With the exception of the tanning yards and the leather factory, where 300,000 stands of infantry equipment were put in hand during 1904-1905, no great activity has distinguished these various enterprises during the last three years, a general stoppage of work having been caused in all branches by the extreme scarcity of the wood supplies. In spite of the output of ammunition having ceased, the traffic in Kabul-made ammunition is encouraged by the authorities, practically unlimited supplies for Martini and Snider rifles being easily purchased by the natives. The price is only four annas per cartridge, so that a fairly large amount can be obtained at small expense. As such cartridges command a price varying from eight to twelve annas in the tribal country the outlay of money in Kabul is quite a profitable investment. The supply of Martini ammunition has become most difficult to obtain since the Indian Army was given the ̇303 rifle, and orders were issued regarding the return of empty cases to the Ordnance Department; but with the vast supplies stored in Kabul the tribesmen can get almost as much ammunition as they want. The late Abdur Rahman punished with the greatest severity any one found trafficking in rifles and cartridges, for he held that it was dangerous to let the tribes become well armed. Habib Ullah’s departure from the Amir Abdur Rahman’s policy is exceedingly foolish, although characteristic of Habib Ullah’s weak and undecided rule. It should be noted, too, since supplies of ammunition in Kabul are so readily forthcoming, that there has been a revival in the profitable trade of rifle-selling on the frontier. A large number of English Martinis, both rifles and carbines, have lately been imported into Afghanistan from the Persian Gulf. Very many of these have found their way into the tribal country on the North-west frontier of India, the price being only Rs. 180, or less than half the sum that was usually paid by tribesmen for a Martini before the ̇303 rifle was issued to troops in India. The weapons are well made and all bear the inscription “Ma-sha-Illah” in Arabic. It is surmised that they have been sent through in some way from Turkey, possibly viâ Baghdad, and were originally intended for the Central Asian khanates. The Government of India is not concerned with this phase of the affair, but it is a somewhat serious matter that the tribesmen in the Pathan hinterland beyond the Indian frontier should be able to obtain breechloaders so cheaply. The Martini had fallen into disrepute owing to the difficulty of obtaining ammunition, but now that it is possible to draw so readily upon the Amir’s reserves the situation should be watched, since tribesmen, who pay Rs. 600 or Rs. 700 for ̇303 rifles and can get Martinis at Rs. 180 each, will have plenty of money to spare for cartridges.
BAZAAR CHILDREN
While mention has been already made of those Europeans who have passed through Kabul in the service of the Court, there are two others who, by the folly of their conduct, have trailed the reputation of the white races through the filth of the Kabul bazaars. These two, the one, Frau Liebertziet, a German woman with a family in Germany, and for some time maid to Mrs. Fleischer, the other an English woman, have permitted their passions to thrust them beyond the limits of decency. Frau Liebertziet left behind in Kabul to attend to Mr. Fleischer’s wants when Mrs. Fleischer went on leave to Europe, turned native, adopted the Mahommedan faith and petitioned the Amir to be given a husband. The Afghans themselves refused the lady and Habib Ullah would not allow any Hindustani to marry her. In the end he provided her with a Kaffir boy who had been converted to Islamism. The English woman, having contracted an alliance in India with an Afghan camel-man, disguised herself as a native woman and crossed the frontier riding her husband’s camel. Her arrival in Kabul quickened the curiosity of every native in the bazaar, raising a sensation which brought the story very speedily to the ears of Habib Ullah. Unfortunately, to an ignorance of all European languages saving her own, she added but a meagre acquaintanceship with the tongues of Asia; as a consequence, when summoned to the presence of the Amir she was literally speechless. Habib Ullah sent for the German woman to speak with the English woman from India, but communion was impossible as each was ignorant of the other’s tongue. Indeed, it was not until Mrs. Cleveland, the wife of Major Cleveland, arrived in Kabul with her husband, coming at the same time as the Misses Brown, that any explanation was forthcoming. It may be said here that, in both cases, the Amir endeavoured to induce the women to return to India: unluckily, each was obdurate, and the pair have been converted to Islamism taking up their residence in the hovels of the Kabul bazaar, where, enclosed from the world, they endure an existence the sordid tragedy of which forbids more detailed description. For the benefit of those women in this country whose delight it is to associate with coloured blood—whether it flows in the veins of negroes from Africa, of natives from Egypt, or of princes and students from India—one is constrained to remark that their lives are a degradation and their conduct an infamy. So long as they transgress racial limitations they should be properly regarded as beyond the pale.
[42] “At the Court of the Amir.” Dr. A. T. Gray.
[43] “Eight Years among the Afghans,” Mrs. Kate Daly.
IN THE KHYBER PASS