1 46
2 INTRODircriON.
3 home tiadfr wilh the same halls and the same tputttenls in two
4 il6rie8> as above ground. The whole of lihis subtetfineoiii imuirioii
5 was lighted by broad but low window* near the top. Hie one I ain
6 fl|»eaking of, was unfinished; but when complete, the cellars are
7 painted and fumiKhed in the same manner as the rooms above, and
8 have generally a fountain in the middle of the hall. These apart-
9 ments are called Zeerzemeenes and Tehkhaunelis. Even the poor at
10 Peshawer have them under their houses, but they are not refjuired in
11 the temperate climates further west. I al\yays sat in mine in the hot
12 weather, and found it equally agreeable and whol^ome.
13 ' On the day of our arrival, our dinner was coniposed of the dishes
14 sent us by the King, which we found excellent. Afterwards we had
15 always our English meals ; but the King coutinue<l to send breakiast,
16 liuicheon, and dinner for ourselves, with provisions f(« two tbousftiid
17 perijon.s (a numba' eatoeeding that of the anbassy), and two hniidrad
18 liorsea»' beaMles el^hanta, ftc nor waa it4ril]iout great- difficuitf th«t
19 I'pe^Milecl^ii His Majesty, ait the 6»d of a moiith» to dupenae with
20 Uib eaqpcnaive proof of his hospitality.
21 ■ I receiyed visits after mj snbrtl from many persons of iank» ivlio
22 GBitte on. the King's part or tlieir own. I had mudi intensomse with
23 Sheer Mahomed Kinun, the brother of Aknm Khann, and Meef^
24 •anee Sbaiiht the VHwmm of the^sameministerr who had both heia
25 left on purpose to ttioawer the mission ; I also saw a good deal of
26 Mehmanndaur, Meer Abool Hussun Khaun, a Persian, whose famUy
27 had' long been settled in Caubul, and who had himself risen from the
28 hnmhle rank of a private soldier (report said even from that of a
29 taylor), to be Sundookdaur Bauahee (keeper of the wardrobe), Kooler
30 Aghassee (commander of the guards), and Governor of Peshawer.
31 He hatl ii very fair complexion, and red cheeks, but his person was
32 small, his voice feeble, and his manner timid, so that our first im-
33 pression of him wa-s unfm oui able : he, nevertheless, turned out to be
34 one of tlie best of his nation, anil to have a degree of simplicity
35 about him, seldom met with in a Persian.
36 Digitized by GoQgle