1 470 BUTKHAK.
2 awaiting, as. has been said, the result of the
3 negotiations in which we were engaged for the
4 recovery of the territory, and the submission of
5 its actual possessor. Such a strange measure
6 surprised every one much, and the disastrous
7 consequences which issued from them were
8 easily foretold. The Sayed, without any as-
9 sistance in men or money, now proceeded to
10 procure the evacuation of his territory, believ-
11 ing that he could effect it by the mere aid of
12 the royal mandate, which was very absurd, and
13 he afterwards learned to repent his folly.
14 1st Sept.—Butkhak, nine miles. Road enters
15 another narrow defile, called the pass. of Khurd
16 Kabul, with high perpendicular sides; a stream
17 flows down it, which is crossed many times, for
18 four or five miles. The road then turns off to
19 the left over a good level piece of ground, and
20 opens into a very fine extensive valley, at the
21 extremity of which the city of Kabul is situ-
22 ated. We heard that the road was infested by
23 the Ghilzaes after we had passed it, and that
24 two or three travellers, going to Jalalabad, had
25 a very narrow escape, and we saw these rob-