1 COLD WEATHER. 505
2 For the sake of protection several parties,
3 both European and Native, availed themselves
4 of our escort to return to India. Among the .
5 former were Colonel Sandwith of the Bombay
6 cavalry, and Captain Fane whom we had
7 known at Lahore during the visit of Sir Henry
8 Fane to celebrate the marriage of Kour Nao
9 Nihal Singh in 1837.
10 The weather was now getting cold; so
11 much so that on re-entering the pass of Khurd
12 Kabul our fingers were almost benumbed, and
13 we could hardly keep hold of the reins of our
14 and declined by them; and even soldiers who could have
15 got salaries of 100 or 200 rupeeseper mensem, in lieu of
16 their comparatively trifling pay, refused to remain behind
17 on even these (to them) splendid terms. The paradise
18 that all expected to see in the beauties of Afghanistan had
19 faded as we advanced, and a dreary spectacle of barren
20 mountains and swampy valleys occupied its place. True
21 it is, a few bright gleams of scenery do occasionally meet
22 the eye, but they are scarce, and travellers in their hasty
23 journeys have allowed their thoughts to dwell on these
24 lovely spots, rendered more beautiful by the contrast of
25 the surrounding country; and in their descriptions have
26 forgotten to mention the more marked features of the
27 ' province, which consist of desolation and bars2aness.” —
28 Barr’s Journal, pp. 380-81.
29 Z