AN ACCOUNT OF THE WONDERS OF KANDAHAR.

At 10 kos to the west of Kandahar there is a village called Bekh­nahee, near which there is a hill, in which there is a cavern, with running water on all sides. Bats, like rats, are very numerous here: a room has been cut out of the rock, and other rooms appear to those who go forward; but it is so dark that no one can go without lights, and when these are taken, these bats come upon you, and the lights, in such nnmbers, that it is very difficult for a person to proceed. They say there is talisman there, and a revolving wheel, around which there are bricks of gold; also that Baba Husan Abdool went there, and throwing a hide upon the wheel, he went forward, and brought out one gold brick. I will presently relate the circumstances of Baba Husan.

Another curiosity is, that by the order of Babur Badshah, at a hill called Seepoozah, the rock was cut, and a recess made, which he called Peshtag. It is a very lofty recess: for nine years eighty stone-cutters were employed, and then they finished the work. Certainly it is a spot to delight the eyes, close over the Urghoondab, with many fields and gardens about. On this account, during the spring, many go there; but the recess is very high up, on which account no one goes there, being afraid of falling. In the inscription in this recess are written the names of Mahomed Babur Badshah, Meerza Kamran, Meerza Uskuree, Meerza Hundal, and that these were all men of good spirit, &c. But Hoomayoon Badshah, not being of the kings there, his name was not written, and of all his country Kandahar alone appeared. When I went there, seeing that the names of Hoomayoon and Ukbar Shah, and their countries, were not mentioned, and this when thousands of countries like Kabool and Kandahar were in the hands of their slaves, it came into my heart to write the names of their countries and cities. For this purpose, I called from Bukkur good writers and stone-cutters, who wrote the names of Hoomayoon Badshah, and Huzrut Shahun Shah Ukbar, and also of their countries and cities, from Bengal to Luheree Bunder (Tatta), and from Kabool and Ghuznee to the south. In four years this was finished, and it certainly was well executed, so that many went to see it. Near the hill in which this recess is, there is a cavern, the end of which God only knows. This is the cavern from whence, it is said, Baba Husun brought the brick of gold. The distance between these is seven or eight kos. On the hills near Kandahar, Mookhtisuh is found, which saves from the poisonous bite of a snake, and from other poisons. This is not found anywhere except on these hills. On the top of one of these hills there is a fire-temple. This building is made of sun-burnt bricks, each of which is 2 guz square, and 1 span thick. It is there now, not in the least decayed. In Kandahar there was formerly sickness every year, when Shah Tuhmasp ordered Sultan Hoosain, who was governor there, to plant canes on the banks of such rivers in the vicinity whose waters the inhabitants used for drinking and other purposes. He did as he was directed; after which the yearly sickness abated much, but in some seasons it broke out worse than before. Many people die from passing blood, which also comes from the mouth, nose, and ears. In the time of Khilafut Punachee Ukbar Shah, when I went to Kandahar as governor in the year 1007 (A. D. 1598), 200 men, horse and foot, of the Thana, died of this disease.

The men of Huzarah in Kandahar are not in the habit of wearing clothes coloured red, blue, &c.; they are plain men, wishing only for simple cloth and shoes.