1 HOUSES AMtf nXRinTOllE OV THS COMMON PEOPLE. 233
2 ligllfliMiBM of idleBess, in frequent change of scene, and in the
3 never-&iling resource of field sports. The shepherds are also in a
4 great measure emancipated, even from the controul of their internal
5 governTnent, b% tlieir dispersion for the greater part of the year. A
6 few families close h connected by blood, and en|(n ing an extont of
7 coimtrv far beyond their wants, need no magistrate to preserve their
8 peat o, and aUboui^h the state of a Ireeman under the limited authori-
9 ties of an Oolooss, may be independent, it cannot be compared with
10 that ot u society alike exempt from the restraint of government, and
11 the disorders of anarchy. The principal motive I can discover for
12 the Teliiiquishuient of so enviable a way of life, is the same which
13 M. Volney has assigned for its adoption : the difficulty ul procuring
14 subsistence. This difficulty must be experienced in a mudi greater
15 d^ree by a ^ven number of sh^herds, than by an equ^ number of
16 Imibndiiiaiy sud acooidingly it is onfy while the population- is veiy
17 ^Oflifined, IB pMpoftioii to the oomtijf thet % pBslonl. hfe cm be
18 igrecibift, IheincraHehbthof jueD andfloclu -flocm ooc^^
19 pntei about the right to pasture on particator tnusta» andeodi'dbip*
20 hflvd finding hii limits narrowed mMt mada exUmdt i» oaBi|»elled
21 «dd.to fais'iBieana of support by tiUi^ e change by whidi tm msni
22 bnadeloiBaintaihinovenMndiantan mflescmi^ ivaae
23 §kt fiom denying dut there are countries, the unfitness of whkh for
24 agricakme^ obliges the inhabHaots toadfaa^topastun^ j or that the
25 badness of a govcmment may drive people into this mode of life i but
26 I contend that there are other indueements arising from the n^nre of
27 that life itself, and I object to die extension of a theoiy which it
28 tme of Syria, to all wandering tribes.
29 The tents of shqpherds will be described hereafter, aa ¥riU the
30 vwioas sorts of houses in use in Afghanniataun. The commonest
31 house by far is buylt of unbumed brick, one story high, and roofed
32 either with a terrace supported by beams, or with low cupolas of tha
33 same material as the walls. As tablet and chairs are un]aiowa« there
34 H H
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