HERAT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2008, 21 May 1885, Page 3

HERAT.

(Times of India, Match 20.) Whatevkr may be the icsiilt of the negotiations between England and Russia, the tity of Heiat will for .1 long time remain the centie of gt-iiei.il in teiest. It is, we think, so impossible that Heiat can ever again be left nt the mercy of Russia, that wo teel convinced the protection of flei.it, or at ill events the right to garrison the foi tress must be the first point upon which England is insisting in the present negotiations It will be of sen ice then to gne oui readers ionic idea of .1 city winch 111 a short tune must become the butties* of our Indian fortifications. Hut the t.isk U by no means tasy. Major Sanders jpiitrd Tlei.it 111 1840 ; General Furrier in 184(5 ; M. Khamkoff 111 IS."»S ; M. V.imU-iy in 18GH ; and Daooil Kh.in 111 \912. But the accounts they give aie often discrepant. E\en the lattat authonties are at vananoe about the population. In the d.ijs of itsgiandenr the city is said by tiaditiou to have had a population of a million and a lull, and at th.it time, as tinnuns testify the picacnt city was only the citadel of this sast metropolis. When (Jhutie\islted the city in 1806, it had been undisturbed for fitty yeais, and contained 100,000 souls. A Yon oily, however, in 1828 reduced the number to 45,000. Before the Peisian siege of 1537 the population had again increased to upwards of 70,000, but when the siege was over, only 6,000 or 7,000 remained. At the time of Terrier's \isit, the population was 22,000. In 1863, when Herat, after an independance of fifty years, Was again brought undei the sway of Cabul, the population was 50,000. " Since then it has," sajs Sir Henry Rawlinson, writing in 1880, " been .1 mere provincial city, governed by Cdbul, and its average population has ranged between -20,000 and 30,000, within which limit must be confined its present estimate." Diood Khan, however, in 1872, estimated the population at 36,000, and this is the figure we believe th.it is generally accepted by high military authorities in India. All the tra* elleis, however, agiee that the city walls would easily afford 100 m for 100.000 in habitants. The population is of a veiy mixed chaiattcr. The eye, snys Vambeiy, is bewildeied by the diveisity ot races— Afghans, Indians, Tartars, Turcomans, Jews and Persians, the last of whom aie the descendants of the onginal inhabitants of Djennetsipat, the "Paia-di'-e-hke Abode," as Herat is still often called. The Aighrm, however, is still supume over the lest. He awaggeis about in his dirty linen clothes, and almost invariably wears the cast off red coat of the English soldiery and the picturesque Indo-Afghan turban. He never goes into the bazaar without his swoid and shield. "To be quite a la moth one must -carry about one quite an aisenal, consisting of two pistols, a sword, poignant, hand-|ar, gun and shield." Herat, sajs Ferrier, is the asylum of all the fallen trreatness of past centimes. "Here aie to be seen the descendants of Genghis Khan, of Tamerlane, and Nadir Shah." The city itself forms a walled quadrangle, neaily a mile square, which is cnteied by five different gates. The ba/aai, aceoiding to Vambery, was still beautiful, even in its mins, and was covered in w ith a vaulted roof throughout its entire length. Four streets, called the Chahnr Suk, running from the centre of each side of the city, meet in a small domed quadrangle, close to a vast domed leservoir, rhich contains a supply of water sufficient to List the whole city for twelve months, a relic of the days when it was always being beseiged, Heiatis the natural emporium of commerce " between Peisia, Turkestan, Afghanistan and India. The inhabitants pay special attention to silk and wool manufactures, and their carpets are famous throughout the world. All the bnsines-. is cm 11 a on in the Chadar Suk, where the meuhanta have handsome caravanserais The mud and mud bi i< k houses in u-ar of the bazaat s aie generally uninhabited and 111 111111s There is no stein of drainage, and the streets aie said to be the filthiest in the East. Foi miles mound the country side i 9 covered with the returns ot what once were nngnifieeut pilaces. Tin* mosque of the Mosella, which has been lestoied, is even now one of the most imposing structures in Asia. " The mosque," says Feruer, "is completely covered with a mosaic of glazed biic^s in vaned and beautiful patterns, and the cupola is of amazing dimensions fteveial aicades supported by pillars 111 buck equal the proportions of the arch of Ctesiphon, and the seven magnificent minarets that surround it may be said to be intact, for the upper part of them only is slightly lnjuittl. There aie two fine palaces halt in rums, and numeious marble mausoleums to the Piinces of the House of Tunui. The district of Herat is very rich, and as we said the other d%y? >'»*hls a revenue of thiiteen or fourteen'Ukhs of mpies, which could be easily doubled by good government. The soil is firtile ana well wateiedby an admirable hjstem of canal imgation, and nine lai go canals are still 111 good work int.' outer. The giound is cohered with rich pasturage of clover and luceine, and dotted with orchaids and fi nit gmdi us, while in all duections windmills toim .1 distinctive feature of the lamLipe " The valley lound Hei.it.' 1 wrote Snider- in 1840, "is fertile and productive, when cultivated Supplies even in oidinniy yeairf u-ed to be always plentiful an I cheap"' Theie me two h.n \ . sti— thu coin eiop, consisting principally ot wheat and barley, being leaped 111 June, and the gicen ciop of rice and soin bailey and various kinds of pulsp The fiist crop would t according to San.ieis, be iuvaliiabk- to an army. However, we huv c to deal with Herat, the " Key of India," as a fortress which may be; made serviceable to British interests. Heie the stupendous character of the earth work on w Inch the city walln are built constitutes the chief defence Tiaditiou says that this was foimed by the Ing'i and massive walls that were thrown down by the Macedonians. This oarthwoik, according to Sir Henry Rawlinson, " averages '250 feet in width as its ba&e and about 50 feet in height, and as it is suirounded by a wall 25 feet high and 14 feet thick at the base, supported by a ditch 45 feet in width and 1U feet in depth, it pie3entsan appearance of nnpoiing strength. Whether the place ia really as strong at* it looks hus been differently estimated. " Ferrier, in Ins account of it, states that the city is nothing more than an immense redoubt, without flanking defences, and could not Jiold out for twenty days against a European army. "Tim contmous embankment," he says, "is foimed of exces aively hard earth, heaped up, and it is easy to see that a great part of it was dug out of the interior ot the town and to a great depth, as V#H •* a little fiom the exterior. It is ropported on the interior by a counter fortor*^tin-dried bricks, and on the exterior has a slope at a considerable angle, the base of which rests in a large and deep ditch, that can be filled with water or laid dry at pleasure. The height of this earthein rampait is not the sarre in eveiy part, but, on an average, it may be conaideied as measuring about ninety feet. There are on it a great number of towers, distant about fifty feet from one auother, connected by curtains and loopholetl for mu«lvctry ; the towers at the angles are massive, and on these only can guns be mounted ; two covered ways cut out of tho thickness of the rampart contribute very much to the strength of the place. But, like all works of the kind, ft has the the defects of four dead angles and a ditch ditiicult to defend. M. Khauikoff points out that the^ whole interior of the city is dominated from the riving ground at the north east angle But there is no doubt of the great strength which enabled Herat to «tand ttys siogea of UcDghisj Khan, of Tiraur, of

Ahmed Sha, and of the Persians so late as 1837, wncn they were diiected by Russian oflkus and had 50 pieces of aitdlcry. After tins siege Maj.ji Saiidi-iij leitoied a pait of the foititieations on two sides, giving a greatei elevation to tli<. rampaits, and lie thought that an outl.ij ot 1:70,000 would rcndet it impregnable against ai>\ Peisian attack. The tintli, Nil Hemy Raw lnison says, seems to he that Heiat, though in its present sfate quite untit to iesist a European army, possesses meat capabilities of defence, and might by a skiltul adaptation of the resources of modem seiencc be made almost nnptegnable. The present citadel, situate to the ir.i th and witlmi the enceinte of the city, stands above the city walls on an artificial mound It is> square, with large toweis at the ant'lps, and is built of burnt biiuk. 1 his w oik commands the town and the road fiom Meshed, and Kerner who does not. as we have sei-n, think iinujh of the city walls says it would be diftieult if not impossible to attack the citadel with success even with artdleiy. Sir Henry Kawlinson in addition to restoiing the old defences, would build two new independent foitb on ti>e hi«li giound. Hei.it would then, he thinks, become iinpiegnable to any ainiv the Russians micht send against it. If tumour speaks truly, this impoitant woiU has ahe.uly been connuenced undci the t.u tiuitc ndence of Kutish cngmueis.

Fot'K thousand two bundled men aie employed daily at the uomleihil new doeUs .it Til luu y, near London ;55 locomotives, 30 portable engines, 87 ciani's, 1100 railway weggons, and seven "steam na\ vies " «acli oxt.uating 300 cubic yaids per diem. When finished the new docks will accommodate 200 oce.in going steamers. A Kfc.NO\\.NKi) deiayman in Fifeshire lately preached a long SLimon fiom the text "(Tliou <itt weighed in the balance and found wanting." Aftei the con^n ga turn had listened about an hour, soni" began to get weaiy and wei.t out Otheis soon followed, greatly to the annoyance of the minister. Another pcison started, whereupon the pat son stopped m his sei mon and said, " That is right, gentle men, as soon as you are weighed pa*s out '"' Thi' i tst stayed. A Chivfse Omens. — The Chinese, eonseivathe to the coie, still k< ep up the old tune institution of the Oiacle. The Governor of the Imperial Palace at Pckin, Pi nice Kuong, sent not long since a deputation to the temple of the God of War, requesting to be informed how long the \v.n with Fiance would last. Veiy valuable presents were sent for the god and thepiiests. Some of the presents weie placed on the altar, the deputation pros trated themselves, and through their chief humbly'supplicated the divinity to give them the debited information. Ihen they withdrew to a neighbouring building-, there to await the answer of the god; for he communicates witl> men only through his ministers. After a short delay, the answer came that for tlnee years the barbirians would lay the country waste, at the end of w Inch time the Chinese would be victorious and hunt the barbarians out of the land. Thus the policy of pegging away at the French was skilfully inducted into the pigtails. Scotch parsons make uncommonly big fools of themsehea. The Presbyteries in that lovely country having proved to their own satisfaction the criminal folly of taking Sunday walks, and the shameless wickedness of dancing, were naturally on the lookout for fiesh abominations to suppress. The next meeting of the Dundee Fiee Piesbytery will be occupied with a discussion on the ethics of bazaars, which the mover of a lesolution declares to be " fraught with many evils," and to be " circuitous, expensive, illegal and injurious modes of laising money for church purposes.." At the Glasgow Presbytery a number of membcts came to the conclusion that the obsei vance of Christmas was "an liihtoiiual fiction and a Popish abomination '' The Welsh BiptNts, it must be added, in justice to the Scotch Piesbytery, aie not a bit bcttci. A football club, lecently foimcil near Caidiff, nas given giievons offence to the local Baptists— so nnieh so that the congregation a< tually parsed a censure on one of their numbei who had participated in the godless pa-stnne, at the same tune enjoinin" him to abjare such vanity in future. — N Y. Hour. A Gri-at OiToi'i 1 -.. — Captain Keene states that, w hen fishing on the Giand Bmk, in latitude 44 degiecM noith, longitude ."•() degrees west (appioutnately) he found floating at the suifaee near his vessel one of the large squid, the body of which, measured as it could he fiom a d )iy, was T>Oft long, while the tentacles, all of which were intact and uninjured, weie longer than the body, making the entire length more more than 100 ft. The tentacles wt re larger aiound than the body of a stout man. He cut the squid up and boated aboard tin ee dory loads, probably about three tons' weight, and he estimates that there was at least one or two more boat-loads, which he left to diift away. I had previously heard of fishermen finding pieces of tentacles, &c, which might belong to animals neatly or 'juite as laige as the one above mentioned, but I ha\e never before met with any man who has had the foitune to see entire such a king of inolluaks. The infoimatiou which lie furnishes seems to be ot moi e than ordinary importance, since it enables us to form mote accuiate e&timatcsof the maximum giowth attained by these gicat " devil ii^h "—Letter to Professor Biirl, Fish Commissioner, U.S. Mk Jcstin McCarthy says.— The most eloquent and poweiful debator in the House of Commons is Mi (5 lads tone ; beyond all comr-aiison, if we take him for alt hia remaikable qualities— fluency, readiness, resources of argument and of language, voice, delivery, manner, dramatic gesture, vai iety of tone, style, and phrase — I «tn inclined to doubt whether he is not the greatest debater who ever sat in the House of Commons. But he is certainly not the greatest orator ; I sometimes feel inclined to question whether lie is an orator at all. At the most I should call him a Pailiamentaiy orator — a House of Commons orator. His speeches will not be lead. Even now in his own lifetime a speech of his is not read after its immediate occasion has passed away. Mi Gladstone is only to be appreciated by those who hear him. I have often heard innocent wonder expressed at the fact that one who is sogieat a speakci should not be a particularly good wnter. But anybody who listens to one of Mr Gladstone's speeches and observes how the involved sentences are made clear by the speaker's niasteiy of tone, inflection, and gesture will icadily uudei stand why a wiitten essay fiom Mr Gladstone should not be very easy reading. Of late yeai s, indeed, the finer qualities of Mr Gladstone's voice o-re often wanting. Sometimes it becomes almost feeble. Some times thespeaker is indistinctly heard. There was a time, and that not long ago, when every word, every syllable, swept easily over all parts of the House of Commons, and the most distant listener in the most inconvenient gallery never had to trouble himself by any anxiety lest he should lose one phrase of the orator's eloquenre. Yeais must tell ; one cannot pass seventy and lose nothing, Mr Gladstone is" a marvellous man for his age ; and, except in voice, I do not think he has Buffered as a speaker. He is as ready, as varied, as full of icsoiirce, as lhetoiieal and nch in language as ever he was. So much cannot be said of Mr Blight. At one time Mr Bright stood distinctly above Mr Gladstone as an orator ; lie never approached him as a debater. Mr Blight's was a purer and a loftier eloquence ; and, like Mr Glad stone's, it was aided by a voice of noljle quality, a voice which lent itself to every emotion of position, of pathos, of humour, ot scorn. Mr Blight's voice now is almost gone, and his resouices of language seem gone, or nearly so. One who did not hear Mr Blight in his better days would not do well to hear him now. He would not hear the real Mr Bright ; He would only do wrong to the memory and the fame of the real M,r Bright.