TRAVELS IN KHORASSAN.*
COLONEL MAcGmuoa's original intention was to ride through Afghanistan to Herat and Meshed, and then to pass on to the Caspian, at Astrabad. The Government of India, however, forbade travelling through Afghanistan, so the Colonel had to change hie route. Leaving Bombay in March, 1875, he went by way of Kurrachee up the Persian Gulf to Bushir, where his • Narrative of a Journey through the Province of Xhorassan and the North-West Frontier of Afghanistan. in 1975. By Colonel 0. M. MacGregor, C.I.E., Bengal Staff Corps. London: W. H. Allen and 0.
overland journey began. Leaving that port, Colonel MacGregor worked his way into the interior of Persia, through Shiraz and Yezd, into Khorassan. The journey was a most interesting one, and for part of the way through an unexplored country, and though no effort has been made by Colonel MacGregor to put the notes and memoranda of his travels into good literary shape, there is much in this book which will repay perusal. If, besides the loose literary form, there be anything to which we should object, it is the too obviously military character of the Colonel's thoughts. He is always telling us that such and such a route might be made practicable for artillery, or that troops could not march through such a piece of desert for want of water ; that there would be no room in such another spot for cavalry to act with effect, and so forth, until the reader is almost disposed to conclude that the description of the journey as a pleasure journey is a mere blind, to hide sinister designs upon Persia. Colonel MacGregor is, in short, a confirmed hater of Russia, and travels with a constant eye to find ways and means of checkmating the designs of that demon of the English in Asia. This is rather an unfortunate prepossession for those of his readers who see no necessity for rushing here and there over the bar- baric territory lying between India and the Russian frontier, in order to find a way to overcome the dreaded foe. If, however, the eyes can be shut to this peculiarity, a good deal may be learned from this book about Persia and the Persians.
Although travelling privately and for "pleasure," Colonel MacGregor took very good care always that British honour should be fully vindicated in his person. It was his custom, on approaching any town, to apprise the chief personage there of his approach, and several times he had occasion to resent what he con- sidered saucy treatment. Thus, on approaching Ghain, he sent a letter to the Amir, informing him of his wish to visit him, and asking that a place for his residence might be appointed. The Amir took no notice of the request, and when Colonel MacGregor arrived, he was told to go to the " Serai," a public travellers' refuge. This seemed to him such rudeness that he went out- side the town, and pitched his tent in the open. A step so decided as that.seemed to tell upon Persian sensibilities. Nego- tiations were opened ; apologies tendered, and ultimately Colonel MacGregor took up his abode in a house set apart for his use. In his intercourse with Persians generally the traveller seems to have adopted rather an off-hand tone of superiority, not always calulated to leave a favourable impres- sion,—as, for instance when he told the chief priest of Yezd that "he [Colonel MacGregor] certainly thought his own reli- gion the best, because it inculcated charity, forbearance, and mercy," while his (the chief priest's) inculcated lust and suicide ! It seems to have in a manner surprised him that language of this kind was fiercely resented. On the whole, how- ever, he got on very well with the people, and managed to pass through the country with comparatively few adventures or diffi- culties until he reached Pahre, a village of 100 houses, just within the Afghan border, and near Herat. With the people of that village he got on very well. They were rougher, but more open and likable than the wily Persians ; but when he sought to pay a visit to the city of Herat itself, he at once got into difficulties. Notwithstanding the prohibition of the Indian Government, Colonel MacGregor never seems to have supposed that there would be the least resistance made to his purpose, and so he coolly sent forward a message to the Governor that he was coming to visit him. He lay awake all night, thinking of what he should do during his stay in Herat, and started about three in the morning in order to press forward. The Governor was beforehand with him, however, and what happened may as well be given in the Colonel's far from elegant language :—
" Before I had traversed many hundred yards, and just as we were rounding a small swelling which hid the ground beyond, a couple of horsemen came suddenly over the hill, and galloping up to me, said in a loud, dictatorial tone, Where is the Sahib replied, am the Sahib.' He then said in a most insolent manner, What do you mean by leaving your" manzil" without orders? Go back, you have no per- mission to go on.' At this I was naturally considerably taken aback and rather nettled, and knowing Afghans too well to let myself be bullied by them, I went close up to him, and said very quietly and distinctly, Who — the — are you, that you talk to an Englishman like that ?' =I come from the Moosionfee, Sahib,' he replied.—' I am sure,' I said, 'the Moostonfee never told you to come up to me in that swag- gering manner ; but what do you want ?' On this he became more civil and quiet in his manner, and said, 'I am sent to make the usual (ahwal-poorsees) inquiries about you which are usual in Afghanistan, and the Moostoufee hopes you will rest yourself a day here.'--'What!' I said, go back to Pahre ?' He then gave me a letter which con- tamed instructions to the same purport. After I had read it, Shah Mahamad, the bearer of the letter, said, in a most overbearing way, You are not to go on, you must come back, I must find out who you are and what you want here.' I replied that I was a traveller, as I had informed the Moostoufee, and that if he wished for any more in- formation, I'd he very glad to give it, and that the best way to do this would be for me to go and see the Moostoufee himself, especially as all my baggage had started. He replied, in the same insolent manner, It does not matter, you must come back.' I then said, This is a very extraordinary reception, and quite contrary to what I have received everywhere else.' He replied, It is the custom in Afghanistan, and what is more, in England also; don't tell me, I. know all about English rules.' Seeing that speaking further with him would only expose me to more of his impertinence, I said, Very well, I will go back,' and turning my horse's head, returned to the village. When he saw I did what he wanted he became more civil, and said, 'If I would go back to Pahre, he would order every- thing to be done for my comfort, and it would after all only be delay- ing me a day.' Finding that it would be of no use to make diffi- culties, I then said, Very well, I will go back, I have no wish to go against your instructions ; but I must say, I think you might take on yourself the responsibility of letting me proceed, as I informed the Moostoufee on all necessary points in my letter."
There was no help for it. The Colonel had to go back to the village, and what is more, he had to submit to be watched, and ultimately to be escorted almost as a prisoner out of the country, under the surveillance of this insolent official He was, probably, fortunate in getting off so easily, and we are not at all surprised that his attempt to enter the most jealously-guarded of all Afghan strongholds was disapproved of by the then Government of India. Perhaps, under the present Government, the " in- sult " thus heaped upon the head of a British officer travelling privately and for his "own pleasure," might have been used as an additional casns belli against the Am eer ; but right-minded people will, we think, agree in the opinion that such codduct as this deserved rebuke.
From the borders of Afghanistan, Colonel MacGregor made his way across the hills to Meshed, the capital of the province of Khorassan, not without many alarms about and at least one narrow escape from the Turkoman robbers. At Meshed he rested a short time, still hoping that a chance would be given him to visit Merv, and possibly Herat. About a week, however, after his arrival he received an order from the British Embassy forbidding him to travel beyond the boundaries of Persia. This order compelled him to be content with a visit to Surrukhs, a forti- fied post held by the Persians, just beyond the limits of the pro- vince of Khorassan. This was right into Turkestan, and a con- siderable way on the road to Mery ; and the road went through a wild, robber-haunted hill country, dotted with forts and points of observation, erected to keep out the Turkomans. The post of Surrukhs is one, in Colonel MacGregor's opinion, of great importance, in that coming death-struggle between England and Russia whose shadow always haunted his mental vision . Although placed too far out into the plain as a fortress, it is still a place of high strategical importance, either to the defender or assailer of Herat. Returning to Meshed with the relieved troops, Colonel MacGregor spent some time wandering among the hills of Northern Khorassan, noting, as usual, the military capabilities of the country. We have not space to follow these movements further. After working his way across to Shahrud, near the border of Astrabacl, he proceeded to Astrabad, where he once more came into communication with his countrymen. The interest of his journey may be said to end at that point, but upon Khorassan itself he has much to say that is interesting and new. While giving a poor idea of Persian life and government generally, he speaks highly of the capacities of many parts of the country. A good word is also put in more than once for Persian women, who have been, it seems, unjustly accused of immorality. Their lives are dreary, and the habit of veiling in public gives much scope for all sorts of intrigue, but notwithstanding, they seemed to Colonel MacGregor modest, and by no means unintelligent. The climate of Khorassan is said to be very fine, and travelling there in spring or autumn pleasant ; but the country is in a manner surrounded by desert, and all its northern borders are much haunted by Turkomans. The whole of Persia is, indeed, wretchedly governed, and miserable decay is written on every feature. In some parts of the country, the sand of the desert is rapidly "eating up "the cultivated land.
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