Cabool: Being a Personal Narrative of a Journey to, and Residence in that City, in the Years 1836, 7 and 8

Some time has now passed since the following pages were written. They contain my personal recollections of an interesting country through which I passed, and in which I resided whilst employed on a mission to Cabool, in the years 1836-7 and 1838. Subsequent events have not diminished, as it appears to me, the anxiety of the public for information regarding these regions: on the contrary, the great political events of which they have since become the arena have given importance to all that appertains to them. On political subjects, however, it is not, at present, my intention to enlarge. The time is yet distant when an accurate judgment can be passed on the line of policy which we have adopted; but the travellers through these countries will, in some degree, have paved the way for the political inquirer, if, in the mean while, they can pourtray something of the tone and spirit of the people among whom circumstances have now placed us. My esteemed friend, Lieutenant John Wood, of the Indian Navy, has already, in his valuable work, laid before the public the stirring incidents of his journey to the lofty regions of Pamere, which was undertaken while associated with myself on this Mission to Cabool. I had long and fondly hoped that the easier task of giving the minor details, which I have now imposed on myself, would have fallen to the share of Dr. P.B. Lord, a dear and much valued friend ; but his bright and short career has since abruptly terminated on the field of battle. The reader must not expect of me a connected series of incidents. I have already carried him over part of the ground in my published travels ; and I hope he will now be content to accept the gleanings which subsequent opportunity and inquiry have enabled me to present to him.