Tea, coffee, tinned provisions, tobacco, wines, etc., must be got up from India and usually it takes about three months from the time ordered before they are received. The reason it takes so long to get up provisions is due to the karaya-kash people (carriers for hire), first in the difficulty in persuading one of them to undertake to carry the goods from Peshawar to Kabul, and next in delaying the goods on the road for many weeks. It very frequently happens that a man carrying for hire gets a load in Peshawar for all his camels, horses, etc., part of the load being booked to Jelalabad, which is half way to Kabul, and the other part of the load to Kabul. On the man reaching Jelalabad he delivers the goods which are consigned there, and leaving there those goods which are to go further on, he returns to Peshawar for another load, and he continues going backwards and forwards until the goods for Kabul are sufficient for all his animals and then he goes on to that place. As the journey to Jelalabad from Peshawar takes five or six days, the various trips to and fro until the man is ready to go on to Kabul, take time, and if one happens to be out of tobacco, or anything else one wants, this prolonged waiting for fresh supplies is very irritating, particularly when one has been advised by letter from Peshawar that the goods left there some weeks before, but when the goods at last arrive one is so pleased in getting them, that all former irritation is forgotten. It often happens that goods are spoilt or go bad on the road on account of the boxes being left in the serais (caravan yards) at different places exposed to the weather, but there is no remedy, and one has to take one’s chance. When the tribes about the Khyber Pass rose and necessitated the Tirah campaign, all traffic between Kabul and India was stopped, and we in Kabul had to go without those things which go to make life comfortable. There was nothing to drink, not even tea or coffee, and nothing to smoke, and so it continued for some months. I can go without most things when necessary, and not grieve overmuch, although I would rather necessity did not demand such abstinence, but when there is no tobacco or cigarettes, then matters seem to be in need of speedy readjustment, and I shall always remember the time when the Khyber Pass was closed. The Amir and the princes were always very good in letting me have things I wanted when I ran short, but on that occasion they ran short themselves.