ,he could send to us there the means requisite1 as much as in the city4 ,i had scarcely spoken when we saw an officer1 attended by a sowar1 riding up in the direction of the bridge4 ,when he reached us we recognized an officer from the frontier1 who had1 as we learnt1 just then been sent down to ,jhelum on special duty4 ,he recognized me1 and appeared amused and surprised at meeting me under such peculiar circumstances4 ,when he learnt what was the cause of our detention1 naturally the toll-keeper had not long to wait for his two annas1 and ,i was able to point out to my ,hindu friends that it had not taken long for ,god to send us help from even so far as ,peshawur1 and we went on with light and thankful hearts4 ,truly1 two annas is worth much more in some circumstances than one hundred rupees in others6 ,we then wheeled comfortably along the interesting ,grand ,trunk ,road1 now to the north and now to the south of the railway-line4 ,the crisp morning air of a ,panjab winter has an exhilarating effect on the appetite1 and we were only exceptional in that we had the appetite but no wherewithal in our wallets to satisfy the same4 ,to tantalize us the more1 it was the feast-day succeeding the great ,muhammadan fast1 and in all the villages the men were feasting1 and the children1 gaily dressed in their gala clothes1 were amusing themselves on numerous swings1 hung up on the trees round the villages1 or in playing about on the roads4 ,my ,afghan companion1 who had been having the fast without the feast1 finally went up to a party of merrymakers1 and1 after saluting them with the customary ,salaam alaikum1 said that he was very hungry1 and would be glad of a share of the ',id cakes4 ,the man addressed surveyed us in a leisurely fashion from head to foot1 and said3 ,you6 you call yourselves faqirs1 ride bicycles1 and beg your bread6 ,phew6 and turned his back on us4 ,my companion turned to me with a very un-,sadhu-like expression on his face1 saying3 ,we ,afghans used always to say that ,panjabi ,muhammadans are only half ,mussulmans2 but now ,i see we were wrong3 they are not a quarter4 ,in our country we call in every stranger and traveller to share our feast4 ,the latter part of his statement was certainly true2 as to the former1 ,i must leave those who know them best to judge4 ,shortly after midday we reached ,lala ,musa1 and1 visiting the station1 found the train had just come in4 ,we mingled with the bustling crowd1 and watched the native sweetmeat and refreshment vendors going from carriage to carriage1 calling out3 ,garm chapati6 garm chapati awe dal6 7,hot rolls6 hot rolls and pulse672 ,ghi ki pakorian6 7,vegetable fritters fried in butter672 ,garm dudh6 7,hot milk671 and various other delicacies2 and we watched the fortunate possessors of pice selecting some tempting sweetmeat or panake4 ,then we passed on to the refreshment-rooms1 where the ,european passengers were taking a hurried meal1 and ,i remembered many occasions when ,i had been into that same refreshment-room without being a tithe as hungry1 and now1 how could ,i venture inside8 ,should ,i not be greeted with3 ,now then1 out of this2 no faqirs wanted here6 ,so ,i wandered back among the third-class passengers4 ,a ,sikh native officer spoke kindly to me and offered me some cardamoms1 and then the whistle blew4 ,the passengers hurried to their seats1 and we were left alone4 ,a railway porter entered into conversation1 and1 finding who we were1 directed us to go to the village1 where there was a ,christian preacher4 ,we went to the caravanserai1 where there were some ,afghan traders sitting on a bed4 ,they seemed surprised at getting a greeting in ,pashtu1 but returned it heartily4 ,then ,i saw a well-dressed man walking off towards the bazaar1 and something in his face and a book in his hand seemed to indicate him as the ,christian preacher1 and1 on introducing ourselves1 we found we were not mistaken4 ,he asked us into his house to rest1 and informed us that he was an agent of the ,scotch mission at ,gujrat4 ,after the rebuff of the morning we were loth to say that1 though the sun was now declining towards the west1 we were still awaiting our breakfast2 so after a time ,i rose to go1 when1 to our no small satisfaction1 the kind man asked us to stop till tea was ready4 ,it was my custom at most of the towns to preach in the bazaar1 and usually1 during or after the preaching1 someone in the audience would offer us hospitality4 ,when we reached ,pind ,dadan ,khan1 however1 it was too late for this1 darkness having set in2 and after wandering about the bazaar for a time1 and talking to a few people1 none of whom offered us hospitality1 we went to the public serai1 or inn1 known as ,victoria ,ghar1 where travellers can rest without payment1 and spent the night there4 ,someone had given us two pice1 and with this we bought a pice chapati and a pice of sugarcane1 and dined off this4 ,being thirsty1 ,i asked a respectable ,muhammadan who was dining on a bed hard by for a glass of water4 ,he gave it2 but when ,i raised the glass to my lips1 he said3 ,i would like to know first what your religion is4 ,i replied3 ,i am a ,christian4 ,hearing this1 the gentleman took the glass from me1 saying3 ,i do not wish to sully my glass with your touch4 ,this was a bigotry which ,i am glad to say ,i rarely met with1 and is certainly not justified by the teaching of the ,quran1 which permits commensality with ,christians and ,jews4 ,after this rebuff we did not care to ask any other inhabitant of the place for water4 ,the next day we travelled on to ,khewra1 and1 on passing through the bazaar1 saw the ,government doctor1 a ,hindu assistant-surgeon1 sitting outside the dispensary seeing patients4 ,he knew us1 and in place of water brought us milk1 and then got us a breakfast4 ,welcome as this was1 his kind greeting cheered us even more4 ,the next river we had to cross was the ,chenab4 ,on arriving at the bridge1 ,i found a detachment of ,english soldiers on the march1 and one of these gave the two annas required for our toll4 ,about two years later1 when visiting ,lahore1 a missionary friend there said to me3 ,i met a friend of yours the other day4 ,indeed6 ,who was that8 ,i was travelling up to ,peshawur by rail1 when some ,english soldiers got into the carriage1 and one of them1 looking at me1 asked me if ,i was a ,padre4 ,on my answering his question in the affirmative1 he then said he was glad of that1 because he took an interest in missions4 ,i asked him why he did so4 ',you see1' he said1 'some time ago we were on the march to ,lahore1 and at the ,chenab bridge there was a missionary chap who hadn't the money for crossing the bridge1 and so ,i paid it for him4 ,i became a kind of partner in the concern2 that is why ,i take an interest in missions4' ,this was your friend1 was it not8 ,i1 of course1 recalled the incident at the ,chenab bridge1 and hope my friend has continued his practical interest in mission work4 ,the last day of the year #aijc found us at ,narowal1 a village famed in the missionary annals of the ,panjab4 ,leaving that1 we soon reached the ,ravi ,river1 which lower down flows by the walls of the capital of the ,panjab4 ,here it was running clear and cold below a sandy cliff on its western bank4 ,it had evidently been encroaching on the lands of the farmers1 and engulfing many a fertile acre1 and the houses of the village1 too1 the ruins of the latter showing some way along the bank4 ,the east bank was a low1 wide expanse of sand1 which had long been left dry by the receding stream4 ,seeing no other way of crossing1 we were preparing to doff our clothes and ford1 when a good soul of a zamindar came up4 ,peace be with you4 ,and on you be peace4 ,whither are you going1 ,o ,sadhu-log1 and what is your order and sect8 ,we are ,christian ,sadhus travelling from ,afghanistan to ,india1 and are seeking means to cross this river4 ,then you are my teacher1 said the zamindar1 brightening into a smile1 and ,i will get a boat and take you across4 ,although the good fellow had been brought to the brink of ruin by the destruction of his lands and house by the rapacious river1 he went and procured a boat and rowed us across1 knowing that it was not in our power to give him any reward1 except to pray for him that he might recover his lost land1 and to give him some spiritual comfort4 ,after the pleasure of meeting with this brother so opportunely1 we went on encouraged1 and soon reached ,dera ,baba ,nanak1 the residence of the descendants of the famous ,guru and the seat of a darbar 7,sikh temple71 the gilded dome of which we saw glittering in the sun4 ,passing over our stay here and at other intervening places1 ,i might mention our visit to ,gadian1 rendered famous by being the headquarters of the ,muhammadan reformer ,mirza ,ghulam ,ahmad1 who died in #aijh4 ,this man had collected round him a band of zealous followers1 but1 unfortunately1 the good he might have done was nullified by his impious claim to be the returned ,messiah1 in accordance with which he professed miraculous powers1 and demanded a correspondingly abject obedience4 ,heavy rain-clouds were overcasting the sky when we set out1 and we had scarcely covered the eleven miles of unmade road that connects ,batala with ,gadian when the downpour commenced1 and continued throughout the day4 ,moulvi ,muhammad ,sadiq1 the head-master of the ,mirza's ,high ,school1 received us with the greatest courtesy1 and gave us one of the schoolrooms to rest in1 and shortly afterwards1 as the ,mirza himself was indisposed and unable to see us1 we were taken into the presence of his lieutenant1 ,moulvi ,moha-ud-din4 ,this ,moulvi is very learned1 probably the most learned in ,gadian2 he comes from the town of ,bhera1 in the ,panjab1 but has travelled a good deal4 ,he was teaching theology to a large class of youths and men in ,eastern fashion1 reclining on a simple mat and cushion himself1 while his pupils sat on the ground round him4 ,tea was brought in for us and him while he went on teaching4 ,the ,hadis from which the pupils were reading was on the subject of prayer1 and the ,moulvi explained the passages with great force and perspicuity as the pupils read them out turn by turn4 ,after some dissertation on the correct intonation of prayers1 he took up 7probably for our benefit7 a comparison of the texts of the ,quran and the ,bible1 showing how the custom of committing the former to memory had resulted in its verbal correctness4 ,following the same line1 ,muhammad ,sadiq compared with this the recent criticisms on the ,bible by the ,christian expositors2 and the ,encyclopdia ,biblica1 which he seemed to have studied minutely1 afforded him an inexhaustible store of argument4 ,after this the midday meal was brought in1 and then we were sent for by a relation of the ,nawab of ,maler-,kotla1 who had become a disciple of the ,mirza1 and had devoted himself and his resources to his service1 and was living in the village in a simple1 almost ,spartan1 manner4 ,after conversation with him and others1 ,i was shown the high school1 college classes1 and boarding-house4 ,though the buildings for the latter were second-rate1 yet the management seemed good1 and the inmates orderly and well trained4 ,in particular ,i noticed that1 though the next morning was chilly and drizzly1 yet all were up at the first streak of dawn1 and turned methodically out of their warm beds into the cold yard1 and proceeded to the mosque1 where all united in morning prayers1 after which most of them devoted themselves to reading the ,quran for half an hour to one hour4 ,many of the masters1 too1 seemed very earnest in their work1 and had given up much higher emoluments to work for quite normal salaries in the cause to which they had devoted themselves4 ,we were fairly tired out with a long day of talking and interviewing1 and slept soundly4 ,we were disappointed1 too1 in receiving a message that the ,mirza was still too unwell to see us1 but would do so in the morning4 ,however1 when morning dawned we heard with much regret that he had passed a bad night and was still unable to see anyone4 ,as his attendants were unable to hold out any prospect of a speedy interview1 and as1 indeed1 we felt doubtful whether the interview was desired1 we prepared for an early start4 ,we had been kindly and hospitably received1 and there was something inspiriting in seeing a number of educated men thoroughly zealous and keen in the active pursuit of religion1 though the strong spirit of antagonism to ,christianity was saddening4 ,moreover1 one could not but feel that1 as in similar cases in ,england and ,america1 here was a man of great ability who had effectually deceived himself1 and had then been the means of deceiving a multitude of others into believing his false claims4 ,as we read in ,matthew xxiv4 #aa1 ,false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many4 ,the next river we came to was the ,beas1 and when approaching it from the direction of ,gurdaspur1 on a bright winter's morning1 we were struck by the beauty of the landscape4 ,on our left was a glorious panorama of the ,himalaya ,mountains1 range surmounting range of glistening snow1 a vision of dazzling white4 ,all was set off by the varying greens and browns of the rich ,panjab ,plain to the east and south1 the forests and fields of which lay mapped out before us1 and the ,river ,beas a gleaming streak of silver meandering through its fertile tracts4 ,reaching the river1 we found that the toll-keeper was on the farther side and the river itself unfordable4 ,asking the boatmen whether we could cross without paying toll1 as we had no means of doing so1 they said the only way was for one of us to cross over and ask4 ,we thought on our part that it would be better for both of us to cross over and ask1 and as the boatmen saw no objection to this1 we heaved our machines on board one of the boats and crossed over with a number of camels and bullocks4 ,safely arrived on the other side1 we went to the toll-office and did what most ,easterns do when they are in a quandary--sat down and waited to see what would turn up4 ,the official in a leisurely way took the toll of all the passengers1 quadruped and biped alike1 eyed us narrowly without speaking1 and then1 in still more leisurely fashion1 began to smoke his hookah4 ,as time passed we both became contemplative1 he on the wreathing columns of smoke from his pipe1 ,i on the bucolic landscape around me4 ,his patience was the first to waver1 and he broke the silence with3 ,now1 ,sadhu-ji1 your pice4 ,indeed1 ,i carry no such mundane articles4 ,then what right had you to cross the ,sarkar's river in the ,sarkar's boat8 ,indeed1 our purpose was to crave a favour of your worthy self4 ,what do you desire of me1 ,o ,sadhu-ji8 ,merely that1 as we are on a pilgrimage to ,india and have no money1 you would allow us to cross without paying toll2 and as you were on this side and we were on that1 and nobody would take our message1 there was nothing for it but to come in person to ask the favour4 ,very well1 ,sadhu-ji1 your request is granted1 and may you remember me4 ,as an instance of the reception we got in a ,hindu village1 ,i may cite the case of one which we reached in the late afternoon in the ,sirhind district4 ,most of the men must have been working out in the fields when we arrived1 for we scarcely saw anyone as we wended our way to what seemed the principal house in the village1 and1 sitting down outside it1 my companion began to sing a popular ,indian hymn3 ,zara tak soch ai ghafil kih kya dam ka thikana nai 7,think a little1 ,o careless one1 how little certainty there is of this life47 ,first some children and then some men collected1 chief among the latter being a venerable and stately old ,sikh1 the owner of the house and the religious guru or sodhi of the place4 ,the song ended1 he inquired who we were1 and what were our object and destination2 and when he had been satisfied on all these points1 he informed us that1 though he had never entertained ,christian ,sadhus before1 yet if we were ready to be treated like other ,sadhus1 he would be very glad to offer us the hospitality of his house4 ,we thankfully accepted his offer1 and he prepared a room for us1 and later on brought us a supper of rice and milk in his own vessels1 which to us1 after a long and tiring day1 seemed quite a royal repast4 ,it was not often that ,i was recognized as a ,european1 until ,i had declared myself1 but the following occasion was a notable exception4 ,i was sitting in the little jungle station of ,raval1 and a party of gentlemen in semi-,indian costume arrived from a hunting expedition4 ,the chief was an elderly thick-set man with an iron-grey beard1 dark piercing eyes and gold spectacles4 ,he eyed me narrowly a short time1 and then said to one of those with him in the ,persian language3 ,that man is an ,englishman4 ,i replied1 ,i recognize you gentlemen as ,afghans4 ,he assented1 and ,i entered into conversation with one of the ,afghans with him1 who told me that it was ,his ,highness ,yakub ,khan1 ex-,amir of ,afghanistan1 who had thus recognized me4 ,on the other hand1 at ,allahabad ,i was going on my bicycle along a road which was slippery from a recent shower of rain4 ,in turning a corner the machine skidded and ,i fell1 and as ,i was picking myself up1 an ,english girl who was passing1 called out3 ,o ,sadhu6 you must have stolen that bicycle1 and that is why you do not know how to ride4 ,finally we made our way to ,bombay1 having been helped the last part of our journey by a friend who bought us our railway-tickets4 ,here we desired to return homewards by taking the steamer to ,karachi4 ,we then had no money1 but ,i was asked to give a lecture on my travels1 and after the lecture several of the audience gave me sums amounting altogether to eleven rupees4 ,when1 however1 we went down to the docks to take passage1 we found that our steerage fare cost ten rupees1 and five rupees was demanded for each of the bicycles too6 ,we purchased our tickets and stood on the quay awaiting developments4 ,among the crowd was a ,brahman holy man1 who was sprinkling the passengers with holy water and receiving a harvest of coppers in return4 ,he came to sprinkle us1 but we declined the honour4 ,he then asked why we were waiting instead of going aboard with the other passengers4 ,i told him that we were waiting because we could not pay the fare of our bicycles4 ,he retorted that unless we invoked his blessing 7for a remuneration7 we should assuredly never start1 but that1 having done so1 everything would turn out well4 ,when we still declined1 he went away prophesying that all sorts of misfortunes would befall us4 ,the last of the passengers had gone aboard1 the appointed time for starting had arrived1 but no friend had appeared to help us out of the difficulty4 ,the ,brahman came back and taunted us with our position1 and what it might have been had we but accepted his offer4 ,all ,i could say was1 ,wait and see4 ,just as the steamer was about to start a ship's officer called to us and said that the captain was willing to take our bicycles free of charge4 ,with a friendly nod to the ,brahman1 we crossed the drawbridge and in a minute more were under way4 ,we had now one rupee left for food1 but still we were not left in want1 for when that was finished the ,goanese cooks came and inquired about us and gave us a share of their own dinner4 ,at ,karachi the steamers anchor out in the harbour a considerable distance from the landing wharves1 and passengers are taken ashore in native boats1 a number of which crowd alongside the moment the ship is moored4 ,but these boatmen naturally require remuneration1 and we had none to give1 so that it now seemed as though we should have greater difficulty in getting off the steamer than we had in getting on4 ,just then a launch came alongside for the mails1 and a ship's officer came up and asked if we would like to go ashore on it4 ,of course we accepted the offer with alacrity1 had our machines on board in a trice1 and were safely on terra firma again before the native boats had got away from the steamer4 ,this pilgrimage gave me many opportunities for philosophizing on the rle that a man's clothes play in gaining him a reception or a rejection4 ,my missionary brethren took various views on the subject4 ,most exhibited incredulity as to the expediency of donning native garb1 while showing some sympathetic interest2 few were antagonistic on principle1 though one missionary brother1 indeed1 weighed the matter a long time before admitting us into his house4 ,he thought that the gulf between ,east and ,west was a priori unbridgeable2 therefore no attempt should be made to bridge it1 and that the relation between a missionary and his native associates should be sympathetic 7patronizing871 but not familiar4 ,to go about with an ,indian brother1 sharing the same plate and same lodging1 seemed to him the height of unwisdom1 even to shake hands being to go beyond the bounds of propriety2 while as for an ,englishman donning native clothes1 he was dimming the glamour of the ,british name in ,india1 which in his eyes was next door to undermining the ,british rule itself4 ,my mind had been made up on this subject before ,i had been very long in ,india1 and on no occasion did circumstances tend to weaken my own opinion that the gulf is by no means unbridgeable1 and that the sooner and the more heartily we set about bridging it1 the better it will be for the promotion of the kingdom of ,christ in this land4 ,sympathy cannot be wholly made to order3 it is largely dependent on extraneous and adventitious circumstances1 and ,i believe that the adoption of native dress increases that sympathy on both sides--on the side of the missionary1 because it enables him to realize more vividly what treatment is often meted out to our native brethren and how they feel under it1 and on the part of the ,indians because the restraint which they usually feel--at least1 in country districts--in approaching a ,sahib is removed4 ,no doubt one reason why ,indian ,christians are so largely adopting ,western dress is that they receive much more courtesy1 conspicuously so when travelling on the railway4 ,i had occasion to make some inquiries in ,batala ,station office4 ,i might have drummed my heels on the threshold till ,i was tired had ,i not been fortunate in meeting an ,indian brother wearing ,english dress1 who walked in without diffidence1 though when ,i attempted to follow him1 ,i was met with a push and a ,nikal jao6 7,get out674 ,on another occasion1 travelling by the night mail from ,lahore1 ,i was anxious to get some sleep1 and ,i saw that the native compartment was crowded1 while in the ,european compartment there was only a single ,english soldier4 ,he barred my entrance with a ,can't you see this is only for ,europeans8 ,i humbly suggested that ,i belonged to that category1 but his prompt ,don't tell me any blooming lies6 made me think it better to seek my night's rest in another compartment4 ,while at ,lucknow ,i essayed to visit the ,european cemetery at the old ,residency1 but the custodian would not hear of admitting me1 utterly discrediting my statement that ,i was a ,european4 ,surely this unnecessary and most offensive restriction might be removed4 ,i can readily judge from my own feelings at the time how naturally and greatly self-respecting ,indians would resent this piece of racial antipathy1 which permits a common gate-keeper to subject any ,indian to indignity4 ,one naturally associates with those who give the heartiest welcome1 and when in native garb the attraction is to those for the sake of whom we have come out to this land1 while1 on the other hand1 there is danger that1 when dressed for the drawing-room or the tennis-courts1 we may spend too much of our time on that side of the gulf4 ,if we ,english realized how much pain we often cause our ,indian brethren1 not so much by what we say or do as by the way we say or do it and the way we act towards them1 a great cause of racial misunderstanding and ill-feeling would be removed4 ,suppose a ,sahib is seated in his study1 and the bearer announces ,a ,sahib has come to call1 the answer is given at once3 ,ask him into the drawing-room4 ,a moment after an ,indian gentleman arrives1 and the bearer is told to give him a chair in the verandah1 or he may be even left standing in the sun1 as happened to me more than once1 till the ,sahib had finished eating his lunch or writing his letters4 ,at more than one bungalow1 whether it belonged to a missionary or an official1 the bearer would not even report my presence till he had catechized me as to who ,i was and what ,i wanted4 ,i have had to wait as long as two hours before the ,sahib found leisure to see me1 being left meanwhile without a seat except ,god's good earth1 in the wind and cold1 or in the heat and sun1 as the case might be4 ,a missionary1 of all people1 should not have a room set apart and tacitly understood to be for ,english visitors only1 or make a habit of receiving the two kinds of visitors in altogether different style1 or allow his menial servants to hustle and hector the already diffident and nervous native visitor4 ,when ,i was on my pilgrimage with my disciple1 how our hearts opened to those true friends who received both of us alike1 and did not chill us at the outset with the suggestion1 ,i suppose your friend would like to be taken to the house of the catechist4 ,why1 forsooth8 ,many a time we were both the guests of the humblest of our ,indian brothers1 and perfectly happy in unrestrained communion with them2 others1 too1 of stations high above our own received us both with an unreserved hospitality1 in which nothing was allowed to show that any difference was made between ,english and ,indian1 and we honoured and loved them for it4 ,why1 then1 should others be at pains to show that they had one treatment for the ,englishman and another for the ,indian1 or perhaps conceal that feeling so poorly that we were never able to feel at ease with them8 ,which1 ,i ask1 is more likely to remove racial antipathy and unrest1 and to make our ,indian brethren feel that the ,christianity which we preach is really genuine and means what it says8 ,,chapter ,,xx ,a ,,frontier ,,episode ,a merchant caravan in the ,tochi ,pass--,manak ,khan--,a sudden onslaught--,first aid--,native remedies--,a desperate case--,a last resort--,the ,feringi doctor--,setting out on the journey--,arrival at ,bannu--,refuses amputation--,returns to ,afghanistan--,his wife and children frightened away4 ,it is evening1 and a party of ,lohani merchants are slowly defiling with their camels through the ,tochi ,pass1 one of the mountain gorges which connect our ,indian ,empire with ,afghanistan1 and its last beams are shining in the faces of a dozen stalwart men now returning to their homes near ,ghuzni1 with the proceeds of their winter's trading on the plains of ,india4 ,the men and some five or six women are on foot1 while their children and two or three more women are mounted on some of the camels1 which would otherwise be returning unladen1 their loads having been sold in ,multan4 ,the women1 veiled as usual1 show little more to the passer-by than one eye and a small triangular piece of cheek2 while the men are either holding the nose-strings of the camels1 or walking beside them with their guns over their shoulders1 and a pistol and long knife or sword peeping out from their open cloak2 for the weather is getting hot now with approaching summer1 and they are passing through the hostile country of the ,wazirs1 that wild border mountain tribe who think it their ancestral right to harass and plunder the merchant caravans passing through their district as much as opportunity allows4 ,among the merchants we are struck by one fine1 tall1 broad-shouldered fellow1 stalking along by the side of the foremost of his three camels1 his gun and sword ready for use1 but1 in the absence of any sign of an enemy1 walking at ease1 humming quietly to himself a native ditty1 in expectation of speedily seeing his home again1 and rejoining his wife and three children1 who have not accompanied him on this journey4 ,these three camels form his wealth and the centre of his hopes and prospects1 for by means of them does he yearly take down his merchandise of skins and fruit to the markets of ,india1 and return in early summer--it is now the month of ,may--with the proceeds to his home4 ,manak ,khan--for that is his name--has been down many a winter now with his three camels to the ,derajat1 or that part of ,india nearest ,afghanistan1 and has had more than one scuffle with the ,wazirs1 while passing through their land1 in defence of his little stock-in-trade4 ,his fellow-travellers evidently consider him one of their boldest and best men1 for it requires no little knowledge of the country1 and courage1 too1 to lead a party composed largely of women and children1 and encumbered by a lot of baggage1 through mountain passes1 where they are daily and nightly exposed to the attacks of the mountaineers hiding behind the rocks1 or crowning the heights on either side1 and thirsting for their small possessions4 ,the sun has now disappeared behind the hill before them1 and1 like good ,muhammadans1 they make a brief halt for the evening prayers4 ,the men cleanse their hands and feet with sand--for there is no water to be had here--and1 selecting a smooth piece of ground1 spread their shawl and1 facing the ,holy ,city1 perform the requisite number of genuflections and calls on ,god4 ,suddenly there is the loud report of several guns2 the bullets whistle through the midst of the party1 and in a moment all is confusion and uproar4 ,the camels start up and try to escape2 the women seize their children or the camel-ropes2 while the men snatch their guns1 which had been just now put down1 and hastily take aim at some dozen men running down the mountain-side in the direction of the camels1 with their long knives ready for action4 ,but the first volley had not been without effect3 ,manak ,khan is lying on the ground1 blood flowing fast from a wound in his left leg just above the knee1 and anxiously is he watching what is now a hand-to-hand conflict close by him4 ,the ,wazirs have rushed among the camels and have cut their cords1 and are attempting to drive them off2 while the other merchants1 having discharged their matchlocks1 attack them with their swords1 and camels and men are mingled in one shouting1 slashing mle4 ,fortunately for the ,lohanis1 two of the leading ,wazirs fall quickly with fatal sword wounds1 and the remainder1 seeing that the ,lohanis have not been caught napping1 and that the tide is turning against them1 make off as quickly as they appeared1 and the merchants have far too much to do in quieting their frightened camels to think of a pursuit4 ,a hasty council is held4 ,it is found that one man has his arm broken by a sword cut1 and ,manak ,khan has his leg broken1 the ball having passed through the bone and opened the knee-joint1 while most of the remainder can show smaller cuts4 ,the women now come to the rescue4 ,a veil is torn up and the wounds bound1 some being stitched by the women pulling hairs out of their own heads1 and using their ordinary sewing-needles on their husbands' skin4 ,an immediate march is resolved upon1 but then comes the difficulty about ,manak ,khan4 ,moving him causes him great pain and the blood to gush forth afresh1 while to leave him is out of the question1 for his throat would be cut long before morning4 ,whatever may be the faults of an ,afghan1 he is not one to forsake a friend in the hour of need1 and so it proves here4 ,a piece of cloth is half burnt1 and the blackened shreds1 soaked with oil1 rubbed over the wound1 and the leg then bound to a musket with the ample folds of a shawl1 and1 lastly1 our hero is tied on a rough bed1 and mounted high on the back of a camel4 ,great were the lamentations when ,manak ,khan reached his village home2 and instead of his strong step and hearty greeting consoling his wife for her long winter of separation1 she came forth only to see the pain-marked face and helpless form carried in on a bed1 and to hear the account of the night attack in the dread ,tochi ,pass4 ,bismillah6 let the will of ,god be done1 consoles the village ,mullah1 while some practical friend starts off for the nearest hakim1 or doctor4 ,the latter shortly arrives2 and the wife retires into the cottage1 while the greybeards assemble in the courtyard to offer their bits of experience and advice1 and vow vengeance over the ,quran on the luckless ,wazirs who committed the deed4 ,after no little ceremony and interchange of ideas1 the doctor decides on a combination of two remedies1 for the case is a serious one3 the leg is greatly swollen from the groin to the calf1 and unhealthy matter is issuing from both the apertures of entry and exit of the bullet1 while the shattered bones grate on each other1 and cause the man to bite convulsively the rolled-up end of his turban1 on the slightest movement4 ,for the first remedy a fat sheep is bought and slain and immediately skinned1 the reeking skin being applied at once to the bare leg1 with the bloody side next the skin1 from groin to heel1 and the whole bound up and placed in the hollow formed by burning out the central core from the half of a three-foot length of tree-trunk4 ,for the second remedy a message is sent to a certain religious devotee1 who has an asylum in the neighbourhood and a great reputation for charms which will cure all manner of diseases 7when it is the will of ,god that they shall be cured74 ,next day he arrives1 clad in simple goatskin1 with the hair outside1 and a cap of similar material4 ,many long prayers are gone through with the help of the ,mullah1 and at last a small piece of printed paper torn from an ,arabic tract is produced1 and carefully sewn up in a small piece of leather1 and tied in the name of ,god round the man's ankle4 ,then comes the last ceremony1 and one not to be overlooked on any account--that of providing a feast at the sick man's expense for all parties concerned4 ,his little store of rupees is fetched out1 and returns lighter by a third to the folds of the old turban in which it was carefully hoarded1 while the charm-maker is seen leading away a fine milch goat4 ,day follows day1 and night follows night1 but still ,manak ,khan lies tossing feverish on a bed of pain1 and still is the patient ,sadura watching by his bedside1 and daily bringing in fresh milk and butter and sugar1 and making tempting pancakes1 only to be left half tasted by the fever-stricken frame of her loved one4 ,at last the tenth day comes1 on which the sheepskin is to be removed1 and the hakim comes1 and the ,mullah comes1 and the greybeards come1 and prayers are read1 and money is given2 but1 to the disappointment of all1 the limb is found no better1 swollen as before1 and bathed in evil-smelling matter1 which makes his friends1 all but his faithful wife1 bind a fold or two of their turbans over their noses and mouths4 ,so week follows week4 ,one herb is tried after another2 the last of his rupees disappears among the hakims1 for1 peradventure1 think they1 the doctor did not heal it at once because his fee was not high enough1 so a larger fee is given1 and a hint that if only he will say for what price he will speedily heal it1 they will go all lengths to pay him2 for it must be unwillingness1 not incapability1 that prevents his doing so4 ,so two months passed away1 but still the limb was swollen and sore1 still was he unable to rise from his bed of pain4 ,then they determined to send a messenger to the neighbouring town of ,ghuzni1 and call in a doctor of great repute from there4 ,true1 his charge was high--one of the three camels must be sold to defray it--but what hope was there for them with the breadwinner hopelessly crippled8 ,so the messenger went and the doctor came1 and his remedy was tried4 ,two bunches of wool were thoroughly soaked in oil and then set fire to1 and fastened on the skin near the knee2 the pain was great1 but ,manak ,khan stood it bravely1 tightly biting his turban-end and grasping his friend's arm in a spasmodic grip4 ,when the burnt flesh separated after a few days the ulcers left were dressed with some leaves from a plant growing on the shrine of a noted saint1 and renewed every two or three days4 ,still there was no improvement1 though charms and amulets were bought at high prices from many a saint1 and the ,ghuzni doctor came again and took away his second camel4 ,manak ,khan and ,sadura were beginning to lose all hope1 when one day a traveller was passing through their village on the road to ,kabul1 and as he was sitting with the villagers1 telling them the latest news from ,india1 one of them asked him about a scar on his left arm4 ,ah1 he said1 when ,i was in ,dera ,ismal ,khan ,i had a terrible abscess2 but there was an ,english doctor there1 and he lanced it1 and got it quite well in a couple of weeks2 and1 he went on1 numbers of people have been going to him1 and ,i have seen some wonderful cures4 ,really6 say they2 and had you to pay him a great deal8 ,no2 that is the strange part3 he will not take any money from anyone1 but sees all the people that go to him1 be they ever so poor1 for nothing4 ,that cannot be2 he must have a reason behind it all4 ,no1 not unless it be this--that you know he is a ,feringi1 and1 like all other ,feringis1 an unbeliever2 but1 more than that1 he seems to want all the people to believe on ,hazrat ',esa 7,lord ,jesus7 as being the ,son of ,god 7here the ,mullah and several of the men spit on the ground and say1 ,tauba1 tauba71 and to this end he has got an assistant who preaches to all the people who go to him1 and tells them about ,hazrat ',esa1 and how he was a hakim and cured people4 ,well1 this is strange1 but ,i wonder if he could cure ,manak ,khan4 ,and so all particulars are asked1 and the advice of all the greybeards1 while ,manak ,khan catches at the idea as a dying man at a straw4 ,sadura1 however1 is not so easily convinced4 ,she did not relish the idea of her husband being separated from her once more1 and moreover1 said she1 where the doctor of ,ghuzni had failed1 how was it likely that another doctor1 and he a blasphemer of their ,prophet1 would succeed8 ,so the idea was waived for a time1 and things went on as before1 while their last camel was sold to pay their increasing debts1 and gloom settled on the little circle4 ,but as the ,september days were lengthening and still no hope appeared1 they settled that they would try the ,feringi's medicine4 ,but then came the difficulty as to ways and means2 their last camel had been sold1 and ,manak had no friends who would take him down to the plains free of expense4 ,at last a bright idea struck them3 their little daughter1 ,gul ,bibi1 was now seven years old1 and many a man would be willing to lend eighty or ninety rupees on condition of her being kept for his wife4 ,and so it was settled3 the bargain was struck1 and with the proceeds a man was engaged to take him on camel-back down to the ,derajat plains4 ,the village carpenter made a kind of litter1 which could be fastened on the back of a camel1 and as his wife must stop for the children1 his old mother volunteered to take the journey with him and tend him through it4 ,it was a sad farewell this time1 and long did ,sadura stand at the outskirts of the village watching the camel and its precious burden1 with the old mother and sturdy camel-driver trudging by the side1 gradually disappear round a corner of the defile4 ,on the seventh day they emerged from the ,gomal ,pass on to the ,plain of ,tank1 and here they stayed a little to recuperate with the kind ,dr4 ,john ,williams1 of the ,christian hospital there2 then going on till the trees and mudhouses of ,dera ,ismal ,khan came in sight4 ,here a fresh disappointment awaited them3 the ,feringi doctor had left ,dera1 and gone to carry on his work in ,bannu1 one hundred miles farther4 ,but what cannot be cured must be endured1 and so the camel's head is turned towards ,bannu1 and the weary march resumed once more4 ,five days later1 as the evening was drawing on--it was now late in ,november--,bannu was reached1 and the new ,feringi doctor inquired for2 and a few minutes later the camel1 with its strange burden1 came through the gates of the mission compound1 and the long tedium of the three hundred miles' journey was brought to a close4 ,such was the story with which ,manak ,khan came to me1 and which he gradually unfolded to me some two months later1 as confidence had increased1 and ,i used to sit by his bedside hearing tales of his mountain home4 ,great was the sorrow with which ,i had to tell him that his case was incurable1 that his leg had become thoroughly disorganized1 and amputation was necessary2 but1 like most of his race1 his aversion to the loss of a limb made him prefer the long months of a bed of sickness and the tedious and repeated operations performed in an endeavour to save the limb in a usable condition4 ,in this way he and his mother remained with us till the middle of ,april1 when1 as the heat of the plain began to be felt1 they were compelled to return to their mountain home1 with little or no improvement4 ,yet with one great difference1 which lightened up the sadness of his departure3 he had learnt to believe on ,christ ,jesus as his own ,saviour1 and to look up to ,him as the ,one who carries us safely through sickness and trial1 and is preparing a home for us at last2 and very earnestly did he assure me that during the long days of patient suffering in our little mission hospital he had learnt to lift his heart in prayer to ,him who hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows1 and look up to ,him as his ,saviour4 ,and1 said he1 if ,god spares my life1 ,i will tell my people of ,him1 and come back with my family to be received into the ,christian ,church4 ,so he left us1 and our prayers followed him on his long and painful journey home2 and may it not be that he is a light shining in a dark place1 and witnessing in that little ,afghan village of how he went for bodily healing1 but ,god saw fit to pour light into his soul instead1 and make the very tedium of a protracted illness in the ,bannu ,mission ,hospital the guiding light to heaven8 ,every now and again we got news of ,manak ,khan4 ,he had taken with him some books in the ,pashtu language1 a ,new ,testament and some others1 and these used to be read by a ,mullah in his village and some other friends of his who could read4 ,his leg1 however1 never got well1 and was the cause of his death some three years later4 ,when on his death-bed1 he directed his wife to go to ,bannu with her children and place herself under my protection1 and one autumn morning she arrived1 with three children4 ,before she had been with us many days1 however1 others of her tribe came and warned her that if she stopped with us she would lose her religion1 sell herself to the ,evil ,one1 and be lost for ever1 and they accompanied these admonitions with threats1 so that ultimately she left us1 and we have not seen her since4 ,but who knows8 ,sometimes after the lapse of years these people return to us1 and the thread of circumstance is picked up again where it had been cut1 as though there had never been any breach of continuity at all6 ,or it may be the seed goes on growing in some distant ,afghan village unknown to us1 but known to and tenderly cared for by ,him who will not let even a sparrow fall to the ground without ,his will1 and who has counted among ,his own many a one now resting in a ,muhammadan graveyard against that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed4 ,,chapter ,,xxi ,,frontier ,,campaigning ,the ,pathan warrior--,a ,christian native officer--,a secret mission--,a victim of treachery--,a soldier convert--,influence of a ,christian officer--,crude ideas and strange motives of ,pathan soldiers--,camaraderie in frontier regiments--,example of sympathy between students of different religions in mission school--,a famous ,sikh regiment--,sikh soldiers and religion--,fort ,lockhart--,saraghari--,the last man--,a rifle thief--,caught red-handed4 ,some of the finest fighting material of the ,indian ,army comes from the ,pathan tribes1 both on the ,british side of the border and across it in ,tirah and ,waziristan1 and very pleasant fellows some of these ,pathan warriors are4 ,often when wandering about the frontier have ,i received the hospitality of some outpost or stayed with the native officer in some blockhouse1 and listened to them recounting tales of active service or of their mountain homes4 ,many of these native officers are old students of the frontier mission schools1 and these extend a doubly hearty welcome4 ,some are serious religious inquirers1 and1 from having travelled and mixed with all kinds of men1 are able to examine the claims of ,christianity with less prejudice than the priestly class4 ,a notable instance is that of ,delawar ,khan1 who was a ,subadar of the famed ,corps of ,guides4 ,he was at one time a notorious robber on the ,peshawur frontier1 and a price had been set on his head4 ,the ,rev4 ,r4 ,clark relates of this man #b that once a ,government officer met him in a frontier village beyond the border1 and offered him service in the ,guide ,corps if he would lead an honest life1 or the gallows the first time he was caught within our territory if he refused4 ,the excitement of his adventurous career had a great charm for him1 and the teaching of the priests had persuaded him that he was doing ,god's service in his lawless course4 ,he1 therefore1 scornfully refused the ,englishman's offer1 saying he would continue his lawless life1 in spite of whatever the ,sahibs could do4 ,after a time1 however1 he thought better of it1 and as a price was set on his head1 he determined to apply for it in person1 thinking he might as well have it himself as anyone else1 and so1 taking his own head on his shoulders1 he went and claimed the reward4 ,the officer1 knowing the kind of man he was1 again offered him service1 which he then accepted1 and enlisted as a soldier in the ,guide ,corps1 in which1 by his bravery and fidelity1 he rapidly rose to be a native officer4 ,ultimately he became convinced of the truth of the ,christian doctrine which he had heard the missionaries preach in the ,peshawur bazaar1 and1 with his characteristic bravery1 did not hesitate publicly to acknowledge himself a ,christian and receive ,christian baptism4 ,through his example and under his protection some other soldiers in the same corps also became ,christians4 ,his death is thus related by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,clark in his account of his life3 ,a few months ago he was sent by ,government on a secret mission into ,central ,asia4 ,he was a ,christian1 and ,government trusted him4 ,he passed safely through ,kabul on his way to ,badakhshan4 ,as he was travelling in disguise1 a man who had heard him preach in the ,peshawur bazaar betrayed him to the judge1 who condemned him to be blown away from a cannon as an apostate4 ,during the trial a copy of one of ,dr4 ,pfander's works dropped from his bosom4 ,the judge took it and tore it in two4 ,the ,king of the country1 however1 heard of it1 and asked to see the book1 and1 having read a part of it1 pronounced it to be a good book1 and set ,delawar ,khan at liberty4 ,soon after1 however1 he died in the snow on the mountains1 a victim to the treachery of the ,king of ,chitral4 ,a native officer in the native levies of the ,kurram ,valley was converted through reading a ,pashtu ,testament which an officer gave him1 and when ,i visited him in his home in ,shlozan1 in the ,kurram ,valley1 ,i found that he was in the habit of reading the book to some of his neighbours who came together to listen2 and although up to that time he had never met a missionary1 he had made much progress in ,christian experience and knowledge of the ,bible4 ,i had a pupil in the mission school who enlisted in one of the frontier regiments4 ,he was the son of a ,mullah of the ,khattak tribe4 ,after he had been in the regiment about a year he wrote me a letter saying that he desired ,christian baptism1 and was looking forward to the day when he would be standing by my side preaching the ,gospel to his fellow-countrymen4 ,this was through the influence of a ,christian officer in his regiment4 ,not that the officer tried to convert his men--far from it--but the beautiful transparency of his character and the sincerity of his religion drew his men irresistibly to him1 and several desired to become ,christians4 ,a ,pathan becomes very much attached to an officer whom he admires1 and will bear any hardship or danger for him1 and therefore it is not surprising that some have become desirous of adopting his religion4 ,for a long time there was a sect on the frontier called the ,nikal ,sains1 who formed a kind of schismatic ,christian sect owing to their devotion to ,nicholson1 of ,delhi fame1 which amounted in their case almost to a worship of him4 ,on one occasion a ,pathan soldier in a frontier regiment came to me1 urgently begging me to make him a ,christian4 ,he was so ignorant of what ,christianity meant that ,i could only offer to give him instruction1 but he was so much on outpost duty that this was very difficult4 ,he knew that in order to become a ,mussulman it was sufficient to repeat the ,kalimah in a mosque1 and he thought that there must be some corresponding ,christian formula1 and that by repeating it in our church he might become a ,christian4 ,he thought1 further1 to prove his sincerity to me by saying he was ready to wear a topi 7hat7 instead of a turban4 ,his desire apparently rose merely from an admiration of his ,christian regimental officers4 ,in the ,tochi ,militia there was a ,wazir ,subadar1 a fine fellow1 who had seen much active service1 and would soon be retiring4 ,one day he was murdered1 possibly by a ,sepoy whom he had been obliged to punish4 ,shortly afterwards his son came to me1 earnestly begging me to admit him to the ,christian ,church4 ,apparently it was to escape from the duty that devolved on him as a ,muhammadan of revenging his father's death by another murder4 ,he was not a coward by any means1 but knew he would be killing an innocent person1 for the real murderer was beyond his reach1 and he recoiled from committing such a crime1 and he knew that our teaching was against revenge1 and therefore desired to become a ,christian4 ,as he was a soldier1 ,i would not act without a reference to his commanding officer1 and as he was excited and suffering from much mental tension1 ,i thought it better to wait4 ,ultimately he did shoot a man1 who may have been his father's murderer or not1 and ,i believe was sentenced to penal servitude for life in consequence4 ,there is something peculiarly attractive1 ,i think1 about the frontier regiments4 ,they have very hard service1 constant outpost duty1 few nights in bed1 with ever the danger of the ,pathan rifle thief and ambuscades4 ,and yet officers and men are always cheerful1 hospitable1 and full of the spirit of camaraderie4 ,even the ,sikhs and ,pathans seem to lay aside their hereditary feuds1 and fight and work heartily together1 shoulder to shoulder4 ,some of the most striking tributes to the influence of the ,christian rule of ,england are seen in this fellowship between different races and religions4 ,in the little frontier wars one sees ,pathan soldiers side by side with the stalwart ,sikhs1 or1 it may be1 the little ,gurkhas with the tall ,panjabi ,muhammadans4 ,much the same is seen in the playing-fields of our mission schools1 where ,christians1 ,muhammadans1 ,hindus1 and ,sikhs are as loyal to one another as if they had never had a religious difference4 ,a scene ,i shall always remember was the funeral of a young ,sikh student1 who was a brilliant member of the school football eleven1 and was carried off one summer recently by sudden illness4 ,his ,muhammadan1 ,christian1 and ,hindu fellow-students vied with each other in showing honour to his memory1 and accompanied the body to the burning-ground on the banks of the ,kurram ,river4 ,for the ,muhammadans at least this would have at one time been considered as most inconsonant with their religion4 ,the fine1 tall ,sikh soldiery of the frontier regiments are some of the nicest men one could have to deal with2 the native officers are such perfect gentlemen1 and so gentle and docile when conversing about their ,sikh religion or the ,christian ,scriptures1 that it is difficult to realize what lions they are in the fight1 and how they are the heroes of so many a frontier epic4 ,a ,sikh soldier is always ready to talk on religious matters1 and delights in singing the beautiful theistic hymns of ,kabir and ,nanak and others of his countrymen2 and they will sit round untiringly1 listening with unflagging interest for hours1 while ,i talk or read to them from the ,christian ,scriptures4 ,in the frontier war of #ahig no ,sikh regiment covered itself with greater glory than the #cfth1 which was quartered at ,fort ,lockhart when the ,afridi rising first broke out4 ,i was in camp on the ,samana ,range1 outside ,fort ,lockhart1 that ,august just before the outbreak1 and these fine soldiers used to sit round me on the rocks outside the fort while we talked of the teachings of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and of those of ,guru ,nanak1 which present so many points of resemblance to them4 ,a few weeks later1 and many of those very men had died fighting bravely on the rugged mountains and defiles of ,tirah1 on which we were then looking down4 ,one incident will bear repetition1 as possibly some of the very men to whom ,i was then speaking were the heroes of it4 ,a few hundred yards from ,fort ,lockhart is a small fort called ,saraghari1 which commands one of the eminences of the ,samana ,range4 ,this was occupied by a handful of these ,sikhs under a native officer4 ,looking down westward from the ,samana ,range are the terraced valleys and a labyrinth of the rugged mountain ranges of the ,afridis2 and so suddenly did these tribes respond to the tocsin of war when ,seyyid ,akbar and his associate ,mullahs sounded it all through ,tirah that the various forts on the ,samana were surrounded by the lashkars before it was possible to reinforce or withdraw the little garrison of ,saraghari4 ,the garrisons of ,forts ,lockhart and ,gulistan had1 in fact1 their hands full with the tribesmen who had entrenched themselves in sangars all around1 from which they kept up such a fire that no one could show himself4 ,the ,afridis saw that the post of ,saraghari was the most easily won2 the fort itself was smaller and less strongly built1 and contained only a small garrison of their hereditary enemies1 the ,sikhs4 ,there was a signaller in the little garrison1 and he signalled over their dire straits to ,fort ,lockhart1 but from there the answer was returned to them that it was impossible to send reinforcements--they must fight to the end4 ,for them to retreat was impossible1 for the few hundred yards between the two forts was swept by the ,pathan bullets1 while their riflemen swarmed in the sangars and behind the rocks all along4 ,not a man could have lived to reach a distance of twenty yards from the fort4 ,the ,sikhs knew that the ,pathans would give them no quarter1 so they prepared to sell their lives dearly4 ,the ,afridis worked nearer and nearer1 and many of the brave defenders fell4 ,the signaller signalled to ,fort ,lockhart1 ,five of us have fallen--ten1 twelve1 and finally there was only the signaller left4 ,the ,pathans swarmed over the walls with their exulting ,allahu ,akbar6 and the throat of the last wounded ,sikh was cut2 so the noble garrison fell at their posts to a man4 ,the fort has never been rebuilt1 but there is a monument at the place to record this gallant bit of frontier warfare1 and another monument to them was erected in the centre of their holy city1 ,amritsar1 not far from the ,golden ,temple1 their chief place of worship4 ,here ,i made the acquaintance of the gallant officers of this regiment1 who were in a few weeks to bear the brunt of the severest of the fighting and hardships of that campaign4 ,i read service on the last ,sunday before hostilities commenced1 and among the officers who attended was their brave commander1 ,colonel ,haughton1 whose commanding presence and bravery made him an easy target later on for the tribesman's bullet1 but not before he had covered himself and his regiment with glory4 ,i will here record two little episodes1 which are of common enough occurrence on the frontier1 but illustrate the dangers that the sentries run when on duty among such cunning and stealthy rifle thieves as the ,pathans2 and show also that1 wily though he is1 the ,pathan is not infrequently caught by an equally wily native police or levy officer4 ,a regiment had marched into ,bannu1 and1 there being no quarters available1 were encamped on the parade ground4 ,the night being dark and rainy1 sentries had been doubled1 and were much on the alert4 ,suddenly two of them were stabbed from behind by ,pathans who had crept into the lines unnoticed1 and watched their opportunity for running their long ,afghan knives into the chest of the unsuspecting soldiers4 ,the thieves got off with both rifles1 and1 though a hue and cry was raised1 no trace of them was found4 ,once ,i was spending a night in a levy post on the frontier1 when the native officer in the command of the post got information through a spy that an ,afridi was about to cross the frontier1 having in his possession a number of cartridges that had been stolen from the lines of a ,british regiment in ,peshawur4 ,a train was just about to arrive from ,kohat1 and the officer went down to meet it4 ,all the passengers seemed quite innocent2 some traders returning from market1 a few soldiers going on leave1 and some camp followers1 appeared to be all who had arrived4 ,there was1 however1 a ,mullah with a ,quran1 which he was carrying rather ostentatiously1 and a wallet1 which was less obvious1 under the folds of his shawl4 ,here was his man4 ,he went up to him4 ,the ,mullah was indignant at the supposition--he had merely been into ,kohat to buy a few household trinkets4 ,he was marched off to the levy post all the same1 and1 on turning out the contents of his wallet1 eighty-one ,lee-,metford cartridges were disclosed4 ,that night the ,mullah spent in the cells reciting passages in the ,quran with a long and monotonous intonation which kept me awake a long time with its weirdness4 ,i suppose1 however1 it may have been meant to procure some indulgence for his offences1 or to serve as a proof of his sanctity2 but it certainly did not soften the heart of his captor1 the native officer1 himself a ,muhammadan and a ,pathan2 nor1 ,i trow1 did it mitigate his subsequent punishment4 ,i was once travelling in the garb of a ,mullah from ,kohat to ,peshawur4 ,i had walked through the ,kohat ,pass1 and reached a village called ,mitanni1 about sixteen miles from ,peshawur4 ,i was tired1 and finding here a tumtum about to start for ,peshawur1 ,i obtained a seat therein for one rupee4 ,two other ,peshawuris were fellow-passengers1 but were not present when ,i paid the driver my fare4 ,on the road the driver stopped at a village1 and his place was taken by another man4 ,the first driver omitted to tell him that ,i had already paid my fare1 so when we got near ,peshawur he demanded it4 ,i told him ,i had already paid the other driver1 but he would not believe it4 ,unluckily the other passengers were unable to corroborate my statement2 an altercation ensued in the bazaar at ,peshawur1 and he wanted to keep my bedding in lieu of the fare4 ,as a crowd was collecting1 it was decided to settle the case by driving me to the police-station4 ,the driver began volubly to tell the police inspector how this ,bannu ,mullah has got into the tumtum at ,mitanni1 and now refuses to pay his fare4 ,the inspector asked me a question or two1 and took in the situation1 and then told the driver to take me to my destination1 and the case would be seen into1 if necessary1 when the other driver arrived4 ,before alighting ,i told the driver who ,i was1 and that ,i was sorry he seemed to put so little faith in the word of a ,mullah4 ,ah1 ,sahib1 said he1 this is an evil age1 and even if the ,mullah swears on the ,quran1 we can only believe what we see4 ,when travelling in native garb one often sees the reverse of the picture1 and is able to see common events in new lights4 ,officers of the ,government while on tour are often quite unconsciously a great tax on the village where their camp is pitched4 ,their servants take provisions from the people at merely nominal prices1 or even without payment at all4 ,many officers1 knowing how villainously some native underlings will extort when they get the opportunity1 often insist on all payments being made before them according to a fixed scale4 ,even then the men find other ways of living in clover at the expense of the villagers4 ,this was brought home to me one night when ,i was stopping at a village called ,moach4 ,the police officer of the district was in camp there1 but ,i arrived late1 and went to the house of a native1 where an old patient of mine visited me1 and1 finding me hungry and tired1 went off to get me some milk4 ,he sent it me by the hand of a young boy1 who had to pass by the camp of the police officer1 where his cook was preparing his dinner4 ,by his side was a saucepan containing several pints of milk which had been ordered for the great man's supper1 each house bringing its share according to a roster kept for the purpose at the police-station4 ,the cook saw the boy coming with the milk1 and said to him3 ,come along2 pour it in here4 ,but ,i have not brought this for the ,police ,sahib4 ,i have brought it for--- ,nonsense6 ,who else here wants milk8 ,all the milk has been ordered for the ,sahib4 ,pour it in1 or ,i will send you to the lock-up4 ,i got no milk for my supper1 and ,i do not suppose the officer had more than would go into a custard-pudding and a cup of cocoa2 but his myrmidons--they knew how to look after themselves1 and enjoyed a good time4 ,,chapter ,,xxii ,,chikki1 ,,the ,,freebooter ,the mountains of ,tirah--,work as a miller's labourer--,joins fortune with a thief--,a night raid--,the value of a disguise--,the thief caught--,the cattle lifter--,murder by proxy--,the price of blood--,tribal factions--,becomes chieftain of the tribe--,the zenith of power--,characteristics--,precautionary measures--,journey to ,chinarak--,a remarkable fort--,a curious congregation--,punctiliousness in prayers--,changed attitude--,refrains from hostilities--,meets his death4 ,between the ,khaibar ,pass on the north and the ,kurram ,valley on the south lies a tangled mass of mountains and valleys called ,tirah4 ,here almost inaccessible escarpments1 on which the wary goatherd leads his surefooted flock1 alternate with delightful little green glens1 where rivulets of clear water dance down to the rice-fields1 and hamlets nestle among the walnut and plane trees4 ,in one of these villages was a poor country lad called ,muhammad ,sarwar4 ,his father was too poor to own flocks1 and1 having no land of his own1 ,sarwar took work with a miller4 ,it was one of those picturesque little mills which you see in the valleys of the ,afridis1 where a mountain-stream comes dashing down the side of a hill1 and is then trained aside to where the simple building of stones and mud covers in the mill-stones1 while two or three mulberry-trees round give such delightful shade that the mill becomes a rendezvous for the idle men and gossips of the village to wile away the hot summer noons4 ,but ,sarwar was of a restless disposition1 and the pittance of flour which1 together with a kid and a new turban on the feast-days1 was all he got for his labours1 did not satisfy his ambition4 ,then there was his friend ,abdul ,asghar1 who1 though as poor as himself to start with1 now had four kanals of land of his own and a flock of some forty sheep and goats browsing on the mountain-side4 ,it would not do to inquire too closely how ,abdul ,asghar came by this wealth1 but he used to be out a good deal of nights1 and he was one of those who was wanted at the ,border ,military ,police-station at ,thal for his part in several recent cases of highway robbery with violence4 ,this kind of life was more to the taste of ,sarwar than the drudgery of mill-grinding1 and before long he and ,asghar had joined hands4 ,once1 indeed1 they were fairly caught1 though they escaped the penalty of their misdeeds4 ,they were on the prowl one dark night1 when they saw a shrouded figure creeping along by a farm wall4 ,they had scarcely hid behind a bush when the unknown man turned and came directly towards them4 ,thinking they had been observed1 ,asghar called out3 ,who are you8 ,stand1 or ,i fire4 ,the figure halted1 and said in a low tone3 ,it is well2 ,i am your own4 ,the man then came up and suggested that they should spend that night together and share their luck4 ,he told them1 too1 that there was a fine fat dumba in the farmyard hard by that they might begin upon4 ,asghar slipped over the wall1 while ,sarwar and the stranger kept guard1 and soon returned with the sheep across his shoulders1 its head wrapped up in his chadar to stop its cries4 ,they took it off into the jungle1 and as the stranger said he wished to be home early that night1 they decided to stay and divide it there and then4 ,the stranger surprised them by saying that he would be content with merely the head as his share1 so the ,allahu akbar was pronounced1 the throat cut1 and the head given to the stranger1 who went off with their parting greeting1 ,may it be well before you1 which he returned by saying1 ,in the safety of ,god4 ,next morning they were astonished by the sudden appearance of a posse of the ,border ,military ,police1 who1 before they were able to escape or offer resistance1 handcuffed them and led them off1 vouchsafing no more explanation than that the ,chhota ,sahib had ordered it4 ,they were much mystified1 and could not think which of their enemies had got up a case against them2 but they could learn nothing from the police1 who either could or would tell nothing more4 ,when1 finally1 they were taken before the ,sahib1 and he started away with1 ,so1 you have been after your old game again1 and stole a sheep last night from the farm of ,nuruddin 7the light of religion71 it was with difficulty they could conceal their astonishment and compose themselves quickly enough to reply that they were honest men1 had never stolen anything all their lives1 and could bring witnesses to prove that last night they never stirred from the chauk of ,fath ,muhammad of ,dilrogha village4 ,the ,sahib had a twinkle in his eye as he led them on with further questions to forswear themselves still more hopelessly1 and then finally turned to a ,sepoy by his side and simply said1 ,bring it in4 ,the ,sepoy saluted1 went out1 and in a moment returned bringing something wrapped up in a chadar1 which he placed on the table before him4 ,the ,sahib unrolled it1 and exposed to their astonished gaze the very sheep's head they had given to the stranger the night before4 ,he had been none other than the ,sahib himself6 ,they could no longer hide their confusion1 and could say nothing more than ,la haula wala kowata ilia bi 'llah 7,there is no majesty or power but in ,god2 ,he only is great74 ,they were treated to a very pointed lecture1 and told that none of their movements could remain concealed from the eyes of the ,sarkar1 and that next time they were caught they would be lodged in the hawalat 7gaol74 ,though ,sarwar and his friend gained hereby a wholesome dread of the ubiquity of their ruler1 yet the lesson did not restrain them from carrying on their depredations4 ,not long after ,asghar was killed in a cattle-lifting raid on a neighbouring tribe4 ,the villagers were aroused by the barking of the village dogs1 started a chigah in pursuit1 and1 though ,sarwar escaped1 a stray shot hit ,asghar in the chest and put an end to his career4 ,sarwar made such progress in the art1 and carried his depredations so far afield1 that he became known on all the hills round by the sobriquet of ,chikki1 or the ,lifter4 ,one day a chance circumstance gave a fresh turn to his career4 ,mullah ,darweza1 of ,saman village1 had a bitter grudge against a malik of the village because he had enticed away one of his talibs1 a beautiful boy of thirteen1 and now1 instead of the boy spending his days over the ,quran and ,sheikh ,sadi1 the ,persian poet1 he was walking about the village with his eyebrows blackened with antimony and a gold-braided turban on his head1 and danced in the malik's chauk while the village dum played a rebab4 ,mullah ,darweza would dearly have liked the luxury of stabbing the malik himself some dark night1 but his profession had to be considered1 and what would become of his reputation for sanctity if the story got about1 let alone the danger of retaliation1 which would mean that he would be a prisoner in his house after dark1 and would not be able to go to the mosque to say the night prayers1 even if he had not to leave the village altogether8 ,the ,mullah was leading prayers in the mosque that day when his eye fell on ,chikki among the worshippers1 and as they were leaving the mosque he whispered to him to come to his house that night after the night prayers had been said4 ,what passed there is known only to those two1 but ,chikki bore away a bag of rupees1 and a few nights later1 as the malik had gone down to a stream to perform his ablutions before evening prayers1 a shot rung out from no one knows where1 and the malik1 without a cry1 fell forward into the stream1 and when the villagers arrived and picked him up they found he had been shot through the heart1 and no one ever knew who had done it4 ,this windfall whetted ,chikki's appetite1 and he soon found this occupation even more lucrative than that of cattle lifting4 ,as his fame increased1 secret commissions came to him from many quarters--from men who had life enemies1 but who feared to risk their own lives in ridding themselves of them4 ,with success1 however1 came danger4 ,chikki was a marked man1 and had to take unusually strict precautions for the preservation of his own life2 his repeating rifle was never out of his hand1 and no one ever saw him off his guard4 ,he built himself a strong tower1 and at night-time retired into this by means of a rope ladder to the upper window 7it had no lower windows71 then1 drawing up the ladder after him1 he secured the window4 ,then came the opportunity of his life4 ,there were two factions in the tribe1 the ,gur and the ,samil1 and these had been on bad terms for a long time1 but hostilities had so far been confined to a few murders and thefts4 ,then one day a prominent malik of the ,gur faction was shot while on a visit to a ,samil village4 ,this could not be atoned for without war1 and within twenty-four hours the tocsin of war was beating in every ,gur village all over the hills4 ,the ,samil replied by burning a ,gur village1 and soon the whole mountain-side was in arms on one side or the other2 desultory warfare was carried on for some time1 and much blood had been shed on both sides1 but the ,samil party lacked a leader4 ,then they bethought them of ,chikki1 and sent a deputation1 asking him to take their lead4 ,he consented on condition of their recognizing him as paramount chief of the ,zaimukhts in the event of success attending his arms4 ,they agreed1 and he1 collecting together some other soldiers of fortune who had thrown in their lot with him1 took the field against the ,gur faction4 ,the latter were defeated in several engagements1 and finally both sides tired of the fray1 and they were all the more ready to come to terms as the harvest was ripe and would spoil if not rapidly gathered in4 ,both sides agreed to call a jirgah1 which met1 drew up conditions of peace acceptable to both sides1 and smoked the pipe of peace4 ,the agreement was ratified by a big feast1 in which twenty fat dumbas were slain and cooked1 with immeasurable quantities of ghi1 and a dance1 in which the men of the two sides1 which had so recently been moving heaven and earth to shoot each other1 danced together as though they had never been anything but the greatest of friends all their lives4 ,chikki was now at the zenith of his power4 ,eight thousand riflemen1 all armed with weapons of precision and all good shots1 obeyed his call1 and he was able to build a strong fort at ,chinarak1 in the ,zaimukht ,mountains1 which he garrisoned with his bodyguard of outlaws1 while acres of rich land all round brought him supplies of grain and other produce1 which enabled him to offer to all who came that open-handed1 unstinting hospitality which is the surest path to popularity in ,afghanistan4 ,yet withal he maintained his simple mode of life and plain hillman's costume2 and once when he came down into ,sadda1 a town in ,british territory1 to meet the great ,political ,officer there1 he formed a marked contrast to the gay clothes and coloured shawls and gold-banded turbans of the ,sahib's satellites4 ,he wore simply shirt and trousers of plain homespun1 and a black turban1 ornamented only by a fringe with a few beads on1 and had on his feet a pair of palm-leaf sandals1 such as could be bought in any bazaar for the sum of one anna4 ,but his rifle was the best there1 and the well-filled cartridge-belt and the six-chambered revolver buckled on excited the envy of many a man round him1 while the firm tread and the thick-set frame and the determined features displayed the commanding and reckless character of the man4 ,yet in society that he cared for he would unbend and display a boisterous good-humour1 though of a kind which would make a jest of acts of cruelty involving human suffering and even death4 ,as may be supposed1 ,chikki had many enemies who were seeking his life1 and he would not allow anyone not known to him to approach him at night or even in the day1 and rarely had his fingers off his revolver or the trigger of his rifle4 ,once he was being shaved by his barber when the foolish man said to him3 ,muhammad ,anim 7one of ,chikki's sworn enemies7 offered me five hundred rupees the other day if1 while ,i was shaving you1 ,i should slip the razor and cut your throat2 but ,ma'uzbillah6 ,i seek refuge in ,god2 ,i am your sacrifice1 and refused the son of a pig4 ,chikki said nothing then1 but when the shaving was over he whipped out his revolver1 and said to the luckless barber3 ,you refused this time1 but next time the temptation may be too great for you1 so ,i had better be first in4 ,the tongue of that barber wagged no more1 and ,chikki got a new and probably more discreet practitioner4 ,it fell on a day that there was illness in ,chikki's household1 and someone brought him word that the ,bannu doctor was in camp not far off at ,thal2 so it came about that while ,i was seeing patients by my tent that afternoon four of ,chikki's stalwarts1 armed cap--pie1 appeared with a polite and urgent request that ,i would accompany them back to his stronghold1 ,chinarak1 and use my medical skill on the sick ones4 ,as soon as the day's work was over we started off4 ,there was a thunderstorm on the mountains above us1 and a mountain-torrent had to be crossed which would not be fordable in flood1 so we urged on to a point whence a view could be got of the river-bed4 ,on reaching it we saw the turbid waters of the flood sweeping down about a mile higher up the valley from the place where we had to cross1 while we had considerably over a mile of rough ground to traverse before we could reach the ford4 ,all pressed forward1 the footmen running at the horses' stirrups1 and we just managed to get through the rising stream before the flood reached us1 thus saving what would have been some hours of waiting for the flood to subside4 ,chinarak is a mud fort1 with towers and an intricate maze of yards1 houses1 and passages within2 but its strength lies more in its inaccessibility1 for the narrow gorge1 with high1 overhanging cliffs1 by which we approached might easily be defended by a few marksmen4 ,on the north side1 however1 the approach to it is easier4 ,after the sick had been seen1 ,chikki informed me that1 as he had heard that ,i was a preacher of the ,injil1 he wished to hear me1 so that he might judge of the comparative merits of ,christianity and ,muhammadanism2 and to that purpose he had called his ,mullah1 and we two should sit on either side and speak in turn1 while he judged4 ,his men collected round us1 truly a motley crew1 nearly all of them men who had fled across the border from ,british justice for some murder or other crime1 and had found congenial employment in his bodyguard4 ,i had just been visiting some of their houses professionally1 and found representatives of all the tribes down the frontier1 and even a few ,hindustanis4 ,there they were1 with a devil-may-care look in their truculent faces1 which made you feel that they would take half a dozen lives1 to rob a cottage1 with as little compunction as if they were cutting sugar-cane4 ,perhaps ,chikki thought ,i was eyeing my congregation suspiciously1 for he turned to me with a twinkle1 and said3 ,do not alarm yourself about all these fellows round4 ,they may be all rascals1 no doubt2 but ,i have my ,martini-,henry here1 and if anyone molests you1 ,i will send a bullet through him4 ,no doubt with a good aim1 too1 for he was reputed the best marksman in the tribe1 a fact which ,i may illustrate by an anecdote4 ,like most ,afghans1 he was very punctilious in the performance of the prescribed ,muhammadan prayers1 and beyond the regular five times used to indulge in those prayers of supererogation which ,muhammad appointed for the devout1 or for those who had sins which might be expiated by their performance4 ,chikki1 too1 appeared to believe that he kept a credit and debit account of this kind1 and that some particularly unwarranted murder would be suitably balanced by the repetition of a number of extra prayers4 ,he had a little book of ,arabic prayers called the ,ganj-el-,arus hung round his neck1 and1 when at leisure from his more warlike pursuits1 would employ himself in the repletion of his credit account therefrom4 ,he handed the book to me1 and showed me with some little pride a prayer in it which he said he had composed himself1 and which he said was always heard4 ,it was in his own vernacular ,pashtu1 for he did not know ,arabic2 and the prayer was that1 whenever he raised his rifle to his shoulder to shoot1 the bullet might not miss its mark4 ,before ,i came away ,i left some ,pashtu ,testaments and other literature with ,chikki1 and ,i have reason to believe that he studied them with interest4 ,he1 at least1 gave up some of his predatory and warlike habits1 and devoted himself to more peaceful avocations4 ,when the frontier war of #ahig broke out1 not long after1 and the tribes all round him were flocking round the standards of jehad1 and the tocsin of war resounded from the valleys of ,swat in the north to the ,suliman ,mountains of ,waziristan in the south1 he resisted all the allurements of the ,mullahs to take part in the campaign against the ,kafirs1 the ,english1 and restrained the men of his own tribe from any participation in the warfare4 ,it can be seen by a reference to the map that this abstention of the ,zaimukht tribe1 which numbers about eight thousand fighting men1 made a considerable difference to the troops acting in the ,miranzai and ,kurram ,valleys1 in the angle between which their territory is situate4 ,he pressed me to begin medical mission work in his own territory1 and promised me support1 both material and influential1 if ,i would do so4 ,it was a tempting field1 and1 no doubt1 it would have exerted a widespread influence for peace on the neighbourhood2 but there were insurmountable difficulties of another nature1 and the project had to be abandoned4 ,a few years ago ,i heard with regret that my old friend ,chikki had been ambuscaded by a section of the ,khujjal ,khel ,wazirs1 with whom he had an old-standing quarrel4 ,he and the men with him fell riddled with bullets1 and the victors exultingly cut out his heart and bore it off in triumph1 boasting that it weighed ten seers 7twenty pounds74 ,,chapter ,,xxiii ,,rough ,,diamonds ,a novel inquirer--,attends the bazaar preaching--,attacked by his countrymen--,in the police-station--,before the ,english magistrate--,declares he is a ,christian--,arrival of his mother--,tied up in his village--,escape--,takes refuge in the hills--,a murder case--,circumstantial evidence--,condemned--,a last struggle for liberty--,qazi ,abdul ,karim--,his origin--,eccentricities--,enthusiasm--,c rosses the frontier--,captured--,confesses his faith--,torture--,martyrdom4 ,i will recount shortly in this chapter the stories of two ,afghan converts1 to show what strange cases we have to deal with1 and how difficult it is to discover the motives at work1 even if we ever do discover them4 ,seronai was one of the ,marwat clan of ,pathans1 which inhabits the southern part of the ,bannu district4 ,one afternoon in the year #ahii ,i had been conducting the open-air preaching in the ,bannu bazaar1 and was returning home1 when ,i noticed that ,i was being followed by a stalwart ,afghan1 over six feet high and broad in proportion4 ,i had noticed him among the crowd at the preaching1 as he was quite the biggest man there4 ,what is it ,i can do for you8 ,i said to him4 ,i am going to join your religion1 was the reply4 ,i took him home1 found that he was a farmer in a small way1 possessed a few acres of land in a very criminal village right at the base of the frontier hills1 could not read or write1 and knew very little indeed of the ,muhammadan religion beyond the prayers4 ,yet when ,i asked him1 ,why do you wish to join our religion8 the only answer ,i could obtain was1 ,because it is my wish4 ,but you do not know anything about either religion4 ,you can teach me2 ,i will learn4 ,so importunate a pupil it was impossible to refuse4 ,he was willing enough to learn1 but proved very slow of comprehension4 ,it is our rule not to let inquirers idle away their time1 but to give them work1 whereby they may at least prove that they do not intend to become burdens on the mission4 ,seronai was willing enough to work1 and had the appetite of an ox2 but1 unless watched1 his strength was far in excess of his discrimination4 ,given a field to dig up1 and he dug up the flower-beds round1 too4 ,given a tree to cut down1 and he brought it down quick enough1 crashing through a verandah1 till finally we found that if we kept him at all it was most economical not to let him do anything4 ,about his zeal there was no doubt4 ,not only did he attend all the ,christian services1 but insisted on accompanying us to the bazaar preaching1 and letting all and sundry know that he intended to--in fact1 had already--become a ,christian4 ,this naturally roused the ire of the people in the bazaar1 and when one day there were some of his fellow-countrymen in the audience1 ,i could see that they meant ill1 though1 from ,seronai's great size and strength1 they would no doubt be careful in their tactics4 ,the next day1 the bazaar preaching being over1 ,seronai returned towards the mission1 while ,i stopped behind a few moments conversing with a questioner in the crowd4 ,i had gone a little way up the street when ,i saw an excited mob and heard much shouting1 and out of the crowd burst ,seronai1 tearing himself away from his captors with clothes torn1 turban off1 and his long locks dishevelled about his face4 ,he ran towards me1 calling out1 ,save me from these men6 ,it did not seem likely when he had been unable to save himself4 ,however1 ,i did my best to enable him to escape1 but we were at once surrounded by the crowd1 and though no violence was intentionally done to me1 ,seronai was torn away and mercilessly beaten4 ,before long1 however1 the police appeared and dispersed the crowd1 and marched off ,seronai to the lock-up4 ,as that seemed the safest place for the time being1 ,i told him to keep up his spirits1 and that the next day arrangements would be made for him4 ,the next day he was brought before the civil officer of the district1 who also called for the chief man of the section of the tribe which had been creating the disturbance the day before4 ,seronai was then asked whether he wished to be a ,muhammadan or ,christian4 ,i wish to become a ,christian and to remain with the ,padre ,sahib1 he said decidedly4 ,very well1 you shall1 said the officer1 and told the chief to explain to his people that they must not resort to further violence4 ,the next week an old lady in a great state of excitement appeared in the mission compound4 ,with her was a lad of about fourteen summers4 ,they were ,seronai's mother and younger brother4 ,she had been told that her son had become a ,hindu4 ,as to what a ,christian was1 she had no idea4 ,she had never heard of such a thing4 ,all she knew was that her son had disgraced her1 and when ,seronai came she wept on him1 and called him reproachful names1 and caressed him1 all in turns and all together4 ,seronai was very quiet1 and he was genuinely sorry for the old lady's trouble1 and came to me and said3 ,i must go back to my village with my mother to comfort her1 and then ,i will return to you4 ,it was about a week later4 ,we were sitting in church at evening service1 when in came ,seronai1 looking very hot and dishevelled4 ,he said that the people in his village had seized him1 and tied him down to a bed1 and set a guard over him night and day4 ,it was impossible to escape till one day a raiding party of ,wazirs came down suddenly on the village grazing grounds and carried off about twenty camels4 ,a chigah was sounded1 and all the able-bodied men of the village started off in pursuit4 ,his mother came and untied him1 and he had escaped to us1 doing the forty-five miles that lay between his village and the mission without a stop4 ,seronai's condition pointed to the truth of his story1 which was1 indeed1 a very credible one4 ,we heard afterwards that the camel raid had taken place in the way he related4 ,seronai went on now learning about the ,christian religion1 but making very little visible progress4 ,he was zealous1 and did not for a moment try to avoid persecution by hiding his light--in fact1 he seemed to delight in courting it4 ,some suggested that he was becoming a ,christian in order to spite some relation4 ,this does occasionally happen2 but there were no grounds for supposing it to be the case here4 ,others suggested that he had made a bet that he would become one1 but this would hardly account for his carrying the rle so far at such great personal suffering4 ,in short1 though his spiritual aspirations were not1 as far as we could see1 sufficient to account for it1 we were quite at a loss to find any other satisfactory explanation4 ,about a month later he disappeared once again1 and then ,i did not hear of him for two years4 ,at the end of that time1 ,i was seated one day in school teaching one of the classes1 when ,i got a message from the head of the gaol saying there was a prisoner who professed to be a ,christian1 and desired to see me4 ,on responding to the call1 imagine my surprise to find ,seronai4 ,he said that on leaving us he had intended to work his land1 but1 owing to the enmity of the people1 had been obliged to seek refuge in the mountains1 where a certain malik had befriended him and given him shelter4 ,he had remained there till a few weeks back1 when he wished to pay a visit to his mother and his village4 ,on arrival there1 he found that a tragedy had just been enacted4 ,he had a sister there married to a farmer in the village2 this lady had accepted the advances of another swain from the next village1 and had prepared to elope with him4 ,they had1 however1 been frustrated in their intentions1 for the corpses of the two had been found--the woman shot through the head1 her lover through the heart4 ,suspicion would most naturally fall on the husband1 but the arrival of ,seronai at this moment suggested an alternative3 the people of the village would be glad to get an apostate1 such as they considered him to be1 into trouble2 circumstantial evidence was not difficult to arrange1 and witnesses in support might be had for the asking4 ,besides1 by making a scapegoat of ,seronai1 the rest of the village would escape the harrying of the police myrmidons1 who might otherwise settle on their village like a swarm of locusts1 for no one knew how long4 ,thus it came about that ,seronai was in gaol on the charge of double murder4 ,it was not much that ,i could do for him beyond giving him the consolations of religion2 circumstantial evidence was very black against him1 and it was not a matter of surprise when the judge found him guilty and awarded him the extreme penalty of hanging4 ,two days yet remained to the carrying out of the sentence1 when there was a great uproar in the gaol4 ,seronai and another prisoner1 also under sentence of death1 had broken loose from cells1 but1 unable to scale the outer wall of the prison1 had clambered on to the roof of one of the buildings1 from which they bade defiance to all who ventured near4 ,they tore up the cornice1 and if anyone came near he ran the risk of having his head smashed with a well-directed brick4 ,this siege went on for two and a half hours2 the two defenders were so alert that if a ladder was put up at one side while a feint was made at the other1 they ran from side to side1 aiming bricks at anyone within reach4 ,this could not be allowed to go on1 so the superintendent of police made the guard fall in with loaded rifles1 and then took out his watch1 and1 addressing the two men1 told them that if they did not surrender in four minutes the guard would fire4 ,there was breathless suspense among the spectators1 who by this time numbered several hundreds1 as the minutes passed and the men were still defiant4 ,half a minute remained when the two men surrendered to the guard1 and were marched back to the cells4 ,two days later the extreme penalty of the law was enforced4 ,qazi ,abdul ,karim was altogether a different type of man to ,seronai2 he came of a good ,afghan family and was a very learned man1 being1 as his name denotes1 a ,qazi1 or one entitled to adjudicate ,muhammadan law4 ,he was well versed in the ,quran1 the ,hadis1 and ,muhammadan theology and literature1 and held a position of honour in the towns of ,quetta and ,kandahar4 ,he was a man of property1 too1 so that no one could taunt him with having become a ,christian for the sake of bread4 ,he was converted many years ago at ,quetta1 where he was baptized by the medical missionary1 ,dr4 ,sutton2 he passed through many dangers and privations1 but ,i go on at once to speak of my first acquaintance with him at ,bannu4 ,he had worked for a time at most of the frontier mission stations1 but did not seem able to settle down anywhere4 ,the ,missionary ,society requires those who desire to become its recognized agents to pass certain examinations1 and examinations were not in his line1 and he would not present himself for one2 thus he never became a recognized agent of the ,society4 ,he had a repugnance to doing work in the hospital wards1 so it was difficult to know how he was to gain his support4 ,his habits1 too1 were rather expensive1 as he had been accustomed to entertain freely in his ,muhammadan days1 and could not realize that he must not ask all and any into meals when he had not the wherewithal to pay for them4 ,he had given up almost everything to become a ,christian1 and he could not understand why the ,society would not support him to work on his own lines1 without the trammels of rules and regulations4 ,he was very sensitive in his nature1 and ready to think that he was being slighted or not wanted1 so he seldom stopped long in any one station4 ,he did not get on well1 as a rule1 with the other native ,christians1 and often imagined that schemes were being laid for poisoning his food4 ,this led to bickerings1 which the missionary often had trouble in allaying4 ,thus1 notwithstanding his great gifts1 ,abdul ,karim was not a persona grata in any of the missions1 and the missionary was often glad when he realized that he had outstayed his welcome and passed on to another station4 ,yet1 though certainly not popular with the native ,christians1 they all admired him for the troubles he had undergone for the sake of ,christ1 and for his pluck in confessing his faith before all audiences1 and regardless of consequences4 ,the last time he visited ,bannu he had been undergoing great hardships in a voluntary tramp through the country1 literally despised and rejected of men1 because of his uncompromising advocacy of ,christianity4 ,he was worn quite thin1 and looked so haggard that ,i did not at first recognize him1 and his clothes were reduced to a few rags4 ,we fed him up and got him some new clothes2 but even then he could not rid himself of the idea that some people were trying to poison him4 ,this gave rise to the report that he was mad1 and certainly his eccentricity in this respect was sufficient to give colour to the report4 ,i feel sure1 however--and ,i knew him well--that his devotion to ,christ was very real1 and amounted to a real passion to suffer for ,his sake4 ,in the summer of #aijg he was taken with an intense desire to enter ,afghanistan1 and preach the ,gospel there4 ,he crossed over the frontier at ,chaman1 and was seized by some ,afghan soldiers4 ,these finally brought him before the ,governor of ,kandahar4 ,he was offered rewards and honours if he would recant and accept ,muhammadanism1 and1 when he refused1 he was cast into prison loaded with eighty pounds of chains4 ,he was examined by ,h4 ,m4 the ,amir and the ,amir's brother1 ,nasirullah1 but remained firm in his confession of ,christianity4 ,finally1 he was marched off to ,kabul under very painful conditions4 ,as far as could be gathered from the reports that filtered down to ,india1 he had to walk loaded with chains and with a bit and bridle in his mouth from ,kandahar to ,kabul1 while any ,muhammadan who met him on the way was to smite him on the cheek and pull a hair from his beard4 ,after reaching ,kabul1 it was reported that he died in prison there2 but another report1 which purported to be that of an eyewitness1 and seemed worthy of credence1 related that he had been set at liberty in ,kabul1 and had set out alone for ,india4 ,on the way the people in a village where he was resting found out who he was--probably one of them had heard him preaching in ,india--and they carried him off to their mosque to force him to repeat the ,muhammadan ,kalimah1 ,there is no ,god but ,god1 and ,muhammad is the ,prophet of ,god4 ,this is the accepted formula of accepting ,islam1 and if a convert can be persuaded to say this publicly1 it is regarded as his recantation4 ,abdul ,karim refused4 ,a sword was then produced1 and his right arm cut off1 and he was again ordered to repeat it1 but again refused4 ,the left arm was then severed in the same way1 and1 on his refusing the third time1 his throat was cut4 ,there is no doubt that1 whatever the details of his martyrdom may be1 ,abdul ,karim witnessed faithfully up to the last for his ,saviour ,christ1 and died because he would not deny ,him4 ,there are many secret disciples in ,afghanistan who honour ,christ as we do1 and make ,his teachings their daily guide1 but are not yet prepared to follow ,him even to the death2 and there is no doubt that1 at the present time1 a public acknowledgment of ,christianity would mean death1 and probably a cruel death4 ,at the same time1 ,i believe that the ,church in ,afghanistan will not be established till there have been many such martyrs1 who will seal their faith with their blood4 ,when the news of the death of ,abdul ,karim reached ,bannu1 more than one of our ,afghan ,christians offered to go over into ,afghanistan and take his place as herald of the ,cross1 and bear the consequences1 but ,i pointed out to them that the time was not yet4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv ,,deductions ,number of converts not a reliable estimate of mission work--,spurious converts versus ,indigenous ,christianity--,latitude should be allowed to the ,indian ,church--,we should introduce ,christ to ,india rather than ,occidental ,christianity--,christianizing sects among ,hindus and ,muhammadans--,missionary work not restricted to missionaries--,influence of the best of ,hindu and ,muhammadan thought should be welcomed--,the conversion of the nation requires our attention more than that of the individual--,christian ,friars adapted to modern missions--,a true representation of ,christ to ,india--,misconceptions that must be removed4 ,i have completed these sketches of mission work1 and ,i wish to summarize in this chapter some of the conclusions that ,i have been led to draw from the experiences of the last sixteen years1 and then in a concluding chapter to point out what ,i think to be the most promising lines of advance4 ,it has too long been the habit to gauge the results of mission work by the number of converts or baptisms1 but this is wrong both by omission and by commission3 by omission1 because it takes no count of what is the larger portion of mission work--the gradual permeation of the country with the teachings and example of ,christ2 by commission1 because it encourages missionaries to baptize and register numbers1 chiefly of the lower classes1 who have no right to it1 because they come from egregiously unworthy motives4 ,such converts not only are a dead weight on the mission to which they are attached1 but too often utterly discredit ,christianity in the eyes of the non-,christians around them by their greed and unworthy conduct4 ,it is well that we should sometimes stop and think what it is that we are desirous of doing1 and then face the question3 ,are we really accomplishing that1 or doing something altogether different8 ,are we desirous of planting in ,india a ,christian ,church on the lines which we see developed in ,england or ,america8 ,if so1 ,i sincerely hope that we shall never succeed4 ,are we desirous of binding on ,eastern converts the same burden of dogmas which has disrupted and still distresses the ,western ,church8 ,again1 ,i sincerely hope not4 ,are we desirous of giving ,india the life and teaching of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and of living ,him before the people8 ,there we have a worthy object--to compass which no sacrifice is too great--worthy of the best and most devoted of our men and women1 and claiming the spiritual and material support of the whole ,western ,church4 ,now1 it is quite possible--in fact1 we have seen it enacted before our eyes--that1 having given ,india ,christ and the ,bible1 ,india's sons and sages may not interpret everything as we have done1 but may do so in their own mystical and transcendental way4 ,we may not always be able to admit such by baptism into the fold of the ,christian ,church--they may not themselves desire it--but are we to say that our mission has not been accomplished8 ,accomplished it assuredly has been1 but perhaps not on the lines which we desired or imagined4 ,if1 again1 after studying the life and words of ,christ1 and comparing them with the ,christianity which they see practised in the ,west1 or in the ,westerns who reside among them1 they are not drawn to ,western ,christianity while yet having a devotion to ,christ2 if they do not feel they can consistently join any of our ,western ,churches2 and if they form a ,church of ,india1 are we then to be disappointed and think we have failed of our mission8 ,a thousand times1 no6 ,let us rather praise ,god that1 instead of a number of hothouse plants requiring careful watering and tending lest they sicken and wither1 we have a harvest of indigenous growth nurtured on the native soil of ,india1 and ripening to a fruitful maturity under its own sun1 and fed by the natural showers of heaven without the aid of the missionaries of a foreign clime4 ,we see1 therefore1 that the gathering in of converts is not the first or most important work of the missionary4 ,his work is rather1 first1 to live ,christ before the people of the country2 secondly1 to give them the teachings of ,christ by giving them the ,scriptures in their own tongue1 and preaching and explaining the same to them4 ,we often find in practice that when some ,indian has been captivated by the ,gospel1 he is hurried on to baptism1 and thereby cut off prematurely from his old stock and grafted on the new--prematurely because he is often insufficiently grounded in the ,christian faith to withstand the torrent of persecution which is his lot the moment he is baptized1 and because the leavening influence which he would otherwise be exerting on a wide circle of his relations and acquaintances is at once destroyed4 ,christians at home encourage the missionary to think that nothing has been accomplished till the inquirer is baptized1 and that1 once baptized and recorded in the church register and the mission report1 the work1 as far as that individual is concerned1 is completed1 and the missionary may leave him and turn his attention to someone else4 ,fatal mistake6 ,injurious to the convert because1 left only half grounded in the faith1 he falls into worldly and covetous habits1 or may even apostatize outright2 injurious to the unevangelized remainder because1 instead of being attracted for a time longer to the study of ,christianity by the influence of the inquirer1 they are thrown into a position of violent antagonism by the secession of the convert1 and are no longer willing to give the claims of ,christ any hearing at all4 ,herein lies the inestimable value of the much-maligned mission schools and colleges4 ,they do not produce a great crop of immediate baptisms1 and so are belittled by some as barren agencies2 but nothing else is more surely permeating the great mass of ,muhammadan and ,hindu thought with ,christian thoughts1 ,christian ideals1 and ,christian aspirations4 ,we see all around us in present-day ,india attempts to reclothe ,islam and ,hinduism in ,christian habiliments1 or else ardent reformers1 hopeless of that ,augean task1 creating new little sects and offshoots1 in which ,christian ideas are served up for ,muhammadan and ,hindu consumers thinly disguised in a dressing of their own religions4 ,these sects sometimes affect a display of hostility to ,christianity1 lest those whom they wish to draw should mistake them for being only missionary ruses for catching them with guile2 but1 all the same1 they are steps1 and ,i think inevitable steps1 in the gradual permeation of the country with the religion of ,christ4 ,india has been surfeited with philosophies and dogmas and rites and ceremonies from the hoary ,vedic ages down1 but she is hungering and thirsting for a living power to draw her ,god-ward1 and such a power is ,christ4 ,she cannot have too much of ,him1 whether this life be set forth in the devoted service of ,christian men and women1 in hospitals1 and schools1 and zenanas1 and plague camps1 and leper asylums1 or in the daily preaching and teaching of ,him in town and village1 in the crowded bazaars1 or in the hermitages of the sadhus and faqirs4 ,this is not a work restricted to those who have been set apart as missionaries1 but one which claims every professed ,christian in the land4 ,every ,european ,christian1 be he in civil or military service1 in trade or profession1 or merely a temporary visitant for pleasure-seeking1 can and should be doing this essentially ,christian missionary work if he is living honestly and purely up to the tenets of his religion2 and many of the best converts in the land have been first drawn to ,christ by watching the consistent private and public ,christian life of some such unobtrusive ,englishman or ,englishwoman1 who never was or tried to be a missionary in the usual sense of the term4 ,on the other hand1 the ,christianizing of the country has been made all the more remote and difficult by those ,englishmen who contemn or discredit the religion they profess1 or live lives openly and flagrantly at variance with its ethics4 ,we do not gain anything from a missionary point of view1 and we dishonour ,god1 when we speak of everything in ,islam or ,hinduism as evil4 ,the ,mussulman has given a witness to the ,unity of ,god and the folly of idolatry which has been unsurpassed in the religious history of the world1 and he has qualities of devotion and self-abnegation which the ,christian ,church may well desire to enlist in her service rather than to ignore or decry4 ,the ,hindu has evolved philosophies on the enigmas of life1 and sin1 and pain1 and death1 which have for ages been the solace and guide of the myriad inhabitants of ,india1 and he has attained heights of self-abnegation and austerity in the pursuit of his religious ideals which would have made the ,christian ascetics of the early centuries of our era envious4 ,religion has been to them a pervading force which has coloured the most commonplace acts of daily life4 ,here we have qualities which have prepared the soil for the implanting of the ,christian faith1 and which1 when imbued and enlightened with the love of ,christ1 will reach a luxuriance of ,christian energy worthy of the religious ,east1 in which so many of the religions of the world have had their birth4 ,india1 indeed1 wants ,christ1 but the future ,christianity of ,india will not be that ,occidental form which we have been accustomed to1 but something that will have incorporated all the best ,god-given qualities and capacities and thoughts of the ,muhammadans and ,hindus4 ,it is a great pity that missionary energy is still largely destructive rather than constructive4 ,in the earlier days of mission work it was popularly supposed that missionaries were to attack the citadels of ,islam and ,hinduism1 which were considered to be the great obstacles to the acceptance of ,christianity by the people of ,india1 and it was thought that1 those once overthrown1 we should find a ,christian country4 ,much more probably we should find an atheistic and materialistic ,india1 in which ,mammon1 ,wealth1 ,industrial ,success1 and ,worldliness had become the new gods4 ,the real and most deadly enemies with which the missionary has to contend are infidelity and mammon worship4 ,we may well try to enlist the religious spirit of all the ,indian creeds in the struggle against these1 the common enemies of all faiths1 or we may find1 when too late1 that we have destroyed the fabric of faith1 and set up nothing in its place4 ,the old ,islam1 the old ,hinduism1 are already doomed1 not by the efforts of the missionaries1 but by the contact with the ,west1 by the growth of commerce1 by the spread of education1 by the thirst for wealth and luxury which the ,west has implanted in the ,east4 ,all the power of ,christianity is required to give ,india a new and living and robust faith1 which shall be able to withstand these disrupting forces4 ,some of the ,christian attacks on ,eastern religions are painful to read1 because one cannot help seeing that the same weapons have been used in the ,west1 and often with success1 against belief in the ,christian ,scriptures1 and the missionaries are only preparing tools which will one day be used against themselves4 ,they may for the moment win a ,pyrrhic victory against the forces of ,islam and ,hinduism1 but they are at the same time undermining the religious spirit1 the ardent faith1 the unquestioning devotion1 which have been the crown and glory of ,india for ages4 ,let it rather be their endeavour to present a real1 living1 pulsating ,christianity1 capable of enlisting all these divine forces in its own service without weakening or destroying one of them1 and all that is best in ,islam and ,hinduism will be drawn into it4 ,the product will be nearer to the mind of ,christ than much that passes by the name of ,christianity in the ,west1 yet has lost the power of the living ,christ4 ,do not destroy1 but give something worthy of acceptance1 and be careful of the type4 ,converts will come right enough when we work on these lines1 but they will not so often be the man-made converts which have been drawn by the outward attractions which missions sometimes offer4 ,they will more often be those who have been drawn of the ,spirit1 and become converts in spite of us and our little faith4 ,and they will inherit the blessing of ,isaac as assuredly as the first class partake of the waywardness of ,ishmael4 ,the ,east has long possessed and developed in a myriad different ways the idea of sacrifice1 while the more practical ,west has been tending more and more towards a philanthropic ,christianity which makes a life of service its ideal4 ,the best will be when we bring about a union of the religious devotion of the ,east with the altruism of the ,west4 ,so far the asceticism and devotion of the ,orient has been rendered nugatory and disappointing by its uselessness--by1 if we may use a paradoxical expression1 its very selfishness--for it was directed to the emancipation of the individual soul rather than to the salvation of the race4 ,but when the sacrifice of the ,orient and the service of the ,occident join hands and go forth in the name of ,christ to mitigate and remove the ills and sorrows of this sad1 sad world1 then indeed will the spirit of ,christ be fulfilled in ,his ,church4 ,a recent writer1 whose missionary enthusiasm had caught a spark from the mystic fires of the ,east1 writes3 ,the thing which is lacking 7in mission work7 ,i believe to be the vision of the homeless1 suffering1 serving ,jesus--the ,jesus who came to serve1 and laid down ,his life for the sheep4 #c ,he then goes on to enunciate the need for ,christian ,friars1 who may bring a knowledge of ,christ to ,india in the only way to which her people have ever been accustomed4 ,from time immemorial all the religions that have occupied the arena of the ,indian stage1 and compelled the adherence and devotion of her people1 have been promulgated by peripatetic ascetics1 who have shown by their devotion to their ideals the intensity of their convictions1 and have not wearied of journeying from end to end of the land1 through heat and through cold1 through privations and hunger and nakedness1 that they might make known to the people how they were to obtain salvation4 ,the ,friars suggested by the above writer would therefore be such as ,india is already familiar with1 and would work on a prepared soil4 ,he writes3 ,the part of the ,friars is to live ,christ so literally before the ,church and the world1 that both may become conscious of ,him4 ,the ,church is lacking in ideal and devotion2 the ,friars must1 therefore1 lead lives of such heroism and devoted service in the face of every danger that the ,church may be fired by their example4444 ,if such a body of men were to act in this way1 none would be so quick to cast themselves at the ,master's feet as the people of ,india1 and the high castes would lead the way4 ,but it must be clearly understood that these ,friars are not to replace or render unnecessary any section of the existing missionary body4 ,every one of the various activities of the present mission work is wanted1 urgently wanted4 ,they will1 however1 fire their energies1 enlarge their scope1 and increase their usefulness4 ,two misconceptions require to be removed from the ,indian mind4 ,one is1 that missionary activity is a political activity1 a department of the ,government artfully disguised4 ,the other is1 that the ,english are1 after all1 only lukewarm about their religion1 and do not hesitate to disregard it if it clashes with their comfort or interest4 ,to combat these ideas it is the lives of the missionaries that are of more importance than the organization1 and the more ,christ is lived and exemplified1 the more spiritual and lasting will be the result4 ,,chapter ,,xxv ,a ,,forward ,,policy ,frontier medical missions--,their value as outposts--,ancient ,christianity in ,central ,asia--,kafiristan3 a lost opportunity of the ,christian ,church--,forcible conversion to ,islam--,fields for missionary enterprise beyond the ,north-,west ,frontier--,the first missionaries should be medical men--,an example of the power of a medical mission to overcome opposition--,the need for branch dispensaries--,scheme of advance--,needs4 ,down the ,north-,west ,frontier is the long line of mission outposts3 ,srinagar1 ,mardan1 ,peshawur1 ,karak1 and ,thal1 in the ,kohat district2 ,bannu1 ,tank1 ,dera ,ismal ,khan1 ,dera ,ghazi ,khan1 ,quetta4 ,all of these comprise medical mission work as part of their activities4 ,several have educational work as well4 ,yet we regard them as something more than outposts3 they are bases4 ,the strength of the ,british military stations on that frontier is far in excess of the requirements of their immediate surroundings1 because under conceivable conditions they have to act as the bases of an army acting beyond them1 or they might have to stem the advance of an invading force4 ,in a precisely similar way we must regard our frontier missions1 not merely in relation to their environments1 but as the means whereby we shall be able to go forward and evangelize the yet unoccupied lands to the west and the north4 ,they should be sufficiently well equipped in both personnel and material1 so that when need arises they might be able to supply the men and means for occupying mission stations farther on4 ,the countries of ,central ,asia to the west and north of ,india are a challenge and a reproach to the ,christian ,church--a reproach because in the early centuries of the ,christian era the zeal of the first missionaries carried the ,gospel right across ,turkestan and ,tibet to ,china1 and ,christian ,churches flourished from ,asia ,minor to ,mongolia4 ,dr4 ,stein1 in his recent work1 ,buried ,cities of ,khotan1 tells us how in those days there were fair towns and running streams and orchards1 where now is only a sandy1 waterless waste4 ,the rains ceased1 the water channels dried up1 the people had to leave their towns and villages1 and the sand was blown in and covered houses and trees and everything deep in its drifting dunes1 where they have been unvisited and forgotten till the present traveller unearthed them4 ,a similar spiritual drought seems to have fallen on the ,armenian and ,nestorian ,churches of those parts1 and1 deadened and retrograde1 they were unable to withstand the great ,muhammadan invasions of the sixth and succeeding centuries1 which swept like tornadoes right across ,asia into ,china4 ,in again proclaiming the ,gospel in ,turkestan the ,christian ,church will only be reoccupying her lost territories1 where at one time ,christian congregations gathered in their churches1 but for centuries only the ,muhammadan call to prayer has been permitted to be heard4 ,it is a reproach1 again1 because on our ,north-,west ,frontier1 only separated from ,chitral by a range of mountains1 is the interesting land known as ,kafiristan4 ,there is reason to believe that the inhabitants of this land1 known as the ,kafirs1 are the descendants of some of the ,greeks whom ,alexander of ,macedon brought over in his train three hundred years before ,christ4 ,two stories are current among the ,kafirs regarding their origin1 but both point to their arrival about the third century before ,christ4 ,one is that a number of ,greeks1 expelled from the lowlands by the advance of surrounding and more powerful tribes1 took refuge in these mountain fastnesses2 and the other is that they are the descendants of wounded soldiers left by ,alexander the ,great in the neighbouring region of ,bajour4 ,they still practised till a few years ago pagan idolatrous rites1 which had probably changed little for two thousand years1 and they resisted the inroads of the ,muhammadans1 who were obliged to recoil before their inaccessible mountain fastnesses4 ,they welcomed some ,christian missionaries who visited their valleys at different times in the last century1 and there is every reason to believe that1 had the ,christian ,church accepted the task1 the whole of that nation would have adopted the ,christian religion4 ,but though these travellers urged on the ,church her opportunity and her responsibility1 no step was taken4 ,colonel ,wingate1 a retired frontier officer1 writes3 #d ,i had gone for a stroll one day in the summer of #ahie with another officer for a short distance outside the military camp4 ,though we were wearing the uniform of officers1 we were without arms1 when suddenly we saw a party of natives approaching4 ,they were travelling at a rapid rate1 and as they drew near we observed that they were armed with bows and arrows and spears1 each carrying a coloured blanket in a roll over the shoulder1 their food of dried meat and rice tied on to their girdles4 ,the whole party were warriors1 as indicated by the rows of shells sewn on to the kilts worn round their waists4 ,they proved to be an influential deputation from ,kafiristan to the headquarters camp to obtain the assurance of the ,british nation that they would still enjoy their protection4 ,from time to time1 commencing with the mission of ,major ,biddulph1 interviews between headmen of the ,kafiri tribes and officers of the ,british ,government had taken place1 resulting in the belief that the independence of ,kafiristan would be preserved4 ,but the unexpected and ominous answer came over the field telegraph wires3 ',tell them they are now the subjects of the ,amir4' ,while waiting for the answer ,i had some conversation with them4 ,they were wonderfully bright and generous-hearted1 and fond of a joke4 ,when ,i asked them if they were ready to embrace the ,christian religion1 they replied3 ',we do not want to change the religion of our fathers2 but if we must change1 then we would far rather become ,christians than ,muhammadans1 because we should still be ,kafirs1' alluding to the common application of this word by ,muhammadans to all unbelievers4444 ,the unsparing proselytism of ,muhammadan conquest has done its worst4 ,hearths and homes in their mountain fastnesses1 which had been preserved inviolate for one thousand years against the hated ,mussulman foe1 have been ruthlessly invaded and spoiled4 ,the bravest of their defenders have been forcibly made into ,muhammadans1 and the fairest of their daughters have been torn from the arms of their natural protectors and carried off as new supplies for the harims of their conquerors4 ,another lost opportunity to add to the account of the ,christian ,church6 ,but there are lands now in that historic region where three empires meet which may yet be occupied by the messengers of peace and goodwill towards men4 ,is the ,church going to rise to the present opportunities or let them1 too1 slip by8 ,swat1 ,chitral1 ,baltistan1 ,hunza1 ,astor1 ,chilas1 are each of them the home of a nation4 ,then the great historic cities of ,bukhara1 ,samarcand1 ,tashkend1 ,merv1 ,kokan1 ,kashgar1 have some of them been in their time the capitals of great kingdoms4 ,in some of these places there are already missionaries at work1 most of them belonging to ,swedish and ,german societies2 but how utterly inadequate these few scattered workers are to the great problem which they have to face6 ,what is needed at the present are medical missions4 ,a medical man would be welcomed by the people in all these places4 ,the time for the preacher has yet to come4 ,it would not be wise1 even were it possible1 to send up clerical missionaries and evangelists into these parts at present4 ,but the doctor will find his sphere everywhere1 and will find his hands full of work as soon as he arrives4 ,he will be able to overcome suspicion and prejudice1 and his timely aid and sympathetic treatment will disarm opposition1 and his life will be a better setting forth of ,christianity than his words4 ,there is a door everywhere that can be opened by love and sympathy and practical service1 and no one is more in a position to have a key for every door than the doctor4 ,i have already said much to show how powerful an agency medical work is for overcoming prejudice1 but ,i will cite one instance more1 where the doctor was the son of a convert of the very place where he was working1 and had succeeded by his loving and skilful attentions in overcoming the opposition and much of the prejudice of the people4 ,the first branch dispensary in connection with the ,bannu ,medical ,mission was opened at ,shekh ,mahmud in #ahie4 ,this is a large village near the ,tahsil town of ,isa ,khel1 on the right bank of the ,indus ,river4 ,about thirty-five years ago a landowner of this place was converted to ,christianity1 and1 together with his family1 received into the ,christian ,church4 ,at first he passed through great vicissitudes3 his house was burnt over his head by his fellow-villagers1 and he and his family barely escaped with their lives4 ,his enemies then tried to expatriate him by erasing his name from the village registers1 and swearing in court that he was a stranger to the district4 ,eventually1 however1 their perjury was found out1 and the court restored him his lands and had a new house built for him in the place of the one that had been burnt down4 ,this man passed to his rest trusting in our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 leaving three sons1 who were all following in their father's footsteps1 and have been privileged to see many of their former enemies brought to ,christ themselves4 ,the eldest son has also died1 but leaving two sons1 of whom the elder has obtained the ,government qualification of doctor1 and is destined to take charge of the branch dispensary which we are about to open at ,thal4 ,the second and third sons have received a medical training in the mission hospital1 and are both engaged in medical mission work--the second at the ,bannu ,headquarters ,hospital1 and the youngest is in charge of a branch dispensary built on the very land that his ,muhammadan countrymen tried to wrest from his father4 ,on the last occasion of my visiting this branch1 just before leaving ,india for my visit to ,england in #aijh1 this young doctor--,fazl ,khan by name--had made a dinner for the poor of the village1 and nearly two hundred must have come to partake of his hospitality4 ,this custom of feeding the poor is often done in ,india by those undertaking a long journey or some other enterprise1 so that the prayers of the poor may be a blessing on the work4 ,well1 after all the guests had partaken1 the ,christian doctor offered prayers for my safe journey to ,england1 and for the medical mission work at ,bannu and at ,sheikh ,mahmud1 and after each petition all present raised the cry of ,allah1 being their way of saying ,amen4 ,now1 these were the sons and relatives of the very men who had burnt the house of the ,christian doctor's father1 and tried to oust him from his lands4 ,this is an example of what may be accomplished in a fanatical frontier district through the agency of medical mission work carried on by an ,indian ,christian4 ,i am constantly getting requests from maliks 7chiefs7 of these trans-frontier tribes to visit them in their mountain homes1 and when ,i have accepted ,i have received a cordial welcome1 and been well treated1 while ,i have had abundant opportunities of medical mission work4 ,there is great scope for the itinerant medical missionary among them1 but he requires a base to which he can send cases requiring severe operations or ward treatment4 ,small branch dispensaries in charge of ,indian hospital assistants are of the greatest value1 and there are many suitable places for such along our ,indian frontier4 ,the advantages of such dispensaries ,i believe to be as follows2 7#a7 ,they exert an extraordinary ,christianizing1 civilizing1 and pacifying influence on the tribes in their immediate vicinity4 7#b7 ,they form subsidiary bases for the medical missionary1 not only enabling him to work up that particular district1 but relieving the pressure on the headquarters hospital4 ,the assistant-in-charge sifts the cases that come to him1 tells some that their disease is irremediable1 thereby saving them the expense and weariness of a long journey1 and recommending others to go up to headquarters for operations4 7#c7 ,they form training-schools for our ,indian helpers1 whereby they are prepared for taking posts of even greater responsibility4 ,this matter of efficient training of our ,indian helpers is1 ,i believe1 a matter of paramount importance4 ,my hope is1 then1 in the near future to see a number of new centres of medical mission work opened in these hitherto almost untouched lands of ,central ,asia1 and1 associated with these centres1 a number of village dispensaries for the more remote tracks4 ,the central missions would have a staff of at least two ,european medical men1 and the branches would be in the charge of ,indian assistants4 ,there is no reason1 however1 why an ,indian of sufficient qualifications and experience should not take the place of one of the ,european staff when circumstances admit of it4 ,the central hospital should be well equipped in both out- and in-patient departments1 and have sanitary wards accommodating from thirty to eighty in-patients4 ,the branches should also be able to take in from six to ten in-patients1 as not only will the assistant in charge often get cases of urgency1 which require immediate indoor treatment1 and cannot be forwarded to the base hospital1 but when the head medical missionary visits these out-stations he will be glad to be able to accommodate a few operation cases which may be waiting for him there4 ,this scheme would not clash with ,government medical aid1 because in most of these regions there are very few1 if any1 ,government hospitals or dispensaries1 and those places which already have sufficient ,government medical aid might well be passed over in favour of the numberless places that have none4 ,here is a grand field for young medical men who are anxious to consecrate their abilities to the service of ,god and man4 ,they are not offered tempting salaries or honours1 but they will have the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping to lighten the burden of mankind where that burden was weighing most heavily1 and to bring the light and love of ,christ into some of the darkest abodes of cruelty and superstition to be met with on the face of ,god's earth4 ,those who help this work with the gifts in money or kind1 without which it would be impossible of execution can have the satisfaction of knowing that they are not only relieving bodily suffering which would otherwise be unrelieved1 and carrying the ,evangel to those who have never heard of it1 but they are drawing nations together in bonds of service and sympathy1 and diminishing the danger of racial conflict and devastating war4 ,,glossary ,,of ,,words ,,not ,,generally ,,used ,,outside ,,india ,a4 ,ahl-el-kitb the people of the ,book3 a term applied by ,muhammadans to ,jews1 and ,christians whose ,scriptures they accept as the ,word of ,god4 ,b4 ,banaprastha the third stage of the life of a devout ,hindu1 when he retires from trade or office1 and lives in some forest or jungle4 ,ber a tree1 very common in ,afghanistn--,zisyphus jujuba and ,z4 vulgaris4 ,its fruit is largely eaten by the people4 ,bhagti devotion1 faith4 ,the ,hindus contrast salvation by bhagti to that by karma1 or works4 ,chaitanza and others were the apostles of bhagti4 ,bhsha the script in which the ,hindi language is usually written2 the language itself4 ,brahmachri the first stage of the life of a devout ,hindu1 when he is a celibate student under some teacher or guru4 ,c4 ,chdar a cotton or woollen shawl1 used as a wrap in the day and a sheet by night4 ,chapti flat cakes of unleavened bread1 cooked over a tauwa1 or flat piece of iron4 ,chrpr the four-legged1 the plain native wooden bedstead4 ,chauk the room which the headman of a village sets apart for the use of the public4 ,village business and gossip is carried on here1 and travellers accommodated4 ,chigah an alarm1 sounded by beating a drum in a village1 for the arm-bearing population to come out in pursuit of raiders or robbers4 ,chilam the ,afghn term for the ,indian hookah1 or hubble-bubble pipe4 ,the kind used in ,afghanistn is simpler in construction1 and has a shorter tube4 ,d4 ,dktar the native corruption of doctor4 ,dharmsla a ,hindu temple and rest-house for travellers1 these two institutions being almost invariably combined4 ,dilaq the patchwork cloak which is characteristic of the ,muhammadan faqir4 ,dm the village barber and musician1 these two offices being usually combined2 he also does most of the minor surgery of the village4 ,dmba the fat-tailed ,afghn sheep4 ,f4 ,fatw a religious decree1 promulgated by a court of ,mullahs1 or by one ,mullah of authority4 ,feringi the name universally accorded in ,afghanistn to ,europeans 7the ,franks74 ,in ,british ,india it has a prejudicial signification1 but not so in ,afghanistn4 ,g4 ,ghaz a religious murder1 when a ,muhammadan fanatic kills a ,christian or ,hindu for the sake of religion4 ,ghzi the fanatic who commits ghaz4 ,grihasta the second stage in the life of a devout ,hindu1 when he marries a wife1 begets children1 and carries on his profession or trade4 ,guru a religious preceptor or guide among ,hindus or ,sikhs4 ,h4 ,hkim a ruler1 an executive officer4 ,hakm a native doctor1 who practises on ,western or ,hippocratic lines4 ,halwa a kind of sweet pudding1 very popular with the ,afghns4 ,hazrat ',esa the ,muhammadan appellation for our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,hujra a guest-house1 where travellers are accommodated in ,afghn villages4 ,it differs from chauk in that it is more specialized for the use of travellers1 while the latter is more for the use of the village folk4 ,i4 'd a ,muhammadan feast-day4 ,there are two chief feasts--the ',id-el-fitr1 or day following the fast-month of ,ramazn1 and the ',id-el-zoha or ',id-el-bakr1 which is the ,feast of ,sacrifice1 in memory of ,abraham's would-be sacrifice of his son4 ,izzat honour3 a word constantly in an ,afghn's thoughts and conversation1 but which even he is not always able to define4 ,j4 ,jirgah a council of the tribal elders4 ,this may be appointed by the tribesmen themselves to settle some dispute1 or in ,british ,india it may be appointed by the civil officer to help in deciding some judicial case4 ,k4 ,kfir an infidel4 ,strictly1 only one who does not believe in ,god and the prophets1 but loosely applied to all non-,muslims4 ,kalmullh the ,word of ,god4 ,comprises1 according to ,muhammadan teaching1 four books--the ,law 7,tauret71 the ,psalms 7,zabr71 the ,gospel 7,injil71 and the ,qurn4 ,kalima the ,muhammadan creed3 ,there is no ,god but ,god1 and ,muhammad is the prophet of ,god4 ,the recitation of this is the recognized way of declaring one's self a ,muhammadan4 ,kanal a measure of land--one-eighth of an acre4 ,karm works4 ,according to ,hindu philosophy1 a man's reincarnation depends on the character and amount of his karm4 ,karnal the ,afghn corruption of colonel4 ,khn a lord1 a chief2 an honorific title in ,afghanistn1 or merely part of a man's name4 ,l4 ,lashkar an army2 often applied in ,afghanistn to a small body of men going out from a tribe for warlike purposes1 but they may be going for peaceful purposes--hence the ,english lascar4 ,m4 ,mlik in ,afghanistn the headman of a village or tribe4 ,m'uzbllh a ,muhammadan exclamation on hearing bad news or a calamity3 ,may ,god protect us6 ,muharram a yearly ,muhammadan feast held on the #ajth of the month of ,muharram4 ,mullah a ,muhammadan preacher4 ,munshi a clerk or preceptor4 ,p4 ,pagari the ,eastern head-dress or turban4 ,patwri a village bailiff1 who keeps the accounts of the village lands4 ,patwarkhna the office of the bailiff4 ,parda the ,eastern custom of secluding women from the public gaze4 ,pulo a popular dish in ,afghanistn1 consisting of meat cooked with rice1 with spices1 nuts1 raisins1 and sweetenings4 ,q4 ,qurbn lit41 sacrifice2 also used as an expression of devotion by an inferior to a superior4 ,qismet fate1 destiny2 an ever-present idea in the ,muhammadan mind4 ,r4 ,rebb an ,afghn stringed instrument1 resembling a guitar4 ,s4 ,shib lit41 gentleman2 the term of respect usually applied to ,englishmen4 ,samdh the posture assumed by an ascetic for contemplation of the ,deity4 ,there are a great variety of these1 each possessing its own peculiar merit4 ,sangar an entrenchment4 ,in the mountain warfare of ,afghanistn these are made of short walls of stones on the hillside4 ,sanysi the fourth stage in the life of a devout ,hindu1 when he retires from the world1 and gives himself up entirely to religious meditation4 ,sardr a chief1 an ,afghn nobleman4 ,sarkr the usual term for the ,british ,government4 ,sharm shame4 ,the ,afghn idea underlying this word is a complex1 in which shame1 public disgrace1 modesty1 delicacy1 sense of honour1 all share in varying degree4 ,he is always talking of it4 ,shster a religious book of the ,hindus4 ,shesham a common tree on the frontier that yields an excellent hard wood for various articles of household use--,dalbergia sisso4 ,sowr a horseman4 ,sura a chapter of the ,qurn4 ,t4 ,tahsl the subdivision of an administrative district2 the centre for the collection of the revenue4 ,tlib a ,muhammadan religious student2 a pupil in a mosque4 ,tap-jap a recitation of religious formul by a ,hindu4 ,tauba lit41 repentance2 an exclamation denoting abhorrence or contrition4 ,u4 ,ustd a master or preceptor2 a religious teacher 7among ,muhammadans74 ,w4 ,wilyati belonging to ,europe2 especially applied to merchandise of ,european origin4 ,y4 ,yogsadhan a system of contemplation1 combined with religious exercises1 whereby occult power is acquired4 ,yunni pertaining to ,greece4 ,this is the word usually applied to that system of native medicine which was derived from the ,greeks2 in ,europe it is spoken of in connection with the name of ,hippocrates1 who formulated it4 ,the other1 or ,hindu system1 is the ,vedic2 those who practise the former are called hakms1 the latter baids4 ,z4 ,zamindr a farmer1 a landowner4 ,zyrat a shrine2 the grave of a holy man2 a place of pilgrimage4 ,,notes #a ,more probably from the ,greek kofinos4--,j4 ,c4 #b ,in a booklet published by the ,church ,missionary ,society1 entitled ,delawar ,khan4 #c ,s4 ,e4 ,stokes in ,the ,east and the ,west for ,april1 #aijh4 #d ,across our ,indian ,frontier1 by ,colonel ,g4 ,wingate1 ,c4,i4,e4