stine beauty. She had
a low forehead, unsuitable for the usual operation, so I said to the
husband that I did not think the result of the operation would be
very satisfactory; but if he would pay the price I would purchase
him an artificial nose from England, which, if it did not make her
as handsome as before, would at any rate conceal the deformity.

"How much will it cost?" said the Afghan.

"About thirty rupees."

There was a silence: he was evidently racked by conflicting sentiments.

"Well, my man, what are you thinking about? Will you have it or no?"

"I was thinking this, sir," he replied, "you say it costs thirty
rupees, and I could get a new wife for eighty rupees."

And this was said before the poor woman herself, without anything
to show that he felt he had said anything out of the common! I am
glad to say, however, that he ultimately decided to have the original
wife patched up, paid the money, and I procured him the article from
England, which gave, I believe, entire satisfaction, and the last time
I heard of them they were living happily together. Perhaps he is able
to hold out the threat of locking up her nose should she annoy him,
and knows he can remove it as often as he likes now without having
to pay up another thirty rupees.

In a case where I procured a false nose for a man, the shop in
England sent out a pale flesh-coloured nose, while his skin was
dark olive! Obviously this had to be remedied, so I procured some
walnut stain, and gave him something not very different from the
colour of the rest of his face. Unfortunately, he started off home
before it was dry, and was caught in a rainstorm. He was annoyed to
find himself the centre of merriment on his arrival at his village,
and came back to me to complain. The nose was all streaky!

The fine physique and good health of the hill Afghans and nomadic
tribes is largely due to the fact that their girls do not marry
till full grown, not usually till over twenty, and till then they
lead healthy, vigorous, outdoor lives. They form a great contrast to
the puny Hindu weaklings, the offspring of the marriage of couples
scarcely in their "teens."

The two greatest social evils from which the Afghan women suffer
are the purchase of wives and the facility of divorce. I might add a
third--namely, plurality of wives; but though admittedly an evil where
it exists, it is not universally prevalent, like the other two--in
fact, only men who are well-to-d