On the following day Angus started. The back of his head having been shaved, his hair was completely covered by his turban. He wore wide Turkish trousers, a loosely fitting blue embroidered vest, and a long kaftan thickly padded and falling below his knees, a coloured sash, with two long-barrelled pistols, and a curved sword. His attire was that of a Persian trader. He rode on a camel, which, although not a handsome animal to look at, was of good blood and fast. Slung over his shoulder was a long matchlock; he carried behind him a great bale of goods. Accompanying him was a Persian boy, whose father was a door-keeper at the mission; the boy himself was a hanger-on there. He was a bright-faced lad of some fifteen years old, who ran messages, and made himself generally useful. Between him and Angus a sort of friendship had sprung up, and of an evening when the latter went out he often took the boy with him, his shrewdness and chatter being a relief after a long day's work in the office.
Azim had accepted with delight Angus's proposal that he should accompany him, as his attendant, on a journey that he was about to make. The matter was settled in a few minutes, a donkey purchased for him, suitable clothes for travel, and a couple of Kurd blankets. Angus himself had a large fur-lined coat reaching to his feet, and four blankets, two of which were of very large size and capable of being made into a tent, for he knew that the khans and the houses in the villages swarmed with insects, and was determined that, unless circumstances prevented it, he would always encamp in the open air. Azim's camel carried, in addition to a bale of goods, two water-skins, a sufficient supply of flour for the journey, a bag of ground coffee, and another of sugar; meat would always be procurable.
It was a long journey, but Angus enjoyed it. The road was a frequented one, for a considerable trade was carried on between Herat and Persia, and traders frequently passed along. Azim turned out a bright and intelligent companion, and no suspicion was anywhere entertained that Angus was aught but what he seemed. Some little surprise, however, was occasionally expressed that he should be making the journey at a time when the Persian army was marching against Herat. To such remarks he always replied that he should probably stay there but a few days, and hoped to be well on the road to Candahar before the army arrived at Herat. He was certain that he should arrive in time, for the army with its huge baggage train had already taken nearly six months in accomplishing a journey that he had performed in little over as many weeks.
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING
When near the frontier Angus sold the camels. He had already parted with all the goods that he had carried, and he now bought peasant dresses, such as those worn by the Afghan cultivators, for himself and Azim. It was but some seventy miles on to Herat, but the Persian army was on the direct road, having just laid siege to Ghorian, and it was necessary to make a detour to avoid both the plundering parties of the Persians and the Afghan horsemen who would be hovering round the enemy's camp. Before crossing the frontier he purchased sufficient food to last for four days, as it would be dangerous to enter any place where they might be accosted, as their ignorance of the language would seem to prove that they were Persian spies.
Both carried swords and long knives, as a protection rather from the attacks of village dogs than from trouble with men. As it was now November and the weather was becoming cold at night, they were glad of the long coats lined with sheep-skin. The country through which they were passing was fertile, and when on the afternoon of the third day they came in sight of Herat, even Azim was struck with the richness and fertility of the country. It was well watered by several small streams; fortified villages were scattered here and there over the plain. Round these were gardens, orchards, and vineyards, the intervening spaces being in summer covered by wide expanses of corn. As they neared the city they saw that numbers of people from the villages were making their way towards it, many with bullock waggons carrying stores of grain and household goods, while women and men were alike loaded. They entered the gate of the city unquestioned and unnoticed in the crowd of horse and footmen, cattle, bullock-carts, sheep, and goats.
Striking as was the appearance of the town without, inside everything showed signs of neglect and poverty. Herat contained some forty-five thousand inhabitants; the majority of these were Persian Sheeahs. Once the capital of the great empire of Tamerlane, it had greatly fallen from its former splendour, its decline having been rapid since its capture from the Persians by the Afghans in 1715. It had been retaken by the Persians, and recaptured by the Afghans, under whose savage rule its prosperity had greatly diminished. It was still an important trading centre, being situated on the one great thoroughfare between India and Russia, and being celebrated for the beauty of its carpets and for the temper of its sword-blades. Its trade was principally in the hands of Hindoos, who numbered no fewer than a thousand, some of whom were traders, while others were occupied in the various branches of work to which they had been accustomed in India. There were several families of Armenians and a few Jews.