National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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Overland to India : vol.1 |
382 OVERLAND TO INDIA
CHAP.
01
and I thought that if I retired to hut for o m yut or a while they
would go away. But I had scarcely closed the door before Itj
the little daylight which crept in through the smoke vent
of the cupola was intercepted by two inquisitive heads, and
men stood persistently looking through the cracks of the
door and making their remarks. " Now he is reading ; now
he is smoking ; leave off smoking ; hallo, Sa'ab, the sun
shines, come out ; come and give me two kran, I am
poor " ; and so on. And then they broke in the door and
rushed in, screaming and laughing, Gulam Hussein and
Ali Murat trying in vain to keep them back. As a
general rule the smaller and more isolated a place is,
the quieter and more peaceful are its inhabitants. In a
large place, on the other hand, where they have much
communication with the outer world, they are bolder and
more forward.
At seven o'clock in the morning of February 9 we had
a temperature of 32.5°, and a slight breeze from the south-
south - west made it feel cool. Gulam Hussein had
replenished our stores with mutton, bread, roghan, eggs,
sugar, almonds and dates, tobacco, matches, charcoal,
firewood, straw, barley and cottonseed, besides two sacks
of water. No small proportion of the people of the place
filled the courtyard to witness our departure, and we paid
two stout fellows to keep the inquisitive crowd at a distance.
But still they followed us in close groups, which did not
melt away till we had left the village a little distance
behind us. At last five only remained to molest us, two
of them dervishes, who recited prayers over us as they
walked in hopes of reward, and when we had given a kran
to each they asked for more. These also gave in, but the
other three hung on our heels like bloodhounds. Two of
them, our hosts, had been paid already, but they wanted
an extra bakshish. After we had got rid of them there was
only a Seid left, but he stormed and scolded worse than
the others, and asserted that as a religious dignitary, and
as a Jandak man, he had a right to demand a kran as toll
from every caravan which came from Jandak. If he did
not receive it he would take one of the camels. Ali Murat
was as obstinate in refusing, but I thought it would be well
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