The rooms appointed to the interpreter and servants adjoined mine, but were uncarpeted and less elaborately ornamented. On the south side of the garden the rooms were occupied by one of the chamberlains, Mirza Abdur Rashid. The Mirza was an excellent fellow, and we were friends during my whole stay in Afghanistan. He was a pure-blooded Afghan about my own age, with handsome features, and a skin so dark as to be nearly black. For an Afghan he was well educated, and it was his duty night after night to read aloud to His Highness the records of the kingdom and books translated into Persian, of travel, geography, history, and general information.[6] [6] I have heard recently that the Mirza, following the example of other misguided Afghans, endeavoured to escape from the country into India. Unfortunately for him he was one of the unsuccessful ones. He was seized, brought before the Amîr, and--Fate is now unkind to him. On the east of the garden were rooms for the Afghan bath, and on the west a colonnade where I kept my horses and where the soldiers of the guard congregated. Night and day a sentry was on duty in the porch by the big gates. [Illustration] CHAPTER X. THE AMÎR. To be presented. The Palace gardens. The Palace. The Amîr. The Presentation. Questions asked by His Highness. Another European present. Punishment of Rebellions in Afghanistan. Asiatic motives from European standpoint. Departure of the Captain. Amîr’s arrangements for my safety. Bazaars and houses of Mazar. The suburbs. The Military Hospital. The Patients and their condition. The medical attendants. Afghan appreciation of European medical treatment. The daily routine. Insubordination of Hospital assistants. The two chief Hakims. Hindustani intrigue. Amîr’s sense of justice. The Trial. A Courtier’s influence. Breakfast under the almond trees. The guard of the Amîr’s table. [Sidenote: To be Presented.] On the appointed day I accompanied Jan Mahomed Khan to the Palace, to be presented to His Highness the Amîr. Mazar is a much smaller town than Kabul, and as we had so short a distance to go we walked. The bazaar and the streets bear a strong resemblance, in their squalor and narrowness, to those of the larger town; we, however, were on the outskirts where the roads were wide and the houses at intervals.