During the summer months I used to put a tent on the roof and sleep there. It was much fresher and cooler than in the house, for the nights in summer are hot, and there is little or no wind. As the roofs of the houses are flat and walled round they are generally used by the people for such purposes and to sit on in the evenings, and also the women use them for exercise and to get fresh air, as they are not allowed to go outside, and very few houses, and those only of the wealthy, have gardens attached to them which can be given for the sole use of women, because gardens to be of use to women must be walled round so high that they cannot be overlooked by neighbouring houses. It is also for this reason that houses are built in the form of a square with an inner courtyard where the women are free from the observation of neighbours; but the courtyards are usually small and dirty, and the smell from rotten refuse thrown there makes them unfit for places of recreation. During the spring, on my return in the evening from the workshops or elsewhere—for working hours are from early morning till evening—I used to spend a good deal of time on the roof attending to seedlings which were planted in boxes and kept up there, where they had less chance of being uprooted, until they were ready for transplanting; and I put the seeds in at the earliest possible time so that I might get salads and other things without having to wait until they were in the market. On the roof, too, I sometimes amused myself, and any amusement was welcome, in flying different sorts of kites, and in this I was soon imitated by those living near, but the house being close to the pass between the Sher Darwasa and Asman Heights I lost several of them through the sudden gusts of wind which sweep along the gorge there. For those who like such things Kabul affords a good field for the collection of old curios, swords, knives, shields, matchlocks, chain armour, etc., some of which are extremely ancient, and from the Arabic on many of the swords one might imagine them having been used against the Crusaders of old. Coins which date back to the time when Alexander the Great left his governors at different places on the route when he set out to conquer India can also be obtained, but a good knowledge of such is required, as they are counterfeited and sold there. Hindoos, of whom there are a few hundred resident in Kabul, usually have the stocks of curios, but they are afraid to bring them themselves to the Europeans because of the sepoys, who make them disgorge a good deal of their profits on leaving the house, and they cannot very well refuse to give anything when the sepoys threaten to make up a case against them, and report that they were carrying information to the Feringhee, as I have overheard them say.