1 288 SPORT& DANCES. GAMES.
2 Urd ao rest, till it beoomei too muok tiled to flj, when tlMj ride it
3 orer is it runs, or knock it down with rtidc*.
4 Tliou|^ liMw*™g be a very popular amuaemait ihroii^ioat €he
5 ivliole kingdom, it is most pract ised by the Western Afghauns ; among
6 whom also the songs and tfdes befivre described are fiMmd in most
7 perfection, and to whom the amusements I am about to mention are
8 in a great measure confined. Races are not uncommon, especialij
9 at marriages* Hie bridegroom |^yes a camel to be run for i twenty
10 or thirty horses start, and they run for ten m twdve miles over the
11 best ground they can find. They have also private matdiei ; but no
12 plates given by the King, as is usual in Persia. It is a common
13 amusement with the heft or sort to tilt with their lances, in the rest,
14 at a wooden peg, stuck in the ;ir(m!Kl, which they endeavour to knock
15 over, or to jiick on the point of tlieir spears. They also practise
16 their carbnies and niatciilocks on horseback; and, all ranks tire at
17 marks, with guns, or with bows and arrows. On these occasions,
18 there are often from tin to twenty ol' a side, sometimes men of dit'
19 ferent villages, or dilibrent quarters of the same. ITiey bhoot for
20 some stake ; commonly for a ilinner, but never lur any large sum ol
21 monev. Their amusements at home are also very numerous, though
22 cm-iU are unknown, and dice liardly ever used. The great delight of
23 ail the Western Afghauns, is to dance the Attum or Ghoomboor.
24 From ten to twenty men or women stand up in a drde, (in summer, be-
25 £>re their houses and tents, and in winter,'round a fire) ; a person standi
26 within the drde, to sing, and play on some instrument. Hie dancers
27 go throng a number of attitudes and figures ; shonting, clapping
28 ibmx hands, and snapping their fingers. Eveiy now and then they
29 join hands, and move dow or fiut, aoeoidiog to the musics all joining
30 in ciiorua. When I was diewed this, a lo?e song was sung to .an
31 extremdj pretty tune^ tcij simple, and not unlike a Seottidi air.
32 Most of theb games appear to ns mj diildish, and can scarodjit
33 be leoondledio their long beatds, and grave bdiavioar. JMarbleaare
34 pkyed by ffomk up men, throu^ all the Aighaun 'Country and
35 Penu» wad, I .believe^ m 1>irkgr« ▲ gwae verygmially pk^mli '
36 Digitized by Google