BOOKS.

R RIER' S CARAVAN JOURNEYS.* THE author of this volume is a French militaire, who about six- teen years ago was selected with others to drill and organize the Persian army, when the English corps of officers supplied for that purpose had left the country in consequence of diplomatic differ- ences. M. Ferrier rose to the honorary rank of Adjutant-General in the Persian service ; but subsequently lost his post, he be- lieves through the Russian Ambassador. Ill supported by the French representative, and not supported at all by M. Guizot to whom he appealed, M. Ferrier resolved to proceed to Lahore and endeavour to find employment in the disciplined army of the late Runjeet Singh. His unsuccessful attempts, through little-known countries and amid great hardships and dangers, are narrated in the present work. It has been translated by Captain Jesse from the unpublished manuscript, at the recommendation of Mr. Sey- mour, who met M. Ferrier in Persia on his return from his at- tempi, and subsequently at Pondicherry, where he holds some Government appointment. Mr. Seymour has also edited the work, and been assisted in his revisal by Colonel Rawlinson, and by Dr. Sir John Login, who was surgeon to the Herat mission under Major Todd. These authorities not only bear testimony to the apparent truth of M. Ferrier's narrative, but add some de- scriptive and illustrative notes of considerable value. M. Ferrier's journey began at Bagdad. As he conceived he was unacceptable to the Persian Government, he started in dis- guise, and. so travelled through a large portion of the Persian ter- ritories; but as he approached the• celebrated place of Persian pilgrimage Meshed, he appeared in his real character. It was perhaps the best thing he could have done ; for in Herat, Aff- ghanistan, and Beloochistan, the life of a native is of no value whatever : but M. Ferrier's European character exposed him to detention and circumvention. Nothing could persuade the late Tar Mahomed of Herat and the rulers of Candahar that lie was not an Englishman bent upon spying the nakedness of the land and scattering dissatisfaction, or charged with a diplomatic mission to some ruler further South than themselves. Hence, he was watched, imprisoned more or less closely., and, in the opinion of his annotators and of some of the natives designedly thwarted, by Tar Mahomed, who professed to forward his objects. In Can- dahar he was robbed by a son of the chief ruler ; but dread of the English preserved his life, and that under circumstances where he would probably have lost it had the men in power clearly com- prehended the case and European diplomatic usages. At Herat he first started to reach Cahill by the way of Balkh, against the advice of Yar Mohamed. A war that broke out in those parts barred his advance beyond Khoulin ; and, after some un- successful attempts in bye directions, he was compelled to return to Herat, by ground in part untrodden by European foot. Tar Mohamed then sent or professed to send him by way of Can- ; but Birder Kohendil Khan, brother of Dost -Mohamed, refused him permission to advance beyond that city. Though under a sort of honourable custody, M. Ferrier was well treated at Candahar; and the Sirdar protected him, at some risk to him- self, it would seem against a fanatical insurrection caused by the Moollahs. The Sirdar 's son Mohamed Sedik Khan, Governor of Girishk, treated our adventurer cruelly. He imprisoned and plundered him, besides exposing him to the insults of his fol- lowers. M. Ferrier, however, was not yet daunted. On regain- ing the dominions of Tar Mohamed, he made an effort to reach Shirkapoor through the more barbarous and unsettled country of Belooehistan. This project was defeated through the fiery im- prudence of Assad Khan, the commander of his escort, among a tribe where he had a blood-feud. A running fight was the con-

sequence, with the loss of several men. Being cut off from their line of retreat, the party were compelled to return by a circuitous

route, which led them round Lake Seistan through a country little if at all known. The commandant of Furrah still proposed sending M. Ferrier on; but times had changed. Rumours of the Sikh dis- turbances had reached him ; and he was thoroughly sick of travel in the countries between Persia and the Indus. Fatigue, exposure,

and common privation, he was not the man to shrink from ; they are, indeed, inseparable from journeying in the wilder countries of Asia. But for months he had been exposed to thirst, excessive heat, and. continual anxiety of mind ; he had been imprisoned, at times half-starved, several times very ill, and frequently exposed to insults which his flesh and blood could scarcely bear, yet which it was riskful to resent. He was moreover suffering from con -

• Caravan journeys and Wanderings in Persia, .Afghanistan, Turkistan, and Beloochistan ; with Historical Notices of the Countries lying between Russia and India. By J. P. Ferrier, formerly of the Chasseurs d'Afrigue, and late Adjutant- General of the Persian Army. 'Translated from the Original Unpublished Manu- script by Captain William Jeve. Edited by II. D. Seymour, M.P. With Original Map and Wood-cuts. Published ty Murray. tinned fever, brought on, he thinks, less by hardships and cli- mate than by endless worry and sleeplessness ; for he frequently had to sleep with both his eyes open stretched upon the top of his property,—which he did not save alter all.

The Wanderings of M. Ferrier may be divided into four sec- tions. His first Journey, from Baplad by Teheran, and thence along the Eastern frontiers of Persia to Meshed and Herat, was with caravans. His second journey, to Khoulm, with its return through Hazarah, was made part of the way with an envoy of Tar Mohamed, and afterwards with two attendants to whom he been committed. On these occasions, he was exposed to nothing more than the usual hardships of Asiatic travelling, except that for part of the time on the last journey, concealment not only of his character but his purpose became necessary • and that in-

volved avoidance of people as much as might be. necessary; a large part of Persia, as we have said already, his exact position was not known ; but it was known that he was an infidel ; which exposed him to many insults, especially from Teheran where he joined a caravan of pilgrims. When all things are Liken into consider- ation, we are not sure but that his complaints on the score of fanaticism are exaggerated. In the first place, he appeared a man in indifferent circumstances, and the humbler classes everywhere " chaff " one another, much more a stranger and infidel. He ad- duces the following story as a proof of his fellow travellers' dis- position to molest him : it seems to us that it is rather an ex- ample of Mahometan justice. We doubt whether a Mussulman in Europe, under similar circumstances, would have got off so well. In some religious meetings they turn a man out for suspected difference of opinion, without hearing what he has got to say.

"In the afternoon I heard a great clamouring of voices in the distance which made me for a moment think of the Turcomans ; but in a few minute; the brawlers approached my encampment, and I found myself surrounded and insolently interrogated by a crowd of the pilgrims, at the head of whom was the chief Syud. See,' said this worthy descendant of the Prophet, dragging a drunken fellow to the front, see the effects of your infidel habits ! the Koran forbids the use of fermented liquors at all times, and you give a bottle of brandy to a Mussulman pilgrim. Shame upon you! are we to eat your dirt ? '

"'I admit, Syud; I replied, that I drink brandy; but my religion does not forbid it ; and I cannot acknowledge your right to prevent me from doing so, any more than we Christians have a sight to interfere with you for having several wives. Every faith has its fasts and festivals ; keep your own, and leave me mine. It is true that I have some brandy in my trunk; but I have never given any to this drunkard; and to prove this I will show you the bottle.' We instantly looked, but no brandy was there ; the fellow had stolen it, and several other things in the trunk besides. The Syud, seeing this, -believed ; and, applying the stick to the rascal's back, he con- fessed the crime. The blows were now redoubled, and I was not inclined to interfere in mitigation of punishment, nor were they, though he entreated by the Prophet, by the bowels of Omar, to be released."

The caravan journey in Persia, and the attempt to reach Cabal by way of Balkh, owe their interest to the freshness and variety of subjects. The landscapes, arid or rocky, with occasional tracts of

verdure and fertility, are unlike anything to which we are accus-

tomed; the modes of life, and the different characters encountered, especially in the caravans—the little adventures—the singular society of which the reader has glimpses—the ruins connected with classic but more frequently with a primeval history—are all fresh, and the greater part entirely beyond the observation of the official or officially-recommended traveller. It is in the last two sections that the travel of real adventure begins. From Herat to Girishk M. Ferrier was accompanied by servants of Tar Mohamed. ; who behaved so exceedingly ill, in neglecting their duties, fleecing the traveller, and subjecting him to insults, that their conduct forms the strongest evidence against Tar Mahomed : it is conceived they never would have dared such behaviour had the ruler of Herat meant honestly. When M. Ferrier got into the power of the rulers of Candahar, he underwent a species of traveller's martyr- dom at the hands Of the chief ruler's son, Mahomed Sedik Khan. It cannot be denied, however, that suspicions naturally hung over him. The spirit of adventure that animates Europeans is utterly unknown to the Orientals. Nor is the journey intelligible except on this principle, and that of cheapness, since Lahore could have more easily been reached from Bagdad by the Persian Gulf and India or Kurrachee. Then the native mind was full of the Eng- lish interference to save Herat from the Persians and the then late occupation of Candahar and Cabal. We may how that the sus- picions Were ill-grounded, but the chiefs of Candahar, not making out the truth, were naturally lost in mysterious conjecture. This appeared in the first interview with the young Sirdar when M. Ferrier had been cross-examined, and, treated harshly.

"The repast over, the visitors retired ; and I was going to do the same, when the Sirdar made me a sign to be seated. Direttlywe were alone, be dropped his surly manners, and seemed desirous of showing himself to me in more favourable colours. Forget,' he said, the severities I have shown you ; it was impossible for me to act otherwise in the presence of the fana- tics who were about me. You see in me now a friend who will preserve vou from every danger : but in return, I have one service to ask of you. You are English, I am certain, and your denials will not affect my opinion on

that point : listen, then, and do me the service I am going to ask of you. At the death of my father Kohendil Khan, there will be twenty pretenders to the sovereignty of Kandahar, and he whom the English favour will be sure to succeed ; therefore, to obtain their support, there is no sacrifice that I am not ready to make; I would take up arnia against my father, my bro- thers, my uncles ; I would do it without hesitation; I would be the devoted slave of the English, and ask nothing in return but their influence to assist me in maintaining my hold upon the sovereign power.' "Possibly I might have been beguiled by the air of sincerity assumed by this miserable wretch, if I had not detected something in his expression which warned me to put no faith in him. I also saw that, being 'in the hands of an ambitious villain, I must make use of his vices to secure my own safety. I assured him that, though positively a Frenchman it was not out of my power for me to make known his wishes to the British Go- vernment of India. After a long discussion on that subject, therefore, he assured me it was impossible for him to treat me publicly with the respect he was disposed to show me, but he promised faithfully that no harm should happen to me. If they are harsh to you shut your eyes to the bru- tality of my people ; they look upon you with distrust and hatred, and would not forgive me if I manifested any consideration for you.'"

The young Birder, though utterly without conscience or any

substitute for it, was a man of great ability, and, for his position, irregular knowledge prejudices. He had picked up a good deal of knowledge from Europeans or Indians in our employ, and among other things some acquaintance with English. -Unluckily for M. Ferrier, an Englishman imprisoned at Zumeendawer had heard of his coming, and sent him a letter by a Sepoy, who took an oppor- tunity of slipping it into his hand. "I opened it with impatience, thinking to learn the story of the unhappy writer's sufferings, and to prepare to bear with resignation those which were probably reserved for myself: but what was my vexation, my grief, at find- ing that I could not read a single word ! It was written in English ! "While endeavouring earnestly to make out the sense, a pich-khid-met of the Sirdaes came up, and seeing the paper in my hand, and the Sepoy near me, suspected some mystery, and informed his master. Mohamed Sedik questioned Inc most severely ; and my denials were useless, for the unfortunate letter was found wader my felt carpet. As he could read and understand a little English, he proceeded to do so, and therefore learned more or less what unhappily it could not reveal to me. Then ensued a most violent scene. He accused me of coming into Kandahar to revolutionize it, and overwhelmed me with invectives. I believed my last hour was come ; but nothing happened beyond remanding me to my prison, to be more care- fully watched. The unhappy soldier was seized, bound, and bastinadoed in a fearful manner ; and though he fainted, the executioners did not leave off until his feet were reduced to a bruised and bleeding mass.

"From this moment I was incessantly the object of insults from my guards, despite the representations that I made to the Sirdar."

Kohendil Khan was a better man than his son, and with greater responsibility had more caution; he would probably be swayed, too, by his brother the Dost, who knew the English so well. His treatment of the traveller was very good, especially under the circumstances; but it is evident that he would not have been re- strained by scruples. On his first interview with M. Ferrier, he had a long discourse on a variety of things, among others the principles of government.

"The Sirdar took much interest in the details that I gave him respecting the different countries of Europe, and their respective riches and power. He had heard much of France, and talked a long time about it ; making me specially repeat all that concerned her commerce manufactures, and modern inventions worked by. steam. The Asiatics believe everything; they ima- gine that in an hour they can be made to understand arts and sciences of the most complicated character, and which it has required ages to bring to their present perfection. He was also quite surprised that I could not make easy to him the political economy of the nations of the West, nor enable him clearly to understand by what means the population had been brought under obedience to the laws without coercion by physical force.

"'I have confiscated, bastinadoed, tortured, and cut heads off,' said the wise and merciful Kohendil Khan, but I have never yet been able to bring my savage Afghans to obey my decrees; and there is not a Sirdar in my principality, not excepting even my brothers my sons, or my nephews, who would not seize with joy a chance of wrenching the sovereign power from my grasp, if they thought it at all probable they lshould succeed in the at- tempt. Here might is right; why is it otherwise in Europe ? ' " It is,' I answered, because with us the governments net for the bene- fit of the people, without regard to their personal interest. All the acts of a government are subordinate to the law, while yours are regulated only by your good pleasure.' "'But,' he replied, what is the use of power if it is not to enable one to get rich ? What is a government without absolute power ? What is a king who cannot, when he pleases, bastinado one of his subjects and cut off his head ? It is turning the world upside down, the most terrible thing that can be seen : it must be permanent anarchy—I know it ; I can judge by my Afghans. They are like other men, but they respect me because they fear me; and it is by constant oppression that I succeed in inspiring this fear. If God had not inspired men with terror, by pointing out the torments with which they would be punished, would they obey the dictates of his holy book the Koran ? I think despotism, therefore, appears the best form of govern- ment for doing good : nevertheless, if you can teach me a better, I will has- ten to put it in practice.' "'The system,' I said, was shown you by the English when they were in your country : do as they did; regulate everything according to justice and equity, encourage commerce and agriculture, carry out works of public utility, make your roads safe from robbers, repress the tyranny of subordi- nate agents, let the people know what they owe to the state, and be exempt from extortion when they have paid it : fear not then that your country will be rich and prosperous ; the population will increase instead of emi- grating, and venerate the prince who shall first teach them the value of order, Justice, and abundance and their gratitude to him will be the best security for the endurance of his power.' Kohendil Khan listened, but it was plain that he thought me a shortsighted Utopian visionary, devoid of any real idea of the science of good government."

The last division of the journey, the period between leaving the territories of Cana-111r and finally returning to Herat, was -the wildest of the whole. Tyranny from Government was hardly to be apprehended, for there was no government. Robbery from Beloochees, or death from chance medley in a skirmish, are the social risks. This is a sample of the natural evils.

"We marched eleven parasangs through an arid and uninhabited country, and in advancing towards the South and away from Furrah, the soil was, if possible, more arid ; scarcely a trace of vegetation was to be seen, except a few scattered tufts of the tamarisk, which gave these desert solitudes a still greater air of desolation ; even the wild beasts fly from these sterile steppes., and the wild ass was the only living creature that we saw. The travelling days are long in this part of Seistan, and there is no possibility of shortening them, for it is absolutely necessary to halt at some well or spring, where alone water can be found- between the two stages not a drop is to be obtained, there is nothing but the burning sun overhead and the fiery sands beneath the feet. As the Belooches know that travellers must stop at these wells, they frequently lie in wait for them there, and, if they are not in force, rifle them without mercy : every one, therefore, is on the qui vive, and ready for them with loaded suns. "In debouching from the defile I have just mentioned, we i moved, had if by hazard, immense over an sandy plan : my guides, however, who had tra- versed t at least twenty times before, with native instinct evidently knew their road, and by signs which an European would never have noticed ; the colour of the ground, a little mound2 Bre., were the marks by which they recognized the route. The heat was intense ; the hot wind blew from sun- rise to sunset, and the great god of the Ghebers darted upon our heads its scorching rays, while the sands beneath our feet reflected others scarcely less hot; our very throats seemed on fire ; and as for the poor horses, I thought they must drop at every step. On arriving at Khooapas, they immediately lay down as if never to rise again. This was a complete desert, with a mafli marshy pond of fetid water concealefi among some reeds. By the side of that muddy and tainted water, however, I threw myself down drank eagerly and with bated breath one long continuous draught, and blessed Heaven for having sent it me; as to the taste, I never notte.ed that : but half an hour after my stomach rejected the water, and for the future I repressed my burn- ing thirst until I had boiled it with some wild mint and subsequently fil- tered it."

The adventures and sufferings of the author, the pictures of the country and of the daily life and manners of the people will be best read in the volume' which is one of the truest oirs of travel since the work of Conolly. The author wants Conolly's buoyancy of style, and he looks at things, especially at politics, from the French point of view, attributing to English diplomacy' objects and a subtilty which fixedly- characterize it. In a sup- plementary- chapter he estimates the possibility of a Russian in- vasion of India, and pronounces it not only feasible but easy, so far as natural obstacles are in question. The occupation of Lahore has in some degree changed the strategical situation since he wrote; the experience of the Crimean war has shown the diffi- culty of moving large bodies of men in thinly-peopled countries; and we think General Ferrier underrates the military power and resources of British India, when he thinks an army of 40,000 men, one-third Persians, could march through countries such as he

describes, and be in a condition to conquer India. '