In the matter of letters, it used to be a very common thing for letters to the English in Kabul to be stopped and read by the appointed Government spies, and generally, after being read, they were not sent on—an Englishman’s private letter being a trivial matter in the eyes of the officials concerned. Opening letters to and from the English in Kabul was, of course, to find out if there was any spying or reporting going on between them and the Indian Government, but in the present Amir’s time this was stopped a good deal, and more of the letters sent to and from reached their destination safely. Post letters, however, are never looked upon as very sacred among the Afghans, and before all post letters were enclosed in a bag and sealed, with a list of the letters enclosed, and orders had been given to the postmasters that the letters of one post were not to exceed a certain weight, the postrunners used to open the parcel of letters and throw many down the mountain-side, in order to lighten the burden they carried. I was told of a case which concerned an important letter. It was from the British Agent to his Government, and the Amir wanted it, so orders were given and the post-carrier at a certain place on the road was killed, and all the letters he was carrying were taken back to Kabul. The murder and theft was blamed upon the tribes of the district where the crime was committed, and this seems to show that neither letters nor life are held sacred. However, the Amir got the letter he wanted, and nothing was said that could reflect upon his integrity. Letters are carried by men on five-mile relays, laid between Kabul and Peshawar; each man running (not walking) backwards and forwards over his own five miles, carrying outward letters one way and in-coming letters the other. In this way letters are carried between the two places in three days. The postage is fourpence per miskal, which is about one-sixth of an ounce, and stamps have to be affixed to the letters; but the outgoing letters have the stamps taken off them by the Amir’s postmaster in Peshawar before being put in the Indian post. Afghanistan is not in the postal union, and, therefore, letters to Kabul must have the postage paid on them in Peshawar or else be paid by the addressee. When magazines and periodicals are sent to Kabul the postage on them is a large item, and I once noticed that the postage I paid on a small magazine between Peshawar and Kabul (some two hundred miles) was three rupees, while the postage on the same from England to Peshawar was a penny. Letters sent from Kabul to India have to be addressed in Persian, and Indian stamps must be put on the envelopes besides paying the postage in Afghanistan.