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 3) (London, 1835)

CHAP. XV.

PEASANTRY.

109

The peasantry., with a sickly, have yet a com-
fortable appearance. They tie folds of cloth round
their legs and fix them with a low shoe, and lacing-
cords. They wade through their muddy roads with
these, and tell you they are superior to boots, since
they may be dried in the evening! The men wear
dark clothes, and the women dress generally in red,
— the two colours which I suppose are easiest made.
Many of the people wear caps of felt, instead of
lambskin. The houses of the country are buried in
vegetation; creepers, melons, and pumpkins are
every where to be seen resting on the roofs. Every
house has a garden, and is surrounded by a hedge
of mulberries ; most of them are elevated by wooden
poles to a considerable height from the ground, to
prevent the bad effects of moisture. The inhabit-
ants pass the summer and autumnal months -in the
hills, where they cultivate rice. They live in huts,
and call such a residence "yailak" in distinction
from " Mshlak" which they apply to their perman-
ent habitations.