Section 2: Kabul

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	4o6	KABUL

	{August 12th) Next day we dismounted at Istallf; a confection was eaten on that day. {August 13th) On Saturday there was a wine-party at IstalTf. {August 14th) Riding at dawn from IstalTf, we crossed the space between it and the Sinjid-valley. Near Khwaja Sih-yaran a great snake was killed as thick, it may be, as the fore-arm and as long as a quldch.¹ From its inside came out a slenderer snake, that seemed to have been just swallowed, every part of it being whole; it may have been a little shorter than the larger one. From inside this slenderer snake came out a little mouse ; it too was whole, broken nowhere.² On reaching Khwaja Sih-yaran there was a wine-party. Today orders were written and despatched by Klch-klna the night-watch {tunqtar) to the begs on that side {i.e. north of Hindu-kush), giving them a rendezvous and saying, " An army is being got to horse, take thought, and come to the rendezvous fixed." {August 15th) We rode out at dawn and ate a confection. At the infall of the Parwan-water many fish were taken in the local way of casting a fish-drug into the water.³ Mir Shah Beg set food and water {ash u db) before us ; we then rode on to Gul-bahar. At a wine-party held after the Evening Prayer, Darwlsh-i-muhammad {Sdrban) was present. Though a young man and a soldier, he had not yet committed the sin {irtqdb) of wine, but was in obedience {td'zb). Qutluq Khwaja Kukfdddsh had long before abandoned soldiering to become a darwish ; moreover he was very old, his very beard was quite white; nevertheless he took his share of wine at these parties. Said I to Darwish-i-muhammad, " Qutluq Khwaja's beard shames you ! He, a darwish and an old man, always drinks wine ; you, a soldier, a young man, your beard quite black, never drink ! What does it mean ? " My custom being not to press wine on a non-drinker, with so much said, it all passed off as a joke ; he was not pressed to drink. ■ A qulach is from finger-tip to finger-tip of the outstretched arms (Zenker p. 720 and Mints, ii, 98). * Neither intern', is said to have died ! ³ f. 143.

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