Act 1835 all marriages of this kind not disputed before the

passing of the act were declared absolutely valid, while all

subsequent to it were declared null. This rendered null in

England, and not merely voidable, a marriage with a deceased

wife's sister or niece. (See CONSANGUINITY; MARRIAGE.)

AFFINITY, CHEMICAL, the property or relation in virtue of which

dissimilar substances are capable of entering into chemical combination

with each other. (See CHEMISTRY; CHEMICAL ACTION; VALENCY.)

AFFIRMATION (from Lat. affirmare, to assert), the declaration

that something is true; in logic, a positive judgment,

the union of the subject and predicate of a proposition;

particularly, in law, the solemn declaration allowed to those

who conscientiously object to taking an oath. (See OATH.)

AFFRAY, in law, the fighting of two or more persons

in a public place to the terror (a l' effroi ) of the

lieges. The offence is a misdemeanour at English common

law, punishable by fine and imprisonment. A fight in private

is an assault and battery, not an affray. As those engaged

in an affray render themselves also liable to prosecution

for Assault (q.v.), Unlawful Assembly (see ASSEMBLY,

UNLAWFUL), or Riot (q.v.), it is for one of these offences

that they are usually charged. Any private person may, and

constables and justices must, interfere to put a stop to an

affray. In the United States the English common law as to

affray applies, subject to certain modifications by the statutes

of particular states (Bishop, Amer. Crim. Law, 8th ed.,

1892, vol. i. sec. 535). The Indian Penal Code (sect. 159)

adopts the English definition of affray, with the substitution

of ``actual disturbance of the peace'' for ``causing terror to

the lieges.'' The Queensland Criminal Code of 1899 (sect. 72)

defines affray as taking part in a fight in a public highway

or taking part in a fight of such a nature as to alarm the

public in any other place to which the public have access. This

definition is taken from that in the English Criminal Code Bill

of 1880, cl. 96. Under the Roman Dutch law in force in South

Africa affray falls within the definition of vis publica.

AFFRE, DENIS AUGUSTE (1793--1848), archbishop of Paris,

was born at St Rome, in the department of Tarn, on the 27th

of September 1793. He was educated for the priesthood at

St Sulpice, where in 1818 he became professor of dogmatic

theology. After filling a number of ecclesiastical offices,

he was elevated to the archbishopric of Paris in 1840. Though

opposed to the government of Louis Philippe, he took no part

in politics, but devoted himself to his pastoral work. His

episcopate, however, is chiefly remembered owing to its tragic

close. During the insurrection of June 1848 the archbishop

was led to believe that by his personal interference peace

might be restored between the soldiery and the insurgents.

Accordingly, in spite of the warning of General Cavaignac,

he mounted the barricade at the entrance to the Faubourg St

Antoine, bearing a green branch as sign of peace. He had spoken

only a few words, however, when the insurgents, hearing some

shots, and fancying they were betrayed, opened fire upon the

national guard, and the archbishop fell, struck by a stray

bullet. He was removed to his palace, where he died on the

27th of June 1848. Next day the National Assembly issued a

decree expressing their great sorrow on account of his death;

and the public funeral on the 7th of July was one of the most

striking spectacles of its kind. The archbishop wrote several

treatises of considerable value, including an Essai sur les

hieroglyphes egyptiens (Paris, 1834), in which he showed that

Champollion's system was insufficient to explain the hieroglyphics.

See Ricard, Les grands eveques de l'eglise de

France au XIXe siecle (Lille, 1893); L. Alazard,

Denis-Auguste Affre, archeveque de Paris (Paris, 1905).

AFFREIGHTMENT (from ``freight,'' q.v.). Contract of

Affreightment is the expression usually employed to describe

the contract between a shipowner and some other person called

the freighter, by which the shipowner agrees to carry goods

of the freighter in his ship, or to give to the freighter the

use of the whole or part of the cargo-carrying space of the

ship for the carriage of his goods on a specified voyage or

voyages or for a specified time; the freighter on his part

agreeing to pay a specified price, called ``freight,'' for

the carriage of the goods or the use of the ship. A ship may

be let like a house to some person who takes possession and

control of it for a specified term. The person who hires a

ship in this way occupies during the currency of his term the

position of shipowner. The contract by which a ship is so

let may be called a charter-party; but it is not, properly

speaking, a contract of affreightment, and is mentioned here

only because it is necessary to remember the distinction

between a charter-party of this kind, which is sometimes

called a demise of the ship, and a charter-party which is a

form of contract of affreightment, as will hereinafter appear.

Rules of law.

The law with regard to the contract of affreightment is,

of course, a branch of the general law of contract. The

rights and obligations of the shipowner and the freighter

depend, as in the case of all parties to contracts, upon the

terms of the agreement entered into between them. The law,

however, interferes to some extent in regulating the effect

to be given to contracts. Certain contracts are forbidden

by the law, and being illegal are, therefore, incapable of

enforcement. The most important example of illegality in

the case of contracts of affreightment is when the contract

involves trading with an enemy. The law interferes again with

regard to the interpretation of the contract. The meaning

to be given to the words of the contract, or, in other words,

its construction, when a dispute arises about it, must be

determined by the judge or court. The result is, that certain

more or less common clauses in contracts of affreightment have

come before the courts for construction, and the decisions in

these cases are treated practically, though not perhaps quite

logically, as rules of law determining the sense to be put

upon certain forms of expression in common use in shipping

contracts. A third way in which the law interferes is

by laying down certain rules by which the rights of the

parties are to be regulated in the absence of any express

stipulation with regard to the matter dealt with by such

rules. This is done either by statutory enactment, as by

that part (Part VIII.) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1804 which

deals with the liability of shipowners; or by established

rules of the unwritten law, the ``common law'' as it is

called, as, for instance, the rule that the common carrier

is absolutely responsible for the safe delivery of the goods

carried, unless it is prevented by the act of God or the king's

enemies. These rules of law, whether common law or statute

law, regulating the obligations of carriers of goods by

sea, are of most importance in cases which are uncommon

though not unknown at the present day, in which there is an

affreightment without any written agreement of any kind. It

will, therefore, be convenient to consider first cases of this

kind where there is no express agreement, oral or written,

except as to the freight and destination of the goods, and

where, consequently, the rights and obligations of the parties

as to all other terms of carriage depend wholly upon the

rules of law, remembering always that these same rules apply

when there is a written contract, except in so far as they

are qualified or negatived by the terms of such contract.

In defaults of express contract.

The rules of the common or ancient customary law of England

with regard to the carriage of goods were no doubt first

considered by the courts and established with regard to the

carriage of goods by common carriers on land. These rules were

applied to common carriers by water, and it may now be taken

to be the general rule that shipowners who carry goods by sea

are by the English law subject to the liabilities of common

carriers. (See, as to the grounds and precise extent of this

doctrine, the judgments in Liver Alkali Company v. Johnson

(1874), L.R., 9 Ex. 338, and Nugent v. Smith (1876) 1

C.P.D. 423.) In practice goods are not often shipped without

a written contract or acknowledgment of the terms upon which

they are to be carried. For each separate consignment or

parcel of goods shipped a bill of lading is almost invariably

given, and when a whole cargo is agreed to be carried the

terms are set out in a document called a charter-party,

signed by or on behalf of the shipowner on the one part,

and the shipper, who is called the charterer, on the other

part. But at present we are considering the relations of

shipowner and shipper independently of any express contract,

as in a case when goods are shipped and received to be

carried to the place to which the ship is bound for a certain

freight, but without any further agreement as to the terms of

carriage. In such a case the rights of the parties depend

on the rules of law, or, which is much the same thing,

upon the warranties or promises which though not expressed

must, as the courts have held, be implied as arising from

the relation between the parties as shipper and carrier.

The obligations on the one side and the other may be defined

shortly to be as follows:--The shipper must not ship goods

of a nature or in a condition which he knows, or ought,

if he used reasonable care, to know to be dangerous to the

ship, or to other goods, unless the shipowner has notice

of or has sufficient opportunity to observe their dangerous

character. The shipper must be prepared, without notice from

the shipowner, to take delivery of his goods with reasonable

despatch on the arrival of the ship at the place of destination,

being ready there to discharge in some usual discharging

place. The shipper must pay the agreed freight, and will

not be entitled to claim delivery until the freight has been

paid. In other words, the shipowner has a lien on the

goods carried for the freight payable in respect of the

carriage. On the other hand, the obligation upon the shipowner

is first and foremost to deliver safely at their destination

the goods shipped, and this obligation is, by the common

law, subject to this exception only that the shipowner is

not liable for loss or damage caused by the act of God or

the king's enemies; but by statute (Merchant Shipping Act

1894, Part VIII.) it is further qualified to this extent

that the shipowner is not liable for loss, happening without

his actual fault or privity, by fire on board the ship, or

by the robbery or embezzlement of or making away with gold

or silver or jewellery, the true nature and value of which

have not been declared in writing at the time of shipment;

and, further, the shipowner is not laable for damage to or

loss of goods or merchandise beyond an aggregate amount, not

exceeding eight pounds per ton for each ton of the ship's

tonnage. The shipowner is bound by an implied undertaking,

or, in other words, is made responsible by the law as if

he had entered into an express undertaking: (1) that the

ship is seaworthy; (2) that she shall proceed upon the

voyage with reasonable despatch, and shall not deviate

without necessity from the usual course of the voyage.

It is not our purpose in this article to discuss minute or

doubtful questions; but in their general outline the obligations

of shipper and shipowner, where no terms of carriage have

been agreed, except as to the freight and destination of the

goods, are such as have been described above. The importance

of appreciating clearly this view of the relations of shipper

and shipowner arises from the fact that these fundamental rules

apply to all contracts of affreightment, whether by bill of

lading, charter-party or otherwise, except in so far as they

are modified or negatived by the express terms of the contract.

Bills of Lading. The document signed by the master or agent

for the shipowner, by which are acknowledged the shipment of a

parcel of goods and the terms upon which it is to be carried,

is called a Bill of Lading. Very many different forms of

bills of lading are used. For the purpose of illustration the

following form (from Mr Scrutton's book on Charter-parties

and Bills of Lading) has been selected as a sample:--

Shipped, in apparent good order and condition by in

and upon the good Vessel called the now lying in the port of

and bound for , with liberty to call at any ports in

any order, to sail without Pilots, and to tow and assist Vessels in

distress, and to deviate for the purpose of saving life or property;

and to be delivered in the like good order and condition at the

aforesaid port of unto or to his or their assigns, freight

and all other conditions as per Charter Party. The act of God, perils

of the sea, fire, barratry of the Master and Crew, enemies, pirates,

and thieves, arrests, and restraints of princes, rulers, and people,

collisions, stranding, and other accidents of navigation excepted,

even when occasioned by negligence, default, or error in judgment

of the Pilot, Master, Mariners, or other servanis of the Shipowners.

Ship not answerable for losses through explosion, bursting of

boilers, breakage of shafts, or any latent defect in the machinery or

hull, not resulting from want of due diligence by the Owners of the

Ship, or any of them, or by the Ship's Husband or Manager.

General Average payable according to York-Antwerp Rules.

In Witness whereof, the Master or Agent of the said Ship hath

affirmed to three Bills of Lading, all of this tenor and date, drawn

as first, second and third, one of which Bills being accomplished, the

others to stand void.

Dated in this day of 188 .

The bill of lading is an acknowledgment of the shipment of

goods in a named vessel for carriage to a specified destination

on terms set forth in the document. It is usually signed

by the master of the vessel, but very commonly by the agents

of the shipowner or sometimes of the charterers of the

vessel. A vessel may be employed by its owners to earn

freight in various ways: (1) It may be placed, as it is said,

on the berth as a general ship, to receive cargo from any

shippers who may desire to send goods to the port, or one of

the ports, to which the vessel is bound. The mate or chief

officer usually superintends the loading, and, as goods are

shipped, a mate's receipt is given as an acknowledgment of the

shipment. The mate's receipt is afterwards exchanged for

the bill of lading. In the case of a shipment by a general

ship the bill of lading is the evidence and memorandum of the

contract between the shipowner and the shipper. (2) A shipper

may, however, require the whole cargo space of the vessel to

carry, for example, a full cargo of grain. In such a case the

vessel will be chartered by the shipowner to the shipper. and

the contract will be the charter-party. Even in such a case

a bill or bills of lading will usually be given to enable the

shipper to deal more conveniently with the goods by way of sale or

otherwise. By the ancient custom of merchants recognized and

incorporated in the law, the bill of lading is a document of

title, representing the goods themselves, by the transfer of

which symbolical delivery of the goods may be made. But when

a cargo is shipped under a charter party, although bills of

lading may be given to the charterer, it is the charter-party,

and not the bills of lading, which constitutes the record

of the contract between the parties---of charter-parties

we shall treat below. (3) There is a third class of case

which is a combination of the two with which we have dealt

above. A vessel is very commonly chartered by her owner to

a charterer who has no intention to ship and does not ship

any cargo on his own account, but places the vessel on the

berth to receive cargo from shippers who ship under bills of

lading. The charterer receives the bill of lading freight

and pays the charter-party freight, his object being of

course to obtain a total bill of lading freight in excess

of the chartered freight, and so make a profit. The master,

although he usually remains the servant of the shipowner during

the term of the charter-party, acts nevertheless under the

directions and on behalf of the charterer in signing bills of

lading. The legal effect of this situation is that shippers

who ship goods under bills of lading without knowledge of

the terms of the charter-party are entitled to look to the

shipowner as the person responsible to them for the safe

carriage of their goods. This right depends essentially

on the fact that the master who signs the bills of lading,

although in doing so he is acting for the charterer, remains

nevertheless the servant of the shipowner, who is not

allowed to deny as against third persons, who do not know the

relations between the charterer and the shipowner, that his

servant, the master of the ship, has the ordinary authority

of a master to bind his owner by signing bills of lading.

The forms of bills of lading vary very much, and their clauses have

been the subject of judicial consideration and decision in a vast

number of reported cases. The essential particulars, or at all

events those common to all bihs of lading, may be stated as follows:

1. The name of the shipper.

2. The name of the ship.

3. The place of loading and destination of the ship.

4. A description of the goods shipped.

5. The place of delivery.

6. The persons to whom delivery is to be made.

7. The freight to be paid.'

8. The excepted perils.

9. The shipowner's lien.

The description of (1) the shipper and (2) the ship calls for no

remark. The (3) description of the voyage is important,

because there is, as we have already explained, an implied

undertaking by the shipowner in every contract of carriage

not unnecessarily to deviate from the ordinary route of the

voyage upon which the goods are received to be carried.

The consequences of a deviation are serious, inasmuch as

the shipowner is liable, not only for any loss or damage

which the shipper suffers in consequence of the deviation,

but for any loss of goods which occurs after the deviation,

even though such loss is caused by one of the excepted

perils. The only exception to this rule is that a deviation

may be made to save life, but not to save property. It is,

however, very usual to qualify the strictness of this implied

undertaking by introducing in the bill of lading certain

``liberties'' to deviate, as, for example, in the form given

above, ``liberty to call at any ports in any order, to tow and

assist vessels in distress, and to deviate for the purpose of

saving life and property.'' The nature and extent of the liberty

will depend on the words of the contract. The inclination

of English courts has been to construe clauses giving a

liberty to deviate somewhat strictly against the shipowner.

The (4) importance of the description of the goods shipped

and their condition is obvious, as the contract is to deliver

them as described and in the like good condition, subject, of

course, to the exceptions. It must, moreover, be noted that,

as against the master or person who has himself signed the

bill of lading, the statement therein of the goods shipped

is absolutely conclusive. But as against the shipowner,

unless he has himself signed the bill of lading, the statement

of the goods shipped is not conclusive. It is evidence as

against him that the goods described were shipped, but he is

allowed to rebut this evidence by proving, if he can, that the

goods mentioned, or some of them, were not in fact shipped.

As to (5) the place of delivery, very serious questions

frequently arise. Primarily, of course, the shipowner is

bound to deliver at the place named. Should he be prevented

by some obstacle or difficulty which is of a temporary nature,

the vessel must wait, and delivery must be made as soon as

possible. Where, however, the obstacle is permanent, or

at all events such as must cause unreasonable delay, having

regard to the nature of the adventure, the shipowner is

excused from delivery at the place named in the bill of

lading, provided the difficulty arises from an excepted

peril, or in consequence of delivery at the place named being

forbidden by the law of England, as may happen, for example,

in the case of a declaration of war between Great Britain and

the state in which the port named in the bill of lading is

situate. A party to a contract cannot be held liable for

breaking his contract if its performance has become illegal.

There may be other cases in which, from the circumstances of

the voyage and adventure, it must be inferred that the parties

intended the performance of the contract to be conditional on

the existence at the time of performance of a certain state of

things, the non-existence of which would render performance

impossible. For instance, if the port named in the bill of

lading became permanently closed and inaccessible to shipping

in consequence of an earthquake, it would probably be held that

the continued existence of the place named as a port was an

implied condition of the contract, and that the shipowner was

excused. Where, however, the performance of the contract

remains lawful, and is not excused by the express terms of

the contract, or by some implied condition, the shipowner

is liable for any loss or damage suffered by the shipper by

reason of his goods not being delivered at the named place,

even though such delivery has become impossible. There is

another reason why the precise description of the place of

delivery often becomes important. It is only on the arrival of

the ship at the place described as the place of delivery that

the obligation of the consignee of the goods to take delivery

commences. Delay involves considerable loss and expense to the

shipowner. The shipper or consignee is not responsible

for any delay which occurs before the ship has arrived

at the place of delivery described in the bill of lading.

(6) The goods may be deliverable by the terms of the bill

of lading to a named consignee, and to him only, but more

usually they are made deliverable to the ``order or assigns''

of the named consignee or of the shipper. If the goods are

made deliverable to order or assigns the bill of lading is a

negotiable instrument, or, in other words, the right to the

goods, and the rights and liabilities under the contract

contained in the bill of lading, may be transferred by indorsement

and delivery of the document. When an indorsement has once

been made by the shipper or consignee writing his name and

nothing more on the back of the bill of lading, the rights

in and under it may be transferred from hand to hand by mere

delivery. A bill of lading so indorsed is said to be indorsed

``in blank.'' But the shipper or consignee may restrict the

negotiability of the bill of lading by indorsing it not ``in

blank,'' but with a direction requiring delivery to be made

to a particular person or indorsee, or to his order. This

is called an indorsement ``in full.'' When an indorsement

has been made ``in full'' to a named indorsee or order, such

indorsee must again indorse ``in blank'' or ``in full'' to

effect a new transfer of the rights in the bill of lading.

(7) The amount or rate of freight payable is stated in the

bill of lading, either expressly, or, not uncommonly when

the freight under the bill of lading is the same as under the

charter-party, by reference to the charter-party. A common

form of such reference is ``freight and other conditions, as

per charter-party.'' It may here be mentioned that this form

of words does not incorporate in the contract under the bill

of lading all the terms and conditions of the charter-party,

but only those which apply to the person who is to take

delivery, and relate to matters ejusdem generis, or similar

to the payment of freight, such as demurrage and the like.

The conditions of the charter-party thus incorporated do not

include, for instance, the exceptions in the charter-party

so as to add them to the exceptions in the bill of

lading. Freight, unless it is otherwise provided by the

contract, is payable only on delivery of the goods at their

destination. If the voyage is interrupted and its completion

becomes impossible, the shipowner cannot claim payment

of freight even pro rata itineris. He loses his freight

altogether. This is so even when the completion of the

voyage is prevented by causes for which the shipowner is not

responsible, such as the act of God or the king's enemies, or

perils which are within the express exceptions in the bill of

lading. When the voyage is interrupted by accident, and indeed

in any case, the goods may, by agreement between the shipowner

and the consignee, be delivered at some place short of their

destination upon payment of a freight pro rata; that is to

say, proportional to the length of voyage accomplished, and

such an agreement may be implied in certain circumstances from

the conduct of the consignee in taking delivery before they

arrive at their destination. In all such cases it will be

a question of fact whether the goods were in fact delivered

upon the terms, express or implied, that freight pro rata

should be paid. As a rule such an agreement would not be

implied where the shipowner is unable or unwilling to forward

the goods to their destination, and the owner of the goods,

therefore, has no option but to take delivery where offered.

When the ship is disabled and cannot proceed, or she is

prevented by some obstacle from proceeding to the place of

delivery named in the bill of lading, and the shipowner is

unwilling or unable to forward the goods by another ship,

even though he may be excused for his failure to carry the

goods to their destination, he is not entitled to be paid

any part of the freight; and the consignee is entitled to

have the goods delivered to him either at the place where

the vessel has taken refuge in her disabled condition, or, if

the obstacle arises without disablement of the vessel, at the

place which is nearest and most reasonably convenient at the

time and in the circumstances when the further prosecution of

the voyage has to be abandoned. On the other hand, after the

goods have been shipped, so long as the shipowner is ready

and willing to carry the goods to their destination, or, if

the ship is disabled, to forward them to their destination by

some other ship without unreasonable delay, the owner of the

goods cannot require the goods to be delivered to him at any

place short of their destination without payment of the full

freight. Sometimes the freight, either wholly or in part,

is made payable in advance. If freight payable in advance

has become due, even though the ship is lost before it is

paid, it must, in the absence of some special provision to the

contrary, still be paid, and freight already paid in advance

does not become repayable because the goods do not reach their

destination. If, however, goods upon which freight has been

paid in advance are lost, and the shipowner is liable for their

loss, the amount of freight paid in advance must be taken into

account in assessing the damage recoverable from the shipowner.

(8) There is no part of the bill of lading which is of

greater practical importance or which demands more careful

consideration by shipowner and shipper alike than that which

sets forth the excepted perils: those perils, or in other words

causes of loss, for which the shipowner is to be exempt from

liability. By the common law, as we have seen, the exemption

of the carrier, apart from express contract, extended only to

loss by the act of God or the king's enemies. The expression

``act of God'' requires a word of explanation. It will be

sufficient to say that it is not synonymous with force majeure;

but it includes every loss by force majeure in which human

agency, by act or negligence, has had no part. The list of

excepted perils varies much in different forms of bills of

lading. In the older forms it usually included perils of the

seas, robbers and pirates, restraint of princes and rulers,

fire and barratry (that is, wilful wrongdoing) of the master and

crew. The list, however, has grown in modern times, and is

still growing; the tendency being to exempt the shipowner

from liability for all loss which does not arise from his own

personal default, or from the negligence of his managers or

agents in failing to provide a vessel seaworthy and fit for

the voyage at its commencement. It is important to point

out in this connexion that there are two duties which the

shipowner is always presumed to undertake, and which are

assumed to be unaffected and unqualified by the exceptions,

unless a contrary intention is very clearly expressed by the

terms of the contract. In the first place, he undertakes

absolutely that the ship in which the goods are shipped is

fit at the commencement of the voyage for the service to be

performed. If during the voyage loss arises even from dangers

of the seas or other excepted peril which would not have

occurred if the vessel had been seaworthy and fit for the

voyage at its commencement, the shipowner is not protected

by the exceptions, and is liable for the loss. In the second

place, there is an implied undertaking by the shipowner that

all reasonable care will be taken by himself, his servants and

agents, safely to carry and deliver at their destination the

goods received by him for carriage. Should loss or damage

occur during the voyage, though the direct cause of such loss

or damage be perils of the seas or other excepted peril, still

the shipowner cannot claim exemption under the exceptions,

if the shipper can prove that the loss or damage would not

have occurred but for the negligence of the master or crew,

or other servants of the shipowner. The shipowner, in other

words, is bound, with his servants, to use all reasonable care

to prevent loss by excepted perils and by any other cause.

Express stipulations.

It must not be supposed that even these primary obligations,

which are introduced into every contract of affreightment not

by express terms of the contract. It has now become common

form to stipulate that the shipowner shall not be liable for

any loss arising from the negligence of his servants, or that

he shall not be liable for loss by the excepted perils even

when brought about by the negligence of his servants. And with

regard to seaworthiness, it is not uncommon for the shipowner

to stipulate that he shall not be responsible for loss arising

even from the unseaworthiness of the ship on sailing, provided

that due care has Been taken by the owner and his agents and

servants to make the ship seaworthy at the commencement of the

voyage. There is indeed no rule of English law which prevents

a shipowner from exempting himself by the terms of the bill

of lading from liability for damage and loss of every kind,

whether arising from unseaworthiness or any other cause

whatsoever. In such a case the goods are carried at their

owner's risk, and if he desires protection he must obtain it by

insurance. In this respect the law of England permits greater

freedom of contract than is allowed by the law of some other

states. The owners, agents and masters of vessels loading

in the United States of America are forbidden by an act of

Congress, commonly called the Harter Act, passed in the

year 1893, to insert in their contracts of affreightment

any clause exempting the shipowner from liability for the

negligence of his servants; but it is at the rame time

enacted that, provided all reasonable skill and care has

been exercised by the shipowner to make the vessel seaworthy

and fit for the voyage at its commencement, the shipowner

shall not be liable for any loss caused by the negligence

of ihe master or crew in the navigation of the vessel, or by

perils of the sea or certain other causes set forth in the

act. It is now very usual to insert in the bills of lading

of British vessels loading in the United States a reference

to the Harter Act, incorporating its provisions so as

to make them terms and conditions of the bill of lading.

The difficulty of construing the terms of bills of lading

with regard to the excepted perils, often expressed in

obscure and inexact language, has given rise to much

litigation, the results of which are recorded in the law

reports. Where such difficulties arise the question must

be, What is the true and natural meaning of the language used

by the parties? This question is not governed by the general

rules which we have endeavouted to explain: but the words of

the contract must always be considered with reference to these

rules, which are founded upon the well-established customs

of merchants recognized and formulated by the courts of law.

(9) The bill of lading sometimes contains a clause as to

the shipowner's lien. Without any express provision for it

the shipowner has by the common law a lien for freight. If

it is desired to give the shipowner a lien for demurrage

(see below) or other charges, it must be expressly provided

for. The lien is the right of the shipowner to retain

the goods carried until payment has been made of the freight

or the demurrage, or other charge for which a lien has been

given. The lien may be waived, and is lost by delivery of the

goods, or by any dealing with the consignee which is inconsistent

with a right of the shipowner to retain possession of the

goods until payment has been made. The shipowner may preserve

his lien by landing the goods and retaining them in his own

warehouse, or by storing them in a public warehouse, subject

to the conditions required by the Merchant Shipping Act 1894.

Charter-parties.

Charter-parties are, as we have already explained, either

for a voyage or for a period of time. (1) A charter-party

for a voyage is a formal agreement made between the owner

of the vessel and the charterers by which it is agreed that

the vessel ``being tight, staunch and strong, and every way

fitted for the voyage,'' shall load at a certain named place

a full cargo either of goods of a specified description or

of general merchandise, and being so loaded shall proceed

with all possible despatch either to a specified place or

to a place to be named at a specified port of call, and

there deliver the cargo to the charterers or their assigns.

There are clauses which provide for the amount of freight

to be paid and the manner and time of payment; for the time,

usually described as lay days, to be allowed for loading

and discharging, and for the demurrage to be paid if the

vessel is detained beyond the lay days; usually also a clause

requiring ``the cargo to be brought to and taken from alongside

at merchant's risk and expense''; a clause that the master

shall sign bills of lading for the cargo shipped either at the

same rate of freight as is payable under the charter-party or

very commonly at any rate of freight (but in this case with

a stipulation that, if the total bill of lading freight is

less than the total freight payable under the charter-party,

the difference is to be paid by the charterers to the master

before the sailing of the vessel); and there is usually

vhat is called the cesser clause, by which the charterer's

liability under the charter-party is to cease on shipment

of the cargo, the shipowner taking a lien on the cargo for

freight, dead freight and demurrage. The charter-party is

made subject to exceptions similar to those which are found

in bills of lading. There are also usually clauses providing

for the commissions to be paid to the brokers on signing the

charter-party, the ``address'' commission to be paid to the

agents for the Vessel at the port of discharge, and other

matters of detail. The clauses in charter-parties vary, of

course, indefinitely, but the above is probably a sufficient

outline of the ordinary form of a charter-party for a voyage.

What has been said with regard to bills of lading as to the

voyage, the place of delivery, the exceptions and excepted

perils, and the liability of the shioowner and his lien applies

equally to charter-parties. lt may be desirable to add a few

words on demurrage, dead Freight, and on the cesser clause.

Demurrage is, properly speaking, a fixed sum per day or

per hour agreed to be paid by the charterer for any time

during which the vessel is detained in loading or discharging

over and above the time allowed, which is, as we have said,

usually described as the lay days. Sometimes the number of

days during which the vessel may be kept on demurrage at the

agreed rate is fixed by the charter-party. If no demurrage

is provided for by the charter-party, and the vessel is not

loading or discharging beyond the lay days, the shipowner

is entitled to claim damages in respect of the loss which

he has suffered by the detention of his ship; or, if the

vessel is detained beyond the fixed number of demurrage

days, damages for detention will be recoverable. Sometimes

there is no time fixed by the charter-party for loading or

discharging. The obligation in such cases is to load or

discharge with all despatch that is possible and reasonable

in the circumstances; and if the loading or discharging is

not done with such reasonable despatch, the shipowner will

be entitled to claim damages for detention of his ship. The

rate of demurrage (if any) will generally be accepted as the

measure of the damages for detention, but is not necessarily

the true measure. When the claim is for detention and

not demurrage the actual loss is recoverable, which may be

more or may be less than the agreed rate of demurrage. The

contract usually provides that Sundays and holidays shall

be excepted in counting the lay days, but unless expressly

stipulated this exception does not apply to the computation

of the period of detention after the lay days have expired.

Dead freight is the name gaven to the amount of freight

lost, and therefore recoverable by the shipowner from the

charterer as damages if a full and complete cargo is not

loaded in accordance with the terms of the charter-party.

The cesser clause has come into common use because very

frequently the charterers are not personally interested in

the cargo shipped. They may be agents merely, or they may

have chartered the vessel as a speculation to make a profit

upon the bill of lading freight. The effect of the clause is

that when the charterers have shipped a full cargo they have

fulfilled all their obligations, the shipowner discharging them

from all further liability and taking instead a lien on the

cargo for payment of all freight, demurrage or dead freight

that may be payable to him. It has become an established

rule for the construction of the cesser clause that, if

the language used will permit it, the cesser of liability is

assumed to be co-extensive only with the lien given to the

shipowner; or, in other words, the charterers are released

from those liabilities only for which a lien is given to the

shipowner. The shipowner is further secured by the stipulation

already referred to, that if the total freight payable under

the bills of lading is less than the full chartered freight

the difference shall be paid to the shipowner before the vessel

sails. A difficulty which sometimes arises, notwithstanding

these precautions, is that although an ample lien is given

by the charter-party, the terms of the bills of lading may be

insufficient to preserve the same extensive lien as against

the holder of the bills of lading. The shippers under the

bills of lading, if they are not the charterers, are not

liable for the chartered freight, but only for the bill

of lading freight; and unless the bill of lading expressly

reserves it, they are not subject to a lien for the chartered

freight. The master may guard against this difficulty by

refusing to sign bills of lading which do not preserve the

shipowner's lien for his full chartered freight. But he is

often put into a difficulty by a somewhat improvident clause

in the charter-party requiring him to sign bills of lading

as presented. See Kruger v. Moel Tryvan, 1907 A. C. 272.

(2) A time charter-party is a contract between the shipowner

and charterers, by which the shipowner agrees to let and

the charterers to hire the vessel for a specified term for

employment, either generally in any lawful trade or upon

voyages within certain limits. A place is usually named

at which the vessel is to be re-delivered to the owners at

the end of the term, and the freight is payable until such

re-delivery; the owner almost always pays the wages of the

master and crew, and the charterers provide coals and pay

port charges; the freight is usually fixed at a certain rate

per gross register ton per month, and made payable monthly

in advance, and provision is made for suspension of hire in

certain cases if the vessel is disabled; the master, though he

usually is and remains the servant of the owner, is required

to obey the orders of the charterers as regards the employment

of the vessel, they agreeing to indemnify the owners from all

liability to which they may be exposed by the master signing

bills of lading or otherwise complying with the orders of the

charterers; and the contract is made subject to exceptions

similar to those in bills of lading and voyage charter-parties.

This is the general outline of the ordinary form of a time

charter-party, but the forms and their clauses vary, of

course, very much, according to the circumstances of each case.

It is apparent that under a time charter-party the shipowner

to a large extent parts with the control of his ship, which

is employed within certain limits according to the wish and

directions, and for the purposes and profit of, the charterers.

But, as we have already explained at the beginning of this

article, the shipowner continues in possession of his vessel

by his servant the master, who remains responsible to his

owner for the safety and proper navigation of the ship. The

result of this, as has been already pointed out, is that the

holder of a bill of lading signed by the master, if he has

taken the bill of lading without knowledge of the terms of

the time charter-party, may hold the owner responsible for

the due performance of the contract signed by the master in

the ordinary course of his duties, and within his ostensible

authority as servant of the shipowner, although in fact in

signing the bill of lading the master was acting as agent

for and at the direction of the time charterer, and not the

shipowner. In the language of the ordinary time charter-party

the ship is let to the charterers; but there is no true

demise, because, as we have pointed out, the vessel remains

in the possession of the shipowner, the charterer enjoying

the advantages and control of its employment. Where the

possession of a ship is given up to a hirer, who appoints

his own master and crew, different considerations apply; but

though the instrument by which the ship is let may be called a

charter-party, it is not truly a contract of affreightment.

Customary rights.

There are certain rights and obligations arising out of the

relationship of shipowner and cargo-owner in circumstances

of extraordinary peril or urgency in the course of a voyage,

which, though not strictly contractual, are well established

by the customs of merchants and recognized by the law. It is

obvious that, when a ship carrying a cargo is in the course

of a voyage, the master to some extent represents the owners

of both ship and cargo. In cases of emergency it may be

necessary that the master should, without waiting for authority

or instructions, incur expense or make sacrifices as agent

not only of his employer, the shipowner, but also of the

cargo-owner. Ship and cargo may be in peril, and it may

be necessary for the safety of both to put into a port of

refuge. There it may be necessary to repair the ship, and to

land and warehouse, and afterwards re-ship the cargo. For these

purposes the master will be obliged to incur expense, of which

some part, such as the cost of repairing the ship, will be for

the benefit of the shipowner; part, such as the warehousing

expenses, will be for the benefit of the cargo-owner; and part,

such as the port charges incurred in order to enter the port

of refuge, are for the common benefit and safety of ship and

cargo. Again, in a storm at sea, it may be necessary for the

safety of ship and cargo to cut away a mast or to jettison,

that is to say, throw overboard part of the cargo. In such

a case the master, acting for the shipowner or cargo-owner,

as the case may be, makes a sacrifice of part of the ship or

part of the cargo, in either case for the purpose of saving

ship and cargo from a danger common to both. Voluntary

sacrifices so made and extraordinary expenses incurred for

the common safety are called general average (see AVERAGE)

sacrifices and expenses, and are made good to the person who

has made the sacrifice or incurred the expense by a general

average contribution, which is recoverable from the owners of

the property saved in proportion to its value, or, in other

words, each contributes rateably according to the benefit

received. The law regulating the rights of the parties with

regard to such contribution is called the law of General

Average. It must, however, be remembered that the owner of the

cargo is entitled under the contract of affreightment to the

ordinary service of the ship and crew for the safe carriage of

the cargo to its destination, and the shipowner is bound to pay

all ordinary expenses incurred for the purpose of the voyage.

He must also bear all losses arising from damage to the ship by

accidents. But when extraordinary expense has been incurred by

the shipowner for the safety of the cargo, he can recover such

expense from the owner of the cargo as a special charge on

cargo; or when an extraordinary expense has been incurred or a

voluntary sacrifice made by the shipowner to save the ship and

cargo from a peril common to both, he may require the owner of

cargo to contribute in general average to make good the loss.

See Carver, Carriage by Sea (London, 1905); Scrutton,

Charter-parties and Bills of Lading (London, 1904). (W.)

AFGHANISTAN, a country of Central Asia. Estimated area

245,000 sq. m. (including Badakshan and Kafiristan). Pop. about

5,000,000. It is bounded on the N. by Russian Turkestan,

on the W. by Persia, and on the E. and S. by Kashmir and the

independent tribes of the North-West Frontier of India and

Baluchistan. The chief importance of Afghanistan in modern

days is due to its position as a ``buffer state'' intervening

between the two great empires of Asiatic Russia and British

India. During the last quarter of the 19th century our

knowledge of the country was greatly increased, and its

boundaries on the N., E. and S. were strictly delimited.

The second Afghan war of 1878-80 afforded an opportunity for

the extension of wide geographical surveys on a scientific

basis. The Russian-Afghan Boundary Commission of 1884-1886

resulted in the delimitation and mapping of the northern

frontier. The Durand agreement of 1893 led to the partition of

the Pathan tribes on the southern and eastern frontiers. The Pamir

Commission of 1895 settled its north-eastern border. Finally the

Perso-Baluch Commission of 1904-1905 defined its western face.

Beginning with the Persian border at Zulfikar on the Hari Rud

river, the boundary between Afghanistan and Russia follows

a line roughly parallel to the course of the Paropamisus,

and about 35 m. to the north of it, till it strikes the

Kushk river in Jamshidi territory at a point which was

once known as Chahil Dukteran, but is now the Russian post

Kushkinski, and the terminus of a branch railway from Merv.

Kushkinski is about 20 m. below the old Jamshidi settlement

of Kushk, which is the capital of Badghis. The settlement

and the post originally called Kushk must not be confused

together. From Kushkinski the boundary runs north-east,

crossing the Murghab river near Maruchak (which is an Afghan

fortress), and thence passes north-east through the hills of

the Chul, and the undulating deserts of the Aleli Turkmans,

to the Oxus, leaving the valleys of Charshamba and of Andkhui

(to which it runs approximately parallel) within Afghan

limits. These valleys denote the limits of cultivation in

this direction. Throughout all this region the boundary is

generally of an artificial character, marked by pillars, but

it is here and there indicated by natural features forming

local lines of water-parting or water-course. The boundary

meets the Oxus at Khamiab at the western extremity of the

cultivated district of Khwaja Salar, and from that point to

the eastern end of Lake Victoria in the Pamirs the main channel

of the Oxus river forms the northern limits of Afghanistan.

(See OXUS.) Eastwards from Lake Victoria the frontier

line was determined by the Pamir Boundary Commission of

1895. A part of the little Pamir is included in Afghan

territory, but the boundary crosses this Pamir before the great

bend northwards of the Aksu takes place, and, passing over a

series of crags and untraversable mountain ridges, is lost on

the Chinese frontier in the snowfields of Sarikol. Bending

back westwards upon itself, the line of Afghan frontier now

follows the water-parting of the Hindu Kush; and as the Hindu

Kush absolutely overhangs the Oxus nearly opposite Ishkashim,

it follows that, at this point, Afghanistan is about 10 m.

wide. Thus a small and highly elevated portion of the state

extends eastwards from its extreme north-eastern corner, and

is attached to the great Afghan quadrilateral by the thin

link of the Panja valley. These narrow limits (called Wakhan)

include the lofty spurs of the northern flank of the Hindu

Kush, an impassable barrier at this point, where the glacial

passes reach 19,000 ft. in altitude, and the enclosing peaks

24,000 ft. The backbone or main water-divide of the Hindu

Kush continues to form the boundary between Afghanistan and

those semi-independent native states which fringe Kashmir

in this mountain region, until it reaches Kafiristan. From

near the Dorah pass (14,800 ft.), which connects Chitral with

the Panja (or Oxus) river, a long, straight, snow-clad spur

reaches southwards, which divides the Kafiristan valley of

Bashgol from that of Chitral, and this continues to denote

the eastern limits of Afghanistan till it nearly touches the

Chitral river opposite the village of Arnawai, 45 m. south of

Chitral. Here the Bashgol and Chitral valleys unite and the

boundary passes to the water-divide east of the Chitral river,

after crossing it by a spur which leaves the insignificant

Arnawai valley to the north; along this water-divide it extends

to a point nearly opposite the quaint old town of Pashat in

the Kunar valley (the Chitral river has become the Kunar in

its course southwards), and then stretches away in an uneven

and undefined line, dividing certain sections of the Mohmands

from each other by hypothetical landmarks, till it strikes

the Kabul river near Palosi. Thence following a course nearly

due south, it reaches Landi Kotal. From the abutment of

the Hindu Kush on the Sarikol in the Pamir regions to Landi

Kotal, and throughout its eastern and southern limits, the

boundary of Alghanistan touches districts which were brought

under British political control with the formation of the

North-West Frontier Provinces of India in 1901. From the

neighbourhood of Laudi Kotal the boundary is carried to the

Safed Roh overlooking the Afridi Tirah, and then, rounding

off the cultivated portidins of the Kurram valley below the

Peiwar, it crosses the Kaitu and passes to the upper reaches

of the Tochi. Crossing these again, it is continued on

the west of Waziristan, finally striking the Gomal river at

Domandi. South of the Gomal it separates the interests of

Afghanistan from those of Baluchistan, which here adjoins the

North-West Frontier Province. From Domandi (the junction of

the Kundar river with the Gomal) the Afghan boundary marches

with that of Baluchistan. (See BALUCHISTAN.) It is carried

to the south-west on a line which is largely defined by the

channels of the Kundar and the Kadanai to a point beyond

the Sind-Peshin terminal station of New Chaman, west of

the Khojak range, and then drops southward to Shorawak and

Nushki. From Nushki it crosses the Helmund desert, touching

the crest of a well-defined mountain watershed for a great

part of the way, and, leaving Chagai to Baluchistan, it

strikes nearly west to the Persian frontier, and joins it on

the Koh-i-Malik Siah mountain, south of Seistan. Two points

of this part of the Afghan boundary are notable. It leaves

some of the most fanatical of the Durani Afghan people on the

Baluch side of the frontier in the Toba district, north of

the Quetta-Chaman line of railway; and it passes 50 m. south

of the Helmund riven enclosing within Afghanistan the only

approach to Seistan from India which is available during the

seasons of Helmund overflow. Between Afghanistan and Persia

the boundary was defined by Sir F. Goldsmid's Commission

in 1872 from the Mahk-Siah-Koh to the Helmund Lagoons, and

rectified by the Commission under Sir Henry Macmahon in

1903-1905. Beyond these lagoons to Hashtadan it is still

indefinite. The eastern limits of Hashtadan had been previously

fixed as far north as the Hari Rud river at Toman Agha. From

this point to Zulfikar the Hari Rud is itself the boundary.

Afghan provinces.

Within the limits of this boundary Afghanistan comprises

four main provinces, Northern Afghanistan or Kabul, Southern

Afghanistan or Kandahar, Herat and Afghan Turkestan, together

with the minor dependencies of the Ghilzai and Hazara

Highlands, Ghazni, Jalalabad and Kafiristan. All these are

described in separate articles. The kingdom of Kabul is the

historic Afghanistan; the link which unites it to Kandahar,

Herat and the other outlying provinces having been frequently

broken and again restored by amirs of sufficient strength and

capability. The Herat province is largely Persian, while

Afghan Turkestan is chiefly Usbeg; and in neither is

the sentiment of loyalty to the central government very

strong. The bond is geographical and political rather than

racial. The geographical divisions of the country are created

by the basins of its chief rivers, the Kabul, the Helmund,

the Hari Rud and the Oxus. The Kabul river drains Northern

Afghanistan, the Hari Rud the province of Herat, and the Oxus

that of Afghan Turkestan. Afghanistan is largely a country

of mountains and deserts; but there are wide tracts of highly

irrigated and most productive country where fruit is grown in

such abundance as to become an important item in the export

trade. The Afghans are expert agriculturists and make profitable

use of all the natural sources of water-supply. As practical

irrigation engineers they are only rivalled by the Chinese.

Mountain systems.

The dominant mountain system of Afghanistan is the Hindu

Kush, and that extension westwards of its water-divide which

reindicated by the Koh-i-Baba to the north-west of Kabul,

and by the Firozkhoi plateau (Karjistan), which merges still

farther to the west by gentle gradients into the Paropamisus,

and which may be traced across the Hari Rud to Mashad.

The culminating peaks of the Koh-i-Baba overlooking the sources

of the Hari Rud, the Helmund, the Kunduz and the Kabul very

nearly reach 17,000 ft. in height (Shah Fuladi, the highest,

is 16,870), and from them to the south-west long spurs divide

the upper tributaries of the Helmund, and separate its basin

from that of the Farah Rud. These spurs retain a considerable

altitude, for they are marked by peaks exceeding 11,000

ft. They sweep in a broad band of roughly parallel ranges to

the south-west, preserving their general direction till they

abut on the Great Registan desert to the west of Kandahar,

where they terminate in a series of detached and broken

anticlinals whose sides are swept by a sea of encroaching

sand. The long, straight, level-backed ridges which divide

the Argandab, the Tarnak and Arghastan valleys, and flank the

route from Kandaharto Ghazni. determining the direction of

that route, are outliers of this system, which geographically

includes the Khojak, or Kwaja Amran, range in Baluchistan.

North of the main water-parting of Afghanistan the broad synclinal

plateau into which the Hindu Kush is merged is traversed by

the gorges of the Saighan, Bamian and Kamard tributaries of the

Kunduz, and farther to the west by the Band-i-Amir or Balkh

river. Between the debouchment of the Upper Murghab from

the Firozkhoi uplands into the comparatively low level of

the valley above Bala Murghab, extending eastwards in a

nearly straight line to the upper sources of the Shibarghan

stream, the Band-i-Turkestan range forms the northern ridge

between the plateau and the sand formations of the Chul. lt

is a level, straight-backed line of sombre mountain ridge,

from the crest of which, as from a wall, the extraordinary

configuration of that immense loess deposit called the Chul

can be seen stretching away northwards to the Oxus--ridge

upon ridge, wave upon wave, like a vast yellow-grey sea of

storm-twisted billows. The Band-i-Turkestan anticlinal may

be traced eastwards of the Balkh-ab (the Band-i-Amir) within

the folds of the Kara Koh to the Kunduz, and beyond; but

the Kara Koh does not mark the northern wall of the great

plateau nor overlook the sands of the Oxus plain, as does the

Band-i-Turkestan. Here there intervenes a second wide synclinal

plateau, of which the northern edge is defined n1y the

fiat outlines of the Elburz to the south of Mazar-itsharif,

and immediately at the foot of this range lie the alluvial

plains of Mazar and Tashkurghan. Opposite Tashkurghan the

Oxus plain narrows to a short 25 m. On the south this great

band of roughly undulatine central plateau is bounded by the

Koh-i-Baba, to the west of Kabul, and by the Hindu Kush to

the north and north-east of that city. Thus the main routes

from Kabul to Afghan Turkestan must cross either one or

other of these ranges, and must traverse one or other of the

terrific defiles which have been carved out of them by the

upoer tributaries of the rivers running northwards towards the

Oxus. Probably in no country in the world are there gathered

together within comparatively narrow limits so many clean-cut

waterways, measuring thousands of feet in depth, affording

such a stupendous system of narrow roadways through the hills.

After the Hindu Kush and the Turkestan mountains, that range

which divides Ningrahar (or the valley of ialalabad) from

Kurram and the Afridi Tirah, and is called Safed Koh (also

the name of the range south of the Hari Rud), is the most

important, as it is the most impressive, in Afghanistan.

The highest peak of the Safed Koh, Sikaram, is 15,600 ft. above

sea-level. From this central dominating peak it falls gently

towards the west, and gradually subsides in long spurs,

reaching to within a few miles of Kabul and barring the road

from Kabul to Ghazni. At a point which is not far east of

the Kabul meridian an offshoot is directed southwards, which

becomes the water-parting between the Kurram and the Logar at

Shutargardan, and can be traced to a connexion with the great

watershed of the frontier dividing the Indus basin from that

of the Helmund. This main watershed retains its high altitude

far to the south. There are peaks measuring over 12,000

ft. on the divide between the Tochi and the Ghazni plains.

So far as we know at present the geological history of Afghanistan

differs widely from that of India. When, somewhere at the

commencement of the Cretaceous period, the peninsula of India

was connected by land with Madagascar and Southern Africa, all

Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Persia formed part of an area

which was not continuously below sea-level, but exhibited

alternations of land and sea. The end of the Cretaceous

period saw the beginning of a series of great earth movements

ushered in by volcanic eruptions on a scale such as the earth

has never since witnessed, which resulted in the upheaval

of the Himalayas by a process of crushing and folding of the

sedimentary rocks till marine fossils were forced to an altitude

of 20,000 ft. above the sea. It was not till the Tertiary

age, and even late in that age, that much of the land area of

Afghanistan was raised above the sea-level. Then the ocean

gradually retired into the great Central Asian depressions.

Everywhere there have been great and constant changes of

level since that period, and the process of flexure and the

formation of anticlinals traversing the northern districts of

Afghanistan is a process which is still in action. So rapid

has been the land elevation of Central Afghanistan that the

erosive action of rivers has not been nble to keep pace with

that of upheaval; and the result all through Afghanistan (but

specially marked in the great central highlands between Kabul

and Herat) is the formation of those immensely deep gorges

and defiles which are locally known as daras. One of these,

in the Astarab, to the south-east of Maimana, is but 30 yds.

wide, and is enclosed between perpendicular limestone cliffs

1500 ft. high. C. L. Griesbach considers that the general

outline of the land configuration has remained much the same

since Pliocene times, and that the force which brought about

the wrinkling of the older deposits still continues to add

fold on fold. The highlands which shut off the Turkestan

provinces from Southern Afghanistan have afforded the best

opportunities for geological investigation, and as might

be expected from their geographical position, the general

result of the examination of exposed sections leads to

the identification of geoloeical affinity with Himalayan,

Indian and Persian regions. The general configuration

of the Turkestan highlands has been already indicated.

Against the last great fold which terminates this mountain

area northwards are ranged the Tertiaries and recent

deposits. North of Maimana they form low undulating loess

hills, in which most of the Band-i-Turkestan drainage is

lost. This wide-spreading loess area, formed partly of

wind-blown sand and partly of detritus from the mountains, is

known as Chul, and merges into the great plains south of the

Oxus river, a great part of which is covered with modern aerial

deposits. Beneath this Chul formation the older beds of

the outer and Turkestan ranges dip and pass to an irregular

outcrop near the banks of the Oxus. Between the Oxus and the

hills there has already been formed a rise or flexure in the

ground, which extends more or less parallel to the northern

edge of the hills, and, shuttinr in the cultivated area of the

plains, arrests all tributaries seeking to effect a junction

with the Oxus from the south, and leads to the formation

of marshes and swamps. This appears to be the beginning of

a new anticlinal which has altered the levels of the Balkh

plain, and is indicative of those elevating processes which

may have been effective within historic times in changing

the climate and the agricultural prospects of this part

of Central Asia. The Oxus itself is steadily encroaching

on its right banks and depositing detritus on the left.

No fresh discoveries of minerals likely to be of hich

economic value to Afghanistan have been made of late

years. Such as are known and worked at present have been

worked from very ancient times, and their capacity is not

likely to develop greatly under the Kabul government. The

most important feature in this connexion which was noted

by the geologist of the Russo-Afghan Commission is the

existence of vast coal beds in northern Afghanistan. In 1903

some coal mines were discovered in the Jagdalak districts.

There are no glaciers now to be found in Afghan Turkestan; but

evidences of their recent existence are abundant. The great

boulder bed terraces in some of the valleys of the northern

slopes of the Ferozkhoi plateau are probably of glacial

origin. In the mountains west of Kabul glaciers have

retired, leaving the moraines perfectly undisturbed. They

are probably contemporary with the older alluvia. (T. H. H.*)

Rocks.

The oldest rocks which have yet been identified 1 in Afghanistan

occur along the axis of the main watershed, and have been

referred to the Carboniferous. At Robat-i-Pai near Herat, for

example, there is a dark Productus limestone which seems

to be identical with the Productus limestone of the Central

Himalayas. These beds are conformably succeeded, along the

Central Asian watershed, by a continuous series of strata

which apparently represent the Permian, Trias and Jurassic of

Europe. They consist of marine beds alternating with

freshwater and littoral deposits, together with plant beds

and coal-scarns of considerable thickness. The lowest beds

of this series, which from their position may belong either

to the Permian or to the upper part of the Carboniferous,

have yielded no recognizable fossils; but they include a

conglomerate which closely resembles the boulder bed near the

base of the Talchir series in India. The Upper Trias has been

definitely identified by the occurrence of Halobia and other

fossils; while in the higher beds of the series marine forms

belonging to the middle and upper Jurassic have been found.

The plant beds occur at several horizons, and among the

remains which have been found in them are several forms

which occur also in the Gondwana beds of India. There can

be no doubt that the series as a whole is the equivalent

of the Gondwana system, and when the country has been

more closely examined the association of marine fossils

with Gondwana plants will be of the greatest value in

determining the precise homotaxis of the Indian deposits.

The Jurassic beds are followed, generally with perfect

conformity, by the Cretaceous, which covers a large part of

Afghan Turkestan and probably forms the greater part of the

ranges which run south and south-west from the principal

watershed. The lowest beds consist of red grits which contain

Neocomian fossils, while the middle and upper Cretaceous

consist chiefly of limestone and chalk. The entire system

may be represented in the west, but in the Herat province

and in Afghan Turkestan the middle Cretaceous seems to be

absent, and it is probable that, as in other regions, the

upper Cretaceous covers a much wider area than the lower

beds. Tertiary and recent deposits are widely spread, filling

most of the valleys and covering the plains of the Helmund.

Eocene beds have not yet been proved to exist; but this is

probably owing to the imperfect knowledge of the country, for

the formation is known in Persia, Baluchistan and the Suliman

Hills. The lower part of the Miocene is marine in Herat

and Afghan Turkestan; but the upper Miocene is usually of

freshwater or estuarine origin. in Afghanistan, as in other

regions near the great Eurasian system of folds, the Miocene

includes extensive deposits of gypsum and salt. It was during

this period that the forces which finally raised the country

above the level of the sea began to take effect. The Pliocene

consists entirely of freshwater and terrestrial deposits, which

were probably laid down at the foot of the rising hills and

on the floors of the intervening valleys. As the elevation

continued, they were sometimes involved in the folding to

which the mountains owe their origin. During this period the

gradual desiccation of the country continued, and wind-blown

deposits, such as the loess, began to make their appearance.

Although volcanic cones are known both in Persia and in

Baluchistan, none have yet been described in Afghanistan

itself. There is, however, ample evidence that at several

distinct geological periods the region has been the seat

of great volcanic activity. According to C. L. Griesbach,

basic volcanic rocks are interbedded with the lowest part of

the plant-bearing series, and enormous outbursts took place

during the Neocomian period. But the most important igneous

masses are the great intrusions of syenitic granite and of

basic rock which penetrate the Cretaceous beds. These are

probably of Eocene or of late Cretaceous age. (P. LA.)

Omitting the group of northern routes to India from Central

Asia, which pass between Kashmir and Afghanistan through

the defiles of Chitral and of the Indus (see HINDU KUSH),

the highways of Afghanistan may be classed under two heads:

(1) Foreign trade routes, and (2) Internal communications.

The most important commercially are those which connect the Oxus

regions and the Central Asian khanates with Kabul, and those

which lead from Kabul, Ghazni and Kandahar to the plains of India.

Kabul is linked with Afghan Turkestan and Badakshan by three

main lines of communication across the Koh-i-Baba and the Hindu

Kush. One of these routes follows the Balkh river to its

head from Tahshkurghan, and then, preserving a high general

level of 8600 to 9000 ft., it passes over the water-divides

separating the upper tributaries of the Kunduz river,

and drops into the valley formed by another tributary at

Bamian. From Bamian it passes over the central mountain chain

to Kabul either by the well-known Dasses of Irak (marking

the water-divide of the Koh-i-Baba) and of Unai (marking the

summit of the Sanglakh, a branch of the Hindu Kush), or else,

turning eastwards, it crosses into the Ghorband valley by the

Shibar, a pass which is considerably lower than the Irak and

is very seldom snowbound. From the foot of the Unai pass it

follows the Kabul river, and from the foot of the Shibar it

follows the circuitous route which is offered by the drainage

of the Ghorband valley to Charikar, and thence southwards to

Kabul. The main points on this route are Haibak, Bajgah and

Bamian. It is full of awkward grades and minor passes, but

it does not maintain a high level generally, no pass (if the

Shibar route be adopted) much exceeding 10,000 ft. That this

has for centuries been regarded as the main route northward

from Kabul, the Buddhist relics of Bamian and Haibak bear

silent witness; but it may be doubted whether Abdur Rahman's

talent for roadmaking has not opened out better alternative

lines. One of his roads connects Haibak with the Ghorband

valley by the Chahardar pass across the Hindu Kush. The pass

is high (nearly 14,000 ft.), but the road is excellently well

laid out, and the route, which, south of Haibak, traverses a

corner of the Ghori and Baghlan districts of Badakshan, is more

direct. A third route also passes through Badakshan, and

connects Kunduz with Charikar by the Khawak pass and Panjshir

river. The latter joins the Ghorband close to Charikar. The

Khawak (11,600 ft.) is not a high pass; the grades are easy

and the snowfall usually light. This high road is stated (on

Afghan authority) to be kept open for khafila traffic all the

year round by the employment of forced labour for clearing

snow. It is a recently developed route and one of great

imoortance to Kabul, both strategically and commercially.

Routes that pass between the mountain barriers of the frontier

between Peshawar and the Gomal occur at intervals along the

western border, and in the northern section of the Indian

frontier they are all well marked. The Khyber, Kurram and

Tochi are the best known, inasmuch as all these lines of

advance into Afghanistan are held by British troops or Indian

levies. But the Bara valley route into the heart of the Afridi

Tirah is not to be altogether overlooked, although it is not

a trade route of any importance. Between Kabul and Jalalabad

there are two roads, one by the Uataband pass, and the other

and more difficult by the Khurd-Kabul and Iagdalak passes, the

latter being the scene of the massacre of a British brigade in

1842. Between Jalalabad and Peshawar is the Khyber pass

(q.v..) The Khyber was not in ancient times the main route

of advance from Kabul to Peshawar. From Kabul the old route

followed the Kabul river through the valley of Laghman (or

Lamghan, as the Afghans call it) over a gentle water-parting

into the Kunar valley, leaving Ningrahar and Jalalabad to the

south. From the Kunar it crossed into Bajour by one of

several open and comparatively easy passes, and from Bajour

descended into India either by the Malakand or some other

contiguous frontier gateway to the plains of Peshawar. 8600

and 10,800 ft. respectively) across the southern extensions of

the Safed Koh range, and has never been a great trade route,

however suitable as an alternative military line of advance.

Trade does not extend largely between Afghanistan and India

by the Tochi route, being locally confined to the valley

and the districts at its head, yet this is the shortest and

most direct route between Ghazni and the frontier, and in

the palmy days of Ghazni miding was the road by which the

great robber Mahmud occasionally descended on to the Indus

plains. Traces of his raiding and roadmakina are still

visible, but it is certain that he made use of the more direct

route to Peshawar far more frequently than he did of the

Tochi. The exact nature of the connexion between the head

of the Tochi and the Ghazni plain is still unknown to us.

The Gomal is the great central trade route between Afvhanistan

and India; and the position, which is held by a tribal post at

Wana, will do much to ensure its continued popularity. The

Gomal involves no passes of any great difficulty, although

it is impossible to follow the actual course of the river

on account of the narrow defiles which have been cut through

the recent conglomerate beds which flank the plains of the

Indus. It has been carefully surveyed for a possible railway

alignment; and an excellent road now connects Tank (at

its foot) with the Zhob line of communications to Quetta,

and with Wana on the southern flank of Waziristan. The

Gomal route is of immense importance, both as a commercial

and strategic line, and in both particulars is of far

greater significance than either the Kurram or the Tochi.

(2) Of the interior lines of communication, those which

connect the great cities of Afghanistan, Herat, Kabul and

Kandahar, are obviously the most important. Between Kabul

and Herat there is no ``royal'' road, the existing route

passing over the frequently snow-bound wastes that lie below

the southern flank of the great Koh-i-Baba into the upper

valleys of the Hari Rud tributaries. lt is a waste, elevated,

desolate region that the route traverses, and the road itself

is only open at certain seasons of the year. Between Kabul

and Kandahar exists the well-known and oft-traversed route by

Ghazni and Kalat-i-Ghilzai. There is but one insignificant

water-parting--or kotal--a little to the north of Ghazni;

and the road, although unmade, may be considered equal to any

road of its length in Europe for military purposes. Berween

Kandahar and Herat there is the recognized trade route which

crosses the Helmund at Girishk and passes through Farahand

Sabzawar. It includes about 360 miles of easy road, with

spaces where water is scarce. There is not a pass of any

great importance, nor a river of any great difficulty, to be

encountered from end to end, but the route is flanked on the

north between Kandahar and Girishk by the Zamindawar hills,

containing the most truculent and fanatical clans of all the

Southern Afghan tribes. Little need be said of the 65 m. of

route between Kandahar and the Baluchistan frontier at New

Chaman. It is on the whole a route across open plains and

hard, stony ``dasht''---a route which would offer no great

difficulties to that railway extension from1 Olhaman which

has so long been contemplated. A very considerable trade

now passes along this route to India, in spite of almost

prohibitive imposts; but the trade does not follow the railway

from New Chaman to the eastern foot of the Khojak. Long

strings of camels may still be seen from the train windows

patiently treading their slow way over the Khoiak pass

to Kila Abdullah, whilst the train alongside them rapidly

twists through the mountain tunnel into the Peshin valley.

Climate.

The variety of climate is immense, as might be expected.

Taking the highlands of the country as a whole, there is no

great difference between the mean temperature of Afghanistan

and that of the lower Himalayas. Each may be placed at a point

between 50 deg. and 60 deg. F. But the remarkable feature of Afghan

climate (as also of that of Baluchistan) is its extreme range

of temperature within limited periods. The least daily range

in the north is during the cold weather, the greatest in the

hot. For seven months of the year (from May to November)

this range exceeds 30 deg. F. daily. Waves of intense cold

occur, lasting for several days, and one may have to endure

a cold of 12 deg. below zero, rising to a maximum of 17 deg. below

freezing-point. On the other hand the summer temperature is

exceedingly high, especially in the Oxus regions, where a shade

maximum of 110 deg. to 120 deg. is not uncommon. At Kabul, and over

all the northern part of the country to the descent at Gandamak,

winter is rigorous, but especially so on the high Arachosian

plateau. In Kabul the snow lies for two or three months;

the people seldom leave their houses, and sleep close to

stoves. At Ghazni the snow has been known to lie long beyond

the vernal equinox; the thermometer sinks to 10 deg. and 15 deg.

below zero (Fahr.); and tradition relates the entire destruction

of the population of Ghazni by snowstorms more than once.

At Jalalabad the winter and the climate generally assume an

Indian character. The summer heat is great everywhere in

Afghanistan, but most of all in the districts bordering on the

Indus, especially Sewi, on the lower Helmund and in Seistan.

All over Kandahar province the summer heat is intense, and

the simoon is not unknown. The hot season throughout this

part of the country is rendered more trying by frequent dust

storms and fiery winds; whilst the bare rocky ridges that

traverse the country, absorbing heat by day and radiating it

by night, render the summer nights most oppressive. At Kabul

the summer sun has great power, though the heat is tempered

occasionally by cool breezes from the Hindu Kush, and the

nights are usually cool. At Kandahar snow seldom falls on

the plains or lower hills; when it does, it melts at once.

At Herat, though 800 ft. lower than Kandahar, the summer climate

is more temperate; and, in fact, the climate altogether is

far from disagreeable. From May to September the wind blows

from the N.W. with great violence, and this extends across

the country to Kandahar. The winter is tolerably mild; snow

melts as it falls, and even on the mountains does not lie

long. Three years out of four at Herat it does not freeze

hard enough for the people to store ice; yet it was not very

far from Herat, and could not have been at a greatly higher

level (at Rafir Kala, near Kassan) that, in 1750, Ahmad Shah's

army, retreating from Persia, is said to have lost 18,000

men from cold in a single night. In the northern Herat

districts, too, records of the coldest month (February) show

the mean minimum as 17 deg. F., and the maximum 38 deg. . The eastern

reaches of the Hari Rud river are frozen hard in the winter,

rapids and all, and the people travel on it as on a road.

The summer rains that accompany the S.W. monsoon in India,

beating along the southern slopes of the Himalaya, travel

up the Kabul valley as far as Laghman, though they are more

clearly felt in Bajour and Panjkora, under the high spurs

of the Hindu Kush, and in the eastern branches of Safed

Koh. Rain also falls at this season at the head of Kurram

valley. South of this the Suliman mountains may be taken as

the western limit of the monsoon's action. It is quite unfelt

in the rest of Afghanistan, in which, as in all the west of

Asia, the winter rains are the most considerable. The spring

rain, though less copious, is more important to agriculture than

the winter rain, unless where the latter falls in the form of

snow. In the absence of monsoon influences there are steadier

weather indications than in India. The north-west blizzards

which occur in winter and spring are the most noticeable

feature, and their influence is clearly felt on the Indian

frontier. The cold is then intense and the force of the wind

cyclonic. Speaking generally, the Afghanistan climate is a dry

one. The sun shines with splendour for three-fourths of the

year, and the nights are even more clear than the days. Marked

characteristics are the great differences of summer and winter

temperature and of day and night temperature, as well as the extent

to which change of climate can be attained by slight change of

place. As the emperor Baber said of Kabul, at one day's journey

from it you may find a place where snow never falls, and at

two hours' journey a place where snow almost never melts!

The Afghans vaunt the salubrity and charm of some local

climates, as of the Toba hills above the Kakar country,

and of some of the high valleys of the Safed Koh.

The people have by no means that immunity from disease

which the bright, dry character of the climate and the fine

physical aspect of a large proportion of them might lead

us to expect. Intermittent and remittent fevers are very

prevalent; bowel complaints are common, and often fatal in the

autumn. The universal custom of sleeping on the house-top

in summer promotes rheumatic and neuralgic affections;

and in the Koh Daman of Dabul, which the natives regard

as having the finest of climates, the mortality from fever

and bowel complaint, between July and October, is great,

the immoderate use of fruit predisposing to such ailments.

Population.

The term Afghan really applies to one section only of the

mixed conglomeration of nationalities which forms the people

of Afghanistan, but this is the dominant section known as the

Durani. The Ghilzai (who is almost as powerful as the Durani)

claims to be of Turkish origin; the Hazaras, the Chahar-Aimak,

Tajiks, Uzbegs, Kafirs and others are more or less subject

races. Popularly any inhabitant of Afghanistan is known

as Afghan on the Indian frontier without distinction of

origin or language; but the language division between the

Parsiwan (or Persian-speaking Afghan) and the Pathan is

a very distinct one. The predominance of the Afghan in

Afghanistan dates from the middle of the 18th century,

when Ahmad Shah carved out Afghanistan from the previous

conquests of Nadir Shah and called it the Durani empire.

The Durani Afghans claim to be Ben-i-Israel, and insist

on their descent from the tribes who were carried away

captive from Palestine to Media by Nebuchadrezzar. Yet

they also claim to be Pukhtun (or Pathan) in common with all

other Pushtu-speaking tribes, whom they do not admit to be

Afghan. The bond of affinity between the various peoples who

compose the Pathan community is simply the bond of a common

language. All of them recognize a common code or unwritten

law called Pukhtunwali, which appears to be similar in general

character to the old Hebraic law, though modified by Mahommedan

ordinances, and strangely similar in certain particulars to

Rajput custom. Besides their division into clans and tribes,

the whole Afghan people may be divided into dwellers in tents

and dwellers in houses; and this division is apparently not

coincident with tribal divisions, for of several of the great

clans at least a part is nomad and a part settled. Such,

e.g., is the (use with the Durani and with the Ghilzai.

The settled Afghans form the village communities, and in

part the population of the few towns. Their chief occupation

is with the soil. They form the core of the nation and the

main part of the army. Nearly all own the land on which

they live, and which they cultivate with their own hands

or by hired labour. Roundly speaking, agriculture and

soldiering are their sole occupations. No Afghan will pursue

a handicraft or keep a shop, though the Ghilzai Povindahs

engage largely in travelling trade and transport of goods.

As a race the Afghans are very handsome and athletic, often

with fair complexion and flowing beard, generally black or

brown, sometimes, though rarely, red; the features highly

aquiline. The hair is shaved off from the forehead to the

top of the head, the remainder at the sides being allowed

to fall in large curls over the shoulders. Their step is

full of resolution; their bearing proud and apt to be rough.

The women have handsome features of Jewish cast (the

last trait often true also of the men); fair complexions,

sometimes rosy, though usually a pale sallow; hair braided

and plaited behind in two long tresses terminating in silken

tassels. They are rigidly secluded, but intrigue is frequent.

The Afghans, inured to bloodshed from childhood, are familiar

with death, and audacious in attack, but easily discouraged

by failure; excessively turbulent and unsubmissive to law or

discipline; apparently frank and affable in manner, especially

when they hope to gain some object, but capable of the grossest

brutality when that hope ceases. They are unscrupulous in

perjury, treacherous, vain and insatiable, passionate in

vindictiveness, which they will satisfy at the cost of their

own lives and in the most cruel manner. Nowhere is crime

committed on such trifling grounds, or with such general

impunity, though when it is punished the punishment is

atrocious. Among themselves the Afghans are quarrelsome,

intriguing and distrustful; estrangements and affrays are of

constant occurrence; the traveller conceals and misrepresents

the time and direction of his journey. The Afghan is by breed

and nature a bird of prey. If from habit and tradition he

respects a stranger within his threshold, he yet considers it

legitimate to warn a neighbour of the prey that is afoot, or

even to overtake and plunder his guest after he has quitted his

roof. The repression of crime and the demand of taxation

he regards alike as tyranny. The Afghans are eternally

boasting of their lineage, their independence and their

prowess. They look on the Afghans as the first of nations,

and each man looks on himself as the equal of any Afghan.

They are capable of enduring great privation, and make

excellent soldiers under British discipline, though there

are but few in the Indian army. Sobriety and hardiness

characterize the bulk of the people, though the higher classes

are too often stained with deep and degrading debauchery.

The first impression made by the Afghan is favourable. The

European, especially if he come from India, is charmed by

their apparently frank, open-hearted, hospitable and manly

manners; but the charm is not of long duration, and he finds

that the Afghan is as cruel and crafty as he is independent.

No trustworthy statistics exist showing either present numbers

or fluctuations in the population of Afghanistan. Within the

amir's dominions there are probably from four to five millions

of people, and of these the vast majority are agriculturists.

The cultivators, including landowners, tenants, hired labourers

and slaves, represent the working population of the country,

and as industrious and successful agriculturists they are

unsurpassed in Asia. They have carried the art of irrigation

to great perfection, and they utilize every acre of profitable

soil. Certain Ghilzai clans are specially famous for their skill

in the construction of the karez or underground water-channel.

Religion.

The religion of the country throughout is Mahommedan. Next to

Turkey, Afghanistan is the most powerful Mahommedan kingdom in

existence. The vast majority of Afghans are of the Sunni sect;

but there are, in their midst, such powerful communities of

Shiahs as the Hazaras of the central districts, the Kizilbashes

of Kabul and the Turis of the Kurram border, nor is there

between them that bitterness of sectarian animosity which is

so marked a feature in India. The Kafirs of the mountainous

region of Kafiristan alone are non-Mahommedan. They are sunk

in a paganism which seems to embrace some faint reflexion

of Greek mythology, Zoroastrian principles and the tenets of

Buddhism, originally gathered, no doubt, from the varied

elements of their mixed extraction. Those contiguous Afghan

tribes, who have not so long ago been converted to the faith of

Islam, are naturally the most fanatical and the most virulent

upholders of the faith around them. In and about the centre of

civilization at Kabul, instances of Ghazism are comparatively

rare. In the western provinces about Kandahar (amongst the

Durani Afghans---the people who claim to be Beni-Israel),

and especially in Zamindawar, the spirit of fanaticism runs

high, and every other Afghan is a possible Ghazi---a man

who has devoted his life to the extinction of other creeds.

Language and literature.

Persian is the vernacular of a large part of the non-Afghan

population, and is familiar to all educated Afghans; it

is the language of the court and of literature. Pushtu,

however, is the prevailing language, though it does not seem

to be spoken in Herat, or, roughly speaking, west of the

Helmund. Turki is spoken in Afghan Turkestan. There is a

respectable amount of Afghan literature. The oldest work in

Pushtu is a history of the conquest of Swat by Shaikh Mali,

a chief of the Yusafzais, and leader in the conquest (A.D.

1413-24). In 1494 Kaju Khan became chief of the same

clan; during his rule Buner and Panjkora were completely

conquered, and he wrote a history of the events. In the

reign of Akbar, Bayazid Ansari, called Pir-i-Roshan, ``the

Saint of Light,'' the founder of an heretical sect, wrote

in Pushtu; as did his chief antagonist, a famous Afghan

saint called Akhund Darweza. The literature is richest in

poetry. Abdur Rahman (17th century) is the best known poet.

Another very popular poet is Khushal Khan, the warlike chief

of the Khattaks in the time of Aurangzeb. Many other members

of his family were poets also. Ahmad Shah, the founder of

the monarchy, likewise wrote poetry. Ballads are numerous.

Education.

Education is confined to most elementary principles in

Afghanistan. Of schools or colleges for the purposes of a

higher education befitted to the sons of noblemen and the

more wealthy merchants there are absolutely none; but the

village school is an ever-present and very open spectacle

to the passer-by. Here the younger boys are collected and

instructed in the rudiments of reading, writing and religious

creed by the village mullah, or priest, who thereby acquires

an early influence over the Afghan mind. The method of

teaching is confined to that wearisome system of loud-voiced

repetition which is so annoying a feature in Indian schools;

and the Koran is, of course, the text-book in all forms of

education. Every Afghan gentleman can read and speak

Persian, but beyond this acquirement education seems to

be limited to the physical development of the youth by

instruction in horsemanship and feats of skill. Such

advanced education as exists in Afghanistan is centred in the

priests and physicians; but the ignorance of both is extreme.

Constitution and laws.

The government of Afghanistan is an absolute monarchy under the

amir, and succession to the throne is hereditary. There are

five chief political divisions in the country---namely, Kabul,

Turkestan, Herat, Kandahar and Badakshan, each of which is ruled

by a ``naib'' or governor, whom is directly responsible to the

amir. Under the governors of provinces the nobles and kazis

(or district judges) dispense justice much in the feudal

fashion. There are three classes of chiefs who form the council

or durbar of the king. These are the sirdars, the khans and the

mullahs. The sirdars are hereditary nobles, the khans are

representatives of the people, and the mullahs of Mahommedan

religion. The khan is elected by the clan or tribe. The

clannish attachment of the Afghans is rather to the community

than to the chief. These three classes of representatives

are divided into two assemblies, the Durbar Shahi or royal

assembly, and the Kharwanin Mulkhi or commons. The mullahs

take their place in one or the other according to their

individual rank. The executive officials of the amir have

a selected body, called the Khilwat, which acts as a cabinet

council, but no member can give advice to the crown without

being asked to do so, or beyond the jurisdiction of his own

department. The amir, in addition to being chief executive

officer, is chief judge and supreme court of appeal. Any one

has the right to appeal to the amir for trial, and the great

amirs, Dost Mahommed and Abdurrahman,were accessible at all

times to the petitions of their subjects. Next to the amir

comes the court of the kazi, the chief centre of justice,

and beneath the kazi comes the kotwal, who performs, as in

India, the ordinary functions of a magistrate. In large

provincial towns there is a punchait, or council, for the trial

of commercial cases. There are government departments for

the administration of revenue, customs, post-office, military

affairs, &c. The general law administered in all the courts

of Afghanistan is that of Islam and of the customs of the

country, with developments introduced by the Amir Abdur Rahman.

Defence.

The Afghan army probably numbers 50,000 regulars distributed

between the military centres of Herat, Kandahar, Kabul,

Mazar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad and Asmar, with detachments at

frontier outposts on the side of India. Abdur Rahman claimed

that he could put 100,000 men into the field within a week

for the defence of Herat. In 1896 he introduced a system of

semi-enforced service whereby one man in every eight between

the ages of sixteen and seventy takes his turn at military

training. In this way he calculated that he could have raised

1,000,000 men armed with modern weapons, but his chief difficulty

would be money and transport. The pay of the army is apt to be

irregular. The amir's factories at Kabul for arms and ammunition

are said to turn out about 20,000 cartridges and 15 rifles

daily, with 2 guns per week; but the arms thus produced are

very heterogeneous, and the different varieties of cartridge

used would cause endless complications. The two chief

fastnesses of Northern Afghanistan are Herat and Dehdadi near

Balkh. The latter fort took twelve years to build, and

commands all the roads leading from the Oxus into Afghan

Turkestan. It is armed with naval quick-firing guns, Krupp,

Hotchkiss, Nordenfeld and Maxim. The chief cantonment for

the same district is at Mazar-i-Sharif, 12 m. from Balkh.

Finance.

Financially, Afghanistan has never, since it first became a

kingdom, been able to pay for its own government, public

works and army. There appears to be no inherent reason why

this should be so. Whilst it can never (in the absence of

any great mineral wealth) develop into a wealthy country,

it can at least support its own population; and it would,

but for the short-sighted trade policy of Abdur Rahman,

certainly have risen to a position of respectable solvency.

Its revenues (about which no trustworthy information is

available) are subject to great fluctuations, and probably

never exceed the value of one million sterling per annum.

They fell in Shere Ali's time to L. 700,000. The original

subsidy to the amir from the Indian government was fixed

at 12 lakhs of rupees (L. 80,000) per annum, but in 1893, in

connexion with the boundary settlement, it was increased to

Minerals.

Few minerals are wrought in Afghanistan, though Abdur Rahman

claims in his autobiography that the country is rich in

mines. Some small quantity of gold is taken from the streams in

Laghman and the adjoining districts. Famous silver mines were

formerly worked near the head of the Panjshir valley in Hindu

Kush. Kabul is chiefly supplied with iron from the Permuli

(or Farmuli) district, between the Upper Kurram and Gomal,

where it is said to be abundant. Iron ore is most abundant

near the passes leading to Bamian, and in other parts of Hindu

Kush. Copper ore from various parts of Afghanistan has been

seen, but it is nowhere worked. Lead is found in Upper

Bangash (Kurram district), and in the Shinwari country (also

among the branches of Safed Koh), and in the Kakar country.

There are reported to be rich lead mines near Herat scarcely

worked. Lead, with antimony, is found near the Arghand-ab, 32

m. north-west of Ghazni, and in the Ghorband valley, north of

Kabul. Most of the lead used, however, comes from the Hazara

country, where the ore is described as being gathered on the

surface. An ancient mine of great extent and elaborate

character exists at Feringal, in the Ghorband valley. Antimony

is obtained in considerable quantities at Shah-Maksud, about

30 m. north of Kandahar. Sulphur is said to be found at

Herat, dug from the soil in small fragments, but the chief

supply comes from the Hazara country and from Pirkisri,

on the confines of Seistan, where there would seem to be a

crater, or fumarole. Sal-ammoniac is brought from the same

place. Gypsum is found in large quantities in the plain of

Kandahar, being dug out in fragile coralline masses from near the

surface. Coal (perhaps lignite) is said to be found in Zurmat

(between the Upper Kurram and the Gomal) and near Ghazni. Nitre

abounds in the soil over all the south-west of Afghanistan, and

often affects the water of the karez or subterranean canals.

Vegetation.

The characteristic distribution of vegetation on the mountains

of Afghanistan is worthy of attention. The great mass of it

is confined to the main ranges and their immediate off-shoots,

whilst on the more distant and terminal prolongations it is

almost entirely absent; in fact, these are naked rock and stone.

Take, for example, the Safed Koh. On the alpine range itself

and its immediate branches, at a height of 6000 to 10,000

ft., we have abundant growth of large forest trees, among

which conifers are the most noble and prominent, such as

Cedrus Deodara, Abies excelsa, Pinus longifolia, P.

Pinaster, P. Pinea (the edible pine) and the larch. We

have also the yew, the hazel, juniper, walnut, wild peach and

almond. Growing under the shade of these are several

varieties of rose, honeysuckle, currant, gooseberry, hawthorn,

rhododendron and a luxuriant herbage, among which the

ranunculus family is important for frequency and number of

genera. The lemon and wild vine are also here met with,

but are more common on the northern mountains. The walnut

and oak (evergreen, holly-leaved and kermes) descend to the

secondary heights, where they become mixed with alder, ash,

khinjak, Arbor-vitae, juniper, with species of Astragalus,

&c. Here also are Indigoferae rind dwarf laburnum.

Lower again, and down to 3000 ft. we have wild olive, species

of rock-rose, wild privet, acacias and mimosas, barberry and

Zizyphus; and in the eastern ramifications of the chain,

Chamaerops humilis (which is applied to a variety of useful

purposes), Bignonia or trumpet flower, sissu, Salvadora

persica, verbena, acanthus, varieties of Gesnerae.

The lowest terminal ridges, especially towards the west, are,

as has been said, naked in aspect. Their scanty vegetation is

almost wholly herbal; shrubs are only occasional; trees almost

non-existent. Labiate, composite and umbelliferous plants are most

common. Ferns and mosses are almost confined to the higher ranges.

In the low brushwood scattered over portions of the dreary

plains of the Kandahar table-lands, we find leguminous

thorny plants of the papilionaceous sub-order, such as

camel-thorn (Hedysarum Alhagi), Astragalus in several

varieties, spiny rest-harrow (Ononis spinosa), the

fibrous roots of which often serve as a tooth-brush; plants

of the sub-order Mimosae, as the sensitive mimosa; a

plant of the rue family, called by the natives lipad the

common wormwood; also certain orchids, and several species

of Salsola. The rue and wormwood are in general use as

domestic medicines---the former for rheumatism and neuralgia;

the latter in fever, debility and dyspepsia, as well as for a

vermifuge. The lipad, owing to its heavy nauseous odour,

is believed to keep off evil soirits. In some places,

occupying the sides and hollows of ravines, are found the

rose bay (Nerium Oleander), called in Persian khar-zarah,

or ass-bane, the wild laburnum and various Indigoferae.

In cultivated districts the chief trees seen are mulberry, willow, poplar,

ash, and occasionally the plane; but these are due to man's planting.

Uncultivated products of value.

One of the most important of these is the gum-resin of Narthex

asafetida, which grows abundantly in the high and dry

plains of eastern Afghanistan, especially between Kandahar and

Herat. The depot for it is Kandahar, whence it finds its way to

India, where it is much used as a condiment. It is not so used

in Afghanistan, but the Seistan people eat the green stalks of

the plant preserved in brine. The collection of the gum-resin

is almost entirely in the hands of the Kakar clan of Afghans.

In the highlands of Kabul edible rhubarb is an important local

luxury. The plants grow wild in the mountains. The bleached

rhubarb, which has a very delicate flavour, is altered by covering

the young leaves, as they sprout from the soil, with loose

stones or an empty jar. The leaf-stalks are gathered by the

neighbouring hill people, and carried down for sale. Bleached and

unbleached rhubarb are both largely consumed, both raw and cooked.

The walnut and edible pine-nut are both wild growths, which are exported.

The sanjit (Elaeaguns orientalis), common on the banks of

water-courses, furnishes an edible fruit. An orchis found in

the mountain yields the dried tuber which affords the nutritious

mucilage called salep: a good deal of this goes to India.

Pistacia khinjak affords a mastic. The fruit, mixed with

its resin, is used for food by the Achakzais in Southern

Afghanistan.The true pistachio is found only on the northern

frontier; the nuts are imported from Badakshan and Kunduz by the

Hindus of the towns, to whom they supply a substitute for meat.

Manna, of at least two kinds, is sold in the bazaars.

One, called turanjbin, apoears to exude, in small round

tears, from the camelthorn, and also from the dwarf tamarisk;

the other, sir-kasht, in large grains and irregular

masses or cakes with bits of twig imbedded, is obtained

from a tree which the natives call sian chob (black

wood), thought by Bellow to be a Fraxinus or Ornus.

Agriculture.

In most parts of the country there are two harvests, as generally

in India. One of these, called by the Afghans baharak, or

the sprine crop. is sown in the end of autumn and reaped in

summer. It consists of wheat, barley and a variety of

lentils. The other, called paizah or tirmai, the

autumnal, is sown in the end of spring, and reaped in

autumn. It consists of rice, varieties of millet and

sorghum, of maize, Phaseolus Mungo, tobacco, beet,

turnips, &c. The loftier regions have but one harvest.

Wheat is the staple food over the greater part of the

country. Rice is not largely distributed. In much of the

eastern mountainous country bajra (Holcus spicatus) is

the chief grain. Most English and Indian garden-stuffs are

cultivated; turnips in some places very largely, as cattle food.

The growth of melons, water-melons and other cucurbitaceous

plants is reckoned very important, especially near

towns; and this crop counts for a distinct harvest.

Sugar-cane is grown only in the rich plains; and though cotton is

grown in the warmer tracts, most of the cotton cloth is imported.

Madder is an important item of the spring crop in Ghazni

and Kandahar districts, and generally over the west, and

supplies the Indian demand. It is said to be very profitable,

though it takes three years to mature. Saffron is grown and

exported. The castor-oil plant is everywhere common, and

furnishes most of the oil of the country. Tobacco is grown

very generally; that of Kandahar has much repute, and is

exported to India and Bokhara. Two crops of leaves are taken.

Lucerne and a trefoil called shaftal form important fodder

crops in the western parts of the country, and, when irrigated.

are said to afford ten or twelve cuttings in the season. The

komal (Prangos pabularia) is abundant in the hill country of

Ghazni, and is said to extend through the Hazara country to

Herat. It is stored for winter use, and forms an excellent

fodder. Others are derived from the Holcus sorghum, and

from two kinds of panick. It is common to cut down the green

wheat and barley before the ear forms, for fodder, and the

repetition of this, with barley at least, is said not to injure

the grain crop. Bellow gives the following statement of the

manner in which the soil is sometimes worked in the Kandahar

district:---Barley is sown in November; in March and April

it is twice cut for fodder; in June the grain is reaped, the

ground is ploughed and manured and sown with tobacco, which

yields two cuttings. The ground is then prepared for carrots

and turnips, which are gathered in November or December.

Of great moment are the fruit crops. All European fruits are

produced profusely, in many varieties and of excellent quality.

Fresh or preserved, they form a principal food of a large class of

the people, and the dry fruit is largely exported. In the valleys

of Kabul mulberries are dried, and packed in skins for winter

use. This mulberry cake is often reduced to flour, and used

as such, forming in some valleys the main food of the people.

Grapes are grown very extensively, and the varieties are very

numerous. The vines are sometimes trained on trellises,

but most frequently over ridges of earth 8 or 10 ft.

high. The principal part of the garden lands in villages

round Kandahar is vineyard, and the produce must be enormous.

Open canals are usual in the Kabul valley, and in eastern

Afghanistan generally; but over all the western parts of the

country much use is made of the karez, which is a subterranean

aqueduct uniting the waters of several springs, and conducting

their combined volume to the surface at a lower level.

Fauna.

As regards vertebrate zoology, Afghanistan lies on the

frontier of three regions, viz. the Eurasian, the

Ethiopian (to which region Baluchistan seems to belong)

and the Indo-Halayan. Hence it naturally partakes somewhat

of the forms of each, but is in the main Eurasian.

Felidae.--F. catus, F. chaus (both Eurasian); F. caracal

(Eur., Ind., Eth.), about Kandahar; a small leopard, stated

to be found almost all over the country, perhaps rather the

cheetah F. jubatus, Ind, and Eth.); F. pardus, the common

leopard (Eth. and Ind.). The tiger exists in Afghan Turkestan.

Canidae.--The jackal (C. aureus, Eur., Ind., Eth.) abounds

on the Helmund and Argand-ab, and probably elsewhere. Wolves

(C. Bengalensis) are formidable in the wilder tracts,

and assemble in troops on the snow, destroying cattle and

sometimes attacking single horsemen. The hyena (H. striata,

Africa to India) is common. These do not hunt in packs, but

will sometimes singly attack a bullock; they and the wolves

make havoc among sheep. A favourite feat of the boldest of

the young men of southern Afghanistan is to enter the hyena's

den, single-handed, muffle and tie him. There are wild dogs,

according to Elphinstone and Conolly. The small Indian fox

(Vulpes Bengalensis) is found; also V. flavescens, common

to India and Persia, the skin of which is much used as a fur.

Mustelidae.--Species of the Mungoose (Herpestes),

species of otter, Mustela erminea, and two ferrets, one

of them with tortoise-shell marks, tamed by the Afghans

to keep down vermin; a marten (M. flavigula, Indian).

Bears are two: a black one, probably Ursus torquatus;

and one of a dirty yellow, U. Isabellinus, both Himalayan

species. Ruminants.--Capra aegagrus and C. megaceros;

a wild sheep Ovis cycloceros or Vignei); Gazella

subgutturosa--these are often netted in batches when

they descend to drink at a stream; G. dorcas perhaps;

Cervus Wallichii, the Indian barasingha, and probably

some other Indian deer, in the north-eastern mountains.

The wild hog (Sus scrofa) is found on the lower

Helmund. The wild ass, Gorkhar of Persia (Equus

onager), is frequent on the sandy tracts in the south-west.

The Himalayan varieties of the markhor and ibex are abundant in Kafiristan.

Talpidae.--A mole, probably Talpa Europaea; Sorex Indicus;

Erinaceus collaris (Indian), and Er. auritus (Eurasian).

Bats believed to be Phyllorhinus cineraceus (Punjab

species), Scotophilus Bellii (W. India), Vesp. auritus

and V. barbastellus, both found from England to India.

Rodentia.--A squirrel (Sciurus Syriacus?); Mus Indicus

and M. Gerbellinus; a jerboa (Dipus telum?); Alactaga

Bactriana; Gerbillus Indicus, and G. erythrinus (Persian

and Indian); Lagomys Nepalensis, a Central Asian species.

A hare, probably L. ruacaudatus. by Captain Hutton in

the J. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xvi. pp. 775 seq.; but it is

confessedly far from complete. (Of 124 species in that list,

95 are pronounced to be Eurasian, 17 Indian, 10 both Eurasian

and Indian, 1 (Turtur risorius) Eur., Ind. and Eth.; and 1

only, Carpodacus (Bucanetes) crassirostris, peculiar to the

country. Afghanistan appears to be, during the breeding season,

the retreat of a variety of Indian and some African (desert) forms,

whilst in winter the avifauna becomes overwhelmingly Eurasian.

REPTILES.--The following particulars are from Gray:--Lizards

Pseudopus gracilis (Eur.), Argyrophis Horipeldii, Salea

Horsfieldii, Calotes Moria, C. versicolor, C. minor, C.

Emma, Phrynocephalus Idchelii--all Indian forms. A tortoise

(Testudo Horsfieldii) appears to be peculiar to Kabul.

There are apparently no salamanders or tailed Amphibia. The

frogs are partly Eurasian, partly Indian; and the same may be

said of the fish, but they are as yet most imperfectly known.

The camel is of a more robust and compact breed than the

tall beabt used in India, and is more carefully tended.

The two-humped Bactrian camel is commonly used in the Oxus

regions, but is seldom seen near the Indian frontier.

Horses form a staple export to India. The best of these,

however, are reserved for the Afghan cavalry. Those exported

to India are usually bred in Maimana and other places in Afghan

Turkestan. The indigenous horse is the yabu, a stout,

heavy-shouldered animal, of about 14 hands high, used chiefly

for burden, but also for riding. It gets over incredible

distances at an ambling shuffle, but is unfit for fast work

and cannot stand excessive heat. The breed of horses was much

improved under the amir Abdur Rahman, who took much interest

in it. Generally, colts are sold and worked too young.

The cows of Kandahar and Seistan give very large quantities of

milk. They seem to be of the humped variety, but with

the hump evanescent. Dairy produce is important in Afghan

diet, especially the pressed and dried curd called krut

(an article and name perhaps introduced by the Mongols).

There are two varieties of sheep, both having the fat

tail. One bears a white fleece, the other a russet or black

one. Much of the white wool is exported to Persia, and now

largely to Europe by Bombay. Flocks of sheep are the main

wealth of the nomad population, and mutton is the chief

animal food of the nation. In autumn large numbers are

slaughtered, their carcases cut up, rubbed with salt and dried

in the sun. The same is done with beef and camel's flesh.

The goats, generally black or parti-coloured,

seem to be a degenerate variety of the shawlgoat.

The climate is found to be favourable to dog-breeding. Pointers

are bred in the Kohistan of Kabul and above Jalalabad--large,

heavy, slow-hunting, but fine-nosed and staunch; very like

the old double-nosed Spanish pointer. There are greyhounds

also, but inferior in speed to second-rate English dogs.

Trade and commerce.

The manufactures of the country have not developed much

during recent years. Poshtins (sheepskin clothing) and the

many varieties of camel and goat's hair-cloth which, under

the name of ``barak,'' ``karak,'' &c., are manufactured in

the northern districts, are still the chief local products

of that part of Afghanistan. Herat and Kandahar are

famous for their silks, although a large proportion of the

manufactured silk found on the Herat market, as well as many

of the felts, carpets and embroideries, are brought from

the Central Asian khanates. The district of Herat produces

many of the smaller sorts of carpets (``galichas'' or

prayer-carpets), of excellent design and colour, the little

town of Adraskand being especially famous for this industry;

but they are not to be compared with the best products of

eastern Persia or of the Turkman districts about Panjdeh.

The nomadic Afghan tribes of the west are chiefly

pastoral, and the wool of the southern Herat and Kandahar

provinces is famous for its quality. In this direction,

the late boundary settlements have undoubtedly led to

a considerable development of local resources. A large

quantity of wool, together with silk, dried fruit, madder and

asafetida, finds its way to India by the Kandahar route.

It is impossible to give accurate trade statistics, there

being no trustworthy system of registration. The value of

the imports from Kabul to India in 1892-1893 was estimated

at 221,000 Rx (or tens of rupees). In 1809 it was little

over 217,000 Rx, the period of lowest intermediate depression

being in 1897. These imports include horses, cattle, fruits,

grain, wool, silk, hides, tobacco, drugs and provisions (ghi,

&c.). All this trade emanates from Kabul, there being no

transit trade with Bokhara owing to the heavy dues levied by the

amir. The value of the exports from India to Kabul also shows

great fluctuation. In the year 1892-1893 it was registered at

nearly 611,000 Rx. In 1894-1895 it had sunk to 274,000 Rx, and

in 1899 it figured at 294,600 Rx. The chief items are cotton

goods, sugar and tea. In 1898-1899 the imports irom Kandahar

to India were valued at 330,000 Rx, and the exports from India

to Kandahar at about 264,000 Rx. Three-fourths of the exports

consist of cotton goods, and three-eighths of the imports were raw

wool. The balance of the imports was chiefly made up of dried

fruits. Comparison with trade statistics of previous years on

this side Afghanistan is difficult, owing to the inclusion of

a large section of Baluchistan and Persia within the official

``Kandahar'' returns; but it does not appear that the value

of the western Afghanistan trade is much on the increase. The

opening up of the route between Quetta and Seistan has doubtless

affected a trade which was already seriously hampered by

restrictions. In the year after the mission of Sir Louis Dane

to Kabul in 1905 it was authoritatively stated that the trade

between Afghanistan and India had nearly doubled in value.

Antiquities.

The basin of the Kabul river especially abounds in remains

of the period when Buddhism flourished. Bamian is famous

for its wall-cut firures, and at Haibak (on the route between

Tashkurghan and Kabul) there are some most interesting Buddhist

remains. In the Koh-Daman, north of Kabul, are the sites of

several ancient cities, the greatest of which, called Beghram,

has furnished coins in scores of thousands, and has been supposed

to represent Alexander's Nicaea. Nearer Kabul, and especially on

the hills some miles south of the city, are numerous topes. In

the valley of Jalalabad are many remains of the same character.

In the valley of the Tarnak are the ruins of a great city

(Ulan Robat) supposed to be the ancient Arachosia. About

Girishk, on the Helmund, are extensive mounds and other traces

of buildings; and the remains of several great cities exist in

the plain of Seistan, as at Pulki, Peshawaran and Lakh, relics

of ancient Drangiana. An ancient stone vessel preserved in

a mosque at Kandahar is almost certainly the same that was

treasured at Peshawar in the 5th century as the begging pot of

Sakya-Muni. In architectural relics of a later date than the

Graeco-Buddhist period Afghanistan is remarkably deficient. Of

the city of Ghazni, the vast capital of Mahmud and his race, no

substantial relics survive, except the tomb of Mahmud and two

remarkable brick minarets. A vast and fruitful harvest of coins

has been gathered in Afghanistan and the adjoining regions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.---Rawlinson, England and Russia in the

East (1873); H. M. Durand, The First Afghan War (1879);

Wyllie's Essays on the External Policy of India (1875);

Elphinstone, Account of the Kingdom of Kabul (1809);

Parliamentary Papers, ``Afghanistan''; Curzon, Problems in

the Far East; Holdich, Indian Borderland (1901); India

(1903); Indian Survey Reports; Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission

(1886); Pamir Boundary Commission (1896). (T. H. H.*)

HISTORY The Afghan chroniclers call their people Beni-Israil

(Arab. for Children of Israel), and claim descent from King

Saul (whom they call by the Mahommedan corruption Talut)

through a son whom they ascribe to him, called Jeremiah,

who again had a son called Afghana. The numerous stock

of Afghana were removed by Nebuchadrezzar, and found their

way to the mountains of Ghor and Feroza (east and north of

Herat). Only nine years after Mahommed's announcement of his

mission they heard of the new prophet, and sent to Medina a

deputation headed by a wise and holy man called Kais, to make

inquiry. The deputation became zealous converts, and on

their return converted their countrymen. From Kais and his

three sons the whole of the genuine Afghans claim descent.

This story is repeated in great and varying detail in sundry

books by Afghans, the oldest of which appears to be of the

16th century; nor do we know that any trace of the legend

is found of older date. In the version given by Major

Raverty (Introd. to Afghan Grammar), Afghanah is settled

by King Solomon himself in the Sulimani mountains; there

is nothing about Nebuchadrezzar or Ghor. The historian

Ferishta says he had read that the Afghans were descended

from Copts of the race of Pharaoh. And one of the Afghan

histories, quoted by Mr Bellow, relates ``a current tradition''

that, previous to the time of Kais, Bilo the father of the

Biluchis, Uzbak (evidently the father of the Usbegs) and

Afghana were considered as brethren. As Mahommed Usbeg

Khan, the eponymus of the medley of Tatar tribes called

Usbegs, reigned in the 14th century A.D., this gives some

possible light on the value of these so-called traditions.