these happened in the last three years of my stay in Kabul, that is, when the late Amir was feeble, and during the reign of the present Amir, who is not yet a prophet in his own country. One attempt, which illustrates the narrow-minded jealousy of the Kabuli, was in the powder-shop, where I went in accordance with instructions from the Amir to put matters in order, the Amir saying that the powder made in Kabul fouled the bore of the guns much more than foreign powders did. The man in charge of the powder-shop was a member of the royal family, which is a large one in numbers, and he resented my appointment over his head to the extent of putting flints with the powder in the incorporating mills and starting them as soon as I entered the shop they were in. There is always a possibility of powder exploding while incorporation is going on, and, seeing that he and all the others with him remained outside and left me to go alone into the shop, I suspected that all was not right, so, going out, I gave orders for the mills to be stopped, and then I found out the reason I was allowed to inspect them alone. I said nothing of this to the authorities, as my report which showed that the quantities of the ingredients were so arranged as to prove a source of revenue to those in charge, would, I knew, be sufficient for all purposes. Europeans are allowed to take their wives to Kabul, and the wives are generously given a living allowance by the Amir; but Kabul is no place for a woman to live in, for there are no amusements, and there is practically no society for her, and few women can live happily who see no one but their husbands from one month to another; consequently women are forced back on themselves, and get into a low condition of health, which soon brings out all the ailments they are subject to. For children the climate is a good one, and they thrive well. The Afghans are fond of children, and as they believe that all of them, no matter of what race, are Mussulmans until they arrive at the age of reason, European children are well looked after wherever they go, and are admired to the extent of a large crowd following them about the roads and public gardens when they take their daily outings. Toys are given them, and their every wish is a law, so that they are very much spoilt, and usually yell when they have to be taken from their guards and go into the house to their father and mother. The change from despot to subject being one little to their liking.