It was confidently expected by the people of all classes in Kabul that the death of the Amir would be the signal for a general insurrection, in which the army would lead, and, no doubt, it was not mere conjecture which led all people to expect it. To safeguard themselves as far as possible against the consequences of such riot and revolt, the people buried their jewels and treasures in the floors of their houses, and got in as large a supply of flour, food, and fuel, as they could afford. They also brought out all the arms they possessed for each man intending holding his own house as a fort during the riots. Wild-looking, scantily dressed men came down in numbers from the mountains, carrying battle-axes and old flintlocks, and overran Kabul and the roads round about, for the news of the Amir’s death had acted on them like the sight of a dead carcase on vultures, and caused them to flock round from great distances in an incredibly short space of time to see what loot was going. These are the people who are feared by the inhabitants of Kabul when disturbances set in, for they come in thousands, naked, practically, and having nothing to lose but life, which they value little, loot all, rich and poor alike, for the poor of Kabul are like princes for wealth to them. They even demolish houses for the sake of the wood used in their construction, and the house in which I lived had once been rased to the ground by them, and been rebuilt by the Government. I was told that there was a plot on foot to get the Amir’s body on the way to the tomb, which he had built outside Kabul at Kila Asham Khan some years before, and cut it into pieces that dogs might eat it. (This is looked upon as the greatest evil that can befall the body of a Mussulman.) The road from Kabul, leading to Kila Asham Khan, and the hills along the route, were black with people about two o’clock that day, waiting for the funeral procession to pass, and there was a general air of suppressed excitement among all the people as the time fixed for the funeral drew near, which showed itself in a quickness of movement and alert look, foreign to their usual leisurely style, and betrayed the nervous excitement under which all laboured. However, news of all this having reached the authorities, the late Amir’s body was buried instead in the east wing of the Boistan Serai Palace, which is just outside Arak and alongside the Queen-Sultana’s palace, and the day passed without anything untoward happening.