ting his powers of speech and metaphor, was
fain to wind up his tale with a most lame and impotent conclusion.
I now give it to the reader, not from a wish to punish him as I
was punished, but because from the prolixity of the narrator he
necessarily most minutely described scenes and customs, which, though
they had nothing on earth to do with the "Dragon's Mouth," may prove
interesting to the reader, as illustrating the peculiarities of the
people amongst whom we were now sojourning.

CHAPTER V.

"A TALE OF THE DRAGON'S MOUTH."

In the reign of Ameer Dost Mahommed Kh[=a]n, when all the pomp and
pride of glorious war was in its zenith at C[=a]bul, there lived on
the borders of Kulloom and Kundooz, a chieftain named Khan Shereef,
whose grandfather had accompanied the illustrious Nadir Shah from
Persia in his expedition through Affghanist[=a]n, and followed the
fortunes of his royal master, even to the very gates of the imperial
Delhi. On his return towards Persia, he had for a time intended to
settle in C[=a]bul, but "death, who assaults the walled fort of the
chieftain as well as the defenceless hovel of the peasant," seized him
for his own; the father also paid the debt of nature in the capital of
Affghanist[=a]n, but not before the young Khan Shereef had seen the
light. Growing up to manhood and wearying of the monotonous life a
residence in C[=a]bul entailed, he pursued his way across the frontier
mountains of Toorkisth[=a]n, and arrived at the court of Meer Moorad
Beg. Here he performed good service in the field, and becoming his
master's personal friend and favourite, had a fort and a small portion
of territory assigned to him. It was at the court of the Kundooz
ruler that he first became acquainted with Zebah, the lovely rose
of Cashmere, whom he eventually purchased from her father for
his wife.[*] He started with his bride to take possession of his
newly-acquired gift, an insulated fortress in the heart of a country
abounding in those extensive prairies for which Toorkisth[=a]n is
so justly celebrated. On these magnificent savannahs he reared the
Toorkman steed, and soon boasted an unrivalled stud.

[* Note: It is customary in this country as well as in other parts
of Asia to purchase the young women who may be selected for wives of
their relations, the purchase money varying according to the degrees
of beauty.] Towards the close of the first year he became a father, an
event which was hailed with e