When the summer is dry, dust storms are of almost daily occurrence, and are very unpleasant when one is out walking or riding, and in the house it is also unpleasant, for all doors and windows have to be kept shut, and the rooms become very hot, and everything one touches has a gritty feel. In hot weather the air is usually still until about three in the afternoon, and then a wind rises, blowing from the north, and, coming in gusts and eddies downwards, lifts up columns of dust so effectively that in a short time it is difficult to see, and this wind continues to increase in violence until about an hour after sundown, when it gradually dies away, and then, in the stillness that follows, the noises of the night sound very loud.
The winter of 1901-02 was an exceptional one, for no snow fell the whole of the winter. I was told of a similar winter about twelve years before, which had been followed by cholera, and in this case history repeated itself, for in the spring the rivers and streams from the mountains dried up, the crops failed for want of water, and famine set in, and in the summer following, when food was scarcest, cholera broke out and raged for three months, and owing to the impoverished bodies of the people, the mortality was exceptionally high.
During the winter the days are mostly bright, and the sun shines brilliantly on the snow, causing it to thaw. In the evenings it freezes again, and then the roads are like polished glass, and men, horses, and camels fall and are injured, the animals often breaking their legs and having to be destroyed. The sun, shining on the snow, also causes a good deal of snow blindness. But the most trying time in winter is when the skies are overcast, and a great wind rises which nothing will shut out of the house. Then at sundown the temperature falls below zero, and continues to fall as the night advances, and even with a huge fire burning in the room, one is warm only on the side nearest the fire, the other side of the body being chilled with the continuous draught which comes in at every crevice as the wind surges against the house in seeming heavy waves. Those outside who have to bear the brunt of this wind, suffer considerably, and often lose feet, hands, or nose with frostbite, and soldiers on guard frequently die of cold, for they are very insufficiently clad to stand such weather. At this time, too, wolves come down at night from the mountains, driven by hunger from their natural fastnesses to seek food near the city, and attack and kill men whom they find helpless with cold and fatigue, and carry off children, sheep, and goats when they can get them.
One peculiarity about the climate is the quantity of electricity in all things. If one walks across a room in the dark, dragging the feet along the carpet, sparks of electricity follow the feet; also, if one strokes a dog smartly down the back, the same thing is noticeable. When undressing, the shirt, as it is pulled over the head, causes a crackle of electricity as it drags over the hair, and women, when brushing their long tresses, find each hair electrified and standing out straight from one another as the brush leaves it.
The clear, rare air makes distances very deceptive to the eye, and mountains at a considerable distance appear quite close. Once, when riding one of the longest day’s journeys I have done in the country, I was told in the morning that we should camp under a conically-shaped mountain in the distance, which could be seen rising between the dip of two ranges of mountains, and, looking at it, I put the distance down at twenty to twenty-five miles, and looked forward to early lunch that day; but evening was well advanced before we reached our camping-ground, and we travelled at a steady pace the whole of the day.
The clear atmosphere also makes the moonlight very brilliant, and the effect of the sleeping city bathed in the white light of the moon as seen from the roof of the house at night, the harsh outlines of houses and mountains toned down, and the domes of palaces and tombs rising above the other buildings is very beautiful. Day dispels the illusion, for the clear atmosphere and absence of vapour makes the colouring of the landscape very dull, and the brilliant green of the trees here and there appears objectionable as out of keeping with the rest of the colour scheme.
CHAPTER V
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
Belief in the supernatural—Dress of men—Complexion—Character of people—Description of various tribes—Languages and schools—Feuds between families—How holidays are spent by the people—Singing and musical instruments—Games and amusements.
Speaking generally, there is much in the daily life and customs of the Afghans that reminds one of England some three hundred years ago as depicted in books and histories, such as their superstitions, their treatment of sick persons by barber surgeons and leech wives, their belief in ghosts, devils, and fairies, in fortune-tellers, in people with the evil eye, in the astrologers who cast their horoscopes, and their fervent belief generally in the supernatural. In many other particulars also they resemble the old English, but in character they differ considerably.