From the indications given, it seems probable that good coal lies under the valley of Kabul; but the late Amir pronounced the coal-boring work I commenced as mad-headed, and wanted to know what was the advantage of making known the existence of coal many hundred feet below the surface, for who could get coal from the bowels of the earth, which were full of water, as the wells about proved. This he said in durbar, and not to me, so I had no chance of vindicating my action in the matter. To me he simply wrote that he wished the men who were employed on that work to be sent about the country to see if coal could not be found on the hillside, as it was in Turkestan; and it was not my duty to dispute a definite order, nor was the Amir the kind of man to listen had I done so, for he would never acknowledge himself in the wrong after forming an opinion. CHAPTER XVI RELIGION Suni and Shiah—Moullahs and their influence on the people—Jihads or holy wars—The Koran—Late Amir’s distrust of Moullahs—Holy men, fakirs, and holy graves—Madmen and reverence paid them as God-stricken—Sayid and Hafiz—Beggars and alms—Stoning to death for religious offences—Prayers—Punishments for not knowing prayers—Musjids—Ramazan and fastings—Haj—Afghan colony in Australia—Lawful and unlawful food—Plurality of wives. The religion of the Afghans is the Mussulman, or Mahomedan religion, as it is more generally called in Christian countries, and if the people were to act up to the tenets of their religion, as taught by the Koran, then a good Mussulman would be a good man, for it is as a rule the people who practice a religion who bring credit or discredit on it. There are two sects of this religion in the country, the Shiah and the Suni. The latter sect includes the royal family and the bulk of the people, while the Shiah sect is chiefly composed of the Kuzilbash people, who are the descendants of Persians. These Kuzilbash live in the south-west portion of Kabul, called Chindawal, and form a small colony of their own; but a great number of them live in Kandahar and Herat, and near the Persian frontier. The difference between these two sects appears to be more in form of ritual than in any real difference in belief; but there is, however, a great deal of ill-feeling between them, and this leads at times to much bloodshed, much as it used to in days gone by between those of the Roman Church and Protestants.