ming." He then arose, and probably to shew his
knowledge of European breeding, gave me such a manly shake of the hand
as made me expect to see the blood start from the tips of my fingers.
I am not sure, with all due respect for the good old custom of shaking
hands, that I should not have preferred submitting to the Uzbeg mode
of salutation. On approaching an equal, the arms of both are thrown
transversely across the shoulders and body, like the preparatory
attitude of wrestlers in some parts of England, then, placing breast
to breast, the usual form of "salaam aleikoom" is given in a slow
measured tone. But on horseback the inferior dismounts, and, according
to the degree of rank, touches or embraces the stirrup.

The valley of Kammurd is of an oblong form flanked by stupendous
mountains; the enormous barrier of the Dundun Shikkun almost precludes
the possibility of bringing cannon from the south, although one gun is
known to have been dragged over by sheer manual labour; it was brought
by Dost Mahommed from Cabul to quell some refractory chiefs, the
carriage being taken to pieces, and the gun fastened by ropes in the
hollowed trunk of a tree.

On the 5th of July we reached Piedb[=a]gh, five miles further down the
valley, which gradually decreased in breadth, seldom exceeding two
hundred yards, and sometimes contracting to fifty. Along the banks
of a muddy river flowing through the centre of the narrow vale, the
sycamore tree was very luxuriant, and two or three forts formed a
chain of communication from one end of the cultivated land to the
other. Piedb[=a]gh, as its name implies, is a complete orchard,
_piedan_ meaning perpetual, and b[=a]gh, garden; from a distance it
looks like a thick wood with the turrets of the forts overtopping the
dark foliage. We took advantage of the quiet beauty of this spot
to give our horses a day's rest, and lucky it was for us we had at
Bamee[=a]n exchanged for stout yaboos the unwieldy camels which we had
brought from Cabul; the yaboos get over the ground twice as fast as
the camel, and for mountainous districts are infinitely preferable to
the "ship of the desert."

It was lucky also that we had not burdened ourselves with bedsteads or
charpoys, as they are called in the East (literally "_four feet_");
they would have inconvenienced us much; and we should, probably, have
been forced to abandon them on the road, the pathways along the glens
being often so narrow, and so encumbered wi