DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15173#0095
CHAP. III.
TOWN OF PESHAWUR.
77
humour. During the conversation many of them
rose up, and prayed in the room when the stated
hours arrived. As we got better acquainted in
Peshawur, our circle of acquaintance was widely
extended, and visiters would drop in at all hours,
and more particularly if they found us alone. The
Afghans never sit by themselves, and always made
some apology if they found any of us solitary,
though it would have been sometimes agreeable to
continue so. In the afternoon the chief invited us
to accompany him and his brothers to see the
environs of Peshawur. The doctor stayed away,
but I rode with them. Of the town of Peshawur
I shall say nothing, since the graphic and accurate
descriptions of Mr. Elphinstone require no addition.
Such, indeed, is the nature of the information con-
tained in his valuable work, that I shall always
avoid the ground on which he trod, and in Pesha-
wur confine myself to incidents and adventures of
a personal nature. I say this in my own defence.
I had accompanied the chief on a day most favour-
able to a stranger, the " nouroz,'' or new year (the
21st of March), which is celebrated by the people.
The greater part of the community were gathered
in gardens, and paraded about with nosegays and
bunches of peach-blossom. We entered the garden
of Ali Murdan Khan, and seating ourselves on
the top of the garden-house, looked down upon
the assembled multitude. The trees were covered
with blossom, and nothing could be more beautiful
than the surrounding scene. The chief and his
brothers took great pains to point out the neigh-
TOWN OF PESHAWUR.
77
humour. During the conversation many of them
rose up, and prayed in the room when the stated
hours arrived. As we got better acquainted in
Peshawur, our circle of acquaintance was widely
extended, and visiters would drop in at all hours,
and more particularly if they found us alone. The
Afghans never sit by themselves, and always made
some apology if they found any of us solitary,
though it would have been sometimes agreeable to
continue so. In the afternoon the chief invited us
to accompany him and his brothers to see the
environs of Peshawur. The doctor stayed away,
but I rode with them. Of the town of Peshawur
I shall say nothing, since the graphic and accurate
descriptions of Mr. Elphinstone require no addition.
Such, indeed, is the nature of the information con-
tained in his valuable work, that I shall always
avoid the ground on which he trod, and in Pesha-
wur confine myself to incidents and adventures of
a personal nature. I say this in my own defence.
I had accompanied the chief on a day most favour-
able to a stranger, the " nouroz,'' or new year (the
21st of March), which is celebrated by the people.
The greater part of the community were gathered
in gardens, and paraded about with nosegays and
bunches of peach-blossom. We entered the garden
of Ali Murdan Khan, and seating ourselves on
the top of the garden-house, looked down upon
the assembled multitude. The trees were covered
with blossom, and nothing could be more beautiful
than the surrounding scene. The chief and his
brothers took great pains to point out the neigh-