The most common grapes are the kismiss, a long coarse grape which answers for packing, a round, very sweet, purple grape, with large seeds, and small seedless ones intermixed, are all capable of being much improved by thinning, and a huge, tough-skinned, coarse, purple grape, of good flavour.
The best peaches have a green appearance, even when ripe; the ordinary ones are coarse, and not well-flavoured; but the Affghans are quite ignorant of the art of packing fruit, and hence most are bruised.
Two sorts of apples are common, both rosy; one very much so, but much inferior to the other.
Pears principally of two kinds, both allied to the common pear in shape; the large ones are very coarse, but well adapted for stewing.
Aloocha excellent for jellies, as also the cherries: most kinds of plums are now out of season.
The melons vary much in quality, the watermelons are generally better, and vary less: the muskmelons I have here seen, are ruined by inattention to the time of gathering; some are very fine, the pulp is never very deep coloured; it is very rarely green; some of the Kundah sort are very good; this and the turbooj are both excessively common. The usual Cucurbita is cultivated, as well as the other common cucumber, pumpkin, Luffa fœtida, and L. acutangula.
Cabbages common, beet root ditto, bangun ditto, excellent spinage (Spinaceæ).
All sorts of spices procurable, but they are generally old: sugar very good, is sold in flat candied cakes, one and a half inch thick; koorool in small cakes resembling chunam.
CHAPTER XVI.
From Cabul to Bamean—The Helmund, and Oxus rivers.