A LEGEND NOW

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 50, 28 February 1934, Page 4

A LEGEND NOW

i -i \>\: '< r~. *♦ —r- —— ;"*.,';'. DANGEROUS AFGHANS I FRIENDLY piEOiPLE TRAVELIIER'S TESTIMONY ' ■: Afghanistan has1 aa evil reputation: few countries in-the world have a worse. Her name is .a byword, mentioned "with "bated breath. It is commonly believed that over the Afghan frontier no traveller's life.or property is safe, writes Patrick Balfour from Lucknow, to the 'London .''Daily Telegraph.!' } ... ' '..,' ' /. V;, . It is time to dispose of this legend. I crossed Afghanistan a fortnight after the assassination of Nadir, Khan, when a certain element of unrest would have caused' no surprise. But there was no trace of anything, of'the'kind. Deputations from £ho ..various tribes were proceeding to Kabul ,to .swear allegiance to the new King; moreover, the attitude of the people to those of us who were foreign, visitors could hardly have been more friendly. .To motor through. Afghanistan today is as safe as —if a trifle more arduous than—^motoring through Scotland. ■ ■ Coming, from Persia, we almost drove past, the Afghan frontier post, so. unimportant did it seem. Here was no militarism, no officialdom, but a sleepy farmyard, and a few- police in - mufti contemplating the, hens. '.'•■. One,soldier did appear on the scene ■some minutes after our arrival. Clearly on sighting our cars, ho had rushed-off to change into uniform that the fort might wear a more military aspect,.for he was still hurriedly buttoning his leggings while his companions tugged at his tunic like nurses,dressing a child for a fancy dress party. .■>.'•■ ■ Thereafter he proudly twirled an adolescent mqustaclve, tattled an antiquated rifle, and did his best to look martial in the gateway, dissolving into smiles when he was photographed.' • :■ ;■ We ..were invited into the private sanctum, of the Customs chief. In. d clean, whitewashed room, with Persian "carpets on the'floor, We found a table laid with sweets and Eussian cigarettes. Our host received us with the utmost courtesy, motioning us'to sit down, while > a noiseless servant poured out tea in. glasses. Meanwhile the hens clucked away in the courtyard.' NO QUESTIONS.^ ' This was not as other frontiers, where the foreigner is a creature grudgingly admitted on sufferance. Here ho was.an honoured guest of the country. There was-none of- the paraphernalia of bureaucracy. Passports were, never so much. as. mentioned; that would have been an offence against good manners. -They were unobtrusively collected, unobtrusively stamped, -unobtrusively returned. .;■•:!'.;, ... '.'■,,.-... ~ :■;■.';■ ■ -.No questions: were-tasked. .The toy soldier -brought- --himself proudly to an unaccustomed position of to speed us on:our way- across the prairie. Frontiers -.must have been rather.like this a hundred, years ago, when .travellers could pass more freely, though with less: safety than-they.can., today. ; This .first impression, of hospitality was confirmed wherever- we went. Always we iwere expected, for the head man of each village where we spent the night would-telephone of his own • accord to our -destination, bidding' the head- man'there to provide for us. We would find' rooms in a- guest house specially- prepared; tables laid, carpets on' the floor, curtains hung, and'a meal;of rice and various meats awaiting us; ' At Heratthe.pr'Qprie.tqr of the:gu.eßthouse Tyagv-apologetic. .^JTho.^lacej, Jie1 said, ,was- not. yet .built.i By^tpmorrow,' he'promised-us, it would ,bei completed, and we shouldihave eyery ( comfort. As it was, half-finished rooms', were swept clear of bricks and mortar, • and. wo christened them, with :a ( comfortable sleep, our, bedding laid on. thO/ground;' .In all.the larger.towns are signs of-modern-r building . development; but whereas1-in, Persia open streets. are.- v for, the -most;.part supplanting "<Uie. old. cov-. ered bazaars, here the ~new town t .is planned from, and independently i of the old. Thus at, Herat,the'sold bazaars,. with their, very, fine.,brickwork, still survive iniact/', '■■'-,■'•■'■ FRIENDLY PEOPLE. ' " f Friendly smiles greeted us as we walked through ..'the town. AYe visited the Moussala, ,zuins..'o£ a fifteen-century Moslem, college Nvh'ieh.' was only des-troyed-towards the;end ; of the last century.. Seyen brick minarets, on which much of the'tjling still survives,, shoot up into .the sky,-while in the- centre ; rests .the small mosque, with a fluted dome, of a peculiarly:brilliant turquoise biuei.'•.., . •'_',-! ;.■ '. ":, ' '."". *.'. '; '' ■■;? The inhabitants of Herat, are interesting,: for, they, include .many Chinese types; an extensive Mongolian tribe inhabits the, north of Afghanistan., It was not until,we left Herat that we began to eucounter'diffieulty with the roads. These are in effect no more than- tracks through sandy country/ In the rainy. season they are impassable for weeks at ajtinie. Our chief trouble wias "with the ; small < humped' bridges, made of mud and, branches, only just wide enough for" the cars and nearly always too high. Thus few were crossed without a sickening scarpe of the undercarriage. , ■ , : /■•.■• Frequently we : stuck, and once our back wheels went, through a bridge altogether.,,lt seemed as if nothing would extricate us short of an army of nien to levgr up .the car with planks and crowbars and: an army of horses to pull., But the Afghan remedy was^ far simpler. f ■ ~ ' ; '. A dozen men took.hold of the back of the huge, unwieldy car by every part they could lay their hands on, and simply lifted it' back, like a" perambulator, on to the surviving '.part of the bridgo. ...'.. ... -■' •'•..-';' . Everywhere" tjie; inhabitants entered into.tlie rescue operations with amused zest, und a really phenomenal.strength. Often we found.bridges ahead'too precarious to take the cars at all, and. had to spend hours rebuilding them with stones. Often we remained embedded for hours in mud or soft sand. .... Between Herat and Kandahar there are. four.big. rivers, .to cross, rivers which soon become, impassable in the

rains. Three of them we forded easily, but the fourth, the Helmand Eiver, had to be crossed 1% forr^V . , ALAEtfIfTGBOAT. The feuy bo|t was an 'alarmingly; makeshift affair; a'sort1 of,'* primitive) Vikiug coracle, with nothing but looso branches stretched across to suppor^ tho cais. It took nearly au hour to get each, car on to the boat. ' j'V . .- Tho ciaft was so co'iistiuctedUhiit the operation could only be done diagonally with a very sharp turn, ifehero were no proper planks; simply a cjuplo of rickety log stretchers and som^'odd bits of wood like ijrewood, which* tha Afghans forced under the wheels as support, so that the cars were virtually heaved on to the boat. These wide rivers are typical, of the' Afghan landscape. Yqji cojn'e upon them unawares; itt the limddle": of'"bare desert and rugged mountain, with a mere thread of, rough vegetation, along their banks.'Little attempt iSmade'' to employ, them for purposes of irrigation, and the country around remains in a primitive' condition."' ~f .'.. , . v! ,-4-:' For'rthe'Afgtiaiilias as yetmade only; the first step towards civilisation. Nadir Shah's influence during the past four years—following the too precipitate methods of Amanullah—had ■'broken down mistrust of the. foreigner to this extent: that he no longer resents'-nor will ever molest the individual traveller. But he has yet .to- go a stage further., : . , . ~...-, ~,., .- , v.;''.- -. The Afghan is Tace-proud. pn .every, hand he sees his neighbours in foreign bondage, aiict is at air costs determined to avoid their fate. Thus he remains steadfastly antagonistic to any form at, organised foreign influence. COULD BE DEVELOPED. . With the aid of foreign capital the resources of the .'country, 'both Vegetable and mineral, could be developed to his profit.'But this, for the present, is not to be. It is still, hard, for foreigners to obtain concessions of-'any, kind. ■ ■ • • ■•■; ■■>■' Meanwhile development on "other lines proceeds. Education is making 'strides with' tho aid' of French and German, but preferably native teachers educated ,in. Europe. Roads, and, .bridges are gradually being constructed;' Out-. side Kandahar^a bridge*"?across, th« Arghandab" Eiver Jisilr'eatly half com* ple.tedjby native labour, and its engin« eer is an Indian-trained Afghan. The worst part of the Indian roa4 is the last fifteen . jniles to * the^ .-frontier, whicli took .us flve^hours-.to tra< verse.' 'It- is'nothing but acnightmare of wheel-ruts in treacherous, soft sand, cut up by .the convoj's of fruit lorries which ply'daily between K^in'dahair and Quetta. ;..:.!• -....■;.;,-..... '~..';.'..., ■:■'. '" Not until "this portion is' strengthened, will, the. road'be ,seriouslY.'pracJ ticable for regular passenger traffic. Buli it is by po means improbable; that ia tims the overland route, to. Indja,! may] pass through Afghanistan;'": ■■'■'■' 'In'any'case, whatever the '■ shifting conditions on the,.Nortt-west Frontier^ the interior of vthis. -dreaded country is at present entirely peaceable, ,t&d;if or) the. first: time ' sitfee . 18|0 ~ aiid. / ;tha Afghan wars it is possible':vfo'r/>.th«» traveller to explore it at will. .'-.'.