rown, where the hair is allowed to grow, seldom, if ever, cutting
it--never wearing a covering. Almost all the men I saw wore the Indian
manufactured cotton clothes, similar to the Afghans, and on their feet
had strips of hide tied with strings of hide. The dress of the women is
merely a single garment, not unlike a very loose dressing or morning
gown, gathered up at the waist. The hair, which as a rule is very long,
is worn plaited and covered over with a broad cap with lappets, and
just over the crown stick up two tufts (some have one only) which from
a distance appear like horns. A sample of this head-dress as well as of
three or four other articles of interest I have brought for exhibition
to the meeting.

It is purely due to no blood-feuds existing among themselves that they
have succeeded in holding their own against the Mahommedans by whom they
are hemmed in on all sides. They have nothing in common with them, and,
in fact, are incessantly engaged in petty warfare with the Mahommedans.
They are exceedingly well disposed towards the British: I may venture
further and state that they would not hesitate to place their services,
should occasion require, at our disposal, and steps might be taken to
secure this. Slavery exists to a certain extent amongst them; this
nefarious trade, however, would fall through if slaves did not command
so ready a sale at Jalalabad, Kunar, Asmar, and Chitral. Polygamy is
the exception and not the rule; for infidelity on the part of a wife,
mild corporal punishment is inflicted, and a fine of half-a-dozen or
more heads of cattle imposed, according to the wealth of the male
offender. The dead are not buried, but put into coffins and deposited
either in an unfrequented spot on a hill-side, or carried to a sort of
cemetery and there left, the coffins being in neither case interred.
I visited one of these cemeteries, and saw over a hundred coffins in
different stages of decay; resting against the heads of some of these
I noticed carved wooden figures of both sexes, and was told that this
was an honour conferred only on persons of rank and note. As regards
their religion, one Supreme Being (Imbra) is universally acknowledged.
Priests preside at their temples, in which stones are set up, but
to neither priests nor idols is undue reverence paid. Unforeseen
occurrences are attributed to evil spirits, in whose existence they
firmly believe, giving no credit to a spirit for good.

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