1 -RAPINE.
2 229
3 otenring him joilioei iad, as s rtwiger Int nsitliar fobtiflni not
4 tnbe»iM>proviai0n'i8iiiBdB for liu wearily In ptoof of diis pnipo-
5 sition, it may be observed, that tlie>A%^uns do not in ganenl
6 plander the lands of their nei^iboiin> or rob individualsy who reside
7 in thdr part of the eumilry, and that it is only tfsreUers who are
8 H^le to this oppression. This habit of rapine prevails in vetj
9 difibrent cbgrees, at difierent times, and in different parts of the
10 toaatry. The King^s government protects people of all deacriptioM
11 alike, as far as its power extends ; and, in conaequenoe^ when the
12 government is established, a man runs little risk, except among the
13 tribes, wliose situation enables them to set the King at defiance*
14 During civil wars, on the rontrary, the whole kiTiirdom is let loose ;
15 and a traveller may be plundered with as much impunity within sight
16 of Caubul as in ihe mouniaiii.s of the Vizeerees. The habit of cood
17 order, however, prevents the inhabitants of the parts of the country
18 which are usually settled, from runumg into tlit.se excesses, and it is
19 probably only the worst individualii among them who betake them*
20 selves to habitual rapine. * ■
21 The tifbes most addicted to rapine in the West, are iht Atdbndtsje
22 IvnuKdi of the Do(»aaneeB» and those of the Noorzyes, idio hdiahit
23 the desart eountiy on die borden of Penia and Bdonhistan, and Aat
24 part of the Toikfaee bianch of the Ghiljiesr which oGoupies » poition
25 of die Paiopsmisan mountains. Tlie hn^ of the lest- na^tA be
26 passed with tolerable safety, unless in times of great oon&aion ;'-biit
27 the long diaocders of the government are p^i^ akeiing th^ dw-
28 TBcter in this respect for the worse. Hie pastoral tribes in the West
29 ere said to be more gnea both to robbery and theft, than those who
30 live by agriculture All the tribes of the range of Solimann, eap^
31 dally the Khyberees and the Viateerees, are notorious plunderers, and
32 rob under the express direction or sanction of their internal govern-
33 ment. The othor Eastern Afghauns are all disposed to plunder
34 when they dare. When quite free from all apprehension of th e roya
35 power, they openly rob on the highway. When their security is not
36 ao gieatt they levy excnbitaat customs, or b^ in a manner that is not
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