Burnes, Alexander: Travels into Bokhara: containing the narrative of a voyage on the Indus from the sea to Lahore, ... and an account of a journey from India to Cabool, Tartary and Persia ; performed by order of the supreme government of India, in the years 1831, 32, and 33 (Band 2) (London, 1835)

78 CHIEF OF PESHAWUR. chat. hi.

bouring hills to me, explaining by whom they were
inhabited, with every other particular which they
thought might interest They also informed me,
that the nobleman who had prepared this garden
possessed the philosopher's stone (the " sung-i-
fars"), since there was no other way of accounting
for his great riches. They added, that he threw
it into the Indus ; which at least eases them of the
dilemma as to his heir.

We soon got accustomed to our new mode of life,
and, as we made it a rule never on any occasion to
write during the day, or in public, had leisure to
receive every person who came to see us. In
a short time we became acquainted with the whole
society of Peshawur; and, during the thirty days
that'we remained there, had an uninterrupted series
of visiting and feasting. Nothing, however, more
contributed to our comfort and happiness than the
kindness of our worthy host. Sooltan Mahommed
Khan was not the illiterate Afghan whom I ex-
pected to find, but an educated well-bred gentle-
man, whose open and affable manner made the
most lasting impression. As we were sitting down
to dinner, he would frequently slip in, quite unat-
tended, and pass the evening with us. He would
sometimes be followed by various trays of dishes,
which he had had cooked in his harem, and believed
might be palatable to us. He is a person more
remarkable for his urbanity than his wisdom; but
he transacts all his own business: he is a brave
soldier ; his seraglio has about thirty inmates, and
he has already had a family of sixty children. He